Fairy Tale Stories      Children's Fairy Tales      Fairies       Faery Woodlands Magazine      Blog     About

Russian Fairy Tales Kikimora The Kikimora is the wife of the Domovoi and lives behind the stove or which haunts the cellars or is the wife of the Leshy and lives in the swamp or the forest. The Kikimora appears as a woman with her hair down, symbolizing the freedom she has and her natural wild state for Russian women would keep their hair braided or covered (if married). She was introduced into houses as a form of curse by making a doll of her which was hidden under a beam or the front corner of the house. Once the Kikimora enters a house she is nearly impossible to get rid of. However this isn’t always bad for like the Domovoi she might help with the housework or look after the chickens. However in poorly kept homes she grows angry and acts like a poltergeist wreaking havoc on the house. In order to appease the angry Kikimora one needs to was all the pots and pans with fern tea. One should also hang a bunch of juniper twigs above the chicken coop to keep the Kikimora from stealing the chicken eggs. As with many fairy creatures the Kikimora may live in a world of between, seen only by those in transition such as those who are about to die (seen between the world of the living and the dead). The Kikimora also spins thread in order to create magic, often with evil intentions, just as the other fairies would use spinning as a way to control fate.