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Yoma (Komi)


The forest witch she is the water of the demiurge Yong. She was the embodiement of sickness, death and decay. As such she appeared as a repulsive hag with teeth and nails of iron. He had a long nose which hooked down to the floor and was so fat she would sit on as many as nine chairs and still have her but hanging over the edges. Her evil nature comes from the time when Omolo threw her form the sky making her the patroness of the underworlds evil demonic beings. As part of this role she lives in a hut which has elk legs or chicken legs, where she kidnaps young children to eat.
She is a internally duelistic character however for she is also the patron of womans crafts such as spinning and weaving. She is also possibly a goddess of grain, helping to grow though she is clearly a forest being as this is where she lives and her sheep are wolves and her cows are bears.
In one story an evil step mother sends her daughter in law to the cold river to wash a ball of yarn. Her fingers grown so numb that the yarn slips through them for which her step mother punishes her. So the girl goes back to the water and jumps in, a few moments later she finds herself in a green meadow with a heard of beautiful horses. One of these horses tells the girl to walk past a the streams of cream and honey for these belong to Yoma. The horse further tells her that it's at Yoma's that the ball of yarn is. Thanking the horse the girl heads on her way, past some grazing cows which asked her to milk them. When she did the cow told her that Yoma would order her to work, and offer her the choice of a blue or a red basket, and that the girl needed to take the blue basket. The girl thanked the cow and continued on.
She wanted to to drink of the stream of cream but she passed over it without taking a drop. Than she came to the river of honey even more hungry, but she didn't drink. She came to a cabin which was hovering in the wind and went inside. Inside Yoma asked her why she had come so the girl told the old witch. The witch than put Yoma to work, telling her to split some wood and warm a bath. Yoma than brought a basket full of frogs, lizards and water beetles telling her to wash them all. The girl carefully washed each one and than Yoma brought her two baskets, a red and a blue. The girl opened the basket and inside were riches and the yarn. Because of her wealth Yoma was able to marry and be happy. The stepmother was angry at the girls fortune and sent the her own daughter down into the river. But that daughter did everything wrong and so was given the red basket, which burned her house down when she returned home.