Mamuna - other lady-demon
And here is the next malicious... let me say, lady.
She looks lovely... isn't she?
Mammons, also called Mammons or Manias, were creatures living in the wilds, far from human homes. There are deep forests, caves, but most of all river and lake shores. They looked like unnaturally large women, covered with long hair all over their bodies, with very drooping breasts, sometimes down to the knees. Animal facial features, sharp fangs, and deformed or hunchbacked body are other characteristic features attributed to them.
It was believed that the souls of women who died during pregnancy or childbirth could become Mamunami. Another version, says that they are the souls of unborn children, spent fetuses, or children killed by their mothers or abandoned in the forest to die. Such spirits returned just as Mamuny and were a worry for pregnant women.
The demons kidnapped the babies. According to the first version, they were restless souls of women who did not have their offspring and carried out abductions. According to the second version, about the killed children, they took revenge on mortal women for the fate that met them. After taking the child, they replaced it with another, ugly, deformed, or retarded child - called the Misfit. Such a Changeling screamed all the time, made life difficult for his new parents and it was obvious that nothing good would come of him. However, you could get your child back... By beating the foundling with a birch rod. Mamuna, hearing his pleading cries, came back and changed the children again.
And here we come to the methods of protection against Mamuna. The first is the aforementioned red ribbon on the baby's cradle or wrist. In some regions, a red cap was also allowed, preferably one that was once worn by the child's father. This color was supposed to scare away the monster.
Mothers weren’t allowed to go out with their children after dark, because Mamunas set off on their hunts, especially at night. The child was also protected from the moonlight, believing that it could more easily direct the demon to the infant and, consequently, contribute to its abduction. It was also good to barricade the stove at night to prevent an intruder from entering through the chimney, or to keep the fire burning in the hearth all night. Keeping St. John's wort or traveler's chicory in the house also deterred Mamuna. Yet another means of protection was to put a knife under the child's pillow or to hang dolls at all possible entrances to the household.
Christianity has not obliterated faith in this spirit, but it has given people new ways to thwart its abduction plans. The cradle sprinkled with holy water or the baptism itself was equally effective - the latter special, because it was believed that the Mammons did not kidnap children who lived to be baptized.
MORE INFORMATION
· Contrary to the first associations that come to mind, the name Mamun does not come from mothers-kidnappers, but from the word beguile (deceive). After all, these spirits were looking for a way to deceive the parents, to replace their offspring.
· In the Middle Ages, when infant mortality was particularly high, the Mammons were the scapegoats for these tragedies. For centuries, people have tried to explain various phenomena and events, especially if they directly affected them. Faith in Mamuny could also have an educational function - to be a warning not to get rid of an unwanted pregnancy. Women who wanted to have abortion had to take into account the consequences of their act - and in this case, the consequences did not stop at death, but made them come back from the afterlife in the form of demons kidnapping children in their villages.
DISCLAIMER!
If any woman got offended by this (or any of my other) article, I feel sorry for that and it wasn’t my intention.
Women as strong, marvelous creatures took a very special place in our (men's) culture, history, and daily life as well since the begining of humanity.
In ancient times, when the Slavic tribes led their simple, magical lives, the place of women in the local community occupied an important position. Women were, after all, mothers and carers of the family, and the respect they were accorded grew with age. An important feature that distinguished women was the monopoly of knowledge in the fields of herbalism, quackery, and folk medicine.
However, in many ancient Slavic beliefs, women were also associated with positive, protective magic. However, there were darker corners of folk mythology, in which women appeared as demons and evil beings. Between such a division into good and evil, there was an eternal balance, which was destroyed by the advent of Christianity. The priests of the new religion could not accept the lofty role of women in a world they believed God would create for men. Such thinking is still visible today not only in the hierarchy of the church but also in Christian societies.
Resources:
https://paulinasliwa.pl/53-na-papierze-35-rys-komputerowy-moje-stwory/,
https://www.naszeszlaki.pl/archives/57135
https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mamuna
https://www.slawoslaw.pl/mamuna-dziwozona/
http://radomsk.pl/mamuna-demon-z-okolic-radomska/
