Fairy Lore: The Moss People
Fairy, Faerie, Fay, Wee Folk Sprit, Pixie or whatever you choose too call them
The little people seem too come in all shapes and sizes and just as numerous as the stars
above us.
Today's post is about the Moss People..
Deep in forest's of Germany and Switzerland live tiny butterfly like beings
Throughout history people have claimed to see small winged creatures human like in appearance but
minuscule and sporting a pair of small butterfly like wings, these are the Moss People. a similar
creature has also been seen in Africa and Polynesia.
They are beings of nature not elemental, but still very close too the land in which they inhabit
there favorite season's, or at least the one's they seem too be most active are spring and summer.
They are very curious, but also cautious and tend to shy away from people for the most part, but
this was not always the case.
According to legend, these little people would occasionally borrow items
from people or ask for help but would always compensate the owners
generously, often with either good advice or bread. It was, however,
easy to anger such wood-sprites, either by spurning their gifts (which
might be the compensations named above) or by giving them caraway bread –
of which they had a particular hatred, often being heard to utter the doggerel rhyme "Kümmelbrot, unser Tod!" ("Caraway bread, our death!").
In certain myths, the moss people would ask humans for breast milk to feed their young,
or steal human children This also ties into some myths surrounding Changelings (Where a Fairy kidnaps a human child and leave s an infant fay in its place....
Moss people, especially the females, are said too posses the ability to
send plagues with one hand, and too cure someone of
the plague with the other hand.
During out breaks the
Holzfräulein ("Wood ladies") would emerge from the forest to show the people which medicinal herbs could cure or ward off the plague.
They were often but not always the target of the "Wild Hunt ".
According to folklore, in order to escape the hunt they would enter the trees
that woodsmen have marked with a cross, the one's slated to be cute down
The moss people are similar to Hamadryads
Their lives are linked with trees; if the inner bark of a tree is loosened or damaged a Wood-woman dies.
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According to Jacob Grimm co author of "Grimm's Fairy Tails" aka The Brothers Grimm...
"Between Leidhecken and Dauernheim in the Wetterau stands the high mountain, and on it a stone, der welle fra gestoil (the wild woman's chairs); there is an impression on the rock, as of the limbs of human sitters. The people say the wild folk
lived there 'wei di schtan noch mell warn,' while the stones were still
soft; afterwards, being persecuted, the man ran away, the wife and
child remained in custody at Dauernheim until they died."
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According to writer Ludwig Bechstein....
The female Moss people, or in German the
Moosfräulein ("Moss ladies"), have a queen named the (
Buschgrossmutter; "Shrub Grandmother").
Ludwig Bechstein describes her in his folktale 551:
"According to certain tales of the peasantry, a demonic creature dwells near Leutenburg and on the left bank of river Saale, called the
Buschgroßmutter ("Shrub Grandmother").
She has many daughters, called
Moosfräuleins
("Moss ladies"), with whom she roves around the country at certain
times and upon certain holy nights. It is not good to meet her, for she
has wild, staring eyes and crazy, unkempt hair. Often she drives around
in a little cart or waggon, and at such times it is wise to stay out of
her way. Children, in particular, are afraid of this
Putzmommel (hooded, female bogey and delight in whispering tales of her to frighten each other. She is essentially the same spirit as Hulda or Bertha, the Wild Huntress – to whom local tales ascribe a following of children under the guise of the
Heimchen (dwarves, pixies or hobgoblins) who constitute her attendants in the area she frequents."
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For the people that respect nature and the environment around them, the moss people well bring good luck.
So the next time you go hiking or camping in the summer, be mindful of your surroundings and keep an eye out... you may just see one of them, but keep in mind they seem to prefer hiding in moss or the darker foliage of nearby tree's. watch for there wings (Very Similar to that of a Monarch Butterfly)
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They are thought to live mostly in Germany and Switzerland, but these small butterfly like fairys have been seen in other country's as well.
They are sometimes referred to as Flying Leaves, Greenies, or just Butterly Faeries.
In German the words
Schrat and
Waldschrat are also used for a moss person. Old Norsewold be
skratti, or "goblin".)
In some area's they are sometimes described as being similar to Dwarves, or being the same size as children, but "grey and old-looking, hairy, and covered in moss sometimes, they can be seen as bigger.
(child size) or as small as butterfly's depending of the region and which version of the story's you hear.
