Paranormal Folklore, Gomuls..

In Scandinavia Folklore Gömul refers to a river that originally comes from a spring called  Hvergelmir ( bubbling cauldron)  in Niflheim the river flowers into the land of the gods( Asgard ) and also has ties to the world tree.

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In Korea the would Gömul refers to a variety  of  decorative powders fillings toppings or dips......some common  food filling are mashed red beans, crushed sesame seeds or soybean powder..

 (konggomul), mashed red beans (patgomul), mung bean powder, and crushed sesame seeds

Also used on Rice Cake to coat the outer layers or fill spaces in injeolmi, gyeongdan, and danja.

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And in Russia's Far East the word  Gomul / Gomuls is the name of  a race of mythic giants that live in the numerus volcanoes found in the Kamchatka region.

Folklore from the Itelmen tribe,  describes a race of giants or large mountain spirits that live at the top of the volcanoes, the giants are so massive they hunt whales on a regular basis.

According to the legend, they leave they're mountain tops and fly out at night to spear whale  ( some versions of the story claim they spear whales with their finger tips)....  then carry them back home and roast them over an open fire .. in this case, the active volcano/ lava. 

The Itelmen people believed the fiery glow, smoke and occasional volcanic eruption where the results of  these  giants enjoying a feasts or bonfire atop their mountain home.

 🐋🌋👻

Paranormal Folklore and Mythology, Lughnasadh / Lammas.

 

According to Irish Mythology and the pagan wheel of the year Lughnasadh was a Celtic  holiday founded by the god Lugh as  a  funeral feast and athletic competition and Funeral games to commemorate the death of an earth goddess.

On the Celtic/ pagan calendar  Lughnasadh is a holiday that coincides with Lammas celebrating the first harvest.

Both ancient celebrations are traditionally  held on August 1st...

Lammas often overlaps with or is used interchangeably with Lughnasadh. It's one of the eight major Sabbats on the Pagan Wheel of the Year, honoring the importance of the grain harvest and Mother Earth's bounty. Early Irish Christians celebrated the first bountiful grain  harvest of the year by consecrating freshly baked loaves of bread during a church service.🥐🥖🍞

Other variations of the word are Lunasa, Luᵹ̇nasaḋ, Lughnasadh and Lughnasa.

In Modern Irish, the spelling is Lúnasa  which is also the name for August, Mí Lúnasa (Month of August) and Lá Lúnasa (Day of Lúnasa).  In Modern Scottish Gaelic (Gàidhlig), the festival and the month are both called Lùnastal  In Manx (Gaelg), the festival and the month are both called Luanistyn

The competition usually consist of multiple events  including matchmaking, horse racing, hurling, trading and of course a large feast.

Originally religious rites included an offering of the First Fruit of the grain harvest, a feast of the new food,  sacrificing a bull, ( no longer practiced) followed by a ritual dance.

Original festivals where held on top of hills, this tradition of climbing hills and mountains at Lughnasadh is still practiced in some areas and is recast as a Christian pilgrimage. The best known is the Reek Sunday pilgrimage to the top of Croagh Patrick on the last Sunday in July. 

One custom Lughnasadh had in common with Imbolc and Beltane was visiting holy wells,  specifically clootie wells. Visitors  would pray for health while walking sunwise around the well; they would then leave offerings, usually coins or clooties. Although bonfires were lit at some of the open-air gatherings in Ireland, they were rare and not important to the celebrations itself.

Traditionally, the holiday was celebrated on  the first day of August.  Though after the christianization of Ireland  most of the  festivities where changed to the nearest Sundays – either the last Sunday in July or first Sunday in August.

Since the late 20th century, Celtic neopagans have observed Lughnasadh as a religious holiday. Other names for the festival are Mountain Sunday, Garland Sunday and Bilberry Sunday.

A common theme in the story of  is the tragic fate of a woman who is carried off or held against her will, and later dies out of shame, exhaustion grief , or an unspecified natural cause.

Another version regarding the  Lughnasadh site of Tailtin says the festival was founded by Lugh as funeral games in memory of his foster-mother tailtiu. 

Folklore  says she died of exhaustion after clearing the plains of Ireland for agriculture.  Tailtiu may have been an earth goddess who represented the dying vegetation that fed mankind.  Another tale, about the assembly site of Nass,, says that Lugh founded the festival in memory of his two wives, the sisters Nas and Bói.  One theory is that it was a mourning (or wake) for the end of summer. There are several different versions of it's origins. 

Another goddess associated with  Lughnasadh is Áine ..

She is an Irish Goddess of the Summer Solstice and of Lughnasadh who brings love, protection, fertility, wealth and sovereignty. 

As a Moon Goddess she is the guardian of  livestock, crops, and cattle and as a Sun Goddess, she takes the form of ‘Lair Derg’, The Red Mare so fast that no one can outrun. In  this form she travels the country bringing blessings to everyone.

🏵️🥖🍞🥐🍁🇮🇪☘️👨‍🌾🌾

Paranormal Folklore, Angrboða Mother of monster's...

 

 

 

 

Angrboda, Wife of Loki and  Mother of Monsters. 

The name Angrboða first  appears in the Poetic Edda (Völuspá hin skamma) and is later detailed in Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda in the 13th century.

She's from Jötunheimr, the land of giants.

In Norse mythology Angrboða is the giant wife of Loki,  she gave birth to Jörmungandr, the world serpent, Hel, ruler of the dead, and Fenrir, the ferocious giant wolf. All key figures in Ragnarök ( the end of the world).

Though she is the embodiment of motherly love, caring greatly for each of her children even though  all of them are monstrous  creatures that will eventually take part in the end of the world and death of the Norse pantheon. She is still a kind mother 


Her name means She who brings grief" or "messenger of sorrow," because of the tragic role her children will eventually bring.

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She is only mentioned once in the Poetic Edda (Völuspá hin skamma) as the mother of Fenrir by Loki. The Prose Edda (Gylfaginning) describes her as "a giantess in Jötunheimar" and as the mother of three monsters: the wolf Fenrir, the Midgard serpent Jörmungandr, and the ruler of the dead Hel.


The Children......
🔥👱‍♀️🐺🐍🔥

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🏵️Happy Mother's Day Weekend🌸

Korean Folklore, Daltokki, the Moon Rabbit.

 

The origins of the Moon Rabbit myth can be traced back to ancient China, know as the Jade Rabbit. However Japan and Korea have similar talis of this immortal bunny. ( will have a post on the Japanese and Chinese version up  soon)

The Korean version of the Moon Rabbit starts with three animals—a rabbit, a fox, and a monkey they all share a similar goal to become the  embody of the virtues of Buddhism. To test their commitment, the Emperor of the Heavens  comes down  to earth and disguises himself as a  beggar, seeking food. The fox gives him a fish,  the monkey gives him some  fruit. But the rabbit, unable to find food, decides offer up himself as a meal and  to sacrifice himself by jumping into a fire. Moved by his act of selflessness, the Emperor appointed the rabbit as the guardian of the moon, immortalizing its noble act  among the stars and placing an image of the rabbit on the moon for All to see.

In Korean folklore, the Moon Rabbit, known as “daltokki” (달토끼), is often depicted standing beneath a gyesu tree (Korean laurel or cinnamon tree).

diligently pounding rice in a mortar to make rice cakes. 

The image of  Moon Rabbit’s Making rice cakes is heavily association with rice cakes with the Korean autumn festival called Chuseok. 

This holiday emphasizes family unity, gratitude, and the sharing of food, mirroring the rabbit’s virtues of selflessness and communal harmony. Families gather to prepare and enjoy songpyeon (half-moon-shaped rice cakes), reflecting the rabbit’s celestial activities and reinforcing the cultural importance of togetherness.There is also a  children’s song inspired by this hard working bunny  called “Half Moon” (“반달”), written in 1924 by Yoon Geuk-young.

In Chinese myths he is called the Jade Rabbit and is a friend) companion to Chang's the moon goddess, is job on the moon is to create the elixir of life. In the Japanese version he makes sticky rice cakes ( mochi).

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The  first version of this tail comes the second century. The earliest version was included in a Chinese  collection of poems  called  the Chu Ci. The poem in question suggested that during the Warring States Period (475 BCE–221 BCE), there was a mythical hare living on the moon and pounding herbs for celestial beings. In the 10th century, Chinese scholars compiled the Taiping Yulan, an ancient encyclopedia that also mentioned the hare on the moon. However there were no rabbits in China at the time, the original moon animal was the hare, and it was called “Jade Hare” or “Gold Hare.”

The earliest known version of the story in Japan appeared in the Konjaku Monogatarishū, a collection of ivery 1,000 poems written  into the Heian period (794–1185)

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The rabbit symbolizes  immortality, self-sacrifice, and the eternal cycle of life.

Japanese Folklore: Tamamo no Mae: The Nine tailed fox

 

 

 Tamamo no Mae, One of the strongest and most feared Yokai.




Tamamo  is one of the most famous kitsune (Fox Spirits) in Japanese mythology.

A nine-tailed magical fox, she is also one of the most powerful yokai that has ever lived.

Her magical abilities were matched only by her sharp mind  and lust for power.

Tamamo lived during the Heian period, and though she may not have succeeded in her plan to kill the emperor and take his place, her actions destabilized the country and lead it towards one of the most important civil wars in Japanese history.

 For that reason, she is considered one of the Nihon San Dai Aku Yokai—the Three Terrible Yokai of Japan.

She  is mentioned in various old texts and has been a popular subject throughout Japanese history. Her story is portrayed in literature, 

Noh, Kabuki, bunraku, and other forms of art including modern mang, anime and evenK Dramas. 

There have been  several variations on her story throughout history.

According to Legends: Tamamo no Mae was born around 3,500 years ago in what is now China. Her early life is a mystery, but she eventually became a powerful sorceress.

 

A few hundred years later she became a white faced, golden furred kyubi no kitsune—a nine-tailed fox with the highest level of  magic powers.

She was also a very skilled liar and master  manipulator. She used her charms and intelligence to advance her standing and influence politics of the time .

During the Shang Dynasty she was known as Daji. She disguised herself as a beautiful woman and became the favorite concubine of King Zhou of Shang.

 

 
Daji was a model of human depravity. She held orgies in the palace gardens. Her fondness for watching and inventing new forms of torture are legendary.

Daji eventually brought about the fall of the entire Shang Dynasty. She managed to escape execution, and fled to the Magadha kingdom in India in 1046 BCE.

In Magadha, she was known as Lady Kayo, and became a consort of King Kalmashapada, known in Japan as Hanzoku.

She used her beauty and charms to dominate the king, she devoured children, murder priests, and commit other unspeakable horrors.

Eventually—whether because she ran out of  children to eat or because Kalmashapada began to turn away from her and towards Buddhism—she fled back to China.
...

During the Zhou Dynasty she called herself Bao Si, and was known as one of the most desirable women in all of China.

In 779 BCE she became a concubine of King You. Not satisfied as just a mistress, she manipulated the king into deposing his wife Queen Shen and making Bao Si his new queen. 

Though she was beautiful, Bao Si rarely ever smiled. In order to please his beautiful new wife, King You committed acts of such
evil and atrocity that eventually all of his nobles abandoned and betrayed him. Eventually, King You was killed and Bao Si captured and the Western Zhou Dynasty was brought to an end in 771 BCE. Somehow Bao Si managed to escape again, she went into hiding for many years.

Little is known of her activities until the 700s, when she resurfaced disguised as a 16-year old girl named Wakamo. She tricked the leaders of the 10th Japanese envoy to the Tang Dynasty—Kibi no Makibi, Abe no Nakamaro, and Ganjin—as they were preparing to return home to Japan.

Wakamo joined their crew and took the ship to Japan, where she hid herself away for over 300 years.

In the 1090s, she resurfaced once again. This time she transformed herself into a human baby and hid by the side of the road.

A married couple found the baby and rescued it, taking her in as their daughter and naming her Mikuzume.

She proved to be an exceedingly intelligent and talented young girl, and was so beautiful that she attracted to attention of everyone around her.

When she was 7 years old, Mikuzume recited poetry before the emperor. His imperial majesty immediately took a liking to her and employed her as a servant
in his court.

Mikuzume excelled at court, absorbing knowledge like a sponge. There was no question she could not answer, whether it was about music, history, astronomy,
religion, or Chinese classics. Her clothes were always clean and unwrinkled. She always smelled pleasant. Mikuzume had the most beautiful face in all of Japan, and everyone who saw her loved her.

During the summer of her 18th year, a poetry and instrument recital was held in Mikuzume’s honor. During the recital, an unexpected storm fell upon the palace. 

All of the candles in the recital room were snuffed, leaving the participants in the dark. Suddenly, a bright light emanated from Mikuzume’s body, illuminating the room.

 Everybody at court was so impressed by her genius and declared that she must have had an exceedingly good and holy previous life. 

She was given the name Tamamo no Mae. Emperor Toba, already exceedingly fond of her, made her his consort.

Almost immediately after she became the emperor’s consort, the emperor fell deathly ill. None of the court physicians could determine the cause, and so the onmyoji (Exorcist) Abe no Yasunari was called in. ( Not be confused with Abe no Yasuna, who is the father of the famous onmyōji Abe no Seimei , Similar title, Different people.)

Abe no Yasunari read the emperor’s fortune and divined that he was marked by a bad omen. After that, the highest priests and monks were summoned to the palace to pray for the emperor’s health.

The best prayers of the highest priests had no effect, however. The emperor continued to grow worse. Abe no Yasunari was summoned again to read the emperor’s fortune. 

This time, to his horror the onmyoji discovered that the emperor’s beloved Tamamo no Mae was the cause of his illness. She was a
kitsune in disguise, and was shortening the emperor’s life span in order to take over as ruler of Japan. Emperor Toba was reluctant to believe the diviner’s words, but agreed to test Tamamo no Mae just to be sure.

To save the emperor’s life, Abe no Yasunari prepared the Taizan Fukun no Sai, the most secret and most powerful spell known to onmyodo.

Tamamo  was ordered to perform part of the ritual. They reasoned that an evil spirit would not be able to participate in such a holy ritual.

Though she was reluctant to participate, the emperor’s ministers persuaded her. They told her that it would increase her standing an admiration among the court. She had little choice but to accept.

When the ritual was performed, Tamamo was dressed even more beautifully than normal. She recited the holy worlds as expected and played her part extremely well. But just as she prepared to wave the ceremonial staff, she vanished. Abe no Yasunari’s divination was confirmed. The court flew into an uproar.

Soon after, word arrived that women and children were disappearing near Nasuno in Shimotsuke Province.

The court sorcerers determined that Tamamo  was the cause, and it was decided that she must be destroyed once and for all.

The emperor summoned the best warriors in all of the land and then charged the most superb of them, Kazusanosuke and Miuranosuke, to find Tamamo no Mae.

The warriors gladly accepted the honor. They purified themselves and set out with an army of 80,000 men to slay the nine-tailed kitsune.

Upon reaching Nasuno the army quickly found the kitsune. 

The warriors chased her for days and days, but the fox used her magical powers and outsmarted them time and time again, easily escaping. The army grew weary, and frustration set in. It seemed that nothing they did was working. However, Kazusanosuke and Miuranosuke would not accept the shame of defeat and vowed to press on. They practiced harder, honing their tactics, and eventually picked up the kitsune’s trail.

One night, Miuranosuke had a prophetic dream. A beautiful young girl appeared before him, crying. She begged: “Tomorrow I will lose my life to you. Please save me.” Miuranosuke adamantly refused, and upon waking the warriors set out again to find Tamamo no Mae. 

Sure enough, the next day they caught
her. Miuranosuke fired two arrows, one through the fox’s flank and one through its neck. Kazusanosuke swung his blade. It was over, just as the dream had said.

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However, her evil did not end with her death. One year after she died, Emperor Konoe died, heirless. The following year, her lover
and former Emperor Toba died as well. A succession crisis ignited between forces loyal to Emperor Go-Shirakawa and forces loyal to former Emperor Sutoku.

 This crisis started the Fujiwara-Minamoto rivalry that led to the Genpei War, the end of the Heian period, and the rise of the first shoguns.

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As if that were not enough, Tamamo’s spirit haunted a massive boulder which killed every living thing that touched it.

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This boulder is know as the killing stone or  Sessho-seki.

 On march 5 2022, the boulder split in half. Presumably freeing the evil fox once more.

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Also, Happy Valentines Day.

💗🦊

Winter Cryptids: The Snow Wasset

 

                            First post of 2026

🏔️The Snow Wasset ❄️

The Snow Wasset this cryptid is  a legless white fured creature that spends most of its life underground, only coming to the surface to eat.

It became a popular story with lumper jacks during the pioneer days.

This winter weather cryptid can be found mostly in Canada in the forest between the Great Lakes and Hudson Bay.

Though it dose travel for the seasons similar to birds flying south, the Wasset prefers to spend the summers in the far north  where it hibernates  during the warm summer season,  during the winter its fur is white as snow but in the summer its hair turns green and it sometimes curls up in a cranberry marsh or some other cool place to sleep.

It will also grow small legs in the summer to help it slowly move along.

Once the weather starts getting cooler and the first strong snowstorm hits, it sheds its legs and starts moving  south. It travels in the winter like a dolphin in the ocean, dipping in and out of  the snow. It also uses this method to hunt the burrowing grouse, rabbits and other varmine hiding in the snow. Later in the winter, when food becomes scarce and more difficult to obtain, even wolves are on the menu.

 The Wasset has a massive appetite, comparable to an angry wolverine, but  at least four times as big and several times as active.

The only Wasset ever examined by non Indians was a mostly intact one seen by  a group of surveyors in James Bay who happened to encountered an Indian in an odd looking  canoe,  the canoe was said to be made out of a stretched out Wasset hid. There we're no leg holes in the white pelt and it was long enough to make a one man canoe. Sleds are also made from its pelt.

Capturing a Wasset  is tricky, because it's underground and you can never by quit sure which direction it's head is facing. You need a large amount of logs. Then you bait an area and set a tigger. The trigger is set so that a dozen or more  logs fall in from all sides at once  toward the bait, pinning the animal under the snow wherever he may be hiding.

In the 2015 horror themed remake of Fearsome Creatures, the Snow Wasset is a lot more furry and its head is more doglike. 

The Snow Wasset is considered to be the second toughest fearsome creature after the Hodag, but despite its carnivorous diet, the Snow Wasset is not a threat to humans during the summer , but only in the summer time, in the winter its a different story and we are on the menu.

 The Wasset's meat is  edible and "safe " to eat( Not toxic or poison), even when raw. However, the Snow Wasset, is said to regenerate (comeback to life) even if it's just a skeleton so you may have one burrow out from your stomach if eaten.

. Its scientific name is Serpentoformus ferox.

🎇Happy ❄️New❄️Year🎆

Yokai, The Hibagon .. Bigfoot of Japan.

 

Japanese Bigfoot,The Hibagon 👣🇯🇵

It seems that every country or at least most have a version of a hairy manlike cryptid that roams the forests or mountains ..

North America's Bigfoot/Sasquatch the Rock Apes of Vietnam, the Yeti of the Himalayas and so on..

Well Japan is no exception, the Japanese version is called the Hibagon..

The first reported sighting was in Hiroshima Prefecture in what is now Shobara City during July of 1970.

FIRST SIGHTING...

July 20, 1970, that a man in his 30s said he saw from his car an unusual two-legged creature walking down a mountain road in the Yuki district in the former town of Saijo, now incorporated into the city of Shobara, before it slowly retreated back up the trail after noticing it was being watched.

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Second and third Sighting..

A man who was cutting grass near his home early in the morning of July 23, three days after the first sighting, claimed to have seen a creature in a grassy area with a "human face." 

Another man on July 30 called out to a person whom he believed was a relative walking along a footpath to a rice field, but it turned out to be a "gorilla-type monster.

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In 1971 the government special office to take reported sightings this continued until about 1975 when the sightings started to drop eventually leading to the office being shutdown there were a total of 29 local sightings from 1970-75.

Later sightings of a similar creature took place  in the neighboring city of Yamano, it was called the yabagon it was sighted infrequently for a few years leading people the believe the Hibagon had simply moved to a new location however the yabagon seemed to have disappeared too as it has not been spotted since 1980.

It's believed to live near Mount Hiba in the Chūgoku Mountains. 

Like Bigfoot/Sasquatch the Hibagon walks upright on two legs, standing about 5 -6 feet or up to 1.5 meters tall and very muscular build for it's size.

Eyewitnesses have described the unidentified figure as resembling a gorilla covered in dark brown bristles

 Their bodies are completely covered in black, gray, or dark brown hair.

 Their faces resemble an inverted triangle, and they have bulging eyes that slant upwards. Their voices resemble a dolphin’s call.

There are many theories on what the hibagon actually was.

Some suggest it was a  large Japanese macaques, black bears, a humans in a suit or possibly an  alien being but no one is entirely sure...

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The sightings eventually got the attention of the local authority's and media. Leading to a newspaper article..

A former reporter, then Shobara bureau chief of the Chugoku Shimbun, who wrote the article, was quoted in the Hiroshima-based daily as saying, "I didn't take the first call seriously because I thought it was just a hoax, but then I got another call from someone else who gave an eyewitness account."

After meeting separately with the three eyewitnesses to hear and compare their stories, the reporter said all appeared shaken up, with one saying, "I can't live here anymore." Another complained of people accusing him of "faking" the story and not believing him.

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A footprint that was cast in 1970

A plaster cast of "footprint" believed to belong to the Hibagon was cast on December 16, 1970 and was kept in the chief's office of the Shobara Police Station, which is part of the Hiroshima Prefectural Police.

the Shobara Police Department has donated the footprint to the tourism association, which moved it to JR Bingo-Saijo Station.

 The tourist association used the donation as an opportunity to start recruitment for a "Hibagon Explorers" fan club that has seen about 40 people from around Japan join.

A tour of the mountain road where the first sightings took place was planned for may 2024.

Today the Hibagon has become a symbol of the town, and signs with its  likeness can be seen everywhere.

Korean Myth: Jeoseung Saja.

The Jeoseung Saja..저승사자💀

The Korean Grim Reaper/ Messenger of Death.

 In Korean mythology, the god of death is known as Yeomra (also spelled Yeomra-Daewang). 

He is the fifth of the ten Kings of the Underworld, collectively known as Shi-wang, and is considered the supreme ruler of the afterlife. 

Yeomra's main role is to judge the sins of the deceased and determine their fate in the afterlife. He is the Korean equivalent of Yama, the Hindu and Buddhist god of death. 

Though he is not alone in this role,he has servants that collect the souls and bring them to the afterlife/underworld. 

The Jeoseung Saja," or the traditional Korean Grim Reaper.

Depicted as a  pale-faced man, draped in black robes and wearing a gat, a traditional Korean hat made of horsehair and silk.

The modern look is a bit different then the original version, According to the Encyclopedia of Korean Culture by Kim Deok-mook, the jeoseung saja originally appeared in shamanistic rituals as a military officer, dressed in official armor.

Even though he is frightening (a literal grim reaper ), he was not treated with hostility. In traditional funerary rites, he's regarded with respect.

“Since the reaper also serves as a guide through the long and difficult journey to the afterlife, mistreating him could bring misfortune to the deceased,” That’s why families treat him with care during rituals.”

In a traditional funerary ritual from Hwanghae Province, families prepare three bowls of rice, three pairs of straw shoes, and three sets of spoons and chopsticks. These offerings are meant to honor the three reapers guiding the soul from this world to the next .

Well the western Grim Reaper is seen  as a solitary figure,his Korean counterpart can very  in the number of reapers

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In many paintings from the Joseon era he is depicted wearing bright red armor. Instead of the black / darker clothes we usually associate with death.

 The Joseon dynasty, also known as the Yi dynasty, was the last and longest-ruling Korean dynasty, lasting from 1392 to 1897. It was founded by Yi Seong-gye, who established the capital in Hanyang, (modern day ) Seoul. 

The word Saja can also mean lion.

In the 2016  Korean Drama-  K-drama "Goblin" (also called  "Guardian: The Lonely and Great God"), the show features a popular character, played by Lee Dong-wook, who is a Jeoseung Saja, showcasing a more humanized version of the traditional Grim Reaper figure.

(Goblin info)..In his quest for a bride to break his immortal curse, Dokkaebi, a 939-year-old guardian of souls, encounters a grim reaper and a student with a tragic past

 In a more recent depiction they were demons on the Netflix hit Kpop Demon Hunters,though in the actual lore they are more akin to afterlife government workers.  

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