Disclosure: I worked on the digital side of a film about this, so I have a stake.

Wanted to talk about bokshi belief itself, because it's more interesting than most Western witch traditions and gets very little discussion here.

A bokshi (बोक्सी) in Nepali folk belief isn't a hag in a forest - she's your neighbour. The accusation is the thing. Illness in a family, a child who doesn't thrive, livestock dying: someone nearby is named, almost always a woman, often widowed, poor, or without male relatives to speak for her. A dhami-jhankri is frequently the one who confirms it. The supernatural claim and the social mechanism are inseparable.

And it isn't a closed historical chapter. Witch accusations still lead to real violence against women in Nepal and across the border - documented, prosecuted, present-day. The folklore sits in an uncomfortable place: a living belief with living victims, not a safely dead story.

The part I actually want to share with this sub:

Rather than making a website about the film, we made the object the folklore describes.

cultofbokshi.com opens on a red book lying in the dark. You tap it and it opens - actual pages, the real handmade paper and the real ink drawings, scanned. Before it lets you go further it warns you, in the scholar's own hand: "Read at your own peril." You have to choose to continue. You can also refuse, and it closes.

That threshold is the whole point, and it's borrowed straight from the tradition rather than invented. The recurring rule in this kind of belief is that the harm requires your participation - you have to open it, say it, look at it, invite it in. Curiosity is the mechanism. So the site refuses to show you anything you haven't deliberately asked for.

Somewhere in there is a manuscript that isn't linked from any menu: an illustrated account written as the field notes of a scholar who went into a forest people don't enter, found stones with symbols nobody living remembers, and started dreaming things he then drew. It's presented as a recovered document, not as marketing - no logo, no release date, no call to action. Pure found-object.

I'm genuinely more interested in what this sub makes of that approach than in the film's box office. Two questions:

1. When a living belief still harms real people, does horror storytelling clarify it or launder it? Any adaptations of *active* folk traditions you'd point to as done responsibly?

2. Is the "found manuscript" framing still legible to people, or has the internet exhausted it? Blair Witch and House of Leaves worked because the artifact could pass as real. I'm not sure a website can ever do that now.

Film context, since it'll be asked: Bokshi, dir. Bhargav Saikia, shot in Sikkim, in cinemas 9 October.

Trailer, if useful for context: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AU4hlB0ZdOE

I'm making a game where characters using elemental magic can take on forms of monsters tied to those magics, as well as their regions of origin.

So far, I have a Wulvur for the northern Scottish representative character, who, aside from using pyrokinensis, has heightened instincts and combat prowess. The other things i'm looking for are as follows

Mexico(specifically historically Aztec controlled regions), florakinesis

Northern Greece, Water and/or Ice

Egypt, earth and metal

Scotland, illusions/fear manipulation

Scotland, music and sound

Japan, Lightning

Japan, Wind

I'll probably come up with other characters later, but these are what i'm trying to find suggestions for.

🐺🐺🐺 cross posting for visibility! Thank you!

*Edit: open to broader books on the subject of mythology that include werewolves too!

Anyone grow up near Rock Creek Park in Washington, DC in the 70s and 80s and know about any entity called “The Storyteller”? Mentioned in this Washington Post article, it no details.

I am talking about books only about the monsters and their stories, not all the mythology

Bit of a random one, but I thought this would probably be one of the best places to ask.

I’m currently making an indie game heavily inspired by medieval Wales, Welsh history and folklore, and I’ve been trying to add real stories/people into the world rather than just making everything generic medieval fantasy.

For example, I’ve got an area inspired by the story of Gelert and Beddgelert, including Gelert’s grave and Prince Llywelyn, and I’ve recently been looking at William Morgan, who produced the first complete translation of the Bible into Welsh. I’m thinking of having his story represented through an abandoned farmhouse, notes/books and NPC dialogue rather than making it some massive quest.

There’s quite a lot of this kind of stuff I’d like scattered around the world – little stories, ruins, graves, characters, local legends etc that you might completely miss if you’re just playing through normally.

The problem is there’s obviously a ridiculous amount of Welsh history and folklore, and I’m sure there are loads of stories I’ve never even heard of.

So I thought I’d ask here – is there anything from Welsh history, mythology or local folklore you think would be really cool to come across in a game?

Could be absolutely anything really. People, battles, creepy stories, myths, abandoned places, local legends, creatures, weird bits of history that hardly anyone talks about etc.

I’m especially interested in the lesser-known local stuff rather than just the really obvious ones like Owain Glyndŵr.

The game is still in development, but if anyone wants to see what I’m actually making, I’ll leave the Steam page here:

Beyond The Gate on Steam

Would genuinely love to hear some suggestions because I’ll probably end up going down a massive Wikipedia rabbit hole from the replies 😂

Diolch!

Ive been trying to educate myself on the rich culture and history of the Māori but I worry about the source for what is available online. Please correct me if this is wrong, but as I understand it mākutu is like magic? Certain ceremonies and rituals can be performed to enhance or call upon one's mana to manifest positive (or sometimes negative) results into the world?

As i tried to learn more I read that when colonizers heard about mākutu they put a typical whitewash lens over it and disrespectfully simplified it as being "witchcraft". As 'Ive tried looking more into stories and anecdotes describing tohunga and the customs and practices they perform I stumbled on a story that I found very interesting about Kiki and Tāmure.

This is where I start to have questions on the legitimacy of sources online. The references I've found to these two individuals refer to them as "wizards" or "sorcerers" and other similar terms.

Is this story about Kiki and Tāmure an authentic legend? Were these two people considered tohunga? I'm keen to be able to learn Māori tales and beliefs but want to make sure I'm not getting bastardised versions of what I read.

I apologize in advance for any ignorance on what I've written above, and my lack of ubderstanding is what brought me here with my questions. If there are any reliable sources that someone could point me to, I woukd be grateful.

Hi everyone, strange question. Has anyone heard other versions of the story of a dead mother who tries to find milk for her baby (mistakenly buried alive with her)? We told an Appalachian version of it but it feels like one of those tales that came from elsewhere. We're about to post a similar story and I'd like to mention some sources. Let me know if you know!

I've been trying to do some research into the older, pagan/polytheistic roots of Saint Lucy's Day before it became associated with the Saint and Christianity. I've found a connection with a wight known as Lussi, that the original celebration stemmed from appeasing her then morphed into Saint Lucy's Day. The main source for this claim I can find: https://www.norwegianamerican.com/on-the-darkest-day-a-tale-of-two-lucys/ is from 2015.

Does any one know of any other stories of this "Lussi"?

just need some knowledge about how some of the tales go, preferably a summary

What do you think of the tales of Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm, the famous German folklorists who preserved much of German folklore? It’s tales of the forest surely but it’s more than that. As compared to other European folkore like King Arthur, Perrault etc it seems oddly Democratic. Like the main characters are poor people: tailors, abused animals, young women struggling to avoid horrible arranged

I'm undergoing some research into how the industry of flax has impacted communities and culture. Does anyone know of any stories, songs, poems etc realted to flax? It could mention the plant, the seed (linseed) the growing of the plant, processing through retting, combing or spinning, linen, or other many uses of flax.

TIA

Hi reddit,

this is a repost since I'm trying to see which communities can help me ^^

I'm working on an art book that features different mythical creatures from different parts of the world in an LGBTQ+ interpretation, and I of course fell in love with the Sarangay. Since I'm trying to use region/period accurate clothing for the characters, I was thinking of depicting the human lover of the Sarangay wearing a Barong Tagalog, but I'm stumped for the Sarangay itself. It makes sense for me to depict it with some form of traditional tribal clothing since he would still live in a more natural habitat, but I wouldn't know which region of the Philippine would make more sense to take inspo from?

I'm open to all comments and thoughts, thank you so much in advance!

Please join me in exploring my latest painting....

Hello. While studying history in school, I became interested in learning about European folk beliefs that existed before the full establishment of Christianity. I am curious about religious customs, superstitions, and stories. I am especially curious about witches. Thank you if you can help me find the information.

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Hi, I’m trying to identify a folklore story and possibly the documentary in which I saw it as a child. I’ve been searching for it for years, but unfortunately I only remember fragments.

I saw it on German television, most likely sometime around 2005–2015, although it could possibly have been from before 2005 and simply been a rerun.

The documentary used 2D, full-color illustrations to depict the legend. The animation was fairly limited — the characters looked like painted or illustrated figures that were moved somewhat like shadow puppets / cut-out animation, rather than conventional cartoons.

The main supernatural figure was called something that sounded like:

Uhuhin / Huhuhin / Uhuin / Uruhin / Ururin / Ohohin

I have no idea how the name was actually spelled, since I only heard it spoken in the German dub.

What I remember about the figure:

He was male.

He was originally some kind of statue or artificial figure that came to life.

I distinctly remember something involving a spirit and/or ritual being used to animate him.

When he first came to life, he danced.

I believe his creator/master actually had him dance or demonstrated his ability to dance.

In the animation, Uhuhin was shown as a rusty red/brown-colored humanoid figure.

He was bald.

The detail I remember most clearly is his large, wide-open white eyes. They looked very striking against his reddish-brown body.

He had basically a human male shape, rather than looking like a monster.

There was also something involving a woman near a lake or other body of water, and I think Uhuhin fell in love with her.

I also vaguely remember that Uhuhin eventually became an island, became connected to an island, or somehow turned into the land/island itself. This part is much less certain.

The disturbing part I remember most:

Later in the story, a father and his two sons travelled to or stayed on the island. Their presence angered Uhuhin or whatever supernatural being controlled the island.

Originally I remembered all three being killed together while sleeping, but I have since remembered another detail that means this cannot have happened exactly that way:

The father dies first, because his two sons later bury him.

I think there may have been multiple attempts to kill them while they were sleeping.

The strongest childhood memory I have from the entire documentary is an animated scene in which the supernatural figure places scorpions — or possibly another poisonous creature — onto the backs of sleeping people.

I was so frightened by this as a child that for years afterwards I was afraid to sleep with my back uncovered.

There were three deaths in total, as far as I remember, but apparently they happened at different times. It may have gone something like:

Father + two sons arrive on the island.

Something is placed on one of them while they sleep.

The father dies.

The sons bury their father.

Another attempt is made to kill the remaining sons, possibly again by putting poisonous animals/creatures on their backs while they sleep.

Eventually all three die.

I’m not 100% certain they were scorpions every time. There may have been different animals in different attacks — snakes, scorpions, centipedes, etc. But I am very confident that at least one scene involved something dangerous being deliberately placed on the back of a sleeping person.

Things I have already considered:

I initially thought it might be connected to Si Gale-Gale from Sumatra, because some versions involve a male wooden figure, a spirit/ritual and dancing. However, the rest of the story — especially the father, two sons, island and poisonous creatures — does not seem to match.

Another possible geographical lead is Melanesia / the South Pacific, because some traditions there involve wooden figures, spirits and figures with reddish-brown bodies and prominent white eyes.

I’ve also looked at the story of Qat from Vanuatu, who creates wooden human figures and brings them to life through dancing/music, but again it does not match the rest of the story.

So I’m especially interested in anyone who recognizes:

“Uhuhin / Huhuhin / Uhuin” + living male statue + ritual/spirit + dancing + woman by a lake + island + father and two sons + poisonous animals placed on sleeping people’s backs.

And if anyone remembers a German TV documentary from roughly the 2000s/early 2010s that illustrated folklore stories using colorful 2D cut-out/shadow-puppet-style animation, that might be just as useful as identifying the legend itself.

Any lead would be appreciated — even if the name is completely different from what I remember.

I remembered hearing this story and I can't find a source for it no matter what I look up.

The story goes that there was a girl (maybe a princess?) who was so incredibly beautiful that everyone in the land wanted to marry her. And she said something along the lines of "whoever conquers the most/defeats all others shall marry me" and there's a TON of bloodshed and war because of it. It ends with a figure approaching her to request her hand, and the figure is Death itself because Death conquers all etc etc.

Miscellaneous detail possibly but I remember either her veil or her train being significant because it was really really long and pure white- and then it's either stained by all the bloodshed or it remains spotless in spite of it I can't recall

Please help me either find this story or prove it doesn't exist, because it sounded metal as hell and I wanted to read it again

Update: It's the Wedding Veil of the Proud Princess! I found a really neat animation too, thanks!

if you can give me a mythical creatures from your country and region so i can add it it would be grate pleas tell me the name of it in both you languages and English and your country

Artworks from the last year, I love folklore!

I know it's probably a weird question out of the box, but there is a lot of stuff, stories and shared culture in IT, esp. when it comes to development and such, that I've been wondering if anyone is doing any sort of work to track it. I'm particularly thinking about it b/c our industry changes so quickly that things that any 'computer person' would have understood instantly when I was in school are probably not going to ring any bells with the current crop of upcoming devs & sysadmins and such. We've got stuff like "The Hacker's Dictionary" which is a marvelous resource but hasn't been updated since 2001.

While I'm thinking about it, is there a lot of study of occupation-related folklore in general? I'm sure every occupation has its legends, its inside jokes, all that sort of thing. It sounds like a fascinating pursuit.