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Saturday 8 October 2022

Feldgeister: field spirits and corn demons


There are many sinister paranormal creatures in Germany called Feldgeister, which means "field spirits" or demons. They're part of folklore and it was believed that these field entities are connected to the land through agriculture. People leave some of the grains and fruits as offerings to them. It's viewed that the spirits live in the stalks of farm fields and they could be killed when the crops are cut so plenty of them escape from harvesters. Coming from this belief is the making of corn dolls to bring the spirits back to villages as this craft is also a staple part of Autumn customs. 

While there are so many Feldgeister spirits, it's a creepy subject for the season. The Kornkind are small children that are actually spirits of grain. There's royalty among these spirits such as the king and queen of oats, who dominate the field. There are many animal spirits of the field in the shape of birds, rabbits, deer, mice, foxes, horses and frogs. Most well known is a Weizenvogel that means wheat bird. A much darker bird spirit of the field is a "grain rooster" who lurks in the field and to peck out the eyes of children. Other nasty Feldgesiter animals includes the Roggenwolf (rye wolves), Kornhund (corn dog), Kornkater (corn cat), Roggensau (rye pig) and Pea Bear.  

Creepier still are the animal-human hybrid spirits such as "cat man" and evil "goat man". Most deadliest of the Feldgeister are the Roggenmuhme and Hafermann. The Roggenmuhme ("rye aunt") is a hag entity made of fire and tar, who carries a wooden stick weapon that causes lightning and she shapeshifts into animals. Known to kidnap children who pick cornflowers, and she is said to have demon dogs with her. She eats humans, and punishes farmers for a bad harvest since she lives on the grain. The Hafermann is scary "oat man" who wears black clothes and a hat. He carries a large stick and steals children in the field. 

Those are just some of the Feldgeister terrors. To learn more about these spirits and demons, visit the Feldgeister info Wikipedia page here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feldgeister  

She Wolf Night   

  

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