Likho (Licho): Puzzling And Persistent Demon Of Mischief In Slavic Mythology

A. Sutherland - AncientPages.com - One of the most famous embodiments of evil and bad luck in Slavic beliefs is Likho (Licho) in Eastern Slavic mythology, she is believed to be a demonic creature, portrayed as an old, very thin giant woman in black with one eye.

Likho (in Polish: ‘licho’),  is a puzzzling, fascinating supernatural being that wanders around the world to places where people live happily. It usually set fire to buildings,  sent famine, detroyed fruits and vegetables, harassed livestock left poverty, and disease, and then left to seek other places. Sometimes, Likho whisperd evil thoughts in people's ears.

Was it a demon or an evil deity? No one knows today, but it is important that Likho’s evil deeds have always been feared and never ignored because her mischief could affect anyone.

Background image - LukaszDesign - Adobe Stock

Based on stories of those who met this mysterious, walking disaster, Likho was an ugly, skinny woman with one eye in the middle of her forehead, which could destroy everything that it was looking at.

Other witnesses describe Likho as a little devil, a shaggy, malicious creature living in the forests and fields, often responsible only for small mischief such as loosening the blade ax, breaking plates, or hiding household items much less harmful than those of the one-eyed woman.

Fond of ruining human happiness, the one-eyed Likho rarely appears to people, but she do n0t wish them well.

Despite her nomadic nature, the one-eyed demon could stay weeks or years in the selected place spreading misery and disaster. In this case, the creature observed noble and good persons in order to bring them astray, making their minds totally confused or deprive them luck.

Licho - Image credit: Marek Hapon - CC BY-SA 4.0

In ancient beliefs,  Polish people used this term  to mean an evil spirit, unless they simply preferred to say: the devil or demon.

Likho is known as the master of temptation. It has the ability to successfully whisper to people lies day and night, which makes them believe they talk with their thoughts. Thus, they make bad choices and poor decisions that ruin their lives.

Likho's goal is to make life difficult for people. The demon's malicious actions can touch anyone, so the fear of this demon is intense. Usually, Licho is described as an ugly woman with one eye who can destroy everything in its vicinity.

How can people protect themselves against the evil deeds of the demonic female, Likho? In fact, we can only bravely and patiently deal with misery and wait until the evil demon goes somewhere else and leave us in peace.

The figure of lich has survived to this day in many colloquial expressions, in such phrases as: "do not wake up the likho", "the likho does not sleep", "burn the licho", "likho knows" (literally "licho [only] knows"). In Czech, lichý means idle, vain.  In Ukrainian, it is a type of bad luck or event/incident.

Written by – A. Sutherland AncientPages.com Staff Writer

Updated on December 28, 2023

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