About the magical inhabitants of the forest, water, home, courtyard, and even a bathhouse that were once familiar to our ancestors — all kinds of goblin, water, mermaids, brownies, backyards, bath houses — they rarely remember today under the pressure of various Western monsters. Meanwhile, the heroes of Slavic folklore are not at all Kuzya’s housekeeper, a kind and naive kid, and not a monster in love from the fairy tale “The Scarlet Flower”. Our ancestors sincerely believed, in every possible way appealed and were afraid of those creatures that lived nearby. Oh, what is an anchovy, they knew for sure. The world around them was much less comfortable than around you and me, and they had to not only deal with the danger that was not always understood, but also negotiate with it. About what would now be called an accident or a failure, in those ancient times they would say: no other way than the Anchuta ruined.
Who is a junkie?
What kind of creature is this? V. I. Dahl in his Dictionary defines the word "Anchutka" as an imp, a little devil.
It is believed that the word came from the Lithuanian "little duck". And in the Belarusian language there was an option "anchipyr". Hence the simultaneous presence among the signs of Anchuta - the ability to dwell in water and fly. Often it is attributed to water and swamp, and duck legs instead of legs are attributed to its appearance.
In general, it is possible to explain what an anchovy is. Anchutka is a petty evil demon that annoys people in their lives, one of the younger representatives of the Slavic bestiary.
Although it must be understood that the Anchutkas and, in general, Slavic demons have nothing to do with demons and devils, representatives of the dark world among Christians. The only thing that unites them is the desire to harm a person. But they achieve this in many ways.
What do the little ones look like?
As a rule, the anchovy is invisible or not shown to everyone indiscriminately. This is his main ability.
For its true appearance, the Anchutka was popularly called either "horned", then "haphazard", then "hastless." Hence the most traditional version of the descriptions of the anchovy: this is a small, untidy shaggy little imp, with webbed wings behind its back. The head is often bald, with horns, as expected to representatives of evil spirits. The lower extremities are with hooves (the option is with bird feet), on the upper - three, sometimes four, fairly long tenacious fingers.
However, as a representative of the elements, Anchutka easily transformed into any creature. To confuse my head — to a relative or acquaintance of whom I came to frighten — into a suddenly flying whirlwind or into some kind of animal of black color. Sometimes it appeared in the form of a deceased, especially at night in the house.
What kind of junkies are there?
In Slavic mythology, many different types of anchovies “inhabited”: field, water, swamp, brownies, bathhouses. It was believed that all of them were aimed exclusively at evil deeds and wrecking.
The smallest of the anchovies - field workers - were divided into potato, hemp, oatmeal, sprigs, etc. They lived inside plants and at the time of harvest were left homeless. Therefore, it was considered correct that the devils should not be angry, to leave them a little unearthed potatoes, not mowed grass, not harvested ears. And the one who did not follow this custom was expected to lose.
Water imp is the most fierce of the whores. He could attack a person floating, for example, squeeze a leg with a cramp, try to drag him to the bottom. Marshland lured into bogs. Polevik could send a flurry, lead him off the right road, suddenly put him to sleep and "put" him to sleep in the cold, so that a person would freeze or even die. Bannik could frighten with moans and tear clothes in the bath.
Anchutka, who settled in the bathhouse, seemed to be a curse for the family in the old days: supposedly, if such a guest appeared, it would certainly bring illness, and every year one of the household would die.
Sometimes a person who meets an anchovy gets sick or begins to rave, behave in public in the most strange and indecent way.
Little stories dedicated to meetings with this representative of evil spirits report: Anchutka, who appeared in the form of a person, will certainly betray himself. Either hoofs that suddenly appeared, or a flickering tail.
How did you deal with the anchovy?
It was believed that only sorcerers could effectively resist these representatives of evil. And then, in a very peculiar way. To occupy him, the sorcerer entrusted him with work in the household, or even planted him for counting something small, for example, grains of sand or grains.
It was possible to pacify the anchovy even by the house, if the inhabitants of the house could "agree" with him.
And when meeting with the sudden appearance of something frightening on the road, in order to avoid unhappiness, one ought to "get stuck" - that is, say "chur me!" and show the cookie cookie. You could also poke something in the anchovy with iron. And if you suddenly see - some value or a beautiful thing is lying on your way, do not bend down, advises a belief, and do not lift, bless first.
There was a ban on not leaving food open for the night - supposedly, an anchutka will surely try it, and after it the one who has eaten will be relieved or will get sick necessarily.
Anchutki do not like specially made amulets, salt and iron. In the old days, it was customary to carry a handful of salt with a rag or an iron (silver) pin. Entering the bathhouse, they threw some salt in front of them. Having met an anchovy, a person had to remember Chur, one of the divine guardian spirits of the house and its inhabitants.
A person who had a chance to see firsthand what an anchovy was was milked with honey and honey for a whole week - this was the only way to recover from the charms of this creature.
And if an anchovy settled in a house or a bathhouse, it was simply impossible to expel him. The owners moved out or died one by one, the house and household were crippled and fell into decay, and the place around them was considered "damned." And they got rid of the "restless spirit" only by dismantling the house along a log to the very foundation and, for reliability, covered it with salt. Another "bad" house or bath could be burned. And then build again.
Conclusion
There were a lot of mystical facts "from the anchovy" with dying, sick, scared or raging from incomprehensible damage in ancient times. As well as stories about other representatives of evil spirits.
And then all these beliefs went so far back that, for example, the word "Anchutka" simply became abusive. Since the devil seemed an untidy, grimy and nasty creature, they said about a man who fell into such sloppiness - "he became like an anchovy."