# Title: [[{ 2022-09-05 The Traditions of Household Spirits]] ## Metadata - `Tags:` [[Heathenry]], [[disir]], [[spirits]] - `Type:` { - `Author:` [[@Claude Lecouteux]] - `Notable Authors:` - `General Subject:` [[Spirituality]], [[folklore]] - `Specific Subject:` [[spirits]], [[Spirituality]] - `ISBN:` 978-1-62055-105-9 - `DOI:` - `Publish Date:` 2000 - `Reviewed Date:` #✅️/🟩️ ## Citation ```latex @book{lecouteuxTraditionHouseholdSpirits2013, title = {The Tradition of Household Spirits: Ancestral Lore and Practices}, shorttitle = {The Tradition of Household Spirits}, author = {Lecouteux, Claude}, year = {2013}, publisher = {{Inner traditions}}, address = {{Rochester, Vermont}}, isbn = {978-1-62055-105-9}, langid = {english}, lccn = {GR549 .L4313 2013}, keywords = {Haunted houses,Jinn,spirits,spirituality,disir,heathenry}, annotation = {ZSCC: NoCitationData[s0]} } ``` ## Notes: ### Chapter 1 - The Romans believed that spirits lived at the boundries of their "domesticated" areas i.e. the fields and that this area was "no mans land" - Implying that the spirits were something to be wary of or feared - The border of fields considered as supersticious a place as former cemetaries, crossroads, a place of a suicide, or where animals were slaughtered "because death is contagious" - A common theme is the anthropomorphization of the home - A burned home is a death - An abanndonned home that have fallen to ruin is a death - People avoid places of death for their homes and even try to dwell amongst the spirits briefly to see if they will accept them in this new location (spend a night or two at a potential site and see if the spirits drive you away) - It seems that the germanic pagan roots and nordic roots held that spirits (like [[Jotunn]]'s -- nature pursonified) were something you lived alongside V.S. the Romans who seem to place the spirits in the realm of things to keep at arms length and be cautious of. - Natural forces ever present but not to be trifled with, but appeased or welcomed with offerings and intention - Building structures in places where animals stopped to rest and graze or where were signs of life like insects etc. is a perfect example of the indiginous and pagan cultures close ties with the land and symbiotic relationship with it. - Blood or lives for humans or animals was offered as payment, sacrifice, offering, or bribe to the spirits of the land or to the trees killed to build a home - Blood to appease the spirits to not be vengeful to the inhabitants and cause their deaths in the year to come - To christen a dwelling in preparation for inhabitants to occupy it - Sacrificing humans for such things every time buildings are established doesnt make much sense in the grand sociological scheme of things. - A productive and collaborative society is not made strong by constantly sacrificing its members ### Chapter 2 - Homes have been anthropomorphized, the destruction of its roof is the equivalent of it's death - Household spirits called *domovoj* described with incredible similarity to the Tomte, bearded dwarves except their noses and eyes ### Chapter 3 - --- Reading ceased as the book cannot hold my attention at all and thus i choose to put effort elsewhere --- ## Summary of key points: - ## Context: ==(How this article relates to other work in the field; how it ties in with key issues and findings by others, including yourself)== - ## Significance: ==(to the field; in relation to your own work)== - ## Important Figures and/or Tables: ==(brief description; page number)== - ## Cited References ==to follow up on (cite those obviously related to your topic AND any papers frequently cited by others because those works may well prove to be essential as you develop your own work):== - ## Other Comments: -