water spirit#Celtic

{{Short description|Elemental spirit associated with water}}

{{See also|Water deity|Water sprite}}

{{Lead too short|date=January 2022}}

A water spirit is a kind of supernatural being found in the folklore of many cultures:

African

File: Brooklyn Museum 79.115.1 Water Spirit Mask Igbo.jpg (Brooklyn Museum)]]

Some water spirits in traditional African religion include:

| last = Drewal

| first = Henry John

| title = Sacred Waters: Arts for Mami Wata and other divinities in Africa and the diaspora

| editor-last = Drewal

| editor-first = Henry John

| contribution = Introduction: Charting the Voyage

| place = Bloomington

| publisher = Indiana University Press

| year = 2008

| isbn = 978-0-253-35156-2

}}, p. 1.

  • Owu Mmiri of some riverine people of Nigeria are often described as mermaid-like spirit of water.{{Cite news|url=http://www.imdiversity.com/Villages/Global/Global_News_Headlines/ServingTwoMasters.asp|title=Serving Two Masters: The Case of the Self-Confessed Christian and Priestess of the Water Goddess|date=2007-07-30|work=Daily Sun (Nigeria)|access-date=2018-04-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100207133258/http://www.imdiversity.com/Villages/Global/Global_News_Headlines/ServingTwoMasters.asp|archive-date=2010-02-07}}
  • A jengu (plural miengu) is a water spirit in the traditional beliefs of the Sawa ethnic groups of Cameroon, particularly the Duala, Bakweri, and related Sawa peoples. Among the Bakweri, the name is liengu (plural: maengu).
  • A simbi is a mermaid-like or reptilian spirits from Kongo tribe and related to Vaudou religion.

Celtic

In Celtic mythology:

  • An each uisge is a particularly dangerous "water horse" supposed to be found in Scotland;{{cite journal|last=MacPhail|first=Malcolm |date=1896|title=Folklore from the Hebrides|journal=Folklore|volume=7|issue=4|pages=400–04|doi=10.1080/0015587X.1896.9720386|url=https://zenodo.org/record/2393304}} its Irish counterpart is the Aughisky.
  • The Gwragedd Annwn are female Welsh lake fairies of great beauty.
  • A kelpie is a less dangerous sort of water horse. There are many similar creatures by other names in the mythology including:
  • the tangie (Orkney and Shetland)
  • the Blue men of the Minch ("na fir ghorma": Scottish Gaelic pronunciation: [nə fiɾʲ ˈɣɔɾɔmə]) (The Minch)
  • the nuggle also known as the shoopiltee or njogel (Shetland)
  • the cabbyl-ushtey (Isle of Man)
  • the Ceffyl Dŵr (Wales)
  • the capaill uisce or the glashtin (Ireland)
  • Morgens, Morgans or Mari-Morgans are Welsh and Breton water spirits that drown men.
  • Selkie

Germanic

In Germanic mythology:

Ancient Greek

In Greek mythology:

  • Naiads were nymphs who presided over fountains, wells, springs, streams, and brooks
  • Crinaeae (Κρηναῖαι) were a type of nymph associated with fountains
  • Limnades or Leimenides (Λιμνάδες / Λειμενίδες) were a type of naiad living in freshwater lakes.
  • Pegaeae (Πηγαῖαι) were a type of naiad that lived in springs.
  • Nereids were sea nymphs.
  • Sirens were bird-bodied women living in the sea near a rocky island coastline.

Japanese

In Japanese folklore:

  • {{nihongo|Kappa|河童||"river-child"}}, alternately called {{nihongo|Kawatarō|川太郎||"river-boy"}} or {{nihongo|Kawako|川子||"river-child"}}, are a type of water sprite.
  • A {{nihongo|Hyōsube|ひょうすべ}} is a hair-covered version of a Kappa.

Turkic

In Turkic mythology:

  • Su Iyesi is a water spirit. People should not make her angry. Turkic people do not pollute the water so as not to anger the Su Iyesi. Su Iyesi is mostly considered female.{{Cite journal |last=Burnakov |first=Aleksei Venariy |date=2013 |title=Вода в традиционном мировоззрении хакасов: образ и символ (конец XIX — середина XX в.) |url=https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/pub/tdded/issue/12722/154970 |journal=Türk Dünyası |issue=36}}

Mesoamerican

South American

Filipino

  • Siyokoys, hostile aquatic humanoids

Oceanic

In the mythology of Oceania:

Roman

In Roman mythology:

Slavic

{{main|Slavic water spirits}}

In Slavic mythology:

  • A Vodyanoy (also wodnik, vodník, vodnik, vodenjak) is a male water spirit akin to the Germanic Neck.
  • A Rusalka (plural: rusalki) was a female ghost, water nymph, succubus or mermaid-like demon that dwelled in a waterway.
  • А Berehynia in ancient Ukrainian folklore is a goddess spirit that guarded the edges of waterways, while today it is used as a symbol for Ukrainian nationalism.
  • Moryana is a giant sea spirit from Russian folklore.
  • For potoplenyk, vila/wila/wili/veela, and vodianyk, see also Slavic fairies.

Nordic

File:Vöyri-Maksamaa.vaakuna.svg pictured in the coat of arms of Vörå]]

{{main|Norse folklore#Folklore figures}}

In Finnish mythology, the water folk (vedenväki) are a group of creatures living under water and their magical power. According to the Kalevala, there are many spirits in the water, including water goblins (vesihiisi), water elves (vetehinen or näkki), mermaids and small men rising from the sea, who sometimes appeared to help people with great power. Anyone who was afraid of water or behaved inappropriately near water could incur the wrath of the water folk and become ill. The water folk also included individualized and named water spirits, such as Ahti, Vellamo and Iku-Turso.{{cite book|title=Suomen kansan vanhat runot|publisher=Finnish Literature Society|year=1908–1948|language=fi}}

Thai

  • Phi Phraya (ผีพราย, พรายน้ำ), a ghost living in the water.
  • Phi Thale (ผีทะเล), a spirit of the sea. It manifests itself in different ways, one of them being St. Elmo's fire, among other uncanny phenomenons experienced by sailors and fishermen while on boats.

Jain

Apakāya ekendriya is a name used in the traditions of Jainism for Jīvas that were reincarnated as rain, dew, fog, melted snow and melted hail.{{cite journal|title=Journal of the Department of Letters|volume=5|journal=Journal of the Department of Letters|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BDxQAQAAMAAJ&dq=Ekendriya&pg=PA352|page=352|author=University of Calcutta: Department of Letters|date=1921|publisher=Calcutta University Press, originally from University of Chicago}}

References

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{{Fairies}}

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Category:Water spirits