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In addition to the gods who personified the elements and phenomena, the Slavs revered the spirits – owners of specific natural objects and patrons of a particular house. So, in each house, according to the ideas of the Slavs, there was a house spirit. He was often personified with a schur (ancestor), believing that this was the spirit of the long-dead founder of the family. The brownie was considered a domestic deity; the whole life in the house in which he lives depended on him: the very integrity of the house, the health and family well-being of the owners, wealth, property, and pets. The owners of the house always tried to appease the brownie and left him some food for the night. Moving to another place, the Slavs took their brownie with them with the help of a special ceremony.

There is also a fairy-tale character who came to us from the world of ancient Russia – this is Baba Yaga. Now, she is considered an evil witch, and she exists only in fairy tales. Where did it come from? Let us try to figure out who Baba Yaga is. In fact, there is no precise and unambiguous opinion. According to some sources, she is considered the patron of the forest and animals, a kind ancient Greek goddess who guards the underground entrance to the kingdom Far Away (the afterlife). But there is another version that the word «yaga» took its origin from the word «yogi», and Baba Yaga herself is from India. Maybe that is why she is considered a hermit living in the forest, away from people and settlements. This is how hermit yogis used to live. This woman practiced yoga and treated people with herbs. According to other sources, she got this name because she was a very quarrelsome, angry and quarrelsome woman; in Russia, such people were often called Yagishnoyu.