Poludnitsa- Slavic SpiritSpirit"Lady Midday"
Also known as: Polednice, Południca, Полудница, and Pscipolnitsa
Titles & Epithets
Domains
Symbols
Description
At the stroke of noon she rises from the shimmering grain fields — sometimes a beautiful woman in white, sometimes a hag with a scythe — and drives mad or kills those who failed to stop their labor when the sun stands highest.
Mythology & Lore
The Two Faces
She appears in two forms. Sometimes she is a young woman in white, so beautiful that field workers stop and stare until they forget their names and their way home. Sometimes she is a hag with a scythe, reaping anyone who has not stopped working when the sun stood highest. In either form, the result is madness or death.
The Hour of Questions
In her strangest guise, Poludnitsa approaches a lone worker and begins to talk. She asks whatever enters her mind. The interrogation lasts exactly one hour. The worker must answer every question without faltering, without fleeing, without losing focus. If the conversation holds until the danger passes, the worker lives. If it breaks, Poludnitsa kills. The only defense against the noonday spirit is to keep talking.
Relationships
- Family