Been down the rabbit-hole of #Croatian #folklore - here's a #thread of what I found:

' #VAMPIRES IN DALMATIA: THE EXAMPLE OF THE VILLAGE OF ŽRNOVO ON THE ISLAND OF #KORČULA IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY' https://hrcak.srce.hr/138625 

This one is especially close as its my family island.

'From #Folklore to Fiction: Early Literary Manifestations of the #Vampire Motif' https://hrcak.srce.hr/200179 

Fun fact: the term 'vampyr' first appeared in an 11th century Slavic manuscript vilifying #Bogomils, a #Gnostic dualist heresy that was endemic to the #Balkans

' #Witches' Zoopsychonavigations and the Astral Broom in the Worlds of #Croatian Legends as (Possible) Aspects of #Shamanistic Techniques of Ecstasy (and Trance)' https://www.researchgate.net/publication/333726479_Witches'_Zoopsychonavigations_and_the_Astral_Broom_in_the_Worlds_of_Croatian_Legends_as_Possible_Aspects_of_Shamanistic_Techniques_of_Ecstasy_and_TranceVjesticje_zoopsihonavigacije_i_astralna_metla_u_

'The island of #Korčula: Illyrians and Greeks' https://hrcak.srce.hr/193079 

'Vilenica and Vilenjak: Bearers of an Extinct #Fairy Cult' https://hrcak.srce.hr/33230  #Croatian #folklore @seelie_wight

#Funfact: Petar Zoranić, #poet and author of the first #Croatian novel written in 1536, had been instructed by a #fairy.

'A REVIEW OF CONTEMPORARY RESEARCH ON
#CROATIAN MYTHOLOGY IN RELATION TO NATKO
NODILO' https://doi.org/10.3986/Traditio2018470202

'The #Werewolf as a Religious and Ethnic Other in a #Herzegovinian Legend' http://www.folklore.ee/folklore/vol77/mencej.pdf

'THE RIDDLE: AN EXAMPLE OF CIRCULATING WATER' https://hrcak.srce.hr/33478  - egs from #Croatian #Renaissance poems of cosmogonic riddles with the theme of circulating water and the annual cycle, presented through the image of the #WorldTree from older #IndoEuropean mythic structures.

' #Dante in Old #Croatian Poetry' https://hrcak.srce.hr/149312  #Funfact: #Croatia makes an appearance in #Paradiso XXXI, 103-108 and the poet Dante traveled through the territory with his friend Bishop Augustin Kazotic.

'MULTIPLE FEATURES IN THE #ORION CONSTELLATION AS RECOGNIZED IN #CROATIAN #FOLKLORE ' https://hrcak.srce.hr/43468  @serbiaireland

' #Shamanism on Slovenian Territory? Dilemmas Concerning the Phenomena of Shamanism, Spirit Possession and Ecstasy' https://hrcak.srce.hr/4950  "folk belief in ... the #vedomec and/or the #kresnik whose souls, be it voluntarily or because of a »higher power«, leave their bodies."

'On "Štrige", "Štriguni" and "Krsnici" on Istrian Peninsula' https://hrcak.srce.hr/4953  "They are traces of memory of the mythical battle between sunny, celestial, thunder god Perun, and the giant snake from the underworld, coming from the dark part of the year."

"This battle is continual since the beginning of time, and every time the snake abandons its place and starts its journey upwards, up the hill, Perun strikes it with his stone lightning ... This is the eternal battle between good and evil, Perun and Veles, krsnik and štriga."

#BuffyTheVampireSlayer is 'real', if she was actually also Giles: "A #krsnik or #kresnik is a type of #vampire hunter, a #shaman whose spirit wanders ... in the form of an animal ... at night to fight off the kudlak, his evil vampire antithesis ..." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krsnik_(vampire_hunter)

"The legend evolved from a pre-Christian myth present in Slovenia and #Croatia (mainly Istria and the islands), where the celestial pagan god Perun is locked in eternal combat with the evil snake of the underworld, Veles."

"The #krsnik is taught magic by Vile ( #fairies), and in traditional medicine has the ability to heal people and cattle."

"However, due to the undocumented nature of oral tradition, it's difficult to determine with certainty how much of #kresnik folklore originated from #Slavic #mythology ( #kresnik (deity), and how much arose from a separate shamanistic tradition."

"After Christianization, the #kresnik instead was claimed to have learned #magic at the School of #BlackMagic in Babylon, but retained benevolent traits as a generous and powerful friend of the poor."

"The origin of the name may be from the word 'krst', which means "cross", and which in #Serbia is the word for a stone sign denoting village boundaries. It may also be derived from the same root as the Slav word for "resurrection," ... approximating "resurrector.""

"Similar beliefs circulated among the Italian Benandanti cult. Also see zduhać."

"A zduhać and vetrovnjak in Serbian tradition, and a dragon man in Bulgarian, Macedonian and Serbian traditions, were men believed to have an inborn supernatural ability to protect their estate, village, or region against destructive weather conditions." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zduha%C4%87

"It was believed that the souls of these men could leave their bodies in sleep, to intercept and fight with demonic beings ... Having defeated the demons and taken away the stormy clouds they brought, the protectors would return into their bodies and wake up tired."

"In the region of Birač, zduhaći were said to meet with angels "on the leaves of high and thick branches". They were sometimes thought to have a prophetic gift."

"However, a zduhać could ally himself with the Devil, and use his innate power in accordance with the Devil's directions. That zduhać was doomed to turn into a #vampire, unless he confessed and repented."