How to recognize a warlock? The ancient Slavs used a name “warlock” for someone who acquired advanced knowledge and witchcraft skills through the study of “black magic” books. Russian, Ukrainian and Slovak legends describe the warlock appearance: long (below the waist) uncombed hair, uncut nails and black clothes. Slovaks thought that the warlock lives in a cave where he keeps his books. And from time to time, he turns his disciples into pigeons… North Russia Slavs believed that the warlock must be buried face down, otherwise he would turn into a walking dead. In a Slovak story, after the death of a witch, people threw her book into the oven, and a black crane flew out of the chimney…
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Southern Slovaks believed that a warlock could come into the house and demand milk from a black cow or goat and eggs from a black hen. If he was refused or deceived, he could curse a housewife to illness by pulling a single hair from her. Also, as punishment, he could cast rabies decease on a cow or summon a thunderstorm with lightning to burn the sheaves. For those who welcomed him, the warlock helped to acquire wealth and saved sheaves from thunderstorms in the field.
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What else could give away a warlock in a person, in your opinion? 😉
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Illustration: NI Yipeng www.artstation.com/sawman
