Dvoedushnik – a person with two souls

Dvoedushnik (literally “a person with two souls”) – this is how in Poland and Western Ukraine people called a person born with two souls (or two hearts) – human and demonic. And therefore, it was believed that they have demonic attributes. Evil entities like Vampire, Zmora, Volkolak (werewolf), Bosorkanya, Topielnik, and a person with an “evil eye” – all come to existence from a Dvoedushnik. They could be recognized from ordinary people by few distinctive signs: they are born with teeth, they talk to themselves, there have two curls of hair on the top of their heads. Also, the Poles believed that they were sleepwalkers walking on rooftops in their sleep.
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While Dvoedushnik is asleep, his second soul leaves the body to harm people. Moreover, this does not depend on the personal will of the Dvoedushnik, as he is forced to do so at a certain moment, otherwise he will die. The demonic soul of the Dvoedushnik can take a form of a human or of a dog, cat, snake, bat, even a wheel or a fireplace poker.
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I wonder how a wheel or a fireplace poker can harm a person on their own? 😉
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To be continued…
Pic: Darren Hopes
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