Yamauba

Yamauba looks like a scary, ugly old woman. Her hair is groomed, they are long and gray. Often depicted in a red kimono , dirty and torn. The witch’s huge mouth is spread all over her face, according to some descriptions, she has two mouths. At the same time, the yamauba is able to change her appearance, which helps her to lure gullible people to her. Sometimes she is confused with Yuki-onna ( Snow Woman ).

Yamauba lives in the depths of the mountains and forests of Japan . And in our time, some areas of this country are called, where, according to legend, these creatures live. According to most legends, her home is a kind of forest hut. The witch lures travelers lost in the forest and devours them. Sometimes she appears before her victim in the form of his cousin or a beautiful girl, sometimes in her usual guise, appearing to be a helpless old woman. Having lulled the victim's vigilance, the yamauba kills him and devours on the spot. Sometimes a witch lures the careless into her hut, feeds her and then eats. Sometimes she, being called a conductor, leads the unfortunate into steep rocks and pushes them into the abyss. In other cases, the yamauba is able to turn its hair into poisonous snakes stinging the victim.

Yamaube is also charged with kidnapping and eating children. In Japan, parents use this image, scaring their offspring if they disobey.

Since the yamauba resembles They in many respects, some researchers attribute it to these demonic creatures. The essential difference between yamaub and they is that it - unlike demons - is not invincible. Some legends say that the jamauba is a creature of the night, but in the afternoon it is immobilized. It is also told that its only weak point is a certain flower, in which the soul of the jamauba is located. If this flower is found and destroyed, then the witch will perish.

Yamauba is not very smart, and sometimes her victims manage to outwit the witch. On the other hand, she is a recognized master of witchcraft, an expert on healing and enchanting drinks, as well as poisons. There are cases when a witch shares her secret knowledge with one of the people, if he brings her another person to eat, or is capable of any other satanic exchange.

The existence of legends about yamaub was traced by scientists from the Heian period ( 794 - 1185 years ). Despite its nature, predators and villains, in some compositions of the yamaub it is also shown on the positive side. So, in one of the dramas for the theater but Zeami Motokiyo Yamauba appears as a loving nurse, who raised and raised the great hero and sage Sakata no Kintoki . In other works, she is sometimes portrayed as an eternally lonely traveler, living in harmony with nature.

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  Hokusai apprentice Totoya Hockey. Yamauba

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  Suusi Yama. Yamauba

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  Hokusai. Yamauba

• Baba Yaga