There is a phrase: “Kikimora of the Swamp”! However, according to folk beliefs, Kikimora doesn’t live in the swamp but resides, like the domovoy (household spirit), near humans – in the house, often behind the Russian stove. In some places, she was even considered the wife of the domovoy. How did our ancestors coexist with such spirits? According to beliefs, Kikimora would emerge from behind the stove deep in the night and start causing mischief: breaking dishes, howling or whistling, and scattering things around the house. Kikimora also loved to visit the chicken coop at night to pluck the chickens. But her favorite prank was to tangle the wool and yarn prepared by the housewife for spinning. As a result, quarrels would erupt among the household members, fires would break out, or chickens would die from mysterious illnesses. No doubt, it was the cursed Kikimora wreaking havoc! There was a belief that Kikimoras were the spirits of children who died in infancy without being baptized or those cursed in their mother’s womb. People believed that the souls of such children could not find peace for a long time and turned into Kikimoras. They would appear as infants, beautiful girls, or conversely, as hunchbacked old women. To calm the cursed spirit, housewives would dig up the root of a fern in the forest, make a decoction from it, and use it to rinse pots and pans. In some places, such as the Kostroma province, this character was known as “Shishimora”. According to beliefs, she loved to torment chickens at night – sneaking up and plucking their feathers. To protect against such trouble, housewives would hang a stone with a hole in it, known as a “chicken god,” at the entrance to the chicken coop. They would also hang a bottomless pot or the neck of a broken jug. There was a special ritual where chicks were passed through a harness or an iron hoop. The choice of these items was not accidental, as in folk beliefs, such objects with holes were considered symbols of motherhood and maternal protection.