Latawica

Chthonia

This episode explores the Latawica, female spirits of the aborted or stillborn in Slavic mythology. The term Latawica is also used in connection with "loose" women, as these spirits that appear as half bird and half human can also shapeshift into seductive forms. As we see in many of these stories, the original version takes on a very different tone once the myth is Christianized, and this is no exception. We discuss beliefs about children who die before they are born, and the implications of connecting these spirits to a kind of succubi, and then to promiscuous women.