Ever asked yourself if there’s something spooky lurking under the stairs? Or got the feeling you weren’t quite ‘home alone’? In Western culture, film and fiction, house spirits usually have sinister associations, connected to spiteful poltergeists or the tormented souls of previous inhabitants. Their very presence points to something gone far wrong with the natural way of things. The Russian domovoi is rather a different proposition, as it’s actually supposed to share your home with you.

The domovoi is thought to inhabit the house, and is often depicted as living in or around the stone oven, which is the domestic heart of the house (although one TV animation set in a modern flat has him living in the rubbish bin!). Always a male spirit, he functions as a kind of supernatural head of household, and accordingly is treated with a great deal of respect. He is to be given offerings, spoken to kindly and respectfully and his wishes are to be followed with regard to household management. Working out the detailed preferences of an ethereal being could be time-consuming and sceptics would say pointless, nevertheless in former times families spent a great deal of thought on this very venture. And once he was pleased, very often there was still his wife, the domovikha, to consider.

So why bother? First of all, the domovoi has a great positive power attributed to him, and keeping him happy and content binds him to the family and encourages him to endow prosperity and health upon them. The domovoi is treasured as a member of the family, and should even be invited to come with you if you move house. Conversely, an angered domovoi can cause animals to sicken, marriages to fail, and also manifest physically like a poltergeist – ‘haunting’ the family concerned. The other portrayal of the domovoi is as a whimsical character who is unpredictable and likes to play tricks and stir things up sometimes, by moving things and animals about, giving people a fright etc.

Where does the domovoi come from? The belief is certainly very ancient, pre-dating Christianity’s presence in Russian culture. Anthropologists such as Linda J. Ivanits view the domovoi as evolving from an ancient ancestor cult, with the spirit therefore bound by blood ties to the family he watches over.
I find interesting the modern depiction of the sprite – you can buy souvenir domovoi, which are cute, ugly little figures made of sacking with straw hair and often a broom. It reminds me of fairies in British culture -a modern emasculation of an older and more potent idea. Anyway, when you’re off to bed tonight, don’t forget to say night night to your domovoi – just in case.