Fern Flower
Published on August 2, 2019

Pogostnik

  • Father Pogostny
  • The Tsar of the Cemetery
  • The King of Death
  • The King of Death
  • Koschei Kostyanoi
  • The owner of the Churchyard

Description

The graveyard keeper or the Owner of the cemetery this creature exists in different mythologies under different names. The Slavs called him Batyushko Pogostny, Koshchey Kostyanoy, Host, the King of the Cemetery, Batka, the Owner of the Graveyard, etc. Sometimes it is believed that this is a female being. It depends on the version of origin that the people adhere to. There are several opinions about its origin.

Some believe that he is the first deceased to be buried in this cemetery, and someone, whose he is the personification of all the dead who are buried in it.

Those who adhere to the latter belief believe that he is endowed with reason and stores a lot of knowledge not only about the afterlife, but also the memory of all those buried, which is why they can ask for help. He protects the cemetery.

It can be seen, heard and/or felt for the living. Most often it looks like a gray fog or a clot of black "energy", which can freely change the trajectory and speed of movement, but it may also seem like an animal or a bird.

Pogostnik in popular culture