ENCYCLOPEDIA OF RUSSIAN SUPERSTITIONS
THE BLUD

A malevolent spirit (blud) is an unclean force.

On the Tersky Coast of the White Sea, the term "blud" is recorded for an unclean force that derails the proper course of life and abducts people and livestock (the term "blud" can also mean "thief"). An example is given: "I lived in Pyalitsa as a nanny. One day, the master and mistress went to dig for berries. Deer ran up to them. The master told his wife, 'You finish digging, and I will go look at the deer.' He left his wife—the wife waited; she called out, but Ivan was not there. So she went home—maybe he had gone home. But he was not there.

They began performing rituals to bring him back. Evidently, he had stepped on an unclean path; the devil had snatched him. They performed the rituals. His wife then had a dream: 'He will be brought to the window and shown at seven o'clock. Take him at that very moment!'

I started playing with the child, and the mistress went to milk the cow. I was playing with the child on the floor. I looked: the master was brought outside the window! His arms were stretched out like that! But the mistress was not there—I couldn't grab him. And they were too late. When they came out of the house, he was already torn entirely into matchbox-sized pieces.

Another time, a cow was led away. He brought the cow—you had to take it at that very moment, as instructed. They did not take it at that very moment—it was torn into pieces!

That's how the blud can play such malicious tricks!"

Marina Vlasova