Hausgeist

Home. And the little creatures who make it that way.

I grew up with the German version, which is Heinzelmännchen. They are little dudes that come into your house while you are asleep at night, and help with chores, fix things, clean things and are generally helpful. Funny, compared to the examples from other cultures below, the German one seems the most downright practical. Efficient little Heinzelmännchen:

The "official" story goes more like this (wikipedia) "The little house gnomes are said to have done all the work of the citizens of Cologne during the night, so that the inhabitants of Cologne could be very lazy during the day. According to the legend, this went on until a tailor's wife got so curious to see the gnomes that she scattered peas onto the floor of the workshop to make the gnomes slip and fall. The gnomes, being infuriated, disappeared and never returned. From that time on, the citizens of Cologne had to do all their work by themselves."

These guys below are Scottish, and they are called Brownies. Wikipedia says "Brownies are said to inhabit houses and aid in tasks around the house. However, they do not like to be seen and will only work at night, traditionally in exchange for small gifts or food. Among food, they especially enjoy porridge and honey. They usually abandon the house if their gifts are called payments, or if the owners of the house misuse them. Brownies make their homes in an unused part of the house."
Here they are:

 

The Tomte: The Swedish version, or Nisse (Norway and Denmark). These guys also came by night, to the houses of farmers to watch over their homes and children. This illustration of a Tomte is from 1539:

The Domovoi: the Slavic version of the houseghost. Not so cute. But very loveable. One could get attached, as I think they do too.

Here is what wikipedia says about them: "The main purpose of a domovoi is usually that of a household protector from "the evil eye", although this often varies from tale to tale. Domovois are masculine in nature and typically resemble small, bearded and haired old people, often with anxious faces...Some tales describe them as being doppelgangers of the household masters while others either give them a completely monstrous appearance, or none at all. The actions performed by a domovoi vaguely resemble (but are not limited to) those of poltergeists from Western European mythology in description, although they are not necessarily harmful. The same can also apply to pets or even certain household objects."

The incarnation of the home from a different culture, here is Hestia, the Greek Goddess of the hearth. I wonder which of these tales is older - that of the Goddess or that of the houseghost.... Here she is, tending the fire:

Hestia is not the most glamorous of deities. Talk about taking a home for granted: "Hestia, first daughter of Cronus and Rhea is the virgin goddess of the hearth, architecture, and of the right ordering of domesticity and the family. She received the first offering at every sacrifice in the household. She sat on a plain wooden throne with a white woolen cushion and did not trouble to choose an emblem for herself."

Not sure why this image snuck in here...it's of the Norse Goddess Frigg, wife of Odin. Probably becasue she is an ur-mother and home-maker. In this picture she is spinning clouds:

'tis ever more the season

I like the idea of Santa as an army of little "Heinzelmännchen". These are dwarf-looking creatures of German folklore - mostly in the sense that they wear pointy red hats and are tiny. Though Heinzelmännchen are very, very tiny, and they come out at night to help you by cleaning, or repairing, or making things. Friendly little domestic spirits. Mythical cleaning ladies. This is a great topic to be explored at length later.
For now: Santa trying on different outfits in front of the mirror:
you can buy them for lots of money here, or hire a cleaning lady.

'tis the season

Glow Zoo

This would be nice to have at home. Even though I am an "adult".

This Is So Interesting, I Postponed The Other Post

My ancient nokia cell phone (tiny, robust, and lightweight - ah, those were the days) recently lost its last useful function, which was that of an alarm clock. After it enjoyed a brief stint as a friend's emergency replacement phone, the alarm just wouldn't ring anymore.

The tiny animated bell on the display would roll from side to side, and the word "Alarm!" would flash aggressively, but all was silence. Perhaps my little old phone was overwhelmed when it came into contact with my friend's sim-card, which was full of complicated Blackberry data. Maybe, being of old age, it couldn't handle the abrupt change in its routine. Suddenly it was supposed to make calls again, when it was used to whiling away its days by the side of the bed, ringing every morning, and watching the seasons change through the window.

The only visible clue I could find was a tiny symbol in the center of the display that was always, idly present. It was barely 10x10 pixels big, and it looked vaguely like a tiny VW Bug-like car in profile. It had two little windows and two teensy wheels. I figured, in the car, you use your headset, so all is quiet. This is a usefull setting. So I scoured the phone's menus, sub-menus, sub-sub-menus, and so forth, trying to undo the setting that caused the litte car to appear and my phone to be mute. I went as deep into the phone's brain controls as I could penetrate. Which is not all that far.

I never found the setting anywhere. Maybe it wasn't a car, maybe it was a tiny skull. Maybe it was a herald of death, announcing the end of my phone's life. And so I did my part. Since it was no longer able to fulfill faithfully its wake-up services I eventually let the batteries run out. After using my iPhone for a week or two (which has obnoxious sound effects and lacks the haptic qualities that make more sense in half-sleep) I decided to look around for a new alarm clock. And this is what this post was really supposed to be about: Radio Alarm Clocks!

One more thing before I get to the other fascinating thing I want to discuss: I wanted to snap a photo of the mini-death-car to illustrate my mesmerizing tale. I went to grab the old Nokia, which for some reason, was charging on the window sill. But I wasn't able to get a picture of the mini-death-car...becasue it's gone! The phone is all buttons-a-beeping and alarm-a-ringing again! A magical resurrection form the ashes of exile! Of course by now I have spent 2 hours on ebay looking at so many great old radio alarmss that I'm having trouble picking one out, let alone cancelling the whole idea of buying one. I will hold on to little Nokia though. I'm sure it will come in handy. Haha! (This was a stupid pun for German speakers.)

Thank you for your time.