Mischievous Irish Pooka, Shapeshifter And Prankster Has Its Counterparts

A.Sutherland  - AncientPages.com - In our earlier article on AncientPages, we described Pooka, a prankster and a shapeshifter that could take many forms from a black horse to a human.

Pooka is known to be one of the most famous, evil, and feared faeries in Ireland, associated with both good and bad luck.

Tales of very similar creatures are widespread in other parts of the British Isles and even further south in Normandy, France, especially among the Celtic cultures of Northwest Europe.

The Pooka is not unique to Ireland. Ancient Cornish myths and legends tell about a small, human-like creature (a kind of hobgoblin) known to ancient people as ‘bucca’. Similar to the pooka that usually troubles people on the ground, the Cornish hobgoblin bucca, lives among fishermen and can help them or make various troubles to them when not appeased.

The tradition says that bucca goblin, also identified as the ‘black spirit’, had once much better reputation and was a Celtic sea god who declined to the status of demon or hobgoblin. Similar to the Irish pooka is also another prankster that originates in the Cornish lore. This black creature - known as the buggane - also can suddenly change its shape and deliver many troubles.

Many people don’t really understand why, because there are no records of any incidents of the pooka or bucca or another goblin, actually causing a human any harm.

Likewise, there are no known records of capturing any of them or taking photographs, but … just in case, people continue an old tradition to keep these creatures calm and happy.

To stay in good with the bucca, fishermen traditionally leave a fish from their latest catch on the sand or/and toss a piece of bread over their left shoulder and spill a little bit of their beer on the ground. It keeps the bucca quiet and happy.

Also to avoid trouble and chaos within a society, the local people have developed a certain tradition to keep goblins like pooka, happy. It happens that farmers leave behind the so-called ‘pooka share’ suring harvest season.

The ‘pooka share’ means an offering to the creature, to keep it happy and to successfully ward off their troublesome mischief.

This pooka-like trickster goblin was said to knock on doors and then immediately disappear before someone inside opened them.

Just across the English Channel, on the European continent, there are regions such as Britany and Normandy, France, once strongly influenced by ancient Celtic cultures. In the mythologies of these regions, there is an ancient, deep-rooted belief in a mysterious creature known as a ‘pouque’ and stone outcroppings and certain megalithic structures called ‘pouquelée’.

Written by – A. Sutherland  - AncientPages.com Senior Staff Writer

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