Devana, Zevana, less often Zievonya is the goddess of wild nature, forests, hunting and the moon worshiped by the Western Slavs. In the sources, she was first mentioned in the 15th century by Jan Długosz, who compared her to the Roman goddess Diana. Dziewanna is also a Polish name for Verbascum, and the etymology of the word is unclear. After strong criticism from Aleksander Brückner, researchers rejected her authenticity, but nowadays it is accepted by an increasing number of researchers. Sometimes, in folk rituals, she performs together with Morana.
Strzyga is usually a female demon in Slavic mythology, which stems from the mythological Strix of Ancient Rome and Ancient Greece. The demon is similar to a vampire, and is predominantly found in Polish and Silesian folklore.
A changeling, also historically referred to as an auf or oaf, is a human-like creature found throughout much of European folklore. A changeling was a substitute left by a supernatural being when kidnapping a human being. Sometimes the changeling was a 'stock', more often the changeling was a supernatural being made magically to look like the kidnapped human. Supernatural beings blamed for stealing children included fairies, demons, trolls, nereids and many others. Usually, the kidnapped human was a child; but there were cases, particularly in Scandinavia and Ireland, where adults were taken.
Latvian Lauma or Lithuanian Laumė, or Yotvingian Łauma is a fairy-like woodland spirit, and guardian spirit of orphans in Eastern Baltic mythology or Yotvingian mythology. Originally a sky spirit, her compassion for human suffering brought her to earth to share our fate.
Jacek Malczewski was a Polish symbolist painter who was one of the central figures of the patriotic Young Poland movement. His creative output combined the predominant style of his times with historical motifs of Polish martyrdom, the romantic ideals of independence, Christian and Greek mythology, folk tales, as well as his love of the natural world. He was the father of painter Rafał Malczewski.
Science fiction and fantasy in Poland dates to the late 18th century. During the latter years of the People's Republic of Poland, a very popular genre of science fiction was social science fiction. Later, many other genres gained prominence.
The Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków, is a public institution of higher education located in the centre of Kraków, Poland. It is the oldest Polish fine art academy, established in 1818 and granted full autonomy in 1873.
Wlastimil Hofman was a Polish painter, one of the more popular painters of the interwar and postwar years.
Mythic humanoids are legendary, folkloric, or mythological creatures that are part human, or that resemble humans through appearance or character. Each culture has different mythical creatures that come from many different origins, and many of these creatures are humanoids. They are often able to talk and in many stories they guide the hero on their journey.
Dziwożona is a female swamp demon in Slavic mythology known for being malicious and dangerous. Most at risk of becoming one of these demons after death were thought to be midwives, old maids, unmarried mothers, pregnant women who die before childbirth, as well as abandoned children born out of wedlock.
Jacek Grembocki is a Polish football manager and former player. Besides Poland, he has played in Venezuela and Germany.
The National Museum in Poznań, Poland, abbreviated MNP, is a state-owned cultural institution and one of the largest museums in Poland. It houses a rich collection of Polish painting from the 16th century on, and a collection of foreign painting. The museum is also home to numismatic collections and a gallery of applied arts.
Andrzej Piotr Grabowski is a Polish actor, singer and comedian. He is best known for playing the role of Ferdynand Kiepski in the TV series The Lousy World.
Wroniec is a fantasy novel published in 2009 by the Polish science fiction writer Jacek Dukaj, published in Poland by Wydawnictwo Literackie. The novel is extensively illustrated by Jakub Jabłoński. It was nominated for the prime Polish award for science-fiction literature, the Janusz A. Zajdel Award, as well as the Angelus award, in 2009. It also received the Autumn 2009 prize of the Poznański Przegląd Nowości Wydawniczych.
Jadwiga Maria Kinga Bal (Balowa) of Zaleszczyki, née Brunicka was a Polish baroness and a lifelong muse of Jacek Malczewski, considered Poland's national painter. She served as the live model for a series of his symbolic portrayals of women, as well as nude studies and mythological beings. Most were completed before the interwar period when Poland had not yet achieved independence.
Polish Hamlet. Portrait of Alexander Wielopolskiis an oil painting by Jacek Malczewski from 1903, presenting the allegorical grandson Aleksander Wielopolski and two different visions of the fate of the Polish nation.
Rozhanitsy, narecnitsy, and sudzhenitsy are invisible spirits or deities of fate in the pre-Christian religion of the Slavs. They are related to pregnancy, motherhood, marriage and female ancestors, and are often referenced together with Rod. They are usually mentioned as three together, but sometimes up to 9 together, of whom one was a "queen" or singular. They are related to Dola, but it is not known on what terms. In Poland they were worshipped as zorze (auroras).
In Slavic paganism there are a variety of female tutelary spirits associated with water. They have been compared to the Greek Nymphs, and they may be either white (beneficent) or black (maleficent). They may be called 'Navki, Rusalki, and Vily.
Rafał Marceli Ludwik Fortunat Józef Malczewski was a Polish landscape and portrait painter, draughtsman, author and columnist. He was a noted Tatra mountaineer, skier and populariser of the Tatra Mountains.
"A drowned man in the arms of a dziwożona", Jacek Malczewski
Opętany, Jacek Malczewski (a man bewitched by a boginka)
Boginka tatrzańska, Walery Eljasz Radzikowski (1905): a highlander meets boginka of Tatry
