We share extracts from a curious article published by The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Wee Folk. We highly recommend this Website since it has a complete guide to the understanding of this creatures, as well as many interesting resources.
Websource of the complete text and picture shared below at:
"Among the Household Sprites include the Scandinavian Tomte, the Finnish Haltija, Slavic Domovoi, the Heinzelmännchen and some Kobolds of Germany, and English Hobs, and Hobgoblins, the Welsh Coblyn, some of the Hawaiian Menehune, the ancient Roman Lares, and many others. They are the sprites of the household, and they take vital interest in the families they have adopted.
Household Sprites tend to be very small, perhaps as small as the hand of an adult human. Like pixies and brownies, they dress in human clothes, but their clothes are much less likely to be anachronistic. They usually are very retiring at any time their families are awake, and are only very rarely seen.
Household Sprites tend to live in parts of the home that are unused. In a house with an empty room, they will often move in there. They are very likely to live in attics or seldom used closets. If they are pressed for space, they will move into the space behind the books on a shelf or under a bed.
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Household Sprites tend to be very small, perhaps as small as the hand of an adult human. Like pixies and brownies, they dress in human clothes, but their clothes are much less likely to be anachronistic. They usually are very retiring at any time their families are awake, and are only very rarely seen.
Household Sprites tend to live in parts of the home that are unused. In a house with an empty room, they will often move in there. They are very likely to live in attics or seldom used closets. If they are pressed for space, they will move into the space behind the books on a shelf or under a bed.
(...)
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| Illustration from English Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs, 1902. Public domain. |
Some Household Sprites seem rather unpleasant, until you get to know them. In earlier times, there were sprites of the woodpiles. In later times, when people began to burn coal, these same sprites moved to the coal bins, and became rather dirty looking. Now, in an age when people tend to burn oil or gas, they simply sit in the basement, alone or in small groups. I am not sure why, but they also seem to be hunched and rather grumpy. They are not at all unpleasant, once you get to know them. They have a wonderful sense of humor, and seem quite fond of people who are willing to visit them, provided, of course, that they and their homes are treated with respect
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There are a few Household Sprites who like to move often. These are members of tribes that historically have lived nomadic lifestyles. They are, however, in a minority. Most Household Sprites find home moving distressingly unsettling, to the point that they often leave families who move too often. They could stay in a house, and adopt the next family to move in, but it is usually too late for that by the time they have come to realize their families will move often. The result is that there are large numbers of displaced, and homeless, Household Sprites.
A homeless Household Sprite is a truly pitiable creature. We can do something about it, and this should be easy for a lot of people who are likely not to move about, especially if they like to do manual work such as cooking, sewing, gardening, playing acoustical musical instruments and so on. People who paint and sculpt can especially benefit from households sprites, who very much like participating and can impart spiritual energy to the artwork. The thing we need to do is open our homes to them.
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