Bestiary · Slavic · Night spirit
Mora
Also known as: mora, mory, zmora
A night spirit that sits on the breast of a sleeping person and presses or chokes them; often the soul of a witch.
The mora (zmora) is the nightmare: a spirit that comes at night, sits on the breast of a sleeper and presses or chokes him. In Slavic belief she is often the soul of a living witch, which leaves her body in the form of a butterfly or a moth. Afanasyev links the word with Morana and with the words for death and darkness, and compares the mora with the German Mahr.