Editing Will-o'-the-wisp (section)

==Global folklore==
===Americas===
{{redirect|Feu follet|other uses|Feu follet (disambiguation)}}

[[Mexico]] has equivalents. Folklore explains the phenomenon to be witches who transformed into these lights.  Another explanation refers to the lights as indicators to places where gold or hidden treasures are buried which can be found only with the help of children. In this one, they are called luces del dinero (money lights) or luces del tesoro (treasure lights).

The swampy area of [[Massachusetts]] known as the [[Bridgewater Triangle]] has folklore of ghostly orbs of light, and there have been modern observations of these ghost-lights in this area as well.

The fifollet (or feu-follet) of [[Louisiana]] derives from the French. The legend says that the fifollet is a soul sent back from the dead to do God's penance, but instead attacks people for vengeance. While it mostly takes part in harmless mischievous acts, the fifollet sometimes sucked the blood of children. Some legends say that it was the soul of a child who died before baptism.<ref name="J._Gordon_Melton">{{cite book|last=Melton|first=J. Gordon|date=1999|title=The Vampire Book|publisher=Visible Ink Press|page=[https://archive.org/details/vampirebookencyc00melt/page/7 7]|isbn=978-1578592814|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/vampirebookencyc00melt/page/7}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://vampireunderworld.com/category/types-of-vampires/north-american-vampires/ |title=North American Vampires|website=VampireUnderworld.com|date=2012-03-25}}</ref>

Boi-tatá ({{IPA|pt|bojtaˈta}}) is the [[Brazil]]ian equivalent of the will-o'-the-wisp.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.terrabrasileira.net/folclore/regioes/3contos/boitata.html|title=O Boitatá |trans-title=The Boitatá |website=Terrabrasileira.net|language=pt|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091218220628/http://www.terrabrasileira.net/folclore/regioes/3contos/boitata.html|archive-date=December 18, 2009|url-status=usurped|access-date=November 18, 2011}}</ref> Regionally it is called ''Boitatá'', ''Baitatá'', ''Batatá'', ''Bitatá'', ''Batatão'', ''Biatatá'', ''M'boiguaçu'', ''Mboitatá'' and ''Mbaê-Tata''. The name comes from the [[Old Tupi language]] and means "fiery serpent" (''mboî tatá''). Its great fiery eyes leave it almost blind by day, but by night, it can see everything. According to legend, Boi-tatá was a big serpent which survived a great [[Flood myth|deluge]]. A "boiguaçu" (cave anaconda) left its cave after the deluge and, in the dark, went through the fields preying on the animals and corpses, eating exclusively its favourite morsel, the eyes. The collected light from the eaten eyes gave "Boitatá" its fiery gaze. Not really a dragon but a giant snake (in the native language, ''boa'' or ''mboi'' or ''mboa'').

In [[Argentina]] and [[Uruguay]], the will-o'-the-wisp phenomenon is known as luz mala (''evil light'') and is one of the most important myths in both countries' folklore. This phenomenon is quite feared and is mostly seen in rural areas. It consists of an extremely shiny ball of light floating a few inches from the ground.

In [[Colombia]], [[la Bolefuego]] or Candileja is the will-o'-the-wisp ghost of a vicious grandmother who raised her grandchildren without morals, and as such they became thieves and murderers. In the afterlife, the grandmother's spirit was condemned to wander the world surrounded in flames. In [[Trinidad and Tobago]], a [[soucouyant]] is a "fireball witch" — an evil spirit that takes on the form of a flame at night. It enters homes through any gap it can find and drinks the blood of its victims.

===Asia===
{{anchor|India}}
{{See also|Chir Batti|Naga fireball}}
Aleya (or marsh ghost-light) is the name given to a strange light phenomenon occurring over the marshes as observed by [[Bengali people|Bengalis]], especially the fishermen of [[Bangladesh]] and [[West Bengal]]. This marsh light is attributed to some kind of [[marsh gas]] apparitions that confuse fishermen, make them lose their bearings, and may even lead to drowning if one decided to follow them moving over the marshes. Local communities in the region believe that these strange hovering marsh-lights are in fact Ghost-lights representing the ghosts of fisherman who died fishing. Sometimes they confuse the fishermen, and sometimes they help them avoid future dangers.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.pak-times.com/2009/04/07/bengali-ghosts/|title=Bengali Ghosts|first=Ambarish|last=Pandey|work=[[Pakistan Times]]|date=April 7, 2009|access-date=November 18, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111025215051/http://www.pak-times.com/2009/04/07/bengali-ghosts/|archive-date=October 25, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://booksobsession.blogspot.com/2009/10/hbt-guest-post-with-author-saundra.html|title=Blog post by the author Saundra Mitchel of the novel "Shadowed Summer" at Books Obsession|website=Booksobsession.blogspot.com|date=October 9, 2009 |access-date=November 18, 2011}}</ref> Chir batti (ghost-light), also spelled "chhir batti" or "cheer batti", is a dancing light phenomenon occurring on dark nights reported from the [[Banni grasslands]], its seasonal marshy wetlands<ref name="Ghost lights that dance on Banni grasslands when it's very dark; August 28, 2007; The Indian Express Newspaper">{{cite news|url=http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=253114|title=Ghost lights that dance on Banni grasslands when it's very dark|author=D V Maheshwari|date=August 28, 2007|work=[[The Indian Express]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090114034106/http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=253114|archive-date=January 14, 2009}}</ref> and the adjoining desert of the marshy [[Salt pan (geology)|salt flats]] of the [[Rann of Kutch]]<ref>"I read somewhere that on dark nights there are strange lights that dance on the Rann. The locals call them cheer batti or ghost lights. It's a phenomenon widely documented but not explained." Source: [http://www.intoday.in/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&issueid=&id=313&Itemid=&sectionid=8&secid=48&completeview=1 Stark beauty (Rann of Kutch)]; Bharati Motwani; September 23, 2008; [[India Today]] Magazine, Cached: Page 2 of 3 page article with these search terms highlighted: cheer batti ghost lights rann kutch [http://www.intoday.in/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=313&Itemid=1&issueid=&sectionid=8&secid=48&limit=1&limitstart=1], Cached: Complete View – 3 page article seen as a single page [https://archive.today/20120803102541/http://www.intoday.in/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&issueid=&id=313&Itemid=&sectionid=8&secid=48&completeview=1]</ref><ref name="Ghost lights that dance on Banni grasslands when it's very dark; August 28, 2007; The Indian Express Newspaper" /> Other varieties (and sources) of ghost-lights appear in folklore across India, including the Kollivay Pey of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, the Kuliyande Choote of Kerala, and many variants from different tribes in Northeast India.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Bhairav|first1=J. Furcifer|title=Ghosts, Monsters, and Demons|last2=Khanna|first2=Rakesh|publisher=Blaft Publications Pvt. Ltd.|year=2020|isbn=978-9380636474|location=India|pages=11–13}}</ref> In Kashmir, the [[Bramrachokh]] carries a pot of fire on its head.

[[File:Will-o'-the-wisp of Russia.jpg|thumb|A Japanese rendition of a Russian will-o'-the-wisp]]

Similar phenomena are described in Japanese folklore, including {{nihongo||人魂|[[hitodama]]|extra=literally "Human Soul" as a ball of energy}}, ''hi no tama'' ("ball of flame"), ''aburagae'', {{nihongo||小右衛門火|koemonbi}}, ''ushionibi'', etc. All these phenomena are described as associated with graveyards. [[Kitsune]], mythical [[yokai]] demons, are also associated with will 'o the wisp, with the marriage of two kitsune producing kitsune-bi (狐火), literally meaning 'fox-fire'.<ref>Lombardi, Linda. "Kitsune: The Fantastic Japanese Fox". tofugu.com</ref> These phenomena are described in [[Shigeru Mizuki]]'s 1985 book ''Graphic World of Japanese Phantoms'' (妖怪伝 in Japanese).<ref name="Shigeru">Mizuki, Shigeru. "Graphic World of Japanese Phantoms". 講談社, 1985. {{ISBN|978-4062023818}} {{page needed|date=December 2022}}</ref>

In Korea the lights are associated with rice paddies, old trees, mountains or even in some houses and were called '[[Dokkaebi|dokkebi]] bul’ (Hangul: 도깨비 불), meaning goblin fire (or goblin light). They were deemed malevolent and impish, as they confused and lured passersby to lose their way or fall into pits at night.
[[File:粦-bronze.svg|thumb|Character 粦 in bronze script. Its shape depicting a person surrounded by fire like dot and dancing with emphasised feet.]]
The earliest Chinese reference to a will-o'-the-wisp appears to be the Chinese character 粦 lín, attested as far back as the Shang dynasty oracle bones, depicting a human-like figure surrounded by dots presumably representing the glowing lights of the will-o'-the-wisp, to which feet such as those under 舞 wǔ, 'to dance' were added in bronze script. Before the [[Han dynasty]] the top had evolved or been corrupted to represent fire (later further corrupted to resemble 米 mǐ, rice), as the small seal script graph in a dictionary [[Shuowen Jiezi]], compiled in the Han dynasty, shows. The dictionary explained that it was "ghost fire" coming from dead men, horses and cattle during wars and their blood turned into this kind of fire after many years. Although no longer in use alone, 粦 lín is in the character 磷 lín phosphorus, an element involved in scientific explanations of the will-o'-the-wisp phenomenon, and is also a phonetic component in other common characters with the same pronunciation.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=%E7%B2%A6&oldid=71954921|title=粦|date=March 17, 2023|via=Wiktionary}}</ref>

Chinese polymath [[Shen Kuo|Shen Gua]] may have recorded such a phenomenon in the [[Dream Pool Essays|Book of Dreams]], stating, "In the middle of the reign of emperor Jia You, at Yanzhou, in the Jiangsu province, an enormous pearl was seen especially in gloomy weather. At first it appeared in the marsh… and disappeared finally in the Xinkai Lake." It was described as very bright, illuminating the surrounding countryside and was a reliable phenomenon over ten years, an elaborate Pearl Pavilion being built by local inhabitants for those who wished to observe it.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XINLC2ubHqwC&q=pearl+pavilion+light+marsh&pg=PT99 |title=Wonders in the Sky: Unexplained Aerial Objects from Antiquity to Modern Times |isbn=978-1101444726 |last1=Vallee |first1=Jacques |last2=Aubeck |first2=Chris |date= 2010|publisher=Penguin }}</ref>

===Europe===
{{See also|Supernatural beings in Slavic folklore}}

In European folklore the lights are often believed to be the spirits of un-baptised or stillborn children, flitting between heaven and hell ([[purgatory]]).{{sfnp|Kittredge|1900|loc=p. 438, n3}}

In Germany there was a belief that a ''Irrlicht'' was the soul of an [[Unbaptized Infants|unbaptised child]], but that it could be redeemed if  the remains are first buried near the eaves of the church, so that at the moment rainwater splashes onto this grave, the churchman could pronounce the [[baptismal formula]] to sanctify the child.{{Refn|Zerrenner (1783)<ref name="zerrenner1783"/> cited by Rochholz.<ref name="rochholz1862"/>}}

In [[Sweden]] also, the will-o'-the-wisp represents the soul of an [[baptism|unbaptised]] person "trying to lead travellers to water in the hope of being baptized".<ref>The Element Encyclopedia of Vampires (Theresa Cheung), HarperCollins</ref>{{unreliable source?|date=July 2023}}

[[Danish people|Danes]], [[Finns]], [[Swedish people|Swedes]], [[Estonians]], [[Latvians]], [[Lithuanians]], and Irish people and amongst some other groups believed that a will-o'-the-wisp also marked the location of a treasure deep in ground or water, which could be taken only when the fire was there. Sometimes magical procedures, and even a [[Hand of Glory|dead man's hand]], were required as well, to uncover the treasure. In Finland and several other northern countries, it was believed that early autumn was the best time to search for will-o'-the-wisps and treasures below them. It was believed that when someone hid treasure in the ground, he made the treasure available only at the summer solstice [[Midsummer|(Midsummer, or Saint John's Day)]], and set a will-o'-the-wisp to mark the exact place and time so that he could reclaim the treasure.

The Aarnivalkea (also known as virvatuli, aarretuli and aarreliekki), in [[Finnish mythology]], are spots where an eternal flame associated with will-o'-the-wisps burns. They are claimed to mark the places where [[faerie]] gold is buried. They are protected by a glamour that would prevent anyone finding them by pure chance. However, if one finds a fern seed from a mythical flowering [[fern]], the magical properties of that seed will lead the fortunate person to these treasures, in addition to providing one with a glamour of invisibility. Since in reality the fern produces no flower and reproduces via spores under the leaves, the myth specifies that it blooms only extremely rarely.

====Britain====
{{See also|Puck (mythology)}}
[[File:Will-o-the-Wisp by Harriet Hosmer.jpg|thumb|upright|Sculpture of a will-o'-the-wisp by [[Harriet Hosmer]]]]
In [[Welsh language|Welsh]] folklore, it is said that the light is "fairy fire" held in the hand of a [[púca]], or pwca, a small goblin-like fairy that mischievously leads lone travellers off the beaten path at night.{{citation needed|reason="Can find direct quoting of this article but no original source"|date=December 2022}} As the traveller follows the púca through the marsh or bog, the fire is extinguished, leaving them lost. The púca is said to be one of the [[Tylwyth Teg]], or fairy family. In [[Wales]] the light predicts a funeral that will take place soon in the locality. [[Wirt Sikes]] in his book ''British Goblins'' mentions the following [[Welsh mythology|Welsh]] tale about púca.

A peasant travelling home at dusk sees a bright light travelling along ahead of him. Looking closer, he sees that the light is a lantern held by a "dusky little figure", which he follows for several miles. All of a sudden he finds himself standing on the edge of a vast chasm with a roaring torrent of water rushing below him. At that precise moment the lantern-carrier leaps across the gap, lifts the light high over its head, lets out a malicious laugh and blows out the light, leaving the poor peasant a long way from home, standing in pitch darkness at the edge of a precipice. This is a fairly common cautionary tale concerning the phenomenon; however, the ignis fatuus was not always considered dangerous. Some tales present the will-o'-the-wisp as a treasure-guardian, leading those brave enough to follow it to certain riches - a form of behaviour sometimes ascribed also to the Irish [[leprechaun]]. Other stories tell of travellers surprising a will-o'-the-wisp while lost in the woods and being either guided out or led further astray, depending on whether they treated the spirit kindly or harshly.

Also related, the pixy-light from [[Devon]] and [[Cornwall]] which leads travellers away from the safe and reliable route and into the bogs with glowing lights. "Like [[Poltergeist]] they can generate uncanny sounds. They were less serious than their German [[Weiße Frauen]] kin, frequently blowing out candles on unsuspecting courting couples or producing obscene kissing sounds, which were always misinterpreted by parents."<ref>[http://rodneymackay.com/writing/pdf%20files/worldmyth.pdf] [[Portable Document Format|PDF]]  {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090225001000/http://rodneymackay.com/writing/pdf%20files/worldmyth.pdf|date=February 25, 2009}}</ref> Pixy-Light was also associated with "lambent light"<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.alphadictionary.com/goodword/word/lambent|title=lambent - alphaDictionary * Free English On-line Dictionary |website=Alphadictionary.com|access-date=November 18, 2011}}</ref> which the [[Old Norse]] might have seen guarding their tombs. In Cornish folklore, Pixy-Light also has associations with the [[Colt pixie]]. "A colt pixie is a pixie that has taken the shape of a horse and enjoys playing tricks such as neighing at the other horses to lead them astray".<ref>{{cite web|website=Shadowdrake.com|url=http://www.shadowdrake.com/waterhorse.html|title=House Shadow Drake – Water Horses and Other Fairy Steeds|access-date=November 18, 2011|archive-date=September 27, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927144745/http://www.shadowdrake.com/waterhorse.html}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pandius.com/coltpixy.html|title=Colypixy|website=Pandius.com|access-date= November 18, 2011}}</ref> In [[Guernsey]], the light is known as the ''faeu boulanger'' (rolling fire), and is believed to be a lost soul. On being confronted with the spectre, tradition prescribes two remedies. The first is to turn one's cap or coat inside out. This has the effect of stopping the ''faeu boulanger'' in its tracks. The other solution is to stick a knife into the ground, blade up. The faeu, in an attempt to kill itself, will attack the blade.<ref>Folklore of Guernsey by Marie de Garis (1986) {{ASIN|B0000EE6P8}} {{Page needed|date=December 2022}}</ref>

The will-o'-the-wisp was also known as the Spunkie in the [[Scottish Highlands]] where it would take the form of a [[linkboy]] (a boy who carried a flaming torch to light the way for pedestrians in exchange for a fee), or else simply a light that always seemed to recede, in order to lead unwary travellers to their doom.<ref name="Stewart">William Grant Stewart (1823). ''The Popular Superstitions and Festive Amusements of the Highlanders of Scotland''. pp. 161–162. {{ISBN?}}</ref> The spunkie has also been blamed for shipwrecks at night after being spotted on land and mistaken for a harbour light.<ref name="Briggs">Katharine Briggs (1976). ''An Encyclopedia of Fairies''. [[Pantheon Books]]. p. 381. {{ISBN|0394409183}}</ref> Other tales of Scottish folklore regard these mysterious lights as omens of death or the ghosts of once living human beings. They often appeared over lochs<ref name="Alasdair">Alasdair Alpin MacGregor (1937). ''The Peat Fire Flame: Folktales and Traditions of the Highlands and Islands''. Moray Press. pp. 284–285. {{ISBN?}}</ref> or on roads along which funeral processions were known to travel.<ref name="Witchcraft">John Gregorson Campbell (1902). ''Witchcraft and Second Sight in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland''. James MacLehose and Sons. pp. 169–172. {{ISBN?}}</ref> A strange light sometimes seen in the [[Hebrides]] is referred to as the ''teine sith'', or "fairy light", though there was no formal connection between it and the fairy race.<ref name="Campbell">John Gregorson Campbell (1900). ''Superstitions of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland''. James MacLehose and Sons. pp. 6–7. {{ISBN?}}</ref>

====Ireland====
In the late 1930s, schoolchildren across Ireland were tasked with the interviewing of older neighbours and relatives with regards to collecting local history and folklore as part of the [[Irish Folklore Commission]]'s ''[[Irish_Folklore_Commission#School's_Collection|Schools' Collection]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.duchas.ie/en/info/cbe|title=National Folklore Collection (NFC) and its collections|date = 2014-01-01|website=[[Dúchas]].ie |access-date=2025-04-26 }}</ref> Numerous sightings of the phenomenon were recorded as part of the project. One such child, James Curran, relayed information taken from his father about a sighting in [[Harristown, Naas South|Harristown]], [[County Kildare]]:
<blockquote>
My father told me that when he was about fourteen years of age, he was crossing the limekiln of Harristown and he saw a little red ball of fire rolling along in front of him. He ran after it, but he could not catch it as when he would run it would roll quicker, and quicker, and when he would stop, it would stop.
He followed it, all through Clarke's bottoms, across Major Mc Gees land and on to the railway and then it disappeared. He did not know what it was, but his father told him it was Will o' the Wisp.<ref name = duchas_cat>{{Cite journal |last= Curran |first=James | title= Will o' the Wisp |url=https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/5260470/5256180?HighlightText=%22harristown%22&Route=stories&SearchLanguage=ga |date= 1938-02-02|access-date=27 April 2025| journal= [[Irish_Folklore_Commission#School's_Collection|The Schools' Collection 1937-1939]] ([[Irish Folklore Commission|The Irish Folklore Commission]])|volume=0776C |pages=12_037}}</ref>
</blockquote>

===Oceania===
{{See also|Min Min light}}

The [[Australia]]n equivalent, known as the Min Min light is reportedly seen in parts of the outback after dark.<ref name="perrigrew1">{{cite journal |author=Pettigrew, John D. |title=The Min Min light and the Fata Morgana. An optical account of a mysterious Australian phenomenon |journal=Clin Exp Optom |volume=86 |issue=2 |pages=109–120 |date=March 2003 |pmid=12643807 |doi=10.1111/j.1444-0938.2003.tb03069.x |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name="kozicka1">Kozicka, M.G. "The Mystery of the Min Min Light". Bolton Imprint, Cairns 1994 {{ISBN?}}</ref> The majority of sightings are reported to have occurred in the [[Channel Country]] region.<ref name="perrigrew1" />

Stories about the lights can be found in aboriginal myth pre-dating western settlement of the region and have since become part of wider [[Australian folklore]].<ref name="perrigrew1" /> [[Indigenous Australians]] hold that the number of sightings has increased alongside the increasing ingression of Europeans into the region.<ref name="perrigrew1" /> According to folklore, the lights sometimes followed or approached people and have disappeared when fired upon, only to reappear later on.<ref name="perrigrew1" /><ref name="kozicka1" />