POŁUDNICA is a mythical noon demon common to the various Slavic countries of Eastern Europe. She is only seen on the hottest part of a summer's day and is a personification of a sun-stroke. She often takes the form of whirling dust clouds stalking her prey before taking on a human form. She may appear as an old hag, a beautiful woman, or a young girl, and carries a scythe, sickle, or farmer shears. Południca will stop people in the field to ask them difficult questions or engage them in conversation. If anyone fails to answer a question or tries to change the subject, she will cut off their head or strike them with illness or madness. She has been useful in scaring children from valuable crops. . Other names of this demon: Południca in Polish, Полудница (Poludnitsa) in Serbian, Bulgarian and Russian, Polednice in Czech, Poludnica in Slovak, Připołdnica in Upper Sorbian, and Полознича (Poloznicha) in Komi, Chirtel Ma in Yiddish. . #Inktober #inktober2017 #Południca #poludnitsa #polednice #poludnica #chirtelma #noonwitch #noondemon #heatstroke #heatdemon #farmwitch #farmdemon #femaledemons #illustration #drawing #monsterwoman #death #horror #folklore #demon #micron #drawing #linedrawing #alexkujawa #artwork #artistoninstagram #instart