Where do house wights come from? Do they form their association with the house as it is built? Has anybody ever asked one?

Didcot.


As far as I can make out, from our ones, they are similar to land wights but seem to prefer being indoors, which I can't blame them for. I don't know at what point they turned up but we've only lived here 3 years and the house is 80 years old, they seem quite attached to it though and are pleased we're gradually fixing the botched DIY and putting a bit of love into the place. I didn't like the house at all for a while when we first moved in, I put a lot of that down to the mistrust of the house wights (not my term actually, but it fits just as well). I love it now.

We're prety sure our parents house has at least one. And they're not keen on god-botherers, they've been quite menacing in the past.
The original house is about 150 years old, we moved in 31 years ago and they've been there all that time.
It's a very rural area and would have been extremely isolated at the time the house was built. Non-conformism landed with a bump in the village in the early 19th century (dad's chapel is possibly the oldest purpose-built babptist chapel in the country built in 1829) so possibly the wights (or whatever) had to hide somewhere?
Just noodling now, really I have no idea.
Not keen on them due to past experiences, but I understand they can b e beneficial.
BM
xx

Forgive me sounding dumb...but what is a house wight?

Every house has a genius locii or spirit of place, it is just a case of awakening it. As to specific folkloric entities such as wights, they normally choose to in habit a place of their own volition and we have bugger all say in the manner.

That being said they can be coaxed, for example I have currently started working toward the relocation of a particular spirit whose natural habitat is endangered, this process involves interacting with said spirit, finding out what they like, drawing up a contract with them to agree to provide what they like if they relocate and then transplanting a bit of where they "were" to where they are to go in order to give them a path or link for relocation to where they are to go, which in turn should resemble their original habitat as closely as possible.

Lol of course all this is dependant on you beliveing on this kind of stuff mind you

Maybe i am wrong but it seem that house wights and land wights are a heathen thing. Do non-heathens have them too?

I'm not a heathen, I'm a hedgewitch, and I tend to refer to them as house brownies or 'come on you buggers give it back'.

I've had them in every house I've ever lived in, including my flat in France. The ones in my current home have been very subdued recently, probably because the place is a mess and they don't approve.

I've also got one who's followed me around since I lived in Grenoble, who seems particularly attached to the computer area of my house.

I think they develop as the house/apartment/room is lived in, and sort of flesh out around their original form as the years go by.

Woozle, I'm a bit along the lines of VV on this one. Here we mutter dire imprecations, accusing family members of shifting/stealing things. Then we realise.
At which point can be heard,
"Bollox! That wee buggers got it! Oi! You! Bring it back! Erm - please..."

Or it's a case of - another broken glass? Ho hum - how long is it since we gave her some cider...?

every house in ireland has them... I am not sure about apartments
but tbh i reckon anywhere you live, inhabit, sleep and eat they turn up.
there's lots of names for them here but they are often called boogities or boogies. ALso, there is the widespread tradition of leaving out milk or other offerings for the sí but they are outside, and wild, whereas the others are indoors and wild.IMO they're not pets, they're not automatically friendly but it you treat them well they'll respond and they are loyal to the place.

I swear I have seen ours on more than one occassion. Just a hint of something scooting across the room or behind something seen from the corner of your eye but when you look round there is nothing there.

That reminds me, the measure for the dog biscuits reappeared last night, must remember to say thanks. Wonder if they like Lindesfarne mead.

I get those fleeting glimpses of them too Smiter! And here was me blaming it on the drams...

was hilarious the other night, one of my cats obviously saw one and shot after it, the cat spent ages sitting waiting on it moving again. We thought perhaps there was a spider but we moved everything and there was nothing there so can only presume it was one of our residents.

My first of many stupid questions I'm sure but.....

Lets just say I believe in these guys walking around my house. How would I go about having a chat/seeing them etc etc...

From personal experience they're very shy and you don't see them/have a chat with them. The ones I've encountered don't want to sit down and have cosy talks, they just want to inhabit "their" house, to get on with their own life/existence etc.

When they interact, they do so on the edges, as has been described: just on the corners of vision, pilfering stuff etc.

Try putting out a glass of something nice, leave a corner of the house just "be" and basically demonstrate that you're trying to inhabit the house in conjunction with it in the friendliest possible terms

Bit of a sweeping statement that. I've never come across one myself and I certainly wouldn't say I'm closed off to the concept. I actually think it depends a lot on the environment and history of the place the house is built. I dont see why wights wouldn't be like any other being and have habitats.

Do they just test to attach to a property or drawn to the people in it ?

I'd personally quite like to take mine with me if we ever get to sell house

This is starting to sound like my "Pixies" may in fact be Wights... hmmm interesting thought.

If one takes to you, it might consent to go with you. In general, most prefer to stick with the property as they seem to have links with the land around it. IME, anyway.

We have housewights as well. They can be funny buggers and difficult to deal with at times. At special times of year - Yule, for instance , or birthday celebrations, we always include them because they can get rather aggrieved if left out. We tend to leave food and beer on the hearth for them.

There are stories of people trying to get rid of their wights - the more troublesome ones - and failing. They've resorted to moving but the wights just follow.

The word "wight" (Old English wiht, Iceland vaettre) is a general umbrella term for the various beings of the other worlds. You've got your housewights, landwights, waterwights, and so on and this would include the alfar (elves) and sometimes even the gods themselves.

pixies, wights, gnomes, brownies... many names for one beastie.

If you leave food/drink out for wights how long do you leave it? Is it rude to remove it the next morning?
BM
xx

I leave food for a day or two, and drink for several days. But then, the drink is generally cider or calvados. It's more normal to leave milk or cream, in which case I'd do the same as for food.

They go by so many different names. I tend to call them by what ever local name is most used or by the name they seem to prefure - although that can be a bit hit and miss, and rarther 'fun' to live with while you work it out.

Quite a few of the houses I have lived in have had these extra residents, but then I have tended to live in older properties and ones in more suburban and rural settings.
For example the river house in Preston had a couple but the one in the town centre seemed not to... The houses I grew up in, in Ruislip had, but my first house in Slough did not. My current house has one, very shy, 'little one'. It seems to prefure the attic, I guess because it does not get disterbed much up there, but I have also senced its presance on the landing. Just sort of keeping an eye on things.

As others have commented, the art is to find a happy way of living togeather... sometimes I feel more like a guest in it's house, than the other way round or being my own master in my own place.
You sort of work out a happy median, placate with gifts and generally keeping it onside by looking after the house and its environs.

Be bright, be bold
Fillionous

Ah, now everything fits into place. Just a name. Makes life easier.
Anyone who comes here with an open mind immediately feels our 'wights'. We get lots of natural medicine practitioners at the B&B and many of them say the same thing, even to the extent of pointing out where they reside.
'Oi give it back' made me laugh. The charactersitic must be the same worldwide! Can at times be infuriating though. The seem to prefer keys and tools ime.
I never much worried about them, they are just there and i let them take what they will but, a question for those of you with personal expeience, are they better left alone considering i just let them get on with their lives and they do the same, or would be all benefit by some form of direct contact? Let sleeping dogs lie sort of thing or you scratch my back?
While we're on the subject. In our old house wights have been documented since the 1400s. The place was famous for them especially in the 1600s during the religious turmoil here. Neither i nor anyone else living has ever felt their presence. Anyone know what causes them to move?

I don't think anyone knows what makes them move. In the old fairy stories you could induce brownies to move by giving them a suit of clothes - but those were the type of wight which did the housekeeping, rather than hiding/breaking things. Anyone know who to induce such wights to live in one's house?