Pooka

Pooka or Phouka

Phouka - Can appear in various animal forms and are considered to be dangerous. Pooka pronounced poo-ka is from the old Irish ‘Puca, which means ‘goblin’. There are many variations of the spelling Pooka some of which are Puca, Plica, Phuca,Pwwka, Puka or Pookha all of which are totally acceptable. It is possible that the origin of the word Pooka may come from the Scandinavian word Pook or Puke meaning ‘nature sprit’. In Ireland, the Pooka seems to be the most feared Faerie possibly because it appears only at night and enjoys creating havoc and mischief. We feel this is doing the Pooka an injustice because there are no recorded incidences of a Pooka actually causing a human any harm. A Pooka is a shape-shifter and can take any form it chooses but usually it is seen in the form of a dog, rabbit, goat, goblin or even an old man but traditionally a Pooka is seen as a dark, sleek horse with a long wild flowing mane and luminescent golden eyes. An important thing to always remember about a Pooka is that they have the power of human speech and when inclined make great sport of those they talk to as they like to embellish the truth. Where can you find a Pooka? Pooka’s can be found in any rural location and every county in Ireland has its very own Pooka. They like open mountainous areas so that they can run free while in horse form. Many small mountainous lakes and springs in Ireland are called ‘Pooka Pools’ or ‘Pollaphuca’, which means Pooka or Demon hole. Some of these are found at the sources of major Irish rivers such as the Liffey that runs through Dublin or the River Bann, which is the longest river in Northern Ireland that runs through Coleraine in County Derry. Over the last thousand years Christians have changed the name of some of the Pooka Pools to St. Patrick’s Wells. Pooka superstitions & customs There are a lot of superstitions and customs that are still observed to-day in Ireland regarding the Pooka and these vary depending on which region you happen to find yourself in. Although there seems to be a common ground when you talk about a Pooka some of the stories are alike and just differ on the minor details. Would you accept a Lift? When a Pooka is in horse form, which it seems to favour a lot, he tends to have fun by inviting a rider to jump on his back this seems to happen when the rider has had a little too much to drink and is making his weary way home from the pub and would gladly jump at the chance of a lift. Thus starts the wildest trip the rider will ever know for the Pooka loves to terrify the rider with its great prowess jumping over hedges and rocks and making death defying leaps. Come the grey dawn the rider is thrown off the Pookas back and left trembling but none the worse from the night’s events to find his own way home. This is maybe where the Pookas reputation slips a bit as while on a wild night out like this they do tend to run through crop fields and knock down fences without a care. Stop For a Chat Another thing the Pooka love, as with all us Irish people, is to chat and will happily stop and ‘shoot the breeze’ with you, sometimes giving great advice and making exceptional prophecies. In some rural areas you will see houses that will have a bench on the right side of the door and the gatepost on the right will be smooth whereas on the left there will be a rockery or some sort of uncomfortable mound this is because a good Pooka will always sit on the right and the more mischievous sprite will favour the left. The Pooka tends to use the same opening gambit to introduce himself it will be something like, “You are new here I think. Many years ago I used to live in this house..” One of his favourite topics is how the family lost its fortune or was swindled out of their money and lands. The odd thing about a conversation with a Pooka is that you may have sat and chatted to him for over an hour but he will suddenly disappear without saying good-bye (a Pooka never says good-bye) and you will be left with the uncomfortable feeling of not knowing for sure if the past hour was real. The Pooka will never leave any sign that he was there. The Pookas Share Pookas are mainly associated with Samhain (31st Oct) and November 1st is considered Pookas Day. This coincides with the harvest and the traditional customs that when the harvest is being brought in the reaper must leave a few stalks behind this is called the Pookas share and must be left to appease the Pooka because we for one would not like to incur his wrath. It is said that when we see the rain falling on a sunny day, which it does a lot in Ireland, the Pooka will definitely be out and about that night. Also berries that have been killed by the frost overnight should never be eaten as it is the Pookas spit that is on them and that would render them poisonous. Pooka in modern Popular Culture The Pooka in all his shapes and forms has made it into many books and films one of the most famous is Harvey the six foot white rabbit from the play by Mary Chase immortalised in film by Jimmy Stewart. Or the infamous scene in Darby O’Gill and the Little People when the Pooka scares Darby into falling down the well and he first meets King Brian. More modern films have Pookas appearing in animal form as well for example in the 2001 film Donnie Darko, a Pooka in rabbit form encourages Donnie to do malicious acts which have a positive and negative result on the people around him.