The Albasty
Across Central Asia, people tell of a figure with long hair and backwards feet who sits on the chests of sleepers at night.
What was reported
Among Kazakh, Kyrgyz and other Turkic peoples, the albasty is a spirit in the form of a woman with long, tangled hair, sometimes with her feet turned backwards. She was said to visit at night and sit on people's chests, so they woke unable to move or breathe.
She was especially feared by new mothers, and families kept iron objects and other protective charms near them for protection.
Explanations offered
The pressing on the chest and inability to move closely match sleep paralysis, a common experience explained by the brain waking while the body is still in the paralysis of dreaming sleep. Similar figures appear worldwide, like the kikimora and the mara.
- When
- Told for generations
- Where
- Kazakhstan
- Witnesses
- Turkic and Central Asian tradition
- Status
- Legend
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.
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