Baltic legendary creatures

300px|thumb|Aitvaras costume in the Parade of Dragons in Kraków in 2012

250px|thumb|right|"Laumė/The Good Witch", 1980 wooden sculpture by Romas Venckus at the Hill of Witches Latvian Lauma or Lithuanian Laumė, or Yotvingian Łauma is a fairy-like woodland spirit, and guardian spirit of orphans in Eastern Baltic mythology or Yotvingian mythology. Originally a sky spirit, her compassion for human suffering brought her to earth to share our fate.

thumb|right|Žaltys and the Holy Fire are depicted in Olaus Magnus' Carta Marina, above the inscription LITVANIE PARS thumb|Parade belt of an officer of the Lithuanian Army, decorated with Žaltys ornaments. thumb|right|Monument to Žaltys in Vyžuonos A žaltys (, literally: grass snake) is a household spirit in Lithuanian mythology. As a sacred animal of the sun goddess Saulė, the grass snake was considered a guardian of the home and a symbol of fertility. People used to keep it as a pet by the stove or other special area of the house, believing that it would bring good harvest and wealth. Killin

Lietuvēns or lietonis (in Latgale also can be called “lītūņš”, similar to Slavic mara (Russian: Мара) or Lithuanian “lauma”) is a mythological creature in Latvian folklore. According to Latvian folk epics and omens, lietuvēns is the soul of a murdered (strangled, drowned or hanged) person cursed to live in this world as long as it has been meant to live. By some beliefs, it is the soul of an unbaptized child. It attacks both people and domestic animals. Sleep paralysis is thought to be torture or strangling by a lietuvēns. When under attack, one must move the toe of the left foot to get rid of