Americas Mexico has equivalents. Folklore explains the phenomenon to be witches who transformed into these lights. Another explanation refers to the lights as indicators to places where gold or hidden treasures are buried which can be found only with the help of children. In this one, they are called luces del dinero (money lights) or luces del tesoro (treasure lights). The swampy area of Massachusetts known as the
Bridgewater Triangle has folklore of ghostly orbs of light, and there have been modern observations of these ghost-lights in this area as well. The fifollet (or feu-follet) of Louisiana derives from the French. The legend says that the fifollet is a soul sent back from the dead to do God's penance, but instead attacks people for vengeance. While it mostly takes part in harmless mischievous acts, the fifollet sometimes sucked the blood of children. Some legends say that it was the soul of a child who died before baptism. Boi-tatá () is the Brazilian equivalent of the will-o'-the-wisp. Regionally it is called
Boitatá,
Baitatá,
Batatá,
Bitatá,
Batatão,
Biatatá, ''M'boiguaçu
, Mboitatá
and Mbaê-Tata
. The name comes from the Old Tupi language and means "fiery serpent" (mboî tatá
). Its great fiery eyes leave it almost blind by day, but by night, it can see everything. According to legend, Boi-tatá was a big serpent which survived a great deluge. A "boiguaçu" (cave anaconda) left its cave after the deluge and, in the dark, went through the fields preying on the animals and corpses, eating exclusively its favourite morsel, the eyes. The collected light from the eaten eyes gave "Boitatá" its fiery gaze. Not really a dragon but a giant snake (in the native language, boa
or mboi
or mboa''). In Argentina and Uruguay, the will-o'-the-wisp phenomenon is known as luz mala (
evil light) and is one of the most important myths in both countries' folklore. This phenomenon is quite feared and is mostly seen in rural areas. It consists of an extremely shiny ball of light floating a few inches from the ground. In Paraguay, will-o’-the-wisps are interpreted in popular tradition as indicators of the so-called
plata yvyguy, referring to goods buried underground that are believed to have been hidden both by the Jesuits after their expulsion in 1767 and during the Paraguayan War (1864–1870). According to popular belief, the nocturnal appearance of a brief, moving flame, which travels from one place to another and extinguishes at a specific point, marks the exact location where such a treasure is buried In Colombia,
la Bolefuego or Candileja is the will-o'-the-wisp ghost of a vicious grandmother who raised her grandchildren without morals, and as such they became thieves and murderers. In the afterlife, the grandmother's spirit was condemned to wander the world surrounded in flames. In Trinidad and Tobago, a
soucouyant is a "fireball witch"—an evil spirit that takes on the form of a flame at night. It enters homes through any gap it can find and drinks the blood of its victims.
Asia Aleya (or marsh ghost-light) is the name given to a strange light phenomenon occurring over the marshes as observed by Bengalis, especially the fishermen of Bangladesh and West Bengal. This marsh light is attributed to some kind of
marsh gas apparitions that confuse fishermen, make them lose their bearings, and may even lead to drowning if one decided to follow them moving over the marshes. Local communities in the region believe that these strange hovering marsh-lights are in fact Ghost-lights representing the ghosts of fisherman who died fishing. Sometimes they confuse the fishermen, and sometimes they help them avoid future dangers. Chir batti (ghost-light), also spelled "chhir batti" or "cheer batti", is a dancing light phenomenon occurring on dark nights reported from the
Banni grasslands, its seasonal marshy wetlands and the adjoining desert of the marshy
salt flats of the
Rann of Kutch In Kashmir, the
Bramrachokh carries a pot of fire on its head. Similar phenomena are described in Japanese folklore, including ,
hi no tama ("ball of flame"),
aburagae, ,
ushionibi, etc. All these phenomena are described as associated with graveyards.
Kitsune, mythical
yokai demons, are also associated with will 'o the wisp, with the marriage of two kitsune producing
kitsune-bi (狐火), literally meaning 'fox-fire'. These phenomena are described in Shigeru Mizuki's 1985 book
Graphic World of Japanese Phantoms (妖怪伝 in Japanese). In Korea the lights are associated with rice paddies, old trees, mountains or even in some houses and were called '
dokkebi bul' (), meaning goblin fire (or goblin light). They were deemed malevolent and impish, as they confused and lured passersby to lose their way or fall into pits at night. The earliest Chinese reference to a will-o'-the-wisp appears to be the Chinese character 粦 lín, attested as far back as the Shang dynasty oracle bones, depicting a human-like figure surrounded by dots presumably representing the glowing lights of the will-o'-the-wisp, to which feet such as those under 舞 wǔ, 'to dance' were added in bronze script. Before the Han dynasty the top had evolved or been corrupted to represent fire (later further corrupted to resemble 米 mǐ, rice), as the small seal script graph in a dictionary
Shuowen Jiezi, compiled in the Han dynasty, shows. The dictionary explained that it was "ghost fire" coming from dead men, horses and cattle during wars and their blood turned into this kind of fire after many years. Although no longer in use alone, 粦 lín is in the character 磷 lín phosphorus, an element involved in scientific explanations of the will-o'-the-wisp phenomenon, and is also a phonetic component in other common characters with the same pronunciation. Chinese polymath
Shen Gua may have recorded such a phenomenon in the
Book of Dreams, stating, "In the middle of the reign of emperor Jia You, at Yanzhou, in the Jiangsu province, an enormous pearl was seen especially in gloomy weather. At first it appeared in the marsh… and disappeared finally in the Xinkai Lake." It was described as very bright, illuminating the surrounding countryside and was a reliable phenomenon over ten years, an elaborate Pearl Pavilion being built by local inhabitants for those who wished to observe it.
Europe In European folklore the lights are often believed to be the spirits of un-baptised or stillborn children, flitting between heaven and hell (
purgatory). In Germany there was a belief that a
Irrlicht was the soul of an unbaptised child, but that it could be redeemed if the remains are first buried near the eaves of the church, so that at the moment rainwater splashes onto this grave, the churchman could pronounce the baptismal formula to sanctify the child. In Sweden also, the will-o'-the-wisp represents the soul of an unbaptised person "trying to lead travellers to water in the hope of being baptized". Danes, Finns, Swedes, Estonians, Latvians, Lithuanians, and Irish people and amongst some other groups believed that a will-o'-the-wisp also marked the location of a treasure deep in ground or water, which could be taken only when the fire was there. Sometimes magical procedures, and even a dead man's hand, were required as well, to uncover the treasure. In Finland and several other northern countries, it was believed that early autumn was the best time to search for will-o'-the-wisps and treasures below them. It was believed that when someone hid treasure in the ground, he made the treasure available only at the summer solstice
(Midsummer, or Saint John's Day), and set a will-o'-the-wisp to mark the exact place and time so that he could reclaim the treasure. The Aarnivalkea (also known as virvatuli, aarretuli and aarreliekki), in
Finnish mythology, are spots where an eternal flame associated with will-o'-the-wisps burns. They are claimed to mark the places where
faerie gold is buried. They are protected by a glamour that would prevent anyone finding them by pure chance. However, if one finds a fern seed from a mythical flowering fern, the magical properties of that seed will lead the fortunate person to these treasures, in addition to providing one with a glamour of invisibility. Since in reality the fern produces no flower and reproduces via spores under the leaves, the myth specifies that it blooms only extremely rarely.
Britain In the original British tales, protagonists named either Will or Jack are doomed to haunt the marshes with a light for some misdeed. One version from
Shropshire is recounted by Briggs in
A Dictionary of Fairies and refers to Will Smith. Will is a wicked blacksmith who is given a second chance by
Saint Peter at the gates of heaven, but leads such a bad life that he ends up being doomed to wander the earth. The Devil provides him with a single burning coal with which to warm himself, which he then uses to lure foolish travellers into the marshes. An Irish version of the tale has a ne'er-do-well named Drunk Jack or
Stingy Jack who, when the Devil comes to collect his soul, tricks him into turning into a coin, so he can pay for his one last drink. When the Devil obliges, Jack places him in his pocket next to a crucifix, preventing him from returning to his original form. In exchange for his freedom, the Devil grants Jack ten more years of life. When the term expires, the Devil comes to collect his due. But Jack tricks him again by making him climb a tree and then carving a cross underneath, preventing him from climbing down. In exchange for removing the cross, the Devil forgives Jack's debt. However, no one as bad as Jack would ever be allowed into heaven, so Jack is forced upon his death to travel to hell and ask for a place there. The Devil denies him entrance in revenge but grants him an ember from the fires of hell to light his way through the twilight world to which lost souls are forever condemned. Jack places it in a carved turnip to serve as a lantern. Another version of the tale is "Willy the Whisp", related in
Irish Folktales by
Henry Glassie.
Séadna by
Peadar Ua Laoghaire is yet another version—and also the first modern novel in the Irish language. In Welsh folklore, it is said that the light is "fairy fire" held in the hand of a
púca, or pwca, a small goblin-like fairy that mischievously leads lone travellers off the beaten path at night. As the traveller follows the púca through the marsh or bog, the fire is extinguished, leaving them lost. The púca is said to be one of the
Tylwyth Teg, or fairy family. In Wales the light predicts a funeral that will take place soon in the locality.
Wirt Sikes in his book
British Goblins mentions the following
Welsh tale about púca. A peasant travelling home at dusk sees a bright light travelling along ahead of him. Looking closer, he sees that the light is a lantern held by a "dusky little figure", which he follows for several miles. All of a sudden he finds himself standing on the edge of a vast chasm with a roaring torrent of water rushing below him. At that precise moment the lantern-carrier leaps across the gap, lifts the light high over its head, lets out a malicious laugh and blows out the light, leaving the poor peasant a long way from home, standing in pitch darkness at the edge of a precipice. This is a fairly common cautionary tale concerning the phenomenon; however, the ignis fatuus was not always considered dangerous. Some tales present the will-o'-the-wisp as a treasure-guardian, leading those brave enough to follow it to certain riches—a form of behaviour sometimes ascribed also to the Irish leprechaun. Other stories tell of travellers surprising a will-o'-the-wisp while lost in the woods and being either guided out or led further astray, depending on whether they treated the spirit kindly or harshly. Also related, the pixy-light from
Devon and
Cornwall which leads travellers away from the safe and reliable route and into the bogs with glowing lights. "Like Poltergeist they can generate uncanny sounds. They were less serious than their German
Weiße Frauen kin, frequently blowing out candles on unsuspecting courting couples or producing obscene kissing sounds, which were always misinterpreted by parents." Pixy-Light was also associated with "lambent light" which the
Old Norse might have seen guarding their tombs. In Cornish folklore, Pixy-Light also has associations with the
Colt pixie. "A colt pixie is a pixie that has taken the shape of a horse and enjoys playing tricks such as neighing at the other horses to lead them astray". In Guernsey, the light is known as the
faeu boulanger (rolling fire), and is believed to be a lost soul. On being confronted with the spectre, tradition prescribes two remedies. The first is to turn one's cap or coat inside out. This has the effect of stopping the
faeu boulanger in its tracks. The other solution is to stick a knife into the ground, blade up. The faeu, in an attempt to kill itself, will attack the blade. The will-o'-the-wisp was also known as the Spunkie in the Scottish Highlands where it would take the form of a
linkboy (a boy who carried a flaming torch to light the way for pedestrians in exchange for a fee), or else simply a light that always seemed to recede, in order to lead unwary travellers to their doom. The spunkie has also been blamed for shipwrecks at night after being spotted on land and mistaken for a harbour light. Other tales of Scottish folklore regard these mysterious lights as omens of death or the ghosts of once living human beings. They often appeared over lochs or on roads along which funeral processions were known to travel. A strange light sometimes seen in the
Hebrides is referred to as the
teine sith, or "fairy light", though there was no formal connection between it and the fairy race.
Ireland In the late 1930s, schoolchildren across Ireland were tasked with the interviewing of older neighbours and relatives with regards to collecting local history and folklore as part of the
Irish Folklore Commission's ''
Schools' Collection''. Numerous sightings of the phenomenon were recorded as part of the project. One such child, James Curran, relayed information taken from his father about a sighting in Harristown, County Kildare: My father told me that when he was about fourteen years of age, he was crossing the limekiln of Harristown and he saw a little red ball of fire rolling along in front of him. He ran after it, but he could not catch it as when he would run it would roll quicker, and quicker, and when he would stop, it would stop. He followed it, all through Clarke's bottoms, across Major Mc Gees land and on to the railway and then it disappeared. He did not know what it was, but his father told him it was Will o' the Wisp.
Oceania The Australian equivalent, known as the Min Min light is reportedly seen in parts of the outback after dark. The majority of sightings are reported to have occurred in the
Channel Country region. Stories about the lights can be found in aboriginal myth pre-dating western settlement of the region and have since become part of wider
Australian folklore.
Indigenous Australians hold that the number of sightings has increased alongside the increasing ingression of Europeans into the region. According to folklore, the lights sometimes followed or approached people and have disappeared when fired upon, only to reappear later on. ==Scientific explanations==