A Witch on Christmas

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3 years ago

Topics: Christmas Legends

Do you also have a lazy moment in your life?

A time wherein you're inactive to do anything, lazy to do your works, chores, and stuff. Well, as a mom, I've experienced that hundreds of times, probably, especially when I'm not in the mood or I was just tired. Cleaning the house with toddlers is pretty exhausting, I swear. After you cleaned up, here's a mess again and again. I didn't even know if how many times I cleaned up the mess every day. That's one of the daily challenges I face in my day to day life as a stay at home mom. If there's a punishment for unfinished housework, most probably I'm one of the unfortunate to be punished. But, did you know that there's a Christmas legend, who gives sentence or I must say, punishment to this kind of stuff?

After receiving overwhelming upvotes from @TheRandomRewarderin my past article, “A Nightmare on Christmas”, I came up with another unusual or extraordinary character during the Christmas season.

She isn't part of a brighter side of Christmas like Santa Claus or Rudolph. I thought there is only one legendary beast during this feast and it is Krampus. But I was wrong, he is just one of the legendaries that bring horror on this jolly season.

I found this scary witch who's terrifying however she's not so popular as Krampus. Yet, they share the same regions (Alpine) particularly of southern Germany and Austria, where their folkloric stories originated.

Christmas is the time for joy, enjoyment, and happiness, but who says, there's no time for horror during this period?

Who was this terrifying witch that lurks during the wonderful season in December?

A Witch on Christmas

This witch I'm about is Frau Perchta.

She was also known as Berchta, or Bertha, and has also been called “Spinnstubenfrau” or “Spinning Room Lady.”

Aside from Krampus, a popular Christmas beast figure that appears in the Christmas season, Frau Pertcha is also believed to roam the midwinter nights. And she visits homes during the twelve days before Christmas and Epiphany.

Frau Perchta is a terrifying witch whose appearance is quite horrible. She is often portrayed with a beaked nose made of iron, dressed up in rags, conceivably holding a cane, and mostly relates with a decrepit old witch. But this old witch packs a strong strike and carries a long knife hidden under her skirt. She also carries a similarity to the Scandinavian goddess Frigga.

`Perchta was originally a goddess of vegetation and fertility from German mythology.`

Perchta was correlated to as the belly slitter as that is how she penalized people who took off against cultural norms. This witch is a rewarder of the generous and a horrible punisher of the lazy ones, also the liars and the greedy. She won’t tolerate introverts too. If you're wondering why her primary victims are those who don’t honor work taboos on her feast day. She hates it when people work on Epiphany.

She's not that cruel, all she wants is for everyone to stop working on her feast day, sit down to a nice meal of fish and gruel, and hang out with the rest of the community. However, if you didn't, then here comes her terrible punishment. She slits open the bellies of her victims, pulls out their intestines, and fills their guts with garbage.

If you're thinking and wondering, she hates and punishes the lazy ones, but she won't like it when you work on her feast day, ironically, this means you need to finish your works before her feast day, don't slack off in any other time or day.

And she didn't let the children pass by her punishment. She strongly dislikes dishonest children. If she founds out dishonest kids, she would have their lying tongues scraped with glass.

However, she's not only a belly slither and a tongue scraper, she's a good rewarder too. She lends silver coins to the children and young servants who have worked hard throughout the year.

Tradition: Perchten

The Perchten are still a traditional aspect of holidays and festivals, this festival is made with wooden animal masks.

Schönperchten ("beautiful Perchten")

Beautiful masks are said to encouraging financial windfalls

Schiachperchten ("ugly Perchten")

The ugly or hideous masks are worn to drive away evil spirits.

In modern times, Perchta ('bright', 'luminous, 'brilliant') is a Christmas character, which is notable for her activity during the Twelve Days of Christmas celebration, a period between Christmas and Epiphany (the thirteenth day).

Just like Krampus, Perchta became a Christmas character in the Alpine regions which also joins the Perchten procession. Basically, on Christmas Eve, men in creepy garments and headed by Perchta go around the whole district dancing wildly and making much noise during the Krampus run in which the region's towns and villages play host to wild ceremonies in early December as local men run through the streets dressed as these scary and fearsome half-goat half-demon characters, Krampus.

It is believed that the mischievous characters come to drive away from the bad spirits of winter. Along with other rituals that followed, was the protective smoking of the house and the burning of special herbs during winter. These customs were believed to enliven the spirits of the New Year which rested under the snow cover on the soil.

Here's a glimpse of their one of a kind tradition. I'm so curious of this tradition, I don't know, I just want to experience it myself. Probably, one of the traditions I want to experience and know more.

Here's the video I found in YouTube.

This crone is very particular about finish spinning on time and any pause in spinning is said to bring bad fortune to the people accountable.

Frau Perchta is just one of the legendary the Alpine regions are rich of. If you don't want her to punish you, avoid slacking off any other time. But honestly, you don't need to be reminded by this terrifying witch to have the guts to finish your household. She's a legend and was there to remind you of the importance of cleaning and finishing your chores before anything else. I was guilty of being sluggish sometimes. But if I won't clean up the mess, dust and dirt can cause harm to our health. So, if you don't want your family and yourself to get sick, always keep your house dust-free even without believing in this terrifying witch and wanting her reward.

Related Article:

“A Nightmare on Christmas”