{{ Hi Mama Bree! I'm hopping in your inbox to inquire about the xmas spookies. I know well of the horse skull and goat monster, but what was that about witches and black cats? Hope you're enjoying (or at least enduring) in whatever holidays you celebrate!
One sec.... -claps a festive twinkly wreath onto the Witchstorian hat- OKAY THEN. Buckle up, here we go.
So there are a few Winter Holiday Witches we could look to for this, or at least holiday figures who are Witchy or Witch-Adjacent. (The formalized folklore traditions may not always refer to them as witches, except perhaps in the Generic Word For A Terrifying Hag sense.)
Let's start with the nice one - Italy's La Befana.
This is a story you can whip out for your Christian relatives, if they seem receptive to a good holiday tale. It's definitely Church folklore, but it has a number of parallels to both modern witch aesthetic and Mystical Holiday Gift-Giver lore, and may have its' roots in older rural traditions.
The tale goes something like this:
Once upon a time, a woman was standing outside in her yard sweeping. As she worked to tidy her home, she couldn't help but notice an oddly bright star hanging in the sky. It had been visible for several days, even when the sun was up, and the scholars and soothsayers of the town were falling over themselves to explain it, either as a sign of imminent blessing or a portent of some cosmic doom. A clinking of harness buckles pulled her attention away from the celestial display. On the road that passed by her home were three richly-dressed men, riding in a small caravan. Now, travelers were a normal sight, but rarely were they so finely clad, and never had she seen a caravan carrying such rich wares. There was a some jingle that spoke of gold and her keen nose picked up the scent of exotic incenses. Curiosity getting the better of her, the woman waved to the caravan leader, who pulled his horse to a stop and tugged the dustcloth from his face. "Good day to you, fine sirs," she said, bobbing a polite curtsey. "Might a humble woman ask where you are bound in so fine fashion? Are you on your way to see the King?" "Indeed we are, good madam," the man replied, his voice touched with the accent of a far-off land. "It is said that a holy child, the King of all Kings, has been born. The bright star you see in the sky is a sign of his coming and it hangs over the place where the infant lays. We are following the star to see this for ourselves, bearing gifts and offerings suitable for such a momentous birth." The woman clapped a hand to her breast. "A holy infant! Good heavens! Let me come with you! Where there is a new babe, there will be a new mother and they'll both need tending. Just let me finish my sweeping and I'll join you." The man shook his head. "Alas, good woman, we cannot tarry to wait for you. We must travel on. But if you hurry after us, you are welcome to come along. Good day and blessings to you!" So saying, he spurred his horse and the caravan moved on. The woman had never swept so quickly in all her life. She kicked up clouds of dust and debris, almost undoing her careful work in her haste to finish. The courtyard was large, but she was determined. By evening, she had finished her work and packed a bag with necessaries and a few small gifts of her own for the holy child and his mother. The brilliant start shone overhead as she took up her trusty broom as a walking stick and set off down the road in the direction she'd seen the caravan go. But alas! They'd traveled too far ahead and all she could find were the tracks of horses and the ruts of wagon wheels, both swiftly lost among the traces of other travelers. Still, her heart went out to the poor child and its' mother and she carried on, following the star ever onward. As she passed through distant villages and foreign lands, she began to wonder if perhaps she was nearing her destination, and began surreptitiously peeping into the windows of various houses to see if any contained the holy infant. But what did a holy infant look like? Would it be haloed in gold? Alight with radiance like the heralding star? How would she know? She was no scholar or soothsayer. Just a simple woman with love and compassion in her heart. If the stories are to be believed, eventually the wind took pity on the woman's tired aching feet and lifted her broom so that she might ride along more easily in her search. She never did find the caravan or the Christchild, but she searches the towns and villages to this day, peeping in windows to see if any of the children within might be the holy infant portended by the star. And out of the goodness of her heart, she takes care to leave a little gift for each child she finds, just in case.
La Befana is said to visit in early January, around the time of Epiphany. (For the non-Christians in the audience, this is the liturgical date when the Three Magi are said to have finally turned up in Bethlehem, fashionably late to the party.) She travels about on a broom with a woven basket or hamper on her back, entering each home through the chimney and leaving sweets and toys for all the children. If that sounds at all familiar, it was eventually rolled into the Santa Claus folklore, which was cemented by the poem "A Visit From St Nicholas" (aka Twas The Night Before Christmas), first published in 1823.
So that's the NICE Christmas witch. But she's got a cousin who's a lot less pleasant...and a lot more violent. And to the surprise of absolutely no one, she's from Germany.
Frau Perchta (or Berchta, in some regions) is a Purveyor of Holiday Punishments figure from Alpine folklore, appearing in tales from northern Germany, Bavaria, Austria, and Slovenia. She bears a resemblance to Frau Holda (or Holle), who appears in the folklore of southern Germany and is generally more of a friendly winter spirit. Both preside over the realm of fibrecraft and spinning. Call it a common thread, if you will. But where Frau Holda rewards those who are diligent in their craft and finish their work, Frau Perchta stalks the land to punish the lazy, the careless, and those who do not follow the rules.
Legend has it that in the depths of winter, particularly between Christmas and Epiphany, Perchta would prowl the countryside, entering the homes she found and checking to see whether the children and servants had been well-behaved and diligent in their chores and whether the young women had done all their spinning. Those who passed her inspection might find a small coin as a reward the next day, usually left in one of their shoes. But those who did not pass muster were said to suffer a gruesome fate.
You see, Perchta is an experienced spinner herself, as evidenced by her telltale "swanfoot" (a term which refers to the alleged broadening of an old woman's foot after a lifetime of treading the pedal of a spinning wheel) and the various spinners' tools tied to her girdle, including a gigantic pair of shears. It's said that she uses the shears to slit open the bellies of her lazy or poorly-behaved victims, dumps their insides into a bucket, and stuffs the cavity with straw and pebbles and whatever garbage might be strewn about the streets. (One or two versions hold that she may also stuff in the portion of flax or wool which remains unspun.) This fate might also await those who waited until the last minute on holidays to finish their spinning, or who ate something other than the prescribed fish and gruel on her feast day.
In other words, typical German folklore for scaring the kiddies into behaving. "Do what you're told and obey all the rules or you'll get straight-up murdered. Stop laughing, that's not a joke. Okay, goodnight, sleep tight! ....Or else."
To wrap things up, we'll pop over to Iceland for another terrifying holiday figure, the Yule Cat.
This fearsome beastie prowls the land during the Christmas season and is less meant to frighten child than to remind parents and families of their duty of care. According to a collection of folklore published in the 19th century, the Yule Cat visits towns and farms and eats anyone who hasn't received new clothes for Christmas. (Suddenly, getting socks and underwear for Christmas doesn't sound so bad.) There's no PARTICULAR color cited for the Yule Cat but plenty of popular art depicts it as black or dark gray, through white or tabby-striped are equally popular.
So yeah! If anyone asks, witches and black cats are just as much a part of winter holiday folklore as scary goatmen, battle-rapping skeletal horses, and home-invading gift-givers.
Happy Holidays to one and all, and remember - if you see a cheery little surveillance state elf lurking on your property, nuke it from orbit. It's the only way to be sure.
