#dutch folklore

[asiwithercrumbleandfade]

Underneath the Wych Elm

And in my dreams I'm in the trees, high above the ground. Observing the scene with intent vigilance.

And at the edge of the moor you limp body lies; underneath the Wynch Elm the amber knight arrives.

A shallow grave; a gift returned back to the earth with the softest embrace.

Before the dawn midnight's spawn a new November day.

With thinning veils a dense fog rolls as Witte Wieven sway, dance and chant around the moonlit Elm.

[laurasimonsdaughter]

What powers do witches in Dutch and German folklore have?

For comparison, in 19th century Britain (where my folklore knowledge base is), the standard suite of witch powers is shapeshifting (mostly into hares, but there are also other animals) and making humans and animals fall sick and die, plus stealing and cursing milk in Scotland and northern England. How do Germany and the Netherlands compare to that?

I’m not sure about Germany, but in Dutch legends its largely the same as what you describe. It’s a complicated part of folklore for me, because it’s interwoven with a very real folk belief that got innocent people persecuted. But in general witches in Dutch sagas and legends are seen:

Cavorting with the devil, for example on the witch-sabbath (heksensabbat).

Enchanting people (nearly) to death.

Making children ill or stunting their growth, for instance by laying the Evil Hand (kwade hand) on them or hiding a witch-wreath (heksenkrans) or ‘nest’ in their pillow.

Stealing milk from cows or enchanting the milk in such a way that it cannot be churned into butter. This was bad enough to give the person responsible a separate name: the butter-witch (boterheks).

Making sure people get lost or stuck during travel.

Creating misfortune ( accidents, things breaking or going missing, infestations).

Flying, usually with help of a special ointment and maybe a broom.

Shapeshifting into animals, especially cats (most often a black, sometimes a completely white one).

Having their soul leave their body in the shape of a small animal.

Changing into a “night-mare” to bring – you guessed it – nightmares, and sometimes general doom and misfortune. Sometimes  witches, night-mares and werewolves were all considered different variations on the same thing, without a clear distinction between them.

Interestingly the belief in witches was accompanied by the belief in people who could “un-enchant” (onttoveren). These were often, but not exclusively, men and were called enchant-doctor (toverdokter), devil-banishers (duivelbanner) or wonder-doctor (wonderdokter). They used Christian bible verses and religious rituals, but also potions and herb bundles and the like. Often the church, either Catholic or some flavour of Protestant, was against these practices, but there were also representatives of the church who participated in them.

Enchant-doctors were separate from people who were considered healers or clairvoyants. These could be either male or female and often were not given any specific name or title but were just “someone with a gift”. The main difference for the healers was that they dealt with illnesses, not curses, but of course the two definitely overlapped. (And sometimes faced criminal charges for practicing medicine without a licence.) As far as I can tell the concept of calling these people “good witches” or “white witches” was not part of Dutch folklore/belief at the time and is a modern label.

For academic sources on witchcraft in the Netherlands I recommend looking up the work of Willem de Blécourt and Theo Meder.

[jakehellenberg]

Illustration of some Dutch folklore creatures :)

Left to right: Laakmannetje, kabouter, bullebak, Ossaart, a witte wief, basilisk, nightmare, Blauwe Gerrit.

[wievenwitch]

Dutch plant magic

Expect a list of plants that can be useful during this upcoming Autumn, But here is how dutch magic users utilized plants:

One cannot just pluck the plant out of the ground. Certain plants have specific rituals dedicated to using them, but every plant must greeted and be informed of your intent before asking to use some of it, unless you want to anger the spirit inside the plant or steal from Mother Earth.

Nighttime, never daytime. You cannot harvest plants for practice during the day, it must be done at night. The moon will strengthen your goals under the guidance of Hekate.

Connection to Christianity. The bishop Burchard van Worms stated in the 11th century; "Have you plucked medicinal herbs with incantations that are not 'credo' or 'onzevader'? If so, you must fast on water and bread for ten days." Then again, later on in history incantations that have included Christian prayers and holymen had been deemed acceptable.

Sources:

Dutch medieval magick (a source that compiles several sources, and that I think I'll be using regularly)

[pieniebootekent]

Mermay day 20: folklore

Prompt list by @crypticsketchpad

For this prompt, I wanted to do something with Dutch folklore, so I went looking for stories about mermaids and stumbled upon the mermaid of Westenschouwen.

In this story, cruel sailors capture a mermaid. A merman with brown skin and green hair emerges from the water, holding a child. He begs for the life of his wife, imploring the sailors to release her. They do not listen. Instead, they tie her to the water tower and leave her there to die. People watch the merman grieve her and laugh at him. He curses the town, saying that it will go down, except for the tower. He is never seen again, and the town is swallowed by the sea twice in a row. Only the tower remains.

[veiligplekje]

[doubtspirit]

Sint Maarten Parade in Utrecht

[libertyprint]

Talitha Getty in a Dutch fishing village, wearing a large white embroidered cap, 1971.

Ph. Maurice Hogenboom