#german witchcraft

[kuemmernis]

Altar Guardian (Making of)

Some time ago, I posted about the North German practice of the Bannkorb ((Spell)Binding Hive), a beehive adorned with a human face, which is supposed to keep evil spirits and honey thieves from a group of beehives.

While researching, I came across a publication by Aladin Borioli, who took some stunning photos of extant examples in German museum collections. I cut some of these out from a brochure of his publishing house (spector books), which I plan to frame and hang in my flat.

I’ve been thinking a lot about binding practices and how in different spiritual practices figurines and statues guard holy and sacred places. Since I felt such a resonance with these hive-figures, I wanted to create a miniature Spellbinding Hive for my Altar Space.

I collected a whole bunch of dandelion stems, that had already gone to seed and hung them up to dry. Once they were nice and crispy, I began braiding them into one long braid and startet sewing it to itself.

I’m currently in the process of forming the basket-structure. The next step will be to form the face/mask and attach it to the finished miniature hive.

[germanqueendom]

German house spirits, or Kobolde

In local folklore, a Kobold (pl: Kobolde) is a type of familiar spirit, a goblin or imp which lives in your house and, if treated well, will bring blessings and money into your home, as well as taking care of the housework. Cleaning, sweeping the floor, fetching beer, chopping wood, and taking care of the animals are all duties which the Kobold will happily do, as long as you provide it with the finest food, such as a Milchsuppe, at a set time and place each day. Usually they take the forms of small men, but there is at least one account of one appearing as a three-legged hare.

A Kobold is a finicky, mischievous creature who loves to play games with the other occupants of the house. They’re not necessarily evil, just very, very particular and easily scorned. And once you have one, they are very difficult to get rid of. It will move with you if you try to move house to get away from it. Even physically burning your house down will not get rid of a Kobold.

If you do manage to earn your Kobold’s scorn, maybe by eating or forgetting its share of the food, there’s a chance that they will set your house on fire. More likely is that it will smash your crockery, burn you with hot water, and cause your food to taste bad, and if you’re a housemaid relying on its services, get you fired. Or one might break your dishwasher. Ahem.

If, despite this, you would like your own Kobold, go into the woods between midday and 1pm on St. John’s Day and find an anthill. You should find a bird sitting on this anthill. Upon speaking the correct words to this bird, it will turn into a Kobold and jump into an awaiting sack. Have fun, and do not get your house burned down.

Sources: (x x x x)

[notquitewickedwitch]

German Witches

Are there any of you out there that would be willing to answer some questions/teach me? I’m a second generation german american and I really want to get back to my roots as a pagan but theres not a lot of information i’ve found through just googling. I never considered German paganism and have been trying to find the path that fits me forever.

[ophelia-avalon]

Book review: Heimische Hexenkunst by Claire

A German book for a change! If you do not speak German feel free to ignore this post - I’m still going to be writing in English for my international followers.

Spotted this one at the library recently - the title translates to 'The Local (art of) Witchcraft: Rediscovering our Magical roots. A Handy Guide for Modern Witches'. That sounded right up my alley.

To summarize: It was good, but it didn’t live up to my expectations of ‘local witchcraft’. More under the cut.

What you can find in the book

The book is divided into multiple sections. After the introduction, we get a section on spells for all sorts of situations one might find oneself in. Each spell is accompanied with a paragraph giving additional advice - which I liked. This section is definitely helpful for beginners, although there were not a lot of information on why a specific ingredient or action was chosen for the spell.

What I do have to give the author credit for, however, is that the book was decidedly non-Wiccan. Her section on incorporating religious elements and deity work was really great. Claire explains that in the region that is now Germany, a lot of different cultures used to exist (alongside each other). So, for local deities, it makes sense not to just look into Germanic or Norse pantheon, but also at Roman, Celtic and Slavic gods and goddesses. “Germany” has always been multi-cultural, and through trade different religions were always present. (This actually prompted me to do more research on which deities were venerated at the place I am based right now - with interesting results).

There is also information on building relationships with deities, how to create an individual altar and how to work with ancestors, as well as a reference section for native plants and magical timing. With these, you can try to create spells of your own.

What you cannot find in the book

What I had hoped to find was more information on traditional German folk magic. But, as usual, anything too Christian-y was spared out for the most part. I know, however, that folk magic is a vast topic, that could probably not have been covered in a book like this.

I would also have liked to be given sources throughout the book to be able to fact check or further my studies. But, not being an academic text, these were missing, although the author undoubtedly did her research.

There are two small things that bugged me: First, there are some sentences that imply that the reader’s ancestors come from Germany, which might not be the case. And, the author uses the term “white magic” a few times (in reference to another of her books). Seems like the German witchcraft community has sadly not caught on that we should step away from this term (and honestly, the distinction).

But all in all - this book is definitely a good beginner resource for anyone living in Germany, especially those, who are not interested in a Wiccan path. It was nice not having to culturally translate every other paragraph (as is often the case with books by British or American authors, even after they have been translated).

[germantradwitch]

Hey Folks, I changed my URL because I do have plans... I know I have as good as none original content on here, but I started a separate Blog on another Platform.

It’ll be in German since it’s much easier to express myself and I recognized that there are no good German sources on tradcraft.

If the thing is running I’ll give an update!

[ofmudandsand]

To Bring Money

In order to reap a reward, you must first make a sacrifice.

Crush into a powder bay leaves, lemon rind, and the eggshell of a goose.

Find a vessel. A cup, a bowl, a vase. Any will suffice. Place into it the money you have on you. Bills, coins, anything.

Mix the money with the powder, and as you do so, speak over it.

"Senten ih scaz Senten siu rasco Minne ih naph.”

Leave it in the moonlight over night, with your wallet or purse empty and open next to it. 

The next day, take the money from the vessel, and disperse it amongst others. Give it to those in need, lend it to a friend, tip someone at a café. Simply make sure that it comes into multiple hands, without you spending it.

[schwarzwaldhexe]

German traditional witchcraft

Does anyone have good sources about german folklore and traditional witchcraft? Especially the black forest area. I'm probably looking in the wrong places but all i get is stories of witch burnings... i just really want to learn about the land anf its magic i live on.

[kuemmernis]

Die Fraiskette / The "Frais"-Chain

The „Frais“ or „Fraisen“-Chain (ger. Fraiskette, Fraisenkette) is a type of amulet similar to the rosary. Until the 19th century it was common in the south of Germany, specifically in the region of Bayerischer Wald.

Wearing the Fraiskette around the neck was supposed to ward off evil, spirits, ghosts and protect from witches as well as the “Frais”, which is a historical Bavarian term for a type of epileptic fever or seizures in general. The chain was commonly given to small children – hung around the bedpost or placed beneath the pillow – and adults, who would wear them around the neck.

The chain was made from attaching a mostly uneven number of charms to any type of string, twine or chain to form a necklace. According to some sources this stems from the believe that there were 77or 99 different types of fevers one could suffer from.

Examples of charms used are animal bones, teeth, claws, antlers as well as fur, (semi-precious) stones, snail- and seashells, coral, coins or rosary beads, or metal charms like the mano-figa (ger. Neidfeige), saint-amulets and crosses. Each charm was used for their respective properties, that could vary from region to region. Oftentimes the strap used was of a red coloration, to enhance the warding power.

The Fraiskette was not the only type of charm against the Frais-Fever, other wards were Frais-Stones, -letters, -bonnets and -shirts (for small children), -keys, as well as the Fraisbett, where a necklace of snake vertebrae or (coix lachrima) seeds was placed beneath a pillow. This indicates that the Frais was common enough for people to fear it and find a variety of remedies.

The Fraiskette might also be related to the charivari, which is still used today as ornamentation on the bavarian Lederhose.

Image source: “Angebliche Fraiskette […]”, around 1750, South-Germany/Austria, Objekte zu Religion Frömmigkeit und Aberglaube from the collection of the historical society of Neuburg, via https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/