Easter Witch

The Easter witch or Easter hag is a Scandinavian tradition. Mainly in Sweden and Finland on Easter Eve and in some regions in Sweden on Maundy Thursday, children dress up as Easter hags and much like the American Halloween, go door to door begging for treats which are placed in the copper kettles that they carry. The tradition of children dressing up in costume for Easter dates back to the early 1800’s; however, the association between Easter and witches began much earlier. In a Swedish church in Uppland, there is a painting from 1480 portraying three Easter witches holding out their drinking horns to be filled by the Devil with a magic potion. It was believed that on Maundy Thursday, witches flew off to Brocken Mountain for a rendezvous with the Devil. There they feasted and danced to the singing of magpies. On Sunday morning they would fly back arriving just in time for church services where they might accidentally reveal their identities by saying their prayers backwards.

It was also believed on the way back some of the Easter witches might get caught in chimneys. In order to prevent this, people fumigated their chimneys by burning nine types of deciduous trees. These fires were kept burning Maundy Thursday to Easter morning. People also painted crosses on the doors, and even on the noses of their livestock to protect them. They did not leave brooms or rakes standing outside, lest a witch use them to fly.

Bonfires were also lit and firearms shot into the sky to ward off the evil powers they believed to be at play. These superstitions have taken on a more cheerful legacy in modern times. On Maundy Thursday or Easter Eve, girls and boys dress up as hags and pay visits to their neighborhoods. Some leave a small decorated card, an “Easter letter”, hoping for a sweet or coin in return to place into their copper kettles. The custom of making “Easter letters” is especially widespread in western Sweden where it is also custom to slip the unsigned letter into the person’s mailbox or under their door without being seen.

You can find out more about Easter witches and other Scandinavian traditions from these following websites:

Lulea University, Sweden Traditions around Easter...
Cherryland Postcard Blog
School of the Seasons
Belweathers of the Cunningfire Blog
Ingebretsen's

You can also find the Easter Witch greeting card pictured above at All Us All the Time Gift Shop.

Superstition of the Week - Flowers

The day you find the first flower of spring is said to have the following sign:











Monday means good fortune,
Tuesday means greatest attempts will be successful,
Wednesday means marriage,
Thursday means warning of small profits,
Friday means wealth,
Saturday means misfortune,
Sunday means excellent luck for weeks.

Meet the Ravens of London Tower

Marley, a male, born in North Somerset, age 3

Erin, a female, born in North Somerset, age 3
Merlin, a female, born in South Whales, age 4
Baldrick, a male, born in Dartmoor, age 4
Munin, a female, born in North Uist (Scotland), age 14
Thor, a male, born in Hampshire, age 14
Hugine, a female, born in North Uist (Scotland), age 14
Gwylium, a male, born in Welsh Mountain Zoo, age 21

Source: The Historic Royal Palaces website, hrp.org.uk

Superstition of the Week - Bees

BEES

• If a bee enters your home, it's a sign that you will soon have a visitor. If you kill the bee, you will have bad luck, or the visitor will be unpleasant.
  

• A swarm of bees settling on a roof is an omen that the house will burn down.

Death Ravens

We stumbled upon this article from the online UK Daily Mail about flocks of Ravens attacking livestock in Scotland and Whales. Obviously grown tired of rabbit, these birds have now developed a taste for veal and mutton pecking the live animals to death while feasting on their eyes, tongues and under bellies. Since there is a law that protects Ravens, the farmers can’t shoot or harm them. Last year, the Scientific American published research that Ravens are one of the more intelligent species and distinct from most other birds, capable of learning from their own actions and from observing others' behavior. They believe the bird can count and some have even learned to shape leaves into tools for extracting grubs from crevices in trees. But I doubt if the farmers whose livestock is being pecked to death are taking any solace in the fact that it is at least an intellectual bird that is mutilating their animals.

Our favorite line from the article:

"Some reports of raven attacks may be exaggerated, but they do kill things.”

Kind of puts a whole different spin on the edible raven.

If you would like to read the entire article, here is the link:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-563931/Attack-killer-ravens-Flocks-suddenly-slaughtering-lambs--going-on.html

Superstition of the Week - Friday the 13th

TGIF!!! Oh no wait a minute, it is Friday the 13th. Well darn, now I am torn. Should I be elated the weekend is almost here, or paralyzed in infinite fear of the dark sinister forces lurking around every corner seeking out prey (perhaps me, okay, probably me) to wreck their devious havoc on? How does one of the most looked forward to days of the week turn to doomsday when if falls on that particular number?

It turns out that both Friday and the number 13 have gotten a bad wrap throughout history. Unfortunately for 13, it is partly due to the fact that we humans tend to tire after 12. In school they tend to stop at 12 in their multiplication tables, there are 12 months in a year, 12 signs of the zodiac, 12 gods of Olympus, 12 labors of Hercules, 12 tribes of Israel, and 12 apostles of Jesus. Adding 1 to 12, please, scary stuff.

There is also a Norse myth attached to the superstition of the number 13. Twelve gods were invited to a banquet at Valhalla, their heaven. The god of mischief, Loki, was excluded from the guest list, but came anyway, bringing the dinner party to a total of 13. Loki then proceeded to provoke Hoder, the blind god of winter, to shoot Balder, god of joy and gladness. Balder died instantly cloaking the earth in darkness. Don’t you hate it when that happens at your dinner parties? The Hindus also believed the gathering of 13 people in one place was unlucky and in ancient Rome it was said that witches gathered in groups of 12 with the devil. Then later in history the superstition associated itself with the Last Supper of Jesus and the 12 disciples.

Now interestingly, in ancient goddess-worshipping cultures 13 was considered a lucky number because it corresponded to the number of lunar cycles in a year. However, according to some historians, 13 got a bad rep among early Christian patriarchs because it represented femininity. Hmmm....

Friday also ended up on the wrong side of Christianity, mainly because it is believed that Jesus was crucified on that day. But some historians have dated the superstition back to yet again Norse mythology and the sacrifices made to the goddess Frigg, goddess of marriage and fertility, or Freya, goddess of sex and fertility. Their emblem was the fish, which was associated with worship of love that was offered by the Scandinavians to their goddess on the sixth day of the week, Friday. With Christianity this act was considered indecent and Freya was recast as a witch in folklore. During the Middle Ages, Friday was known as the Witches’ Sabbath.

Then it appeared that early Christians started attributing about everything bad to Friday such as Eve offering Adam the apple, Abel killing Cain, the stoning of St. Stephen and the Great Flood. Oh, another little interesting tidbit, it is said that in Britain Friday was the conventional day for public hangings, and how many steps supposedly led up to the noose, yep, 13.

Thus when you put the two together, Friday the 13th, you can see why it is not exactly seen as your sunshiny day. The Knights of Templar found this out on Friday, October 13, 1307, when King Philip IV of France ordered their torture and execution.

But really, I am sure there is nothing to worry about today, it is just a superstition, right? Now did I just see something peaking around the corner...?

Edible Raven

Edible - Fit to be eaten as food

Raven – A large bird having black plumage and a croaking cry

Edible Raven - a vortex of bright and shiny objects