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.