Luxembourg Forest dweller Mythology

Witch of Bitschter Pond

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Tradition / Region: Luxembourg Mythology
Alternate Names: The Old Witch of Bits; Matchmaking Witch of the Bits Pond
Category: Witch, Forest dweller, Lake dweller

The Myth

In earlier times, the Bitschter Pond lay in the deep valley between Buderscheid and the Pirmesknapp. The large body of water stretched from the Buderscheid mill to the Pirmesberg hill, surrounded by dense, wild forest. People said the place was haunted, for many spirits were believed to dwell there.

Among them lived the infamous old witch of Bits. She practiced fortune-telling and matchmaking, and young men and women who longed for marriage would seek her out. The witch possessed a mysterious bottle in which there was an egg and a crucified Christ. By means of this bottle, she told those who consulted her whom they would marry, where that person lived, and what they must do to win them.

At night, she was said to fly like a bird over the pond, crying out with a hoarse, croaking voice. Around the pond, other witches gathered, and in the moonlight they danced wildly in the trees, making music and raising a dreadful noise. They were also seen hovering around the Pirmesberg, reveling in the forest and floating through the air.

At last the witch’s deeds became known. She was seized and blown into the Bitschter Pond. At once a violent thunderstorm broke out, flooding the waters and turning the place into a great quagmire.

Even long afterward, people said the place was not a pleasant one, and many were afraid to pass the site of the old pond at night.

Gallery

Sources

sagen.at contributors. (n.d.). Der Bitschter Weiher. In sagen.at, from https://www.sagen.at/texte/sagen/luxemburg/Bischter_Weiher.html

Interpretive Lenses

Religious Readings
  • Christian Ascetic Deep Dive
Philosophical Readings
  • Nietzschean Deep Dive
Psychological Readings
  • Jungian Deep Dive
Esoteric Deep Dive
  • Hermetic Deep Dive
Political / Social Readings
  • Marxist Deep Dive

Bichelgretchen on the Syr

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Tradition / Region: Luxembourg Mythology
Alternate Names: Bichelgretchen; Washerwoman of the Syr
Category: Ghost, Forest dweller

The Myth

Near Mensdorf, people once heard a woman washing clothes every night by the Syr River in the Bichel forest. This figure was known as Bichelgretchen.

She was feared because she carried an iron washing beater, whose cracking sound echoed through the night as she washed.

Travelers were warned never to mock or imitate her.
If someone clapped their hands to mimic the sound of her iron washing beater, they would suddenly lose their footing and fall into the river — at which point loud, mocking laughter would ring out.

Bichelgretchen was believed to possess supernatural strength, and anyone who came too close risked being struck down by the terrible force of her iron washing beater.

Gallery

Sources

sagen.at contributors. (n.d.). Das Bichelgretchen an der Syr. In sagen.at, from https://www.sagen.at/texte/sagen/luxemburg/Bichelgretchen.html

Interpretive Lenses

Religious Readings
  • Christian Ascetic Deep Dive
Philosophical Readings
  • Nietzschean Deep Dive
Psychological Readings
  • Jungian Deep Dive
Esoteric Deep Dive
  • Hermetic Deep Dive
Political / Social Readings
  • Marxist Deep Dive

Wild Woman of Wildfrauenhecke

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Tradition / Region: Luxembourg Mythology
Alternate Names: Wild Woman of the Hedge
Category: Forest dweller

The Myth

Between Böwingen and Useldingen there once lay a place known as the Wild Woman’s Hedge, where the road now runs.

People said that a wild woman lived there. Parents warned their children not to linger in that place, telling them it was not a good spot, for the wild woman dwelt there.

Thus the hedge was remembered as the haunt of a hidden female spirit who lingered in the landscape.

Gallery

Sources

sagen.at contributors. (n.d.). Wildfrauenhecke zu Useldingen. In sagen.at, from https://www.sagen.at/texte/sagen/luxemburg/Wildfrauenhecke.html

Interpretive Lenses

Religious Readings
  • Christian Ascetic Deep Dive
Philosophical Readings
  • Nietzschean Deep Dive
Psychological Readings
  • Jungian Deep Dive
Esoteric Deep Dive
  • Hermetic Deep Dive
Political / Social Readings
  • Marxist Deep Dive

Äschtercher of Useldingen

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Tradition / Region: Luxembourg Mythology
Alternate Names: Useldingen Gnomes, Äschtercher
Category: Gnome, Forest dweller, River dweller

The Myth

Between Useldingen and Ewerlingen, in the woods near the Lohmühle mill, little gnomes were said to live. The people of the area called them Äschtercher.

These small beings were known to frighten children who wandered too far into the woods. They were said to be especially drawn to those who bathed in the Attert River, where they would appear suddenly and startle them.

Thus the people spoke of the little gnomes of the forest, who lingered near the river and the mill and whose presence was feared by the young.

Sources

sagen.at contributors. (n.d.). Die Wichtelcher zu Useldingen. In sagen.at, from https://www.sagen.at/texte/sagen/luxemburg/Wichtlein_Useldingen.html