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