Tradition / Region: Luxembourg Mythology
Alternate Names: Johannisbur Washerwoman
Category: Ghost
The Myth
At the Johannisbur stream between Echternach and Steinheim, a ghostly washerwoman is said to appear on certain nights.
She is described as having a black face and wearing a white cap with mist-grey garments. She wields a long washing bat and strikes the cloth with such force that the blows echo eerily through the Johannisbösch and the nearby rocks.
The washerwoman is also said to host strange, ghostly guests. At times she sets richly laden tables beside the spring and serves them food and wine. After the meal, she washes the table linen in the water.
Once she encountered a man from Steinheim who was returning late at night from Echternach. She invited him to follow her, and he went with her to the spring, where a table stood covered with fine dishes and surrounded by uncanny figures. The man sat down among them, but when he made the sign of the cross to say his prayer, the entire scene vanished at once, and he found himself alone.
Thus the Johannisbur stream was remembered as the haunt of the ghostly washerwoman and her mysterious nightly gatherings.
Gallery
Sources
sagen.at contributors. (n.d.). Die Waschfrau am Johannisbur bei Steinheim. In sagen.at, from https://www.sagen.at/texte/sagen/luxemburg/Waschfrau_Steinheim.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