Tradition / Region: Luxembourg Mythology
Alternate Names: Washer Spirits of the Sauer
Category: Ghost
The Myth
At Gehansbusch on the Sauer River, between Echternach and Steinheim, people long believed that washer spirits appeared at night beside the water. Old inhabitants of the surrounding villages said they often heard the clapping of the washing bat, though no figure could clearly be seen.
Some told a different tale about the same place. According to them, three strange and uncanny figures sometimes returned there. An old fisherman once said that as he came home from Echternach one evening, he saw them seated at a table covered with bottles, gambling and drinking. They beckoned to him to join them, but he refused and continued on his way.
Thus the riverbank at Gehansbusch was remembered as a place where mysterious beings gathered at night, whether washing unseen beside the water or feasting in ghostly company.
Gallery
Sources
sagen.at contributors. (n.d.). Das Wäschfrächen in der Sauer. In sagen.at, from https://www.sagen.at/texte/sagen/luxemburg/Waeschfraechen_Sauer.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