Tradition / Region: Luxembourg Mythology
Alternate Names: Storm washerwomen of Kaselter Bach
Category: Ghost
The Myth
Near Lintgen, at the source of the Kaselter Bach, there once stood a tall beech tree. People said that shortly before a thunderstorm, musicians dressed in red would often appear there and play soft music.
At the same time, from the edge of the spring came the loud knocking and banging of washerwomen beating their laundry in rhythm with the music. According to the legend, these women caused rain and storms by splashing water upward with their washing whips, sending it into the clouds.
No one dared to watch or disturb them. It was said that even the strongest man would have been crushed or killed by a single blow from these washerwomen.
One traveler, who dared to whistle when he heard the ghostly music, was immediately struck by lightning. And two shoemaker’s apprentices, returning drunk from the Lorenzweiler fair and cursing the apparition, were found the next day beside the Kaselter stream with torn clothes, battered faces, and fractured skulls.
Thus the people avoided the place whenever storms gathered.
Gallery
Sources
sagen.at contributors. (n.d.). Wäscherinnen am Kaselter Bach bei Lintgen. In sagen.at, from https://www.sagen.at/texte/sagen/luxemburg/Waescherinnen_Lintgen.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