WOMAN AS WITCH 29 



in the worship of any male deity. In her it is the 

 activities of the woman and not the man which come 

 into prominence ; the civilising work of woman in the 

 home and on the fields ; she is type of the civilisation 

 which is peculiarly woman's work. Eeplace the devil 

 at witch-meetings by such a mother-goddess as Holle 

 or Berchta, or reduce him at least to the menial office of 

 cook, and there is not a single feature of witchcraft which 

 is not replete with suggestion for the civilisation of the 

 mother-age. The broom and the pitchfork no longer 

 seem anomalies ; they are the symbols of the goddess, 

 and as such are borne by her worshippers. As the blood 

 of the lamb on the door-post hindered Jehovah from 

 venting his anger upon his own worshippers, so the broom, 

 which was actually carried by witches, if placed on the 

 threshold, signified to the goddess that her worshippers 

 were within. The symbol of the witch was originally 

 the sign of the worshipper, the protection against the 

 anger of the goddess, or of the priestess, her servant. 

 How suggestive in this respect becomes all the folklore 

 of brooms ! The solemn night gathering and night 

 binding of brooms on New Year's Day; the dance of 

 men and maids round the fire at Midsummer Eve, the 

 men carrying burning brooms ; the crossed brooms 

 before the doorways in the Obererzgebirge on Wal- 

 purgisnacht as a protection against the witches ; * the 

 besom by the cradle or at the door in Mecklenburg to 

 protect the new-born child ; the cows and the stall pro- 

 tected in the same district from witchcraft by an 



1 The broom was also an essential feature of a Gretna Green marriage, just as 

 the Feuergabel or tongs characterise the gipsy wedding, another link between mar- 

 riage folklore and the worship of the tribal goddess at the great folk -festivals of sex. 



