42 WOMAN AS WITCH 



district the witches meet on the former night for 

 dancing, and there is a common meal under the 

 Hexenlinde, or witches' linden tree. 



In Heilbronn, on Walpurgisnacht, there is a common 

 meal and the burning; of a scarecrow relic of an old 



o 



human sacrifice. This is said to be done to hinder the 

 witches, but yet this very night, according to the folk- 

 lore of the country round, they are most active and 

 have most power. In North Germany the witches are 

 said to dance away the snow from the Blocksberg on 

 Walpurgisnacht; in other words, they are friendly 

 servants of a goddess of fruitfulness, whose influence 

 over women agriculturists is well marked in the custom 

 in Uker- and Mittel-mark of putting a scarecrow called 

 Walpurg on the land of those maidens who have not 

 completed their digging of the soil by May Day. 

 Traces of the sacrifice of cats or horses on Walpurgis- 

 nacht are very frequent, and a cat or dog is the usual 

 companion of the primitive goddess or her priestess, the 

 witch. The Scandinavian goddess Freya is drawn by 

 cats, the alte Fricke goes with dogs, so does Fru Gode. 

 The dog, the cat, and the three ears of corn are symbols 

 of the Virgin Mary, but also of Walpurg, and the 

 devil's grandmother as well, clearly indicating how many 

 of the characteristics, and even the symbols of the 

 old mother- goddesses, were passed on to the Virgin 

 in early Christian times. 1 Nay, like Holle and Gode 

 and Berchta, she became a goddess of spinning, which 



1 Folk-gatherings remained for many ages linked to the old heathen goddess 

 festivals and their sacred spots. It is interesting from this standpoint to notice 

 that the place of gathering for the commons of Norwich was at the chapel of " the 

 blessed Virgin in the Fields." 



