The Witches of Christmas
Once again it is that time of year when the stocking are hung by the chimney with care, I mean the rest of the rhyme can finish itself in your head. While I’m not particularly fond of this time of year, mostly because I dislike what the throws of consumerism do to people, I will admit there is a particular type of magic that is present. However, in my older years, I have shifted my focus from the fat man to other winter and yule time traditions (personally Santa gives me the creeps). Now I grew up Italian, Scottish, and Polish, but except for a few examples my life wasn’t steeped in the richness of each of these cultures, my view of the holiday season was very much American and followed along with the commercialized versions of Christmas. Back in 2017 I was working for Disney and worked as part of a team supporting the EPCOT park. Every year they hold a “Festival of the Holiday’s” where every country around the World Showcase displays their traditions of the winter holiday season. You get to explore the food, music, and iconography that are used this time of year that uphold traditions going back centuries or more. Standing in the Italy pavilion, I was captivated by our storyteller who was performing the role of La Befana, the Italian Christmas witch who comes to the children every year on January 5th (or the day of the Epiphany). She brings them gifts and food, good luck for the coming year and if the child was bad a lump of coal, or if you lived in the Sicilian country side blocks of wood. Sounds familiar right? Well, watching her tell this story made me wonder a few things, one, what other parts of my heritage were I missing and two, how many other female figures of Yule and winter celebrations from other countries were not recognizing. This holiday season found me digging through the Alpine archives to find women from folk lore that are just as important as their male counterparts. With Krampus gaining new popularity, I wondered how many other cultures had similar figures to him and Befana that I could bring to light. I started in Europe since that’s what was close to me and would love to expand further reaching other continents.
The indigenous European people all followed similar beliefs systems before the church took hold. Goddess’ and Gods’ were given names for each cycle and function of the earth. The Wheel of the Year, familiar to any Pagan, displays the eight holidays that coincide with the changing of the seasons. Yule is considered the first holiday of the wheel because Samhain, or Halloween, is looked at as the “new year” the last harvest where the calendar resets. Yule is the holiday of the sun returning to longer days, the rebirth of the cycle allowing those to begin the season of planting seeds for the coming year of harvest. It is the shortest day of the year and the longest night signaling a return to warmth. When the Catholic Church began colonizing these populations of people, they persecuted the pagans for their beliefs and began implementing holidays that favored the biblical text. However, to make these holidays more appealing to the indigenous people they linked them with the pagan calendar and symbols so they would be more likely to participate without much of a fight. This is where saints and other iconography come from. Hence why we decorate trees and top them with stars this time of year. This time of history is a fascinating one and one I intend to explore more.
La Befana is a witch, or a Strega, one of many in Italian culture. Despite being a culture now of heavy catholic faith I’ve witness my aunts and mother preform little bouts of magic, although to them they’d say it was to ward off superstition. You can read further on Italian Witchcraft in the book Italian Folk Magic by Mary-Grace Fahrun. It is believed that Befana was approached by the wise men on their way to visit the baby Jesus. She provided the Wiseman with shelter and although she couldn’t offer them directions, she was able to keep them warm and fed on their journey. When they left, she could not join them as she had to finish her housework, as she was the best housekeeper on the block! Once the sweeping was done, she grabbed a sack full of offerings for the baby got on the broom she had just been sweeping with however Befana could not find the star and it is said that she flies around every Epiphany Eve still looking for the baby. Bringing gifts to every child because church tradition states that all children are children of Christ. Even as a pagan I enjoy the story of Befana. But these ideas didn’t start with the church, the tradition of gift giving as she does come from pre-Christian traditions of the Roman gift giving holiday of New Year that was adapted by the Christians. The “Old Lady” is the old year that has just passed leaving the image of a new baby to represent the new year to come. It is said these traditions were passed down by the Celts of Neolithic times, to those inhabiting rural Southern Italy. Now while she isn’t as terrifying as the others, she is where a lot of the beginnings of witch traditions come from. Seen as an old “hag” as they call her, dressed in rags, often with a crooked nose and large eyes. She carries a broom and is covered in soot, because she enters the homes through the family’s chimneys. We see here the foundation of the “hag” trope. Because she is older and is lacking in beauty her focus can be on others and the home. Dowdy rags in layers upon her body, usually displayed with a shorter plump framing, give the reader a sense of warmth. Befana uses her magic for good and we have see images of her likeness throughout movie and TV history. What comes to my mind first is the old lady who helps Merida in Brave. While she is still celebrated throughout Italy today, I would love to see more widespread imagery of her. The unassuming hag has also been used for evil, like in Snow White, a German folk tale from The Brother Grimm. I’m sure their influence in the wicked witch came from the other Christmas witch there were sure to grow up with.
Frau Perchta, steams from Germanic traditions like Krampus, but she is from per-Christina Alpine traditions. Known to the German and Austrian people as a terrifying Christmas Witch. Let me tell you after reading about her and having just finished Andrew Shaffer’s novel Secret Santa Frau Perchta is a lot more mischievous than our buddy Krampus. Also known as “Spinnstubenfrau” or “spinning room lady” She is depicted in rags like Befana, but she carries with her a large walloping cane and a knife hidden under her skirt. Like the Scandinavian goddess Frigga, their titles as spinning room ladies mean that they are obsessed with neatness and the spinning of wool. They do not tolerate procrastination if you do not have all your wool work done or leave a messy home. All housework must be complete by twelfth night (January 6th), if not you will be subjected to trampling and rage that will extend far past your spinning room. On an even darker note, there is another depiction of Perchta that resembles what we think of as Krampus. Wielding a demonic army to collected lost souls (or children that have not been baptized). Perchta becomes a foul beast like creature almost identical to Krampus, however Perchta travels on the epiphany eve and Krampus on St. Nicholas Eve. Perchta does have a beautiful good side to her where she is known as Hollie, meaning bright night, but this depiction seems to come up less. We can clearly see the influence Perchta had on many stories and movies. Using the trope of the “hag” tells us that because of her evil she is so ugly on the outside to match her interior. This is forever the double standard that women can either weld power and succumb to the warts and rags, or if they wish to remain beautiful then they must give up their power.
These Alpine women are just two of many from pagan history who have been all but written out by the church. Personally, I would love to see more of these stories making their way into the popular culture. Showing women that they played a bigger role in these traditions. Curiously I will continue to dive into these traditions from my culture and others. I want to learn about all different types of witches and how their image has either been made a joke or they have been written out of parts of history. The looks and plights of witches will continually be a topic that I am exploring. As my curiosity for sexist archetypes will forever be present. I want to challenge and change the way we look at witches and women in all scopes of the genre. I hope this brings a different perspective to the holiday season, that merry and bright might only mean that if all your housework is done, and that witches have been at the most pivotal points in history despite what the men have written down. Happy Holidays to whatever you celebrate this season and have a Happy New Year!
