Spells are, in the most general sense, the use of certain supernatural means both to harm people and to help them in various situations. In turn, magic is, according to the Ethnological Dictionary, “a set of ritualized actions and techniques aimed at – as their practitioners believe – causing desired effects in the real world by influencing by these procedures certain – natural or supernatural – powers present in nature” (Buchowski 1987:218).
In folk beliefs, a very common synonym for a spell was a hex, a type of malicious magical power that it was believed some people possessed. They could cast a hex through a look or spoken words. It was believed that some people could be aware of their power and cast hexes intentionally while others might not have such awareness.
Belief in spells and witches was widespread in Kashubia in the past, and the belief in hexes has survived until modern times. It was commonly believed that witchcraft was mainly practised by women although B. Sychta also provides the names of five well-known sorcerers in Kashubia. Witches were usually older, thin women. They could also be recognized by the fact that they were able to look at the sun for hours, had wild red eyes, and liked the colour red. Witches talked to themselves and also collected herbs from other people’s fields and field banks – unlike ordinary women, who collected them on their own land. It was believed that toads, owls, black cats, and above all crows, which circled over their houses, were in the service of witches.
Witches were accused of causing various unfavourable events, especially in relation to livestock breeding and agriculture. It was commonly believed that they had the power to take or stop milk from cows, bring illness to horses, destroy harvests in the fields. They could also cause marital conflict, bring illness to a child, or “inflict” a knot of tangled hair. There have been many stories about witches written down by folklorists and ethnographers since the mid-19th century. In these texts, witches are credited with the ability to fly – most often on brooms – to use a sieve to empty lakes of their water, to tear up forests by the roots, to turn a person into a cloud.
Particularly dangerous times when witches operated were the night before May 1st and especially St. John’s Night, so on this day it was necessary to drive the cattle from the pasture before evening and stay at home or in a circle of fire and light from a bonfire, which had the power to scare away witches. According to belief, on this night, witches gathered on bald mountains, of which there was no shortage in Kashubia. Before the gathering, they rubbed themselves with birch tar and flew on a broom, a fern leaf, a cloth or a piece of wood.
Towns known for having witches living in them included: Wierzchucino, Smolno, Chałupy, Wielki Kack, Pogórze, Piechowice, Karsin, Wdzydze Tucholskie, Rekowo (Bytów district), Ramleje, Pierszczewo, Rębiechowo, Przodkowo, Staniszewo, Skwierawy, Gostomie and others. The case of a witch from Staniszewo, K. Mrówczyna, who was tried for witchcraft in 1695 (confirmed in preserved archival materials) and then burned at the stake, is particularly well-known. This fact has meant that in this town, beliefs and stories about witches have survived in oral tradition to modern times.
Poor village women who had difficulty defending themselves were not the only ones accused of witchcraft, but also townswomen of high social standing. An example is the wife of the mayor of Wejherowo, K. Wilmowa, who was accused of witchcraft in 1680 and burned after an exhaustive trial. Most witchcraft trials were held before secular municipal courts, sometimes during away sessions. The court in Wejherowo was particularly strict at the end of the 17th century and in the first half of the 18th century. It conducted witchcraft trials not only against residents, especially female residents of the town, but also the accused who were brought to Wejherowo from the Lębork and Mirachów regions.
Trials and “witch hunts” were not specific to Kashubia – they were the effect of trade contacts and cultural influences reaching here via Germany from Western Europe, where the madness of witchcraft trials lasted from the 15th to the 17th century, and especially in the years 1570-1630. This phenomenon was delayed in reaching Polish lands. The largest number of witch trials took place in Greater Poland and Royal Prussia, regions where German and wider Western European influences were stronger. Witch trials took place here in the 17th and 18th centuries, mainly in city courts, and their peak occurred in the years 1676–1725. In the last quarter of the 18th century, witch trials in Poland died out, brought about, among other things, by the law of 1776 recommending that accusations of witchcraft be treated as slander. However, the belief in witchcraft and witches survived much longer, especially among the rural population. A case that resonated loudly in Pomerania in 1836 was the lynching by the residents of Chałupy of a resident of that village – K. Ceyna, who was accused by a quack healer of causing a fisherman’s illness with witchcraft. The perpetrators of the murder were punished by a Prussian court.
According to Kashubian beliefs, one could become a witch as a result of learning this art. Hence, as it was believed, knowledge and skills were passed down in families from mother to daughter or from grandmother to granddaughter. If a witch did not have a daughter she could pass on her skills to any strange woman whom she considered suitable. Witches were used to help people but at the same time they were feared. To check if a woman was a witch, one had to put a broom on the threshold of the house. The witch would pick it up and then go inside. Witches fled from holy water and burning juniper.
In Kashubia, it was widely believed that one could cast a spell, i.e. inflict it, by looking, but also by praising. Therefore, strangers, especially those with “evil” eyes, should not be allowed into the stable or barn. Small children, young animals, adolescent girls, brides and women after giving birth were particularly vulnerable to spells and charms – hence, children, especially unbaptized ones, should not be shown off, but they should also not be praised. A child who is under a spell behaves strangely and restlessly, animals get sick and die. Praising the beauty or appearance of women could also, as it was believed, have negative effects. “Evil” eyes could be dangerous to the owner her or himself – as F. Lorentz wrote, “if s/he looks at her/his own cattle without taking precautions, s/he will also cast a spell on them” (Lorentz, 1934:93).
Various preventive measures have been and are used against spells and hexes. When passing by a witch’s house, one should cross oneself. When one suspects that someone may inflict a spell, one should say: kùsznij mie w rzëc (kiss my a**). A shirt or an apron worn with the seams on the outside protected against witchcraft. A commonly used protective measure was tying a red ribbon, e.g. on a child’s hand, weaving red ribbons into girls’ braids and also into horses’ manes. Small, red bows (often with religious medallions) are still hung in prams and on children’s beds today. An effective way to counteract spells and hexes is a prayer recited by a priest during baptism.
When protective practices failed, a number of procedures were performed to turn away the spell or neutralize its harmful effects. For this purpose, specialists, i.e. witches, were consulted. One method involved putting coals from a fire into a glass of holy water and reciting prayers – preferably through the entrance door hinges. On the other hand, when small geese or ducks fell ill, they had to be passed through men’s trousers or long johns (a method used sporadically to this day).
In Kashubia, as in other regions, various magical practices were practised. Their aim for example, was to bring about a bountiful harvest of fruit. To this end, on Christmas Eve, the host tied straw ropes around fruit trees and hit them with an axe. On New Year’s Eve, this task was entrusted to children, who ran around the trees with bells, shouting the formula: “Firm apples,firm pears, firm plums, firm rye”, “Plump goslings, plump chicks” or “plump foals, calves, lambs” (Ceynowa)
Another magical act was marking the boundary of a house, field or village. The first was marked by sweeping the house on Good Friday before sunrise. After completing this task, the broom had to be thrown out on the border of the farmstead to rid the house of vermin (Sychta). The ritual marking of fields by ceremonially walking around them was intended to induce a good harvest. Sometimes, ploughing the borders of the village was also practised – this activity was to protect against “plague air”, i.e. epidemics of plague, cholera, and smallpox. In some places in northern Kashubia, on St. John’s Day, a line of blessed chalk was drawn around the house to prevent witches from entering it.
Water played a significant role in Kashubian magic due to its cleansing power. Until recently, on Easter Sunday before sunrise, people went to rivers and springs to wash their faces or immerse themselves in water. When going to the water one was not supposed to talk or look back. This water, it was believed, had the power to remove skin diseases, especially scabies, whiten freckles and heal sore eyes. Sometimes water was taken in a bottle and used to wash the face or sore spots with it. Water was poured on the reapers after the harvest was finished – this magical procedure was supposed to ensure the next year’s crops, which depended on the appropriate amount of rainfall.
Water could also play a negative role. Especially when a deceased person had been washed in it. It could then be used to bring about someone’s death – it could be poured in front of a family’s doorstep or sprinkled on the face of the person who was to be killed (Sychta).
Holy water brought from the church on the feast of the Three Kings had religious, but also magical power. It was used, among other things, to prevent fires, and was sometimes sprinkled on the house and farmstead on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve. Sea fishermen blessed their boats and nets before the start of the new fishing season. Holy water was also used to expel evil forces, such as the devil.
In turn, in love magic, the frog and the mole played an important role. In order to attract the attention of the chosen young man, the girl was supposed to bury the frog in an anthill and then take the remains of the frog to the cemetery at midnight. The matchmaker, who wanted to fulfil his role effectively, was supposed to scratch the young couple with a mole’s leg, then “Weselé sã nie rozwali” (Sychta). The leg had to come from a mole that had been strangled with the left hand, before sunrise, before Saint John’s Eve. A girl who wanted to see her future husband should strip naked on New Year’s Eve and look in the mirror or dance around the chimney. During these activities, she was supposed to see the one her parents or matchmaker would choose.
An important role in magical practices was played by a candle consecrated on February 2, the feast of Candlemas. When lit, it was placed next to a dying person to illuminate their path to the afterlife. After bringing the consecrated candle home, it was lit and the sign of the cross was made on the ceiling of the house, as well as on the doors of the house and farm buildings – this was to bring a blessing, protect against evil forces and misfortune. The candle was believed to have the power to heal and cure diseases. Its smoke was used to fumigate the throat and the ends of hair were singed, which was supposed to bring relief from headaches. A candle lit during a storm had the power to ward off lightning and protect the house from fire. This custom is still occasionally practised in some Kashubian families today.
Candles (not the Candlemas candle) burning on the altar during the wedding mass were closely observed – when they burned evenly they foretold a long life. When one of the candles burned unevenly it foretold a sad life for the person standing on that side. A bad omen, foretelling the quick death of one of the spouses, was the extinguishing of a candle during the service. It was also believed in Kashubia that salt, bread and water blessed on St. Agatha’s Day, February 5, had magical power. Fishermen believed that it had the power to protect against floods, flooding by sea waves, which was of great importance in towns located on the Hel Peninsula. When high waves flooded villages, people would leave the house and throw unconsecrated salt, bread and water into the water – after a short time the waves would calm down. Sometimes fishermen would take these blessed utensils with them on their boats to use in case of danger.
Green branches – especially maple – were also believed to have magical power. They were used to decorate houses on St. John’s Day, especially in northern Kashubia. They protected homes from the intrusion of witches, who were particularly active on that day. Maple branches were also stuck in fields and fishermen put them on the bottom of boats, “so that witches would not have access to them” (Stelmachowska).
A number of phenomena and behaviours, including those in animals, were interpreted as omens of misfortune. For example, an unfavourable omen was when bread put into the oven on a shovel fell off it. A screeching magpie flying across the road foretold misfortune and the behaviour of a crow was interpreted in the same way. The bird that heralded death was the owl. The mole was commonly considered a harbinger of death – when it dug tunnels under a building, it foretold the death of a household member. Sometimes, however, such behaviour was interpreted as an omen of marriage or the birth of a child (Sychta).
Anna Kwaśniewska
Bibliography
- Buchowski M., Magia, [in:] Słownik etnologiczny: Terminy ogólne, edited by Z. Staszczak, Warszawa – Poznań 1987, pp. 218-222.
- Guldon Z., Proces czarownicy we wsi Staniszewo w 1695 r., Studia z Dziejów Kościoła Katolickiego, Vol. 1, 1961, pp. 150-161.
- Lorentz F., Zarys etnografii kaszubskiej, [in:] F. Lorentz, A. Fischer, T. Lehr-Spławiński, Kaszubi: Kultura ludowa i język, Toruń 1934, pp. 1-139.
- Stelmachowska B., Rok obrzędowy na Pomorzu, Toruń 1933.
- Sychta B., Słownik gwar kaszubskich na tle kultury ludowej, Vol. I, Wrocław – Warszawa – Kraków 1967.
- Treder J., Kaszubi: Wierzenia i twórczość ze Słownika Sychty, Kartuzy 2009.
