Witches Make Butter
There was a woman in Wildemann who made a pact with the Devil. She also traded with butter, and the Devil gave her a bag with something inside, but nobody knew what exactly it was. She was supposed to put the bag beneath her butter churn whenever she churned butter. She had done this for many years when she had to go to the baking hut one day, and her daughter was visiting a neighbor. The neighbor was also churning butter at the time when the daughter told her that she ought to do it like her own mother. For if she did so, she would get a lot of butter. Her mother had a butter bag, and when she put it beneath the butter churn, the butter immediately came out at the top. Then the neighbor asked if she knew where her mother was keeping the bag, and the daughter immediately ran out to fetch the bag. She put it beneath her own butter churn, and the butter immediately came out at the top. When had finished churning butter, she gave the bag back to the child, who was supposed to put the bag back at the same spot so that the mother would not notice that it had been used. Then she cleaned the butter, and then intended to weigh it.
At that moment, the door opened, and a man with a triangular hat and a red jacket entered. He had a horse’s foot and a human foot, and asked whether she had enough butter. He also pulled out a large tome and told her that she should first sign her name here. But the woman refused, for she did not have any truck with men such as him. The man asked in return why she had used the butter bag. And if she refused to sign, he would have to take back the portion of the butter that was his. The woman now replied that she was not about to let a man like him touch the butter, for she knew how much she had always attained. But he said that he knew better than she did which portion was his and which hers.
The woman finally took her butter out, and the man took the rest, and then he went out of the door with it. But the woman was very garrulous, and wanted to tell her neighbor of what had happened to her. When she opened the door, the man threw the butter into her face, and flew out of the chimney. The woman screamed and ran out on the street. But the man was already high up in the air. Now, the woman laid down and became ill. On the day after this incident, and at the same hour, she was cold and her face had become as black as coals from the infernal butter.
It is also told that in a particular village in the Harz region — whose name was a secret in 1850 — all women used to be witches, with the exception of one woman whom the Devil had not yet gotten into his claws. If one of the witches churned butter, everything was done within five minutes, and this occurred in the following manner:
Because they had given themselves over to him, the Devil had gifted a ball of twine to the witches. When this was put beneath the butter churn, it transformed the cream into butter over the course of a few minutes. The amount of butter did not shrink when it was used. The high witch kept this ball for safekeeping. If one of the witches wanted to churn butter, she went to the high witch and retrieved it. She then put it below the butter churn, and everything was done after a few minutes, and there was butter in abundance.
One day, the one woman who was not a witch was also churning butter. She churned from morning to noon, but it did not yet seem as if the cream would turn into butter. Then a girl arrived who was of the same age as the woman’s daughter, and wanted to walk with her to school. The girl observed the ordeal of the woman and was astonished. “When my mother is churning butter,” she said, “the butter is done in an instant. It goes really quite fast. She puts a ball of twine beneath the butter churn, and then she has so much butter that she can hardly deal with it all. Should I fetch that twine? My mother has churned butter this morning as well, but now she is out of the house.” — “Yes,” said the woman, “fetch it.”
In a hurry, the girl ran there and fetched the ball of twine. Then she went to school with the woman’s daughter, and left the ball behind. Now the woman put the ball beneath the butter churn, and the butter was done in less than five minutes. Furthermore, the woman had a lot more butter than usual. But the girl did not retrieve the ball of twine again, and thus it stayed with the woman until the evening. When it had become dark and the woman was in the kitchen, the Devil came down the chimney. He held a thick book beneath his arm. The names of all the other women had been written into it. Now the Devil started to negotiate with the woman, and said that since she had used his gift, she also had to sign herself over to him. But the woman initially refused to do so. He held the thick book in front of her. He told her that so many had already signed themselves to him, and so many names had been written into it. Now she should make up her mind and sign. “Well,” said the woman, who was feeling very disturbed, “I can’t decide that on my own. I want to ask my husband first and listen to what he has to say about this.” She then told the Devil that he should leave the book here, and come back tomorrow at the same time. Then the Devil took his leave, and agreeably left the book behind.
Late in the evening, when her husband returned, his wife told him about this incident with the Devil. “No,” said the husband, “this shall not do. Tomorrow you will go to the pastor, and he should be able to give you advice on how we should proceed here.” The next morning, the woman took the book and went to the pastor with it. She told him of her concern, and asked him how she should act. Then she gave the book that the Devil had left behind to the pastor, and told him that she was supposed to sign it — but she would not do this, no matter what. Then the pastor took a quill, and wrote the following beneath the names:
“The blood and justice of Christ
Are my adornment and gown of honor.”
“This evening,” said the pastor, “the Devil will probably return at the same time. Just put the open book in the kitchen and remain calm. You shall see what happens then. The Devil will not be able to harm you, for he has no power over you.”
The woman did as she was advised, and put the opened book into the kitchen. In the evening, at the designated time, the Devil came down the chimney, but he was very irate already. When he saw the book and read what was written there, there was a sudden loud bang. He then went out through the kitchen window, and took the kitchen window with him. But the book was still lying on the same spot. And when the woman burnt it, all the other women whose name was signed in there with blood became free of the Devil. The kitchen window could not be put back, and the window panel remains empty to this day.