10/12/2024
"You have probably never heard of Her – I certainly hadn’t until my daughter sent me this information. But if you happened to be living in Bavaria or Austria during the Middle Ages, you might have been quite troubled by her during the Yule period! This was the time that Frau Perchta would be on the loose, doling out punishments and rewards for the naughty and nice.
The “official end” of Yuletide in many traditions is January 6th, also known as Twelfth Night or Feast of the Epiphany. It was on this night that Frau Perchta would drop in for a visit. If you had been good over the past year, you would be rewarded with a piece of silver. But if you had been bad – watch out! Frau Perchta was a stern distributor of justice. In fact, she was also called “the belly slitter” because her apparent punishment for bad behaviour consisted of Frau Perchta cutting open the offender’s stomach, removing the inner organs, and replacing them with straw and pebbles.
But, Perchta has a very interesting story. She wasn’t always an evil witch. In fact, she was at one time a greatly loved Germanic goddess, also called Berchta or Bertha, which literally means “bright” or “shining one”. In ancient, pre-Christian times, Berchta was a powerful figure, worshiped by both Celtic and Germanic tribes. It was her job to protect babies, women and children. She was associated with birch trees, was a protector of forests and wildlife, and was associated with the cycle of life, death and rebirth. She was depicted as a beautiful woman with long hair, often called the White Woman or the Lady in White. She was considered a triple goddess (perhaps because of her association with life’s cycles) and was able to take on forms of the maiden, mother and crone."
-Kat Saw, excerpt from Songs of Solstice: Goddess Carols
Kat Shaw Artist
