#sebillot

Dauphinois toponymy still bears the mark of these beliefs. Van Gennep only noted two place names : le Puits des Fées (The Fairy Well) near Vienne and la Chambre des Fées (Fairy's Room) near Villard-de-Lans.

C. Joisten, who noted with more care the Dauphinois toponyms relating to fairies, reports in his unpublished file, a Grotte aux Fées (The Fairy Cave) in the commune of Montaud, and a Moulin aux Fées (The Fairy Mill) in the commune of Autrans.

Even if we made an exhaustive list of these Fairies who still haunt the Dauphiné toponymy, we would not have an exact image of the local beliefs in these fantastic beings, because other Fairies hide under other names.

I lived for 30 years in a village in Dauphiné ; two kms from my house, a place called le Champ de la Dame (The Lady's Field). It was explained to me that old stories said there was a Fairy in the bushes. Four kms from my home at the time, passes the Lyon - Grenoble road, it crosses a hillside covered with coppice wood (…) The name of this hillside is la Côte des Filles (The Girls' Hill.)

The Fairies were so familiar to the Dauphinois that they spoke of them with the most ordinary terms, Lady, Girls.

In Lower Normandy, we find the "Bênetchu" who carries off naughty children ; some "anthropomorphic spirits of the waters," who lure them to the bottom of rivers and lakes ; some men or women with a hook, "Marie Crochet" for example (...) There are also many "men with a sack" who carry off children and then devour them. In Spain, (...) the Marimanta is "an old hunchbacked woman (…) carrying a large bag who steals children ; if you find her with a full sack, you have to shake her until she lets go of her victim, who otherwise disappears forever." (Carcía Lorca 2008: p. 135)

Across much of Europe, children were told a tale : "The Child in the Sack," detailing the repeated adventures of a young child struggling with an ogre who tries to catch him and devour him. He manages to escape from the sack three times, because he is clever, avoiding being swallowed up.

Art by Gustaf Tenggren, 1896-1970 This series of excerpts is based on an article that summarizes and condenses the work of P. Sébillot and C. Joisten, two great French folklorists from the beginning of the last century. I will only include the passages that seem to me to be directly or indirectly related to certain ogres, scarecrows, and monsters from my childhood. (Actually, not only from my childhood.)

Just like the threshold, the fireplace is a place of “passage” between two worlds. It also connects the earth with the sky, via the smoke that escapes from it.

In stormy weather, fire from the sky (lightning) can be warded off by the fire in the chimney. It is even said in some places that this fire diverts thunder.

Almost everywhere in France, boxwood or other branches blessed on Palm Sunday are thrown into the flames, sometimes salt or a brand collected from the Saint John fire.

Lightning stones and protective axes are also placed there.

Before lighting a fire in a new fireplace, the Bretons throw three drops of holy water into it so that the devil does not take possession of it.

Omens ;

He or she who cannot light the fire will have difficulty getting married. In Ille-et-Vilaine, if it's a girl, then she will have a cantankerous husband, but he will be particularly cheerful if the fire catches well.

A crackling fire announces good news.

If he snores loudly, it is a sign of a visit; and if it suddenly starts to burn, it's money to come (Brittany)

Agitated flames portend a violent wind and a singing fire, announces snow.

According to Abbot Thiers, you must refuse to share your fire with your neighbors on certain days of the week, because by giving it away, you let your own happiness escape.

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According to an old and still very widespread belief, acts performed on the very waters of fountains, or in their immediate vicinity, can modify the course of the elements, and especially cause rain and storms. (…) In 1661, [a] historian from Dauphiné, [stated the following]: "When it was excessively hot, the peoples flocked to the edges of a fountain located in the parish of E. ; there, the old men and the matrons chose a young and maiden girl, among all the most virtuous and the purest; then the young girl, stripped of her clothes and naked in her shirt, while the whole people were in prayer, immersed herself in the bosom of the fountain and purified her basin of all the filthy matter which troubled the limpidity of the water until it became crystalline again. Scarcely had the waters begun to reflect the beauty of the azure sky, when the storm rumbled on the horizon, and soon abundant rains came to quench the earth's thirst."

I recovered some typical French folk traditions related to Hawthorn, which "conjure" a little what happened (it calms my anger and I think it's a nice way to pay homage), because the tree is essentially seen by the ancients as a protector and even healer.

Christian Folklore :

Thus it is said that the Blessed Virgin fell asleep under this tree or that she protected herself there from the storm during the flight to Egypt. In many places it is explained that its branches were used to make the crown of Christ. Moreover, if one pricks oneself with one's thorns, one must not swear because that brings bad luck. It is thought almost everywhere in France that when the hawthorn is in flower in May, it brings renewed cold and frost. When it bears a lot of fruit, it also announces a very harsh winter. (…)

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Protective Magic :

In his Fasti, Ovid relates that Janus, who had deflowered Carna, made her the goddess of hinges (opening and closing of doors) and endowed her with a branch of hawthorn to chase away harmful influences.

He further evokes the strigas (…) and adds that to protect an infant from the suction of these evil females (to which the witches will subsequently be assimilated), a hawthorn wand consecrated to Janus is placed near his window.

(…)

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Storms :

Everywhere in France, the peasants are convinced that lightning never falls on the hawthorn and take refuge under it when they are surprised by the storm.

We carry them on ourselves and place them in homes to protect them (from lightning).

(…)

In certain prayers to be recited during the storm, the hawthorn is sometimes asked to "serve as a sacrament":

"Hawthorn, my good / I gather you and I take you / If I die on the way / Serve me a sacrament"

(Aubépine, mon bien / Je te cueille et je te prends / Si je meurs en chemin / Sers moi de sacrement)

(…)

Hawthorn branches picked on the first of May are very powerful.

The one that will be planted in the manure will prevent the wheat from germinating in the attic, or will prevent snakes and toads from sucking the cows' milk.

On St. Peter's Day, hawthorn branches blessed by the priest are attached to protect the vines from bad weather.

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Magical Medicine :

To get rid of stains on the eyes, we address a prayer :

" Hawthorn, God bless you above all flowers and roots / In the name of God, flower, I command you / If you are white, that you bleach / If you are red, that you redden / The three persons of the Holy Trinity command you to go away".

"Aubépine, Dieu de bénit par-dessus toute fleur et racine / Au nom de Dieu, fleur, je te commande / Si tu es blanche, que tu déblanches / Si tu es rouge, que tu dérouges / Les trois personnes de la Sainte - Trinité te commandent de t'en aller".

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Against all fevers : we lead the sick, men or animals, in front of a hawthorn bush : we hang bread on a fork of the shrub and we throw salt on it. We go back by a different path from the one we took to come and we enter through a different door than the one we took to leave. (Offerings vary by region.)

The clod of grass on which the sick person or animal has stepped is carried in front of the shrub. Healing occurs as the grass dries.

There are also many instances in which mothers bring their sick children to the feet of the hawthorns and then kneel down to pray.

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[Excerpts from P. Sebillot and M.C Delmas - who herself was inspired by the abbot Thiers ]

Tenacious belief everywhere in France even today that the mirror absorbs vital energy, so the mirrors are covered during a death; and that breaking it brings misfortune and desolation.

Formerly made of polished metal (bronze, copper, silver), the Greeks named this divinatory art "catoptromancy" (from "katoptron", "mirror") and Pausanias (…) tells that there was a fountain in Achaia, in which a mirror hanging from a thread was lowered in order to read a patient's chances of survival. When one went up the mirror, and according to the content of the reflection it presaged health or a future death.

Abbot Thiers gives an example of the use of the divinatory mirror in popular magic : "It will be necessary to write with its own blood on its forehead, the name of the three Kings, and the hour of our death will be written on the first mirror in which we will look at ourselves."

Magic mirrors, metallic or crystal, are used by magicians of the Middle Ages, but they will be especially in vogue during the Renaissance. Catherine de Medici claimed to see the actions of her enemies there and the obsidian stone of the magician John Dee is in the British Museum in London.

In the 19th century, Colin de Plancy in his Infernal Dictionary describes sorcerers who "bring the devil into a large mirror so that he shows the past, the present, the future."

Young girls must consult their mirror in total darkness, after having placed it on a cushion, at the first stroke of midnight, to see the face of their future husband.

In Loire Atlantique, the mirror can also show a priest or a nun, indicating that one will end up in a convent; or else an obstacle across a path, which will announce an approaching death.

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- The presence of a toad at home is directly linked to witchcraft.

We also recognize sorcerers by the sign in the shape of a toad's paw that they wear on the eyeball, a mark affixed by the devil during the Sabbath. (A belief propagated by medieval inquisitors that seems to have captured the collective imagination.)

It is explained in a certain region that the mark appears on the white of the eye, near the pupil, or in the fold of the ear of anyone who has gone to the Sabbath at least 3 times.

When we suspect someone of witchcraft, we say that he "has a toad in his eye". (…)

These familiar toads allow you to perform a common hex called the "charge". The sorcerer "charges" (he orders) the toad to harm those who are pointed out to him by placing the toad under a stone in the barn, the stable, or more often on the threshold of the door of his victims.

As time passes, the toad will have to be baptized by the church before going to commit his evil spells. Sorcerers call him "Jacquet", and have him baptized in the cemetery by the village priest. He is then often depicted with a red ribbon around his neck or paw.

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Magic Medicine :

If we find in the Petit Albert several recipes based on raven's blood or brains, few therapeutic uses are noted in the 19th century in the countryside.

In Lozère, crow broth seems to enjoy a good reputation because it cures a large number of diseases, such as anemia, liver disease, heart disease, jaundice, stomach ailments….

In Lower Brittany, the process which makes it possible to cure ringworm is particularly unusual : it's necessary to obtain the herb called "pao-bran" meaning "crow's leg". This aquatic plant, a kind of small water lily, must be collected at the bottom of a dry well into which a crow is sent. At each dive, which must take place before daybreak, a formula is pronounced which warns the bird that it will only be released if it brings back the remedy. In principle, after three days, the grass appears near the well, brought there by other compassionate crows who want to save their friend. It will then suffice to use it by rubbing your head, every morning on an empty stomach and for a week, to be cured. (What were we talking about, already? ;D)

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