The Witch as

Cat
Czech Republic, Germany,
and North America
By Veronica Zavala

The Witch as Cat

Bohemia, Czech Republic
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o

At the end of the sixteenth century

A miller woman and her six children lived in a mill
The Mill was haunted
During the night a black cat with six kittens attacked and in
some occasion to death.
A journeyman
The journeyman he lit a candle and drew a circle with
sanctified chalk
The man grabbed a hatchet and cut off one of the cats
paw.
The miller woman was ill
The journeyman found the human hand and realized that
the cat was a miller woman. He reported the event
The miller woman was accused of witchcraft and burned to
death with her kitten, because they had learned witchcraft

Context and Texture

o Sagen- Puch von Aohmen und Whren by Josef
Virgil Mrohmann (1863)
o Czech and Moravian identity
o Bohemia in the XVI century had been taken by
Austria during the Thirty Years' War.
o Conflict between Protestant a and Catholic
states
o Metamorphosis of the human and cat
o The bell, a sanctified chalk, and the circle
o Witches and children are burned

The Witch

Wettin, Germany
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o

o
o

Die Hexe
A miller man
Mill haunted
Four workers had died
High-spirited boy was hired.
During the midnight a gray cat appeared
and tried to kill the worker
With an ax the boy skillfully struck off
half cats paw
The Millers wife the next morning was
mortally wounded
The miller and boy realized that the
hand fits into the arm of the miller's
wife
The millers wife was accused of
witchcraft and burned to death

Context and texture

o Sagenbuch des Preuischen Staats by Von Dr. I.
S. HY. Srffe. (1868)
o The identity of the Kingdom of Prussia
o Demonology became part of folklore
o Witches was treated as criminals
o Large prosecutions organized by peasant
o communities and towns-people
o The organized public interest and unrest and
rebellion
o Control of population
o Germany is considerate as the mother of so
many witches (Dillinger)

The Woman-Cat
Guilford County, North Carolina. North
America
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o

A man owned a mill

He couldnt stay late
A traveler asked to stay for a night in the mill
In the mill, he read his Bible
Eight or nine cats arrived, and one attacked to the
traveler
The traveler cut the cats right-front foot,
The cats escaped
Next morning millers wife was not able to prepare
the breakfast.
The miller showed a ring similar to his wifes ring
The miller asked to the millers wife about the ring
The millers wife was cut off at right wrist.

Context and texture

o Tales from Guilford County, North Carolina,
By Elsie Clews Parsons (The journal of
American Folklore)
o Parson's informant: Lulu Young, about 25.
o The colonist
o Folk superstition
o Regarding magic and supernaturalism
o Maleficium
o Uncanny powers
o North Carolina witches assumed preference
the form of special animals
o Cats referent practitioner (black cat)
o And represent one of the multitudinous
forms of the well-being worldwide motif of
the defense of a house against a haunting
goblin

Similarities and differences

Cat

Owner of
the mill

Mill

The young
man

Cut the
paw

Accusation

Religious
things

The Witch as
Cat

Black
Old cat and
six kittens

Miller
woman

It was
hunted
Not
servants
stay

Journeyman

a hatchet
and cut off
one of the
cats paw.

The Miller
woman
Burned with
her six kids

Sanctified
chalk and
a circle.

The Witch

Gray
Only one
cat

Miller man

It was
hunted,
died four
workers

High-spirited
boy

With an ax
Struck off
half cats
paw

Millers wife
accused and
burned to
die

Non

The WomanCat

Dark
Eight or
nine cats

Miller man

Miller
couldnt
stay late,
mysterious

Traveler

With a
surd, cut
his right
front foot
off.

Non
accusations

Bible

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