Blåkulla & Easter Witches: A Story of Ill Omened Islands, Elemental Travel, and The Goddess Freya

The folklore of the Easter Witch, Freya cults, elemental travel, trolls, deadly holy wells, black fish and more.

Blåkulla and Påskkäringar: The Blue Hill and the Easter Witches

Easter in Scandinavia is a holy time of year where magical practitioners would travel through the elements to Blåkulla, the Blue Hill, to meet the Devil and spring animals. Påskkäringar, påsktroll, or påskgubbar (Easter Witches, Easter Trolls, Easter Old Men) traveled to Blåkulla on Maundy Thursday, the Thursday before Easter Sunday, or the night before May 1st (Valborgs or Walpurgis). When they got to the Hill, they would dance with the spirits of spring and the devil himself. This custom is likely linked back to older fertility practices and goddess worship. Holy week and Maundy Thursday was thought to be somewhat ill omened but a powerful time for certain kinds of magic.

Methods of Travel

Practitioners used a variety of tools to reach the Blåkulla or the Blue Hill, some of which were the oven rake (implement of fire), the scythe (implement of the wind or gathers the wind) and the broom (implement of the wind), or the kettle (wind). People who were not practitioners would go out and hide these farm tools so that the witches would not take them on their way to the Blue Hill. In addition to traveling with elemental tools, witches were also said to travel up the chimney through the smoke and fire, travel through a keyhole, ride cattle or even ride humans to reach Blåkulla. The riding of animals and humans are mentioned several times throughout the old Norse Sagas; this piece of lore points to some very old magical practices.

In addition, it is mentioned in several sources that practitioners would be seen flying with an animal horn given by the Devil that was filled with magical unguents, likely a herbal oil infused with plants and other substances used to draw visions and produce a hallucinatory experience. From the Nordic Museum in Sweden, here is a traditional flying ointment recipe:

"The witches’ lubricating horn is for the flying ointment which is boiled up monkshood, wormwood, henbane, and nightshade, opium poppy, red foxglove, calamus, and bat’s blood." (Source: Under the Dragon Root, Corinne Boyer).

It is said that when the witches would arrive at the Blue Hill, they would bring offerings to the devil. If we can look past some of the Christian influence, we can see Blåkulla being a place of power practitioners would all travel to at the advent of spring, to give offerings to some force awakening, whether that be nature itself, or nature appearing as a deity. This custom is still practiced today by Trolldom practitioners and likely by others in similar Northern European folk traditions.

Stories of Blå Jungfru: The Blue Hill, the Blue Maiden

Blå Jungfru, an island in the Kalmar Sound in Sweden, is said to be the place that witches would travel to meet the devil. The name Blå Jungfru translates to “blue maiden.” There are a few interesting pieces of history about this island; it seems to be primarily associated with a sacred site where sacrifices were given and potentially inhabited by a particular goddess or feminine spirit. From the legends of Blåkulla and Blå Jungfru, it is likely that it is a place sacred to a goddess of death and wind or possibly Freya or Frigga. The name of the island, Blå Jungfru, is likely a byname for a spirit or deity that is associated with the island itself or was seen to inhabit the island.

Blå Jungfru (Blue Maiden) in Kalmar Sound, Sweden

Sylvander in "Borgholm Castle's History" tells of an old well in the castle, which supposedly got its name from a maiden who in despair threw herself into it and then later floated up on the shore of the black rocky island in the Kalmar Sounds, later this island received the name Jungfrun and Blåkullan ('the black maiden'). A holy spring of black water, which destroyed all life, was found at the top of the cliffs of the island. According to another legend, a beautiful maiden took refuge on the island out of despair over love. On its uppermost level was a bottomless lake with black water and black fish, into which she threw herself. The water in this lake was deadly for all animal and plant life except for the black fish, and around this lake, which belonged to the shadows of night and death and was a place for sacrifice to Freya and her priestesses.

In another piece of folklore, it was said that during the celebratory feasts of the goddess Freya, 10 purchased maidens were sacrificed to her or drowned, after they had served her at her holy bath on the island. It was also believed that a feminine spirit from the sea dwelled there in shadows, but during storms and severe weather she showed herself at the top of the cliff and inspired sailors with either hope or fear. Jungfrun takes on different forms under different mirages, which appeared as terrible figures and gloomy shadows, which at midnight wandered around on this uninhabited island, and had in folk belief been transformed into a fearsome sjötroll or sea troll.

The folklore of this island is varied and somewhat ill omened, however when looking through the folklore we must not take anything too literally. Often there are glimmers of true folk magic within the winding ancient Christian and pagan tales that have shifted through time and history. There is much more to the folk practices and the island Blå Jungfru if one is cunning enough to notice. Though there is more to tell about Freya’s Blue Hill, the rest will be left a secret for now.

If you are curious about how to apply this history and folklore to a magical practice, feel free to reach out to me. I am a professional folk magic teacher and practitioner, I specialize in Nordic folk magic specifically. I take on apprentices from time to time and have online group classes.

Written By: Hayley Huston: Trolldom Teacher and Professional Practitioner

The Nine Winds: School of Scandinavia Wisdom and Folk Magic

Sources:

Svenska landsmål ock svenskt folkliv 1911

Easter Witches in Sweden Fredrick Skott