"A bjära was a kind of ball that the witches sent out to milk the farmer's cows, steal cream, cheese etc. When the mission was accomplished the bjära returned back to the witch and puked up the milk for the witch, like a pellet.
"The bjära was a woolly ball of 9 different colors that the witch made herself. It was important that the wool was twined during three consecutive Thursdays. The top layer of the ball was always gray. In the middle of the ball there was a hole where she put a sacramental wafer or some other magic object together with three drops of blood from her left little finger.
The ball was then initiated with a string of words:
"Jag har gett dig blod, fan skall ge dig mod, du skall för mig på jorden springa och jag skall för dig i helvetet brinna."
Or in English: ”I have given you blood, the devil will give you courage, you shall run the earth for me and I will burn in hell for you ”.
"When this was done the ball was thrown over her left shoulder. Now the ball came to life and a became willing bjära for its owner.
The bjära could break in through the smallest opening and was impossible to shut out. It was difficult to protect oneself against it.
"In southern Sweden, a mjölkhare ("milk rabbit") was the same thing as a bjära." [1]
Now it so happens that one of my great-aunts in Skåne kept a mjölkhare. For this reason, she was always plentifully supplied with milk, butter, wine, and brännvin. The only problem with it was that, as you can imagine, after rolling through pastures and squeezing through hedgerows and holes in walls night after night, the mjölkhare soon became utterly filthy. It got black and sticky and became an object of dread and distaste to everyone in the family. Nevertheless, the mjölkhare continued to perform its nightly errands, and frequently returned from the parsonage swollen with costly imported wine (the parson kept a well-stocked wine-cellar, of course). Everyone enjoyed the wine, as long as they could avoid thinking about how it had been in the maw of that repulsive thing.
BELTRANO
[1] Hans Högmans Släktforskning (
Yuck! Is this for real?
ReplyDeleteWho has the yarn-ball now?
Very creepy . . .
M.B.
It came back with me in my suitcase when I returned from Sweden this summer. I am already beginning to wish I had left it there. Sed sic est fatum meum! At least it's better than receiving the Black Spot.
ReplyDelete