The solitary Erntekröte (Harvest Toad), mysterious Bockmann (Goat or Buck Man) and sadistic Roggenmuhme (Rye Aunt) are pagan harvest entities.
Harvest time in beautiful Deutschland produces more Field Spirits (Feldgeister) than an ear of corn has kernels. Harvest spirits may resemble people or animals, hybrids or nature elements such as wind or fire. Among them are shape-shifters, Aufhöcker and demons.
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It's extremely bad luck to harm any Harvest Spirit. Sometimes iron can thwart hostile magic, or spells and rituals keep them away, as in the case of the Windsbraut. If it doesn't work, the farmer has a vengeful Harvest Spirit on his hands.
Demonic Harvest Spirits can start fires, while others might cause accidents, illness or a bad harvest. Often, Field Spirits are occupied with catching small tender children to eat. They're Kinderschrecken, or 'child frights'. Their chilling stories are passed down in the oral tradition of German folklore, for entertainment on winter nights, and to keep children out of the fields.
1. Erntekröte (Harvest Toad)
Harvest Toad is one of the animal spirits of the season. She's a solitary creature. She can be small or quite large, with eyes as big as saucers. Her knobby skin is shades of brown, grey, greenish and earth red.
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Although this harvest spirit is reclusive, if she shows herself it's wise to follow the harvest spirit protocol and leave her alone. Erntekröte dislikes company. Her skin secretes toxins, causing sickness to those who bother her.
To see the Harvest Toad in the field is a good sign, indicating prosperity to come. In Eastern culture the Toad relates to wealth as the Money Frog or Toad, Chan Chu.
If she's in the orchard the trees will bear good fruit. If she appears in the garden, good luck is on the way. In the wheat or corn, she can foretell abundant crop and/or warn of blight or other grain disease, which might be treated if caught in time.
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In nature the Toad eats pests such as slugs and beetle larvae, so she's part of a healthy crop or garden. Although in taxonomy there's no scientific distinction between frogs and toads, popular culture associates frogs with wet skin and water, and toads with dry skin and terrestrial habitats. They're both amphibians.
The croak of the Erntekröte at night is linked to health and could be a warning of a sickness in the household, or a sign someone afflicted with an illness will recover. It might also be prudent to check the rye or wheat crop for ergot.
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Don't eat the Toad. Erntekröte is poisonous to dogs, humans and other animals. If she's seen near the house, make sure the dog or children don't mistake her for a fun toy. Toad tadpoles and eggs are also toxic.
As with bee stings, a little bit of poison can be medicinal. Toad venom is a traditional Chinese medicine for strengthening of heart, fighting tumors; and for antivirus, anti-infection, and pain killing effects. It should be taken only on advice of a qualified health practitioner.
Unlike other harvest creatures of the night, like Murrkater the grumbling tomcat, Erntekröte doesn't hunt children. She will spit venom at them if they come too close.
Some harvest spirits flee into the last stalks of the crop when the reaping is done. The Toad burrows deep into the Earth to hibernate for winter. In nature spirituality the Toad relates to moon magic, rebirth, fertility and wealth.
2. Bockmann (Buck Man, Goat Man)
Part man and part goat, this Harvest Spirit can assume to guise of a youthful faun or satyr; or, a centaur-like animal with the arms head and torso of a man and the body, tail and four legs of a goat. He can manifest as a man with horns and a tail, or an old hoary satyr with long beard.
He may be handsome or ugly, but charismatic. If he's been in the fields he may leave goat tracks in damp earth, bigger than the average goat would leave. Bockmann might play music on a lyre or reed pipes. He has the curved horns and cloven hooves of a goat and the power of an ancient nature spirit.
Like his kin the Goat Harvest Spirits he's a trickster and destroyer. He may visit a farmer's wife or daughter as an incubus, or call her into the fields with the voice of a seducer, and spirits her away to whatever fate is in store.
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She may be seen dancing madly in the grain, or disappear forever. In this way he relates to Dionysus of Greek myth, whose female worshippers leave their families to go carousing with drunken abandon in the forest.
If he finds children in the fields, Bockmann kicks them or smacks them with his horns. His eyes blaze like fire for he has some demonic associations. He might kill the children and leave them for other Harvest Demons to eat, since he gets joy from the action but doesn't care for the taste. He's one of the Harvest Spirits who could team up with Roggenmuhme.
He may have goat hybrid companions and travel in a herd. These half-animals can do damage to crops at any time of year, as they eat what they want and rip up stalks and roots. They're especially fond of corn and root vegetables like carrots.
He can appear during the day or at night. His powers are strongest at the twilight hours, when veils between worlds are thin; at Midsummer, the Solstice or Equinox, on Hexennacht and full moon nights. Even when the Harvest is in, this tricky spirit can linger until the first frost comes.
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The sight of Bockmann can fill a person with melancholy, lethargy or depression. He spreads such emotions. On certain nights when the moon is full one hears his cry in the fields, and those afflicted cannot help but follow. On full moon nights he can also cast a spell to make a person fall in love with the thought of him, and go willingly to an unknown fate.
3. Roggenmuhme (Rye Aunt)
One of the most fearsome of the Harvest Demons, Roggenmuhme or Rye Aunt is an Anti-Mother figure. A gigantic woman, she has multiple breasts, very long and tipped with iron. Inside is a sludge-like tar. Woe to any children she catches, for she beats them cruelly and makes them suckle at her red-hot teats.
Her breasts are so long, she must throw them over her shoulders when she runs. She may be all black or all white, neither good. Due to her demonic nature she might have a metal face, metal limbs or clothes. She can start infernos of fire and rot in the crops.
Among the Harvest Demons she's an alpha predator. She may work with other demons such as Roggenwolf or Pig Demons to hunt children. She steals wheat heads and tramples crops. However, the sight of her heinous form stalking through the fields is considered lucky for a good harvest.
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While Harvest Spirits may flee into the final stalks, there to be taken into the house for the winter, Roggenmuhme does no such thing. As a Harvest Demon she goes into the ground or to a Demon realm or both. As she goes into the ground she's associated with the volcanic fires of the Earth.
Roggenmuhme may appear as a grandmother type to gain trust. When children come to help her she snatches them up in her apron. If she's invited into the house she can infect the residents with plague or destroy buildings with fire.
Her magic is strong and hard to fight. She can't be killed. She's an entity of Chaos and it's her nature to cause pain and destruction. If she forces a child to drink the toxic tar from her teats the child may assume demonic traits and follow her commands.
An iron knife buried beneath the front threshold can stop evil spirits from entering and at least makes her pause. Dill, lavender, parsley, sage and oregano plants are known to cleanse the spiritual environment and expel evil energies. Plant these outside the house or on sunny windowsills in pots.
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Rowan or mountain ash (Sorbus) has powers to repel demons. Rowan is a member of the Rose family, not a true ash. Enhance magic protection with bells or chimes, sounds demons hate. Rye Aunt may give the farm a wide berth.
Belief in demons goes back to the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age, up to 2.5 million years ago. Demons represent the unknown, evil magic and primal fears. By the time the Apostle Paul began to preach Christianity in the Roman Empire of 47 AD, demons were already an ancient and powerful race.
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Demons are common in world culture. Associating them with Christian Devil, subjugated by God, was a way of converting pagan tribes. It promoted Christianity as a cure or at least a treatment for demonic infestations and diseases caused by demons. Demons also lost much of their individual power when they were demoted to messengers and helpers of the Devil.