Frau Perchta: A Twelfth Night Simmer Pot & Spell Kit
Frau Perchta: A Twelfth Night Simmer Pot & Spell Kit
For Good Fortune, Festive Blessings & the Turning of the Season
Up in the Alps, the Twelve Nights between Christmas and Epiphany were called the Rauhnächte, the rough nights. The veil ran thin, the wind howled, and Frau Perchta came walking through the snow with bells ringing at her waist.
She was the keeper of the hearth and the spindle, and she checked on every house. On her night, the eve of Epiphany, the floors had better be swept and the year's flax had better be spun. The households that had done their work found a silver coin left behind as a reward. The lazy ones... well, I'll just say you didn't want to be one of them. Folks left a bowl of porridge out for her and smoked the whole house with juniper and frankincense to clear out the old year before the new one came in.
If she sounds like Mother Holle, that's because she's kin to her. They're two faces of the same old winter lady who rewards honest work with gold and blesses the house that's ready for her.
This simmer pot keeps her night the traditional way. You tidy, you spin, you offer, and you welcome her blessing in.
What's in the pot, and why:
Barley: as an offering to her
Flaxseed: for the flax she checks to make sure it's spun
Juniper berries: for the Rauhnacht house-smoking tradition
Frankincense tears: the other half of that traditional smoke
A sprig of pine: for the evergreen Alps
Lemon peel: for Holle's gold rain on those who did the work
Cinnamon: for warmth through the dark night
Powdered honey: for sweetening the reward
The working: Before you light the burner, tidy up one thing in the house that's been nagging at you. Add everything to your pot, stir clockwise and speak the charm on your card. While it simmers, braid a short length of thread and knot into it what you finished this year and what you're carrying into the next. Hang it by the door through the Twelve Nights. Leave a little bowl of porridge out for her overnight, and pour the cooled pot at your threshold in the morning.
Inside your kit:
One Frau Perchta simmer blend in a sealed pouch
An illustrated instruction card with the charm and Twelfth Night ritual
Handmade by Primitive Witchery Brews in Kingsport, Tennessee.
