Witchcraft festival 2008

This year's witchcraft festival in Bonnu (Cuzion-FRANCE) took place on the 19th of October. As is the tradition, the festival started with a Religious service in honour of Saint Luke, followed by a procession. After that, the festival opened its stalls of traditional produce.

A dry sunny day in October with the thermometers reaching 20 C° it was very pleasant to spend the day walking around the town dressed up to resemble old times when witchcraft was as normal as anything else. There were witches of all sorts walking around the streets, some of them selling their potions and secrets. There was a fortune teller to read the Tarot and of course the "house of the witch" was open to the public showing the curative power of herbs and different forms of witchcraft. For example, it is believed that a four-leaf clover and the hawthorn will fight away a jinx.

Witchcraft is deeply tied down to the beliefs and traditions in the Berry. For the peasants in Berry, all unforeseen disaster had a supernatural cause; the result of a jinx.

The seventh child

It was traditional that the seventh boy born without interruption from a girl, was a witch. His speciality being to cure fevers.

Good luck superstitions

For a child to have good luck it was stated that he should eat the first egg laid by a young chick.

Les martes ou marses:

They are mischievous fairies. Especially feared on the 1st of May when they walk around the fields spreading the dew with their long dresses. It is believed that the cows who eat the grass touched by the dew spread by the fairies will not give good milk. Their milk will be bluish and lacking in taste and cream.

Les fades :

They are well meaning fairies who love to work in the fields and thus protect the agriculture and the people who work in the fields.

Le Follet:

This is a demon who likes horses. The ones he takes a liking to, will survive and become stronger and more beautiful under his care. But the ones that he dislikes slim down until they die.