Dragons have inspired the imagination for centuries. These fierce and fiery creatures are often encountered guarding a hoard of treasure or soaring majestically through the air before snatching up the grazing flocks. They rain down fury on all who dare oppose them, and only the best knights in the land could ever hope to challenge them. They’re not often imagined living in the kettle of a witch, and yet that is exactly what they did according to East German folk belief.
The Drak or Drache (German for dragon) was a regional form of household spirit and well known through several regions of Eastern Germany and the Baltic area, including my home region of Thuringia. Of course, these dragons are a little different than the scaly reptiles that would often terrorise a village. Instead, they were spirits that could take on many forms. The form they most often took was that of a fiery, flying snake. They would fly out of the witch’s home through the chimney before returning with money, milk and other saleable goods. These goods were not gained through ethical means, however. The stories of the dragon are unanimous in pointing out that it would steal from the neighbourhood to provide for the witch, constituting a form of spiritual transfer magic. It was for this reason that the dragon belief became entangled with the witch trials, with dragon witches making up the very first East German witch trials in the 16th century.
The belief in the dragon spirits was so strong that Drachenhure (Dragon Whore) was a common insult in the 16th century, and if a person suddenly and unexpectedly became wealthy people would gossip that they must have a Drache. In fact,in a 1670 trial in Bad Rodach a suspect was accused of being a milk witch and possessing a Drache because she always had more cheese than her neighbours. Even the reformation preacher Martin Luther mentioned them, denouncing the ‘dragon brides and dragon bridegrooms’ who steal from the community.
The demonologists of the time had a field day with this belief. There was no better fit for the Devil than a spirit that the people called a dragon who would do the bidding of a witch and steal for them. Some of the trials even incorporated a sexual element, with the dragon able to take human form and engage in fornication with their keeper. The very earliest witch trial in Saxony to mention sex with a demon took place in 1536, where the witch confessed that the spirit changed forms between a horrifying Drache and an attractive man. Simply the accusation of a Drache being seen flying into your home was enough to generate an accusation of witchcraft.
The belief in the Drache did not end with the witch trials, however. It lingered in folklore and folk belief. In 1938 Elisabeth Blochmann wrote an article for the folklore journal about ‘The Superstition of the Dragon in Thuringia’. In it, she drew attention to the fact this belief persisted amongst the people but that they were very secretive about it. The folklore of the region is also steeped in Drache beliefs, with many tales directly drawing attention to this mysterious creature. My favourite involves a person who tried to get a dragon to drop its treasure but is instead rewarded with a drive-by defecation. He was so thoroughly soiled the smell lingered until the day he died.
This has been a very quick introduction to the unique belief in Dragon witches and Dragon magic held in some areas of Eastern Germany. It’s a subject I’m fascinated by and will be sharing more of my research over the coming weeks and months. Check back here for more or come join me at the Salem Witchcraft and Folklore festival on August 3rd where I’ll take a little bit of a deeper dive.
Images by Artie_Navarre & p2722754 from Pixabay
Moss Matthey is a German witch, author, and cult survivor, born and raised in the Harz Mountains. He has experienced firsthand the liberating power of witchcraft, and has been set firmly on a path of self-discovery and enlightenment. He was mentored by Mhara Starling, author of Welsh Witchcraft and expert in Celtic Paganism. He now sits on the Council of the Sarffes Goch tradition of witchcraft which sees Mhara as its High Priestess. If you enjoy his work or have any questions feel free to get in touch!