When night falls, dangers rise as the light dies. And though locks and bolts can keep out many a danger from people’s homes, evil may still seep through cracks and gaps.
So in selected nooks and crannies, by the fireplace and by windows and doors, magic things lay hidden: dead kittens, horses’ skulls and dried-out vipers are placed in walls or buried in clay pots beneath the floor boards as a magic defence. Pointed metal tools are placed by the entrances to the house, since everybody knows that witches can’t pass or touch the cold metal. Glass and pottery containers with magic contents are hidden everywhere to guard against evil.
But in the wrong hands, all this hidden magic may also be used to cause damage or death.
In 1614, Ellen Klemmens from Varde was burned at the stake for hexing and killing some calves belonging to a nobleman. The young animals suffered an untimely death because she had buried a kettle of animal hair in the stable.