Episode 40 - Feldgeister

Autumn. The days were beginning to grow shorter, and the corn grew high. The Harvest was upon you.

The towns nearby emptied to support the harvest, all those of able-body knew this time of year was busy for all. All those who did not already work with or for one of the farms did during the harvest. This was a time for all to work together. To provide for the coming winter.

The days began as early as 4 in the morning, and each would continue deep into the night.

The most important workers were the reapers. Reaping was a highly technical skill, and if done incorrectly, plants would be ruined. You took great pride in your skills. Within a few years, you hoped to be leading the reap rather than participating. The most skilled or experienced of the reaping crews would organize and set the pace of the crew. Reapers were followed by binders, you’d been a binder until you were old enough to swing a scythe. Binders tied the corn together into sheaves that would eventually be taken to the barns. Behind them were the gleaners. Gleaners were almost entirely children, who would collect stray ears of corn so that nothing was wasted.

Everyone united in a singular purpose. For that reason, it was one of your favorite times.

You knew the harvest was a time of great change, opportunity, and of course… Magic.

In nearly every culture around the world, the harvest is an incredibly important time. It was a time to provide for the coming year, to produce grain and feed. It was a time of community unity. A time full of traditions and rituals. And with any good ritual, comes a heaping of superstition and magic.

In the case of German folklore, the fields were the domain of the feldgeist, the korndamons. The spirits of corn and wind and harvest and storms.

There are many kinds of feldgeist, some more prevalent in stories than others. Each has a particular form and with it, a particular personality. They were always respected. They could bring rain, bring winds, and bring lightning. They could bring illness and blight, or the plenty of a bountiful harvest.

Every season, the feldgeister’s domains would regrow. And with the harvest it would be destroyed. But if the proper rituals were followed, the proper respect taken, they would return the next year and bring a bountiful harvest. If they were harmed, ignored, or disrespected; they would bring devastating blight.

Direct contact with a feldgeist was known to cause sickness, so the harvesters were careful not to get too close if they saw one during their work. They must always let the spirit flee deeper into the fields until there was nowhere left to run. And their last sanctuary, the final stalks, would become the root of a tradition that stretches across Europe and the centuries. The creation of corn dolls.

I am Andrew Eagle, and I am excited to invite you to join me as I pass Through the Veil and explore the stories and traditions of the German feldgeister.

You were following the pace. It was the third day of reaping. The third of many to clear all the fields surrounding your town. The lead was moving slow this morning. Everyone was. The full, harvest moon, had stayed bright and high for most of the night. All the workers, yourself included, were tired.

Then the call went up from the far end of the reap line. “Geist!” The call rose and began to spread down the line. As it spread, the workers started heading that way. You joined up with the call and moving with the tide of people. You found a group of workers standing, pointing at the corn ahead. There, at the edge of the standing corn, you could see the stalks swaying and moving. There was no wind to explain it. The geist was there, and moving toward the center of the field, away from the reaping crew.

Most of the workers were content to take this as a rare break in the long days work. You wanted a closer look. You ran into the corn fields with a few others, the brave or foolish, chasing spirits.

Although you ran far enough into the field that you could no longer see the crowd behind you, could barely hear them still shouting, you never caught more than a glimpse. A flicker of movement through the field. The spirit was there, but too fast for you to catch sight.

Disappointed, you made your way back to the line, and resumed your work.

Stories of feldgeister are varied and strange. There are many kinds of feldgeist, each with different personality and behaviors. They generally fall into three categories. The most common stories tell of feldgeist in the form of animals: bearing the shapes of wolves or bears or goats or birds. In addition to the abilities of the creature in question, and the power to manipulate the weather, feldgeister often had other capabilities ranging from shapeshifting to producing good or bad fortune.

There are also anthropomorphic feldgeister. Feldgeist that take the form of a human tend to be notably more powerful than the ones that have an animal form. They often possess powerful magic, are accused of kidnapping children, and often steal or harm the harvest unless they are dealt with.

There are a few feldgeister that share human and animal traits, representing some form of hybrid. But they are rare, and their stories few and far between.

Regardless of form or power, feldgeister in general were tricky and dangerous. They did harm to children, caused havoc, ruined crops. Unless their rituals were followed properly. Each has different rituals, things that people could do to cleanse them from their fields, to show them the proper respect so they wouldn’t curse the harvest.

The Harvest had continued for days. More than a week. It was coming to an end soon. The corn fields were nearly empty. Only one section was left. The very center of the field. The crews surrounded the last patch. The leader began to move forward to set the pace. You and the others followed. Section by section, stalk by stalk, the field was reduced and harvested.

The Geist hadn’t been seen since that day. As time went on and the remaining field grew ever smaller, it must have continued moving further and further toward the center until there was nowhere left.

Only one stalk remained. One place for it to hide. Its final domain.

This stalk would remain for the rest of the day, tradition demanded that it must. And then tomorrow, at dawn, it would be carefully gathered, brought to the house, and prepared according to the rituals.

Animal feldgeister take many forms. Many take the shapes of predators, creatures that are already fearsome. Others take the form of hooved animals, a scattering of pigs and cows and goats. Some few take on the form of birds.

Among the predators, there was the powerful roggenbar, a field spirit in the shape of a bear; the kornhund, a dog spirit that often hunted and killed children by making them laugh themselves to death; the kornkatze and kornkater, cat shaped spirits that controlled the weather and disappeared children who went looking for flowers. Finally, there was the roggenwolf. The most common of the predator feldgeister, the roggenwolf is a wolf formed feldgeist that, like many feldgeist, was claimed to feed on children. It has other variants, the gerstenwolf, the haferwolf, erbsenwolf. They are all variations of a wolf-shaped grain or field spirit. In some occasions, the roggenwolf is referred to as something more like a werewolf, with shapeshifting capabilities and a terrible hunger.

The hoofed feldgeister tend to be more amenable, less dangerous. They can still cause problems, but are not as aggressive as their predatory cousins. There are feldgeister shaped like donkeys, pigs, bulls, and the most common among the hooved feldgeister are goats. The goat spirits tend to be incredibly mischievous, with a penchant for inflicting bad luck and curses on those who imitate its cry. It is seen all in all as terribly bad luck to see such a spirit.

Far more rare are the bird shaped feldgeist. Most of these that appear in stories do so as a generic bird, only a few appear as a specific type of bird. Specifically the getreidehahn and erntehenn. The grain rooster and harvest hen.

Other kinds of feldgeist exist, other shapes. They appear as rabbits and deer, sheep and horses, even mice, geese, swans, and toads. But those tellings are so scattered and infrequent that a clear pattern for their behavior does not readily emerge.

The dawn was upon you. And the workers were gathered. Everyone in small clumps vaguely circled around the central stalk. The leader of the reaping crews stepped forward to cut the stalk down. This was careful work. If the stalk was not cut properly, the spirit would be angry and would cause a blight upon next year’s harvest.

The leader lifted their scythe and in one precise swing, cut the stalk down fully. It was gathered by a group of people to be carried back to the farm house. Once there, they would begin their work preparing it for the festival, spreading the appropriate pieces back into the land so the spirit could return after the harvest, and ensuring that all the proper rituals were performed.

Feldgeist that take the form of a person are usually very powerful, and very dangerous. They occasionally stand-in for the role of a witch or sorcerer, described as a person first, with powers over the harvest and storm; rather than a spirit of the harvest that appears as a person.

The most famous are probably the Roggenmuhme or rye aunt, and the hafermann or oat man; although several other varieties exist.

The roggenmuhme is always female. Her hands end in fiery fingers and usually described bearing a whip that crackles with lightning. She is also described with the ability to shapeshift into a variety of animal forms. Her role is always antagonistic. She steals children who wander, and replaces them with changelings. She is known to blind and kill children, luring them to their doom using a pack of small dogs. Roggenmuhmes are also known to be the mother of the roggenwolfe. She is a feldgeist that is powerful enough to give rise to yet more spirits. She wanders fields looking for food, taking only the best. If your harvest is poor, she has been known to punish the farmer.

In spite of this dire reputation, her appearance is known to predict a good harvest, she wouldn’t waste her time in a field that had poor returns.

The hafermann is always male. He, like so many other feldgeist, steals children. The description of hafermann is very specific. He is always seen wearing a black hat and carrying a large stick, sometimes an iron club. He is known to stalk and kidnap children into the air for some horrible purpose. The hafermann is an omen of death. If it looks in the window of a home, it is said the person he looks at will die within a year and a day.

Occasionally, the hafermann is associated with another male corn demon known as Der bose samann or the evil sower. That is said to cause problems with harvests by spreading bad seeds.

Other humanoid feldgeister inlcude the kornkind, or corn child; the bilwis, a whirlwind spirit with wild hair that likes to steal grain; the windsbraut, another whirlwind spirit that associated with sorcery; and finally the haferkonig and haferkonigin. The Oat King and Oat Queen. They are said to be the rulers of all field spirits, and all feldgeister bend to their orders. They are rarely described so little is known of them beyond their existence in these stories.

The Last Stalk was brought carefully into the house. You were not a part of the rituals within, but you knew what would be occurring to prepare it for the festival that marked the end of the harvest and the beginning of winter.

It would be reduced to its simplest components by a small group of people, sorted and prepared for the rest of their work.

Certain components would be mixed and placed in large sacks. These would go to some of the workers to spread across the field.

Others were quickly and deftly dried and they would be twisted and tied together into the semblance of a person. A body for the spirit to inhabit for the day. This corn doll would be honored at the festival, would be given pieces of the bountiful harvest as an offering, and would sit as a guest of honor during the celebrations.

When the festivities were complete, it too would be returned to the field so that the feldgeist could return to its home and, if it was pleased with the display and treatment, provide a bountiful harvest next year.

The doll was brought forth just before the celebration was meant to begin, and it was carted along with you and a team of your fellow workers and a healthy portion of the harvest’s bounties toward the town proper for a well-deserved party.

The Harvest was officially complete.

A variation of feldgeister show up in many cultures, especially those of continental Europe. The harvest was such an important time, such a powerful time for so many communities that it is only natural it developed its own, very distinct set of traditions, stories, and superstitions.

Feldgeister are most traditionally antagonistic. They are dangerous forces, used occasionally to scare children and keep them from wandering about in the fields or after dark.

But they are also respected and well-regarded. They are credited with blessing harvests, creating bounty, and in some cases simply for not producing a blight.

It’s an interesting example of how a creature of folklore and myth can still be possessed of many facets, many personalities and purposes that were not always aligned. Even a creature of story can be conflicted.

Thank you for joining me for this episode of Through the Veil. I hope you enjoyed. I encourage you to subscribe to receive new episodes weekly wherever you listen as we continue our exploration of folklore, myth, and magic.

If you are enjoying the show, and have subjects you would like to hear covered, please email me at throughtheveilpodcast@gmail.com or reach out on Twitter, you can find me @ThroughVeil.

As always, thank you, for listening.