The Tricked Witch: Lithuanian sakme

The sakme

A woman lived on an estate, and neighbors spoke of her as a witch. People noticed that one day one household, the next day another, would find their cows left without milk.

Watching her, they saw a strange thing: the witch was not milking a cow, but a dishcloth hanging by the door, and milk flowed from it. In this way she took milk from other people’s animals.

Joninės came. It was known that on Joninės night the witch flew to a witches' gathering. In the house there was a spinning wheel without its wheel and a broom standing upside down. Someone took the broom and set it the ordinary way.

At midnight the wind rose. The witch returned through the chimney, but because the broom had been changed she missed her way. She rolled down from the roof and was ill for a long time. After that she no longer milked through the dishcloth.

Interpretation: what does the tricked witch mean?

The sakme speaks about magical harm done to a farm. Milk was an important household wealth, so its disappearance was explained not only by illness or chance but also by a witch’s action.

The dishcloth replaces the cow: an ordinary object becomes a magical link to the animal. The story shows the belief that a real thing or living being can be affected through a substitute.

Moving the broom is simple but effective countermagic. The human helper does not fight the witch directly, but changes the sign that guides her return.

History, variants, and recording

Witch legends often include milk stealing, Joninės night, flight, brooms, spinning wheels, and gatherings. Joninės, or Rasos, was treated as an especially strong liminal time when magical activity intensified.

Such sakmes helped a community explain farm misfortune and also marked social tensions: suspicion often fell on a particular neighbor or estate woman.

This is a mythological sakme. The motif of witches who “take” milk and fly to a gathering on Joninės is close to wider European witch beliefs: sabbath, flight, and countermagic. In Lithuanian legends ragana is usually a harmful wife or neighbor, not a laume. Norbertas Vėlius studied witches and other mythical beings, and variants are classified in Bronislava Kerbelytė’s catalogue of Lithuanian narrative folklore.

Joninės and the magical night

In folklore Joninės night is tied to plants, fire, dew, and hidden powers. It is the time when one may search for the fern blossom, but also meet witches.

"The Tricked Witch" shows the darker side of that night: thresholds open, but a clever person can turn them against the one who harms others.