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Today, the general population no longer believes in witches, and many people view the witch only as a well-loved traditional character, appearing only in children's stories.
Catalan tradition distinguished between "bruixeria" - witchcraft based on an explicit compact with the Devil - and "fetilleria" (deriving from a word related to "fetish"): magic worked through charms and fetishes. The former was considered inherently evil, the latter might include the working of magical cures. This article is focused on "bruixeria".
Witches supposedly have "the mark of the devil " on their buttocks, made by a forceful bite of the Devil's teeth, which takes the form of two crossed horns, of a toad, of a ram with large horns, or of a simple little circle. Legend also has it that the Devil can mark the witch's eye in various ways: with horns, or by making it empty, or with two pupils. Some traditions say that witches have two pupils in the left eye and deer horns in the right one. (This belief in the mark of the devil goes well beyond Catalonia, although these particular forms are specifically Catalan.)
According to Catalan tradition (again, this may not be uniquely Catalan), one can wash marks on the skin with holy water in order to know whether they are the Devil's work: the Devil's mark will not wash off. Witches were also said to have a heart-shaped mark on their left side; for a witch of great abilities, the heart-shaped mark would be hairy.
It was said that whispering of fallen leaves blown about a rooftop was the sound of witches criticizing the behavior of the family of the house.
To prevent witches from sowing evil herbs to damage the fields and crops, one would place to the right of the gate a figure of a guardsman, precisely vertical.
An old woman who could no longer hear the litany was in danger of being considered a witch for her deafness to the word of god.
According to one Catalan tradition, a person who wants to become a witch should go to the seashore, undress completely, and roll around on the sand. After giving seven full revolutions, stand and make three circles, then sits and roll again. All of that is to be done seven times. During the circles and the rolling, the would-be witch speaks certain prayers or incantations; if no one has seen her, and the ritual has remained secret, then she will have become a witch; if not, she will continue as before.
By the full moon of October and of January, witches were said to make marks on their buttocks, by means of which they maintain and strengthen their malign powers, which otherwise diminish and cool down by the action of time and age. In October, they were said to pray to the Devil with a rosary that had the cross broken off.
Witches were said to fly mounted on forks, poles, and especially brooms; in each case, the flying object was first anointed with an unguent provided by the Devil. It was said that, because in the past witches were always persecuted and garroted with brooms, the Devil had given them this particular power in order to be able to escape. While they fly, they supposedly would repeat, over and over"Per ací, per allŕ, cap ací, cap allŕ", ("Here, there, hence, thence") as if they were in a cavalcade of animals.
Witches were said to make unguents or brews from the flesh of the hanged, from live infants, from black flour or grain, in a cauldron big enough to hold seven witches, cooked over a fire lit by the heat from their furious dancing. This was the unguent that enabled them to fly, to turn into whatever species of animal they desire, to prophesy, and to make all manner of evil spells.
Witches were said to take the form of cats, in order to more easily enter houses and to enable them to take items of clothing, shoes, needles, and so forth. They supposedly stole in order to be able to bewitch and to do harm; they did not steal money nor valuable objects.
Witches were said to be able to see the stars through the roof, to see people naked even through their clothing, and to look inside a person and know what organ is making that person ill. (This last may be related to the traditions of witches as healers.)
Witches were said to climb up on top of the clouds, and make it rain or, especially, hail (which was particularly bad for the crops). One could ward this off by making certain signs of the cross or singing certain hymns, so that the devil would have to take the cloud elsewhere.
Witches were said to take toads as counsellors and to initiate to the novices.
Many traditions about witches related to specific days of the year, especially the eves of certain Christian holidays and saint's day s; witches were also said to be very powerful during Lent, which is, in a sense, the eve of Easter.
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