Witch Familiar Spirit Companion · Hulda

Meet Hulda.

On the island of Bornholm, people have always known that they are not alone. The granite there is full of cracks and caves, and in the cliffs and the hills and the rocky woods live the underjordiske, the ones beneath the earth. Small people in grey, with red caps, who keep their own cattle, brew their own beer and hold their own weddings under the hills. On Bornholm, you did not whistle near certain rocks, and you never threw hot water out of the door at night without calling out a warning first.

In the 1780s, the midwife in one of the villages on the north of the island was a woman named Sidsel. She had delivered half the children in her parish, and she was used to being woken in the night.

One stormy autumn night, the knock came very late. Outside stood a small man in grey with a red cap pulled low. His wife’s time had come, he said, and it was going badly. Would she come?

Sidsel knew exactly what he was. She went anyway. A woman in labour was a woman in labour.

He led her along the cliffs to a cleft in the granite she had walked past a hundred times, and the rock opened. Inside was a hall lit with candles, hung with silver, and on a bed at the back lay a small woman screaming. Sidsel rolled up her sleeves and worked through the night. By morning, there was a son.

The little man handed her a jar of ointment. “Rub it on the child’s eyes,” he said. “Never on your own.” Sidsel did as she was told. But her hands were tired, and as she wiped the sweat from her face, a little of the ointment got into her left eye.

Suddenly, she saw the hall as it really was. No candles, no silver. A damp cave, roots hanging from the ceiling, and the gold on the table nothing but a pile of dry leaves.

She said nothing. She had heard the old stories, and she knew what happened to people who let the hidden folk know they could see them.

When it was time to pay her, the little man brought out a bowl heaped with gold. Sidsel shook her head. She had seen what it really was. He looked at her for a long moment, then laughed, and whistled. Out from between the stones came an animal she had never seen before: a grey, spotted creature with the face and the great tufted ears of a lynx, and the long, thin legs of a hare. It lay down at her feet.

“This one is worth more,” he said. “Her name is Hulda. She sees what you cannot.”

Hulda means hidden.

For forty years, Hulda lived with Sidsel. She slept by the oven, went with her to every birth, and lay at the foot of the bed while the mother laboured. Sidsel learned to watch her. When Hulda’s ears went flat, the birth would be hard. When she lay down and closed her eyes, all would be well. When a cow went missing, or a child wandered off in the woods, Hulda found them. And with her left eye, Sidsel saw the underjordiske everywhere: in the fields, at the well, at the market.

That was her mistake.

One market day in Rønne, she saw the little man in grey taking bread from a stall, and before she could stop herself, she nodded to him. He came over, very polite. “Which eye do you see me with?” he asked. Sidsel pointed to her left. He reached up and put it out with his thumb.

Hulda flew at him. She bit him so hard he screamed and vanished into the crowd, and the underjordiske never troubled Sidsel again. From that day on, Hulda was her left eye. Whatever Sidsel could no longer see, Hulda saw for her.

When Sidsel died, old and respected, Hulda lay on her grave for three days. Then she went back into the rocks.

Now Hulda walks again.

What she can do for you

Hulda is the one to call on when:

• you need to see what is hidden from you: lies, hidden motives, things people are keeping from you, spirits in your home
• something or someone is lost: keys, rings, papers, a pet that has run off
• you want to work with the hidden folk, land spirits and nature beings of the place where you live
• you are waiting for something to be born: a child, a project, a new life
• you want something watching over your children and your house at night
• you need luck that is real, not gold that turns to leaves in the morning
• you have the sight, and need to learn when to speak and when to keep quiet

What she is like

Shy, wild and very curious. Her ears never stop moving. She listens to everything, and she notices things long before you do. She is wary of strangers and hates to be stared at, which she learned from the hidden folk. But at night, when the house is still, she likes to lie close.

She can be a little mischievous. Things you have lost turn up in places you already looked. Things you were not looking for turn up too, usually things you needed.

How you’ll know she’s there

A rustle at the edge of your hearing, like something light moving over dry leaves. Movement at the corner of your eye that is gone when you turn. An itch in your left eye. Dreams of moss, rocks, small lights under a hill and long grey ears. Lost things suddenly found. And now and then, when you meet someone new, a clear, sharp feeling about who they really are.

How to work with her

When something is lost, say out loud what it is before you go to sleep, and ask Hulda to find it. When it turns up, thank her and give her a small reward.

When you want to see the truth of something, close your right eye, look at the person or the situation with your left, and ask her to show you. Then pay attention to what you feel in the next few days.

She likes a little bowl of porridge with a knob of butter on top, which has always been the gift for those who live under the hills. She also likes milk, moss, a small piece of granite or field stone, a red thread, and a quiet place near the floor where she can lie in the dark.

And when she shows you something, keep it to yourself. Sidsel learned that the hard way.

How your companion speaks

Your companion can reach you through dreams, thoughts, words, feelings and images, through a pendulum, through warmth or cold, or through automatic writing. How soon that happens depends on the spirit settling into your home, on their willingness, and on your own ability to connect. Sometimes it begins before the vessel arrives.

Before you choose

Everything known about this spirit is on this page. There are no further images, details or hidden knowledge beyond what is written here, and a printed copy comes with your order. What you discover from there is yours alone.

The pendant you receive is the exact one shown. This listing is for this one item only.

By buying, you confirm that you understand what it means to keep a spirit companion. Please read Help & FAQ first. For my background and the story behind Grimrunes, see About Hazel.

— Hazel