Witchcraft in South Australia Part V: Kadina to Hahndorf

Witchcraft in South Australia Part V: Kadina to Hahndorf

In the town of Kadina, on the Yorke Peninsula in 1874 a find inside a local house led to much local intrigue and excitement. A family bought a house close to the mine and began to move in. While going about their business, they decided to inspect the building as they cleaned it. On looking up into the chimney, the Father discovered two suspended bottles containing water and pins.
The man looked closer in the chimney and soon discovered an old bullock's heart, which was crammed full of pins.
It was thought that the water, heart and pins were an old protection spell to ward off the evils of witchcraft affecting the householders, by suspending it in the chimney, it is thought to have stopped any witches, or their magic from entering the house through the chimney opening.[1]


Witches were also said to live openly in Hahndorf in the Adelaide Hills. It is claimed an evil witch and a white witch both lived in the town, competing against each other with their various magical wares.
The witches were said to be the reason that some residents in the town began to wear their clothing inside out to ward off evil and to wear red ribbons for the same reason.
The Hahndorf community chose to commemorate their witchy past with a mural inside the German Arms Hotel that immortalises the two magical folks!



Researched and written by Allen Tiller ©2018
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Bibliography

[1] 1874 'OUR KADINA LETTER.', Yorke's Peninsula Advertiser and Miners' News (SA: 1872 - 1874), 18 September, p. 2. , viewed 10 Apr 2018, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article215906689