Tante Cor

Tante Cor (translation: Aunt Cor) was what the people would call a virtuous witch who lived on the Driehoekstraat in Amsterdam. Other than her black and piercing eyes nothing much gave her away which is why she hid them by wearing dark-tinted glasses. Apart from fortune telling she specialized in dissolving evil magic spells.

A Story From Buiksloot

North of Amsterdam, across the lake of Ij laid a village called Buiksloot. It was from here a man came to seek the help of Tante Cor, for his wife had surely been cursed. She would often sit in trance after which she would proceed to scream for long periods of time. More than once has she laid in wait to make an attempt at killing her husband. Nobody in his own village could help but lucky for him there was hearsay about a witch in Amsterdam. He went to visit the lady where she awaited him with a game of tarrot. The following verse slipped from her lips as she laid down her cards in front of him.

Dat is je huisje

Dat is je kruisje

Dat ontkom je niet

Dat ontgaat je niet

Dat acht je niet

Dat verwacht je niet

Dat komt zeker!

After telling his fortune, the witch had yet to learn about the culprit. She took off her tinted glasses and looked straight into the man's eyes. What she saw was a Peddler on his way from Hoorn to Enkhuizen. This man had tried to sell his wares to the cursed woman, and got angry when she wouldn't buy from him. She laughed right in his face, which offended him greatly. The witch now opened the door to her heater, and mumbled as she scattered a strange powder over the flames. Now also he could see the man. She handed him a knife and urged him to leave a scar on his face. With the curse now lifted, the peddler arrived in Buiksloot once more but nobody would buy from him any longer.