Witch in the Heart

A full day at Køge Library exploring the witch figure through history, art, and nature.

Program

• 12:00 - Welcome at Køge Library

• 12:15 & 14:00 - Two parallel workshops:

Maria from Hyldemors Have guides you through the cultural history of incense and her own ritual practice. You'll blend a personal incense with plants from your local nature and take it home.

Visual artist Sofie Bové specializes in the witch as an art-historical motif. She presents her own work and traces how a distinctive visual language for the witch and the demonic woman emerged around 1500 - a language that still shapes our understanding of gender today.

• 15:15 - Free break in Køge town - including the option to follow the Køge Witch Route on the Historical Atlas

• 16:15 - Lecture on Køge's witch trials by Maria Østerby Elleby (Teaterbygningen)

The Køge Huskors is the most famous chapter: Anna Bartskær recorded her memories of events her family experienced in their Køge home, particularly 1608-1612, and several women were subsequently convicted and burned as witches. But they were not alone. Historian, author, and curator at Rudersdal Museums Maria Østerby Elleby traces the line from the town's earliest sorcery cases to the very last.

• 17:45 - Communal dinner at long tables with food from Køkkenet OM:HU's herb kitchen

• 19:00 - Ritual concert with VØLVE (Teaterbygningen)

VØLVE creates concerts inspired by Norse mythology and the völva's practice, where vulnerability and strength meet.

• 19:50 - Closing ceremony

All participants receive a discount code for the exhibition Possessed at Køge Museum, valid on any day for the rest of October.