Dead-Head legend

Dead-Head legend
 
Dead-Head is a very characteristic monolith of conglomerate rock, located in Montserrat on the New trail between the Benedictine Monastery and Sant Jeroni summit. The needle shape evokes the head of the dead, hence locals call it the dead head.
On the second half of the sixteenth and beginning of seventeenth centuries, persecution of women accused of witchcraft were carried out. A witch was a woman who signed a deal with the devil. She had unearthly powers, used these powers for her own benefit and for evil purposes. Local culture of Catalonia tells us many legends about witches. One of these is the Dead-Head legend.

The origin of the dead-head legend is related to the witches’ stories, as they roamed the country. The queen of the witches of the Pyrenees was jarred by the competition with a fierce animal. This animal was a dragon that could do much more evil than she could.
The queen witch was frustrated and couldn’t bear the dragon’s power. She wanted revenge.

On Saturday evenings, the witches met the devil in a coven, who gave them advice about new evil actions. Witches usually gathered at Pedraforca summit where they prepared ointments of herbs in large cauldrons and stirred them with a bone of a child. Then they administered the ointment to theirs armpits to flew away on magic brooms.

One evening, while witches were dancing, they greeted a black goat with twisted horns. It was the devil indeed. The goat advised the evil witch, (The Queen of the Pyrenees): “You can get rid of the fierce dragon if you give it a Christian man’s bones. When the dragon eats these bones, it will disappear forever.”
After these words, the goat laughter roared throughout all the Pyrenees, giving the witches strength enough to execute their evil plans.

The witch’s queen was thinking how to find a Christian man. Suddenly, on the coven, they heard a noise. They listened intently just in case someone was spying on their evil meeting.

Witches searched around with satanic squeals and discovered a hunchback man hiding behind a tree, sneaking a peek to see naked women dancing . The witches handed him over to the queen, who asked him if he was a Christian man. The man was afraid and said: yes. The witch charmed the poor man, took him on her broom, and flew together to search for the evil dragon.

The witch was laughing madly. Monastery bells rang announcing the mass when they where flying over Montserrat mountain. When the witch listened to the sound, she lost her power to fly, and they both fell. The head of the poor hunchback man landed on top of a rock, which now looks like a petrified skull.

The bells beat the evil witch, but the dragon is still free on this mountain. While you are hiking in Montserrat, be aware on it. If your listen to the Monastery bells ring, keep in mind, your BarcelonaWalkig-guide can lose his power to guide you.