Three witches

The three witches attend every christening. They are never invited but this is a consequence of the fact that everyone knows that they will turn up whether invited or not and is not a reflection on whether their presence is welcomed or feared. The witches’ actions invariably follow the same pattern – the first invokes a curse whilst the second generally tries to undermine the effect of that curse.  For example, the promise of a short life is softened by the assurance that, whilst short, the life will be full of love and joy.  Or a child that will never bear children of its own will be loved as a mother by all of the children in the village.  The third witch’s invocations are entirely more interesting – she bestows gifts that each contain the potential of their own undoing. The latter part of the christening is usually occupied with people’s predictions about how events might unfold.