St Lucy

In Hungarian folklore, St. Lucy is a apocryphal Catholic saint who's feast is held on December 13th to cure eye diseases. Before the calendar was reformed in the 16th Century, this was the shortest day and the longest night of the year. Hence, witches were the most powerful on this day.

People begin to construct "Lucy's chair" on this day to detect witches at the Midnight Mass on Christmas Day.

The Catholic iconography of Lucy shows a woman holding a plate and extending two gouged-out eyes to her petitioner. This may be an indication of St. Lucy protect one from the evil eye.