„Slovak people have the belief, that who would start doing a small table in the evening before Lucia (December 12), and grind something on it every day until Christmas, on Christmas Eve they will see all the witches in the church.“

Ján Botto has this note in a manuscript notebook from 1879. On the basis of this folk superstition, he wrote the ballad Lucia´s small table. The ballad is characterized by an overexposed horror in which dark forces act, and the ballad hero Janko stands in front of them. He cannot resist them, and falls victim to his unintentional curiosity. Everyone probably encounters something in their life that they cannot rationally explain. And even though human imagination knows no bounds, most stories can be based on truth. Superstitions present the narrator´s experience, which is presented as reality. Many people believe in the supernatural, according to some scientists, belief in the supernatural is firmly rooted in our brain from birth. Therefore, people cannot give up their belief systems because they operate at a basic level. No amount of rational evidence will persuade them to renounce their belief.