Move over, boring Halloween! Tonight us Walpurgis Night!

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Move over Halloween, it’s nearly time for Walpurgisnacht, Germany’s super-spooky night of the witches! For all those wondering, who on earth was Saint Walpurga, and what’s the deal with all the pot banging, we take a look at the history of this quirky German celebration.

The pagan origins of Walpurgis Night
The origins of Walpurgis Night can be traced all the way back to pagan festivities that celebrated the coming of spring. You might have noticed that Walpurgisnacht, which falls on the eve of May 1, takes place exactly six months before Halloween. This is not a coincidence.

Halloween and Walpurgisnacht both have their origins in pagan celebrations (known as Samhain and Beltane, respectively) that marked the changing of the seasons. These days were especially important because they were believed to be when the veil between the spirit worlds and ours was at its thinnest.

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https://www.iamexpat.de/lifestyle/lifest...tches-explained

And the witches traditionally meet on top of a mountain named Brocken in the Harz Mountains, well known because of the Brocken spectre.

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A Brocken spectre (German: Brockengespenst), also called Brocken bow, mountain spectre, or spectre of the Brocken is the magnified (and apparently enormous) shadow of an observer cast upon clouds opposite the Sun's direction. The figure's head is often surrounded by the halo-like rings of coloured light forming a glory, which appears opposite the Sun's direction when uniformly-sized water droplets in clouds refract and backscatter sunlight.


The phenomenon can appear on any misty mountainside, cloud bank, or from an airplane, but the frequent fogs and low-altitude accessibility of the Brocken, a peak in the Harz Mountains in Germany, have created a local legend from which the phenomenon draws its name. The Brocken spectre was observed and described by Johann Silberschlag in 1780, and has since been recorded often in literature about the region.

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More about it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brocken_spectre

6 hits so far

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbxHu-XU...bxHu-XUfZo&t=54

Zitat von scilla im Beitrag #6

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Halloween is the english version of 'Allerheiligen'

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4GeSyBwrAM



Walpurgis Night in Sweden & Finland

Beltane = Walpurgis Night

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Beltane is mentioned in some of the earliest Irish literature and is associated with important events in Irish mythology. Also known as Cétshamhain ("first of summer"), it marked the beginning of summer and it was when cattle were driven out to the summer pastures. Rituals were performed to protect the cattle, crops and people, and to encourage growth. Special bonfires were kindled, and their flames, smoke and ashes were deemed to have protective powers. The people and their cattle would walk around or between bonfires, and sometimes leap over the flames or embers. All household fires would be doused and then re-lit from the Beltane bonfire. These gatherings would be accompanied by a feast, and some of the food and drink would be offered to the aos sí. Doors, windows, byres and livestock would be decorated with white or yellow May flowers, perhaps because they evoked fire. In parts of Ireland, people would make a May Bush: typically a thorn bush or branch decorated with flowers, ribbons, bright shells and rushlights. Holy wells were also visited, while Beltane dew was thought to bring beauty and maintain youthfulness. Many of these customs were part of May Day or Midsummer festivals in parts of Great Britain and Europe.

Beltane celebrations had largely died out by the mid-20th century, although some of its customs continued and in some places it has been revived as a cultural event. Since the late 20th century, Celtic neopagans and Wiccans have observed Beltane or a related festival as a religious holiday.

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beltane