The eve of Beltane is traditionally known in Germany is Walpurgisnacht, the time for the pilgrimage to the tomb of Saint Walpurgis (or Walpurga) in Eichstätt. Walpurgis was born in England, but came to Germany as a missionary. According to legend, the 8th-century Germans were still largely practicing their indigenous Norse religion, but I don’t know how historically accurate this is. Her tomb is said to exude a holy oil that cures sickness, the original reason for pilgrimages to her burial place.
The 8th-century abbess was canonized as a saint by the Catholic Church on the date of the first of May. Her feast day is an excuse for a Halloween-like spring festival that often includes bonfires and/or fireworks and leaving out gift of bread spread with honey and butter for phantom hounds. The bonfires are said to ward off witches, the plague, whooping cough, and rabies. The 30th of April is considered to be a Hexennacht, or witches’ sabbath night.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe wrote about Walpurgisnacht in Faust:
“Now to the Brocken the witches ride;
The stubble is gold and the corn is green;
There is the carnival crew to be seen,
And Squire Urianus will come to preside.” Brocken is the highest peak in the Harz mountain range.
In Bram Stoker’s short story “Dracula’s Guest,” the Englishman visiting Transylvania (not given a name in the short story, but Jonathan Harker in the novel) arrives on Walpurgisnacht. The villagers warn him not to be outside of his hotel after dark.
Other European countries that observe some version of Walpurgisnacht tradition are Czechia, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Sweden. In Europe, the first of May is typically the Labor Day holiday; the U.S. is the oddball for having its Labor Day at the end of the summer.
Read more:
https://www.daimonologia.org/2018/05/saint-walpurga-and-witches-of-walpurgis.html
https://www.gaimn.org/2022/04/29/walpurgisnacht/
 |
| https://ko-fi.com/s/bff65e476b |
No comments:
Post a Comment