Many people
wonder why ghosts and hauntings hit such
a dramtic high at this time of the year.
Walpurgis
Night is a holiday celebrated on April 30
or May 1.
Peter Paul Rubens,
The Damned
Alte Pinakothek, Munich, Giraudon/Art
Resource, New York
Story
by Terry Avery Art By Gillian
La Hoya
The Bram Stoker short story "Dracula's
Guest" takes place on Walpurgisnacht:
"Walpurgis Night was when,
according to the belief of millions
of people, the devil was abroad
-- when the graves were opened
and the dead came forth and walked.
When all evil things of earth
and air and water held revel.
Walpurgis Night
(or Walpurgisnacht in Germany)
is a holiday celebrated on April
30 or May 1, in large parts of
central and Northern Europe. Inyeresting
note: Halloween (which falls six
months to the day either before
or after Walpurgis Night).
Beltane or Bealtaine is an ancient
Gaelic holiday celebrated around
May 1. Historically, this festival
was celebrated in Ireland, Scotland
and the Isle of Man. There were
similar festivals held at the
same time in the other Celtic
countries of Wales, Brittany and
Cornwall. The festival survives
in folkloric practices in the
Celtic Nations and the diaspora,
and has experienced a degree of
revival in recent decades.
GHOSTS
AND THE OCCULT
Something
wicked this way comes. Macbeth (4.1.45-6), Second Witch
There was
considerable grea tfear of hell, fire and
damnation in the not too distant past. And
many even in the Bible beleieve that witches
communicated open and freely with the dead.
Saul’s encounter with a witch from
Endore. It would be helpful to read the
account – I Samuel 28:3-25 The Witch
of Endore
3 Now Samuel was dead,
and all Israel had mourned for him and buried
him in his own town of Ramah. Saul had expelled
the mediums and spiritists from the land.
4 The Philistines assembled and came and
set up camp at Shunem, while Saul gathered
all the Israelites and set up camp at Gilboa.
5 When Saul saw the Philistine army, he
was afraid; terror filled his heart.
6 He inquired of the LORD, but the LORD
did not answer him by dreams or Urim or
prophets.
7 Saul then said to his attendants, "Find
me a woman who is a medium, so I may go
and inquire of her." "There is
one in Endor," they said.
8 So Saul disguised himself, putting on
other clothes, and at night he and two men
went to the woman. "Consult a spirit
for me," he said, "and bring up
for me the one I name."
9 But the woman said to him, "Surely
you know what Saul has done. He has cut
off the mediums and spiritists from the
land. Why have you set a trap for my life
to bring about my death?"
10 Saul swore to her by the LORD, "As
surely as the LORD lives, you will not be
punished for this."
11 Then the woman asked, "Whom shall
I bring up for you?" "Bring up
Samuel," he said.
12 When the woman saw Samuel, she cried
out at the top of her voice and said to
Saul, "Why have you deceived me? You
are Saul!"
13 The king said to her, "Don't be
afraid. What do you see?" The woman
said, "I see a spirit coming up out
of the ground."
14 "What does he look like?" he
asked. "An old man wearing a robe is
coming up," she said. Then Saul knew
it was Samuel, and he bowed down and prostrated
himself with his face to the ground.
15 Samuel said to Saul, "Why have you
disturbed me by bringing me up?" "I
am in great distress," Saul said. "The
Philistines are fighting against me, and
God has turned away from me. He no longer
answers me, either by prophets or by dreams.
So I have called on you to tell me what
to do."
16 Samuel said, "Why do you consult
me, now that the LORD has turned away from
you and become your enemy?
17 The LORD has done what he predicted through
me. The LORD has torn the kingdom out of
your hands and given it to one of your neighbors--to
David.
18 Because you did not obey the LORD or
carry out his fierce wrath against the Amalekites,
the LORD has done this to you today.
19 The LORD will hand over both Israel and
you to the Philistines, and tomorrow you
and your sons will be with me. The LORD
will also hand over the army of Israel to
the Philistines."
20 Immediately Saul fell full length on
the ground, filled with fear because of
Samuel's words. His strength was gone, for
he had eaten nothing all that day and night.
Some impression
from the Valborg (Walpurgis night) celebrations
in Uppsala 2005. Valborg is celebrated to
greet spring. (more)
The festival is named after Saint Walburga
(known in Scandinavia as "Valborg";
alternative forms are "Walpurgis",
"Wealdburg", or "Valderburger"),
born in Wessex in 710. She was a niece of
Saint Boniface and, according to legend,
a daughter to the Saxon prince St. Richard.
Together with her brothers she travelled
to Franconia, Germany, where she became
a nun and lived in the convent of Heidenheim,
which was founded by her brother Wunibald.
Walburga died on 25 February 779 and that
day still carries her name in the Traditional
Catholic Calendar. However she was not made
a saint until 1 May in the same year, and
that day carries her name in the Swedish
calendar.
Historically
the Walpurgisnacht is derived from Pagan
spring customs, where the arrival of spring
was celebrated with bonfires at night. Viking
fertility celebrations took place around
February 25 and due to Walburga being declared
a saint at that time of year, her name became
associated with the celebrations. Walburga
was honored in the same way that Vikings
had celebrated spring and as they spread
throughout Europe, the two dates became
mixed together and created the Walpurgis
Night celebration. The main mascot of Walpurgis
Day is the witch.
THE
GHOSTS OF SPRING
In Germany,
Walpurgisnacht (or Hexennacht, meaning witches´
night), the night from April 30 to May 1,
is the night when allegedly the witches
hold a large celebration on the Blocksberg
and await the arrival of Spring.
Walpurgis Night (in German
folklore) the night of April 30 (May Day's
eve), when witches meet on the Brocken mountain
and hold revels with their Gods..."
Brocken the highest of the Harz Mountains
of north central Germany. It is noted for
the phenomenon of the Brocken spectre and
for witches' revels which reputably took
place there on Walpurgis night.
The Brocken Spectre is a magnified shadow
of an observer, typically surrounded by
rainbow-like bands, thrown onto a bank of
cloud in high mountain areas when the sun
is low. The phenomenon was first reported
on the Brocken.
—Taken from Oxford Phrase & Fable.
A scene in Goethe's Faust Part One is called
"Walpurgisnacht", and one in Faust
Part Two is called "Classical Walpurgisnacht".
In some parts of northern
coastal regions of Germany, the custom of
lighting huge Beltane fires is still kept
alive, to celebrate the coming of May, while
most parts of Germany have a derived christianized
custom around Easter called "Easter
fires".
In rural parts of southern
Germany it is part of popular youth culture
to go out on Walburgisnacht to
play pranks on other people, like messing
up someone's garden, hiding stuff or spraying
messages on other people's property. Sometimes
these pranks go too far and may result in
serious wilful damage to property or bodily
injury.
Walpurgis (sw: Valborg)
is one of the main holidays during the year
in both Sweden and Finland, alongside Christmas
and Midsummer. The forms of celebration
in Sweden vary in different parts of the
country and between different cities. One
of the main traditions in Sweden is to light
large bonfires, a custom which is most firmly
established in Svealand, and which began
in Uppland during the 18th century. An older
tradition from Southern Sweden was for the
younger people to collect greenery and branches
from the woods at twilight, which were used
to adorn the houses of the village. The
expected reward for this task is to be paid
in eggs.
Today in Finland, Walpurgis
Night (Vapunaatto) is, along with New Year's
Eve, the biggest carnival-style festivity
that takes place in the streets of Finland's
towns and cities. The celebration is typically
centered on plentiful use of sparkling wine
and other alcoholic beverages. The student
traditions are also one of the main characteristics
of "Vappu". From the end of the
19th century, "Fin de Siècle",
and onwards, this traditional upper class
feast has been co-opted by students attending
university, already having received their
student cap. Many people who have graduated
from lukio wear the cap. One tradition is
drinking sima, whose alcohol content varies.
Fixtures include the capping of the Havis
Amanda, a nude female statue in Helsinki,
and the biannually alternating publications
of ribald matter called Äpy and Julkku.
Both are sophomoric; but while Julkku is
a standard magazine, Äpy is always
a gimmick. Classic forms have included an
Äpy printed on toilet paper and a bedsheet.
Often the magazine has been stuffed inside
standard industrial packages such as sardine-cans
and milk cartons. The festivities also include
a picnic on May 1st, which is sometimes
prepared in a lavish manner.
The Finnish tradition
is also a shadowing of the Soviet Era May
Day parade. Starting with the parties of
the left, the whole of the Finnish political
scene has nominated Vappu as the day to
go out on stumps and agitate. This does
not only include right-wing parties, but
also others like the church have followed
suit, marching and making speeches. In Sweden
it is only the labour and socialist parties
which use May 1 for political activities,
while others observe the traditional festivities.
The labourers who were active in the 1970s
still party on the first of May. They arrange
carnivals and the radio plays their old
songs that workers liked to listen to. The
labour spirit lies most in the capital of
Finland, Helsinki.
The First of May is also
a day for everything fun and crazy: children
and families gather in market places to
celebrate the first day of the spring and
the coming summer. There are balloons and
joy, people drink their first beers outside,
there are clowns and masks and a lot of
fun. The first of May includes colourful
streamers, funny and silly things and sun.
The first of May means the beginning of
the spring for many people in Finland.
Traditionally May 1st
is celebrated by a picnic in a park (Kaivopuisto
in the case of Helsinki). For most, the
picnic is enjoyed with friends on a blanket
with good food and sparkling wine. Some
people, however, arrange extremely lavish
picnics with pavilions, white table cloths,
silver candelabras, classical music and
lavish food. The picnic usually starts early
in the morning, and some hard-core party
goers continue the celebrations of the previous
evening without sleeping in between. Some
Student organisations have traditional areas
where they camp every year and they usually
send someone to reserve the spot early on.
As with other Vappu traditions, the picnic
includes student caps, sima, streamers and
balloons
The tradition which is
most widespread throughout the country is
probably singing songs of spring. Most of
the songs are from the 19th century and
were spread by students' spring festivities.
The strongest and most traditional spring
festivities are also found in the old university
cities, like Uppsala and Lund where both
current and graduated students gather at
events that take up most of the day from
early morning to late night on April 30,
or "sista April" ("The last
day of April") as many people call
it. There are also newer student traditions
like the carnival parade, The Cortège,
which has been held since 1909 by the students
at Chalmers in Gothenburg. In Sweden, Valborg
is especially notorious because of the excessive
amounts of alcohol people consume on that
day.
BELTANE
For the Celts, Beltane marked the beginning
of the pastoral summer season when the herds
of livestock were driven out to the summer
pastures and mountain grazing lands. In
modern Irish, Mí na Bealtaine ('month
of Bealtaine') is the name for the month
of May. The name of the month is often abbreviated
to Bealtaine, with the festival day itself
being known as Lá Bealtaine. The
lighting of bonfires on Oidhche Bhealtaine
('the eve of Bealtaine') on mountains and
hills of ritual and political significance
was one of the main activities of the festival.
Beltane is a cross-quarter
day, marking the midpoint in the Sun's progress
between the vernal equinox and summer solstice.
Since the Celtic year was based on both
lunar and solar cycles, it is possible that
the holiday was celebrated on the full moon
nearest the midpoint between the vernal
equinox and the summer solstice. The astronomical
date for this midpoint is closer to May
5 or May 7, but this can vary from year
to year.
In Irish mythology, the
beginning of the summer season for the Tuatha
Dé Danann and the Milesians started
at Bealtaine. Great bonfires would mark
a time of purification and transition, heralding
in the season in the hope of a good harvest
later in the year, and were accompanied
with ritual acts to protect the people from
any harm by Otherworldly spirits, such as
the Sídhe. Like the festival of Samhain,
opposite Beltane on Oct. 31, Beltane was
a time when the Otherworld was seen as particularly
close at hand. Early Gaelic sources from
around the 10th century state that the druids
of the community would create a need-fire
on top of a hill on this day and drive the
village's cattle through the fires to purify
them and bring luck (Eadar dà theine
Bhealltainn in Scottish Gaelic, 'Between
two fires of Beltane'). In Scotland, boughs
of juniper were sometimes
thrown on the fires to add an additional
element of purification and blessing to
the smoke. People would also pass between
the two fires to purify themselves. This
was echoed throughout history after Christianization,
with lay people instead of Druid priests
creating the need-fire. The festival persisted
widely up until the 1950s, and in some places
the celebration of Beltane continues today.
A revived Beltane Fire Festival has been
held every year since 1988 during the night
of 30 April on Calton Hill in Edinburgh,
Scotland and attended by up to 15,000 people
(except in 2003 when local council restrictions
forced the organisers to hold a private
event elsewhere).
Wiccans and Wiccan-inspired
Neopagans celebrate a variation of Beltane
as a sabbat, one of the eight solar holidays.
Although the holiday may use features of
the Gaelic Bealtaine, such as the bonfire,
it bears more relation to the Germanic May
Day festival, both in its significance (focusing
on fertility) and its rituals (such as maypole
dancing). Some Wiccans celebrate 'High Beltaine'
by enacting a ritual union of the May Lord
and Lady.[
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