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magicoldcottage · 6 years ago

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The Great Sabbath for Europe’s Witches

May Day

The 1st of May is one of the most important dates in the pagan calendar. It has various names including the Gaelic Beltane which means “Lucky Fire”, Vappu in Finland, Floralia the roman celebration and Walpurga for Europes witches.

The Gathering for the Great Sabbath

The tallest mountain peak of the Harz’s mountain range in Germany is called Brockenberg (Brocken Mountain). It is this natural site that became the gathering place for Witches from across Europe to celebrate Walpurga.

Shrouded in mist and fog for 300 days a year. The mist causes a strange effect called the “Broken Spectre” which causes shadows to project onto the mist and appear much larger. The result is to make it look like someone is following you, climbers have even jumped to their deaths to escape their own shadows. With ancient forests, craggy peaks and a real spooky atmosphere the mountain certain has an otherworldly feel.

Walpurga

The fertility goddess of woods and springs. She is depicted as a white lady with a golden crown over her flowing hair, shoes of fire and carrying spindles/thread and a triangular mirror which allows her to see into the future. In magic she is associated with divination and love spells.

In the evening of the 30th April the witches would gather on this isolated mountain hidden by the mists and height to keep the secrets of the celebration secret. Locals however reported seeing blue fires through the mist. However there was nothing evil, Just normal people celebrating the sabbath.

As you can see from her image below the godess was a symbol of light. Heralding the return of the sun after the darkness of the winter.

Conversion

With the introduction of Christianity, the church was determined to stamp out these rival heathen practices. Having large numbers of people celebrating a season with a pagan godess simply didn’t work. They started by changing Walpurga into a saint (This was a common practice to initially allow existing practices to continue but with an association to the church. By 870 a convenient real Saint with a similar name came along called Saint Walpurgis and the names became interchangeable. Saint Walpurgis was actually worth adoration, as a nun she devoted her life to healing others, which would have appealed to a lot of the witches who led similar lives.

With a real person to draw on the existing practices were then demonised and instead of time of peace to celebrate spring and return of life to the land with the end of winter, the night became completely “Anti-pagan”. The evening became a time when evil witches walked the land and corrupted good people. To protect yourself you filled your houses and barns with blessed sprigs of foliage and lit bonfires to ward away the evil. You even had to leave out a plate of bread and honey to ward off the Evil Witches Phantom Hounds… in short the church did a good job.

Witch Trails

But not good enough. The mountain had almost become a place of pilgrimage for witches. Despite the churches efforts some dedicated Witches managed to keep up their celebrations and the site became even more famous. By 1589 the ecclesiastical authorities decided to take direct action. Herbalists, Folk Healers and any other practice that might indicate witchcraft were rounded up and burnt. Over 133 souls were to lose their lives. The atrocities continued into the 1600’s and an estimated further 1500 were killed including a seven-year-old child.

Walpurgis Night

Over the years the celebration has become Walpurgis Night with the singing of folk songs, dancing around bonfires, playing pranks, costumes and special foods. Its not a surprise that it’s known as “The other Halloween”.

The local village of “Schierke” now attracts more that six thousand visitors each year for the celebration. The hotels are full of images of witches on broomsticks. The tourist shops are full of Harzhexen (Miniature felt witch puppets), the local steam railway becomes the Hexenexpress (Witches express) for the period. Even the local schools get involved by starting the day with a parade through the streets dressed as witches. The main event starts in the evening with a medieval fairground with food and drink stalls, carved wooden goods and everyone in fancy dress. As night falls a giant bonfire is lit and a fireworks show completes the night.

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