Walpurgisnacht

Today and tonight make up a traditional companion festival to Samhain (Halloween).  April 30 is the point on the Earth's orbit exactly opposite to October 31, and the ancient rituals associated with this night -- great bonfires, the warding off of evil spirits -- are clearly similar to those of Samhain, so there is an obvious relationship between the two.  In modern times this date is most commonly called Walpurgisnacht (Walpurga's Night), although that name is of Christian origin, imposed when they took over the observance and tried to make it their own, as they did with so many pagan European and Middle Eastern holidays.  It is still called Hexennacht (Witches' Night) in parts of Germany.  Ancient Celtic cultures, and many modern neo-pagans, celebrate it as Beltane on May 1 -- the ancient Celts counted each night as part of the following day, so the night of April 30 was the same day as May 1 to them.  The ancient festivities of Walpurgisnacht that have come down to us are both Germanic and Celtic, in contrast to the mostly Celtic traditions of Samhain.

The ancients believed that the ashes of the great bonfires had protective powers, using them to ward off evil from both people and cattle.  The maypole dances were a fertility ritual (yes, the maypole was a phallic symbol -- paganism tends to be like that), while the display and wearing of greenery and floral wreaths symbolized the anticipated revival of life in the summer to come.

The English culture I come from has both Germanic and Celtic roots (a Germanic language and many cultural elements grafted onto a population of mostly Celtic origin), so these traditions resonate with me, even though they do not represent a genuinely advanced civilization as the ancient Greco-Roman culture did.

I've always liked this celebratory video by Faun, the German folk-rock band which often uses pagan themes:


Here is another video of theirs, which again expresses the joyous evocation of the pagan Germanic spirit (though not an attempt to exactly imitate the culture or look of any specific period):


Finally, this more lighthearted entry shows one of the modern witch dances performed on this date in the town of Wolfshagen im Harz, central Germany, where thousands gather every year for the festivities:

Traditional festivities which involve dressing up as witches also survive in Finland and Estonia, where the spirit of the indigenous pagan ways has survived better than in most parts of Europe.

Westerners continue to reclaim our indigenous culture, defying the centuries of persecution.