Walpurgis Night
Walpurgis Night is a traditional Pagan holiday, Roman CatholicSaint's day, and Satanic holiday celebrated on April 30 or May 1 in large parts of Central and Northern Europe.
The current festival is in most countries celebrating it named after Saint Walpurga, born in Devonshire about 710. Due to her holy day falling on the same day, her name became associated with the celebrations. Walpurga 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. Early Christianity had a policy of 'Christianising' pagan festivals so it is perhaps no accident that St. Walpurga's day was set to May 1st.
Historically Walpurgisnacht is derived from various Pagan spring customs. In the Norse tradition, Walpurgisnacht is considered the "Enclosure of the Fallen".It commemorates the time when Odin died to retrieve the knowledge of the runes, and the night is said to be a time of weakness in the boundary between the living and the dead. Bonfires were built to keep away the dead and chaotic spirits that were said to walk among the living then. This is followed by the return of light and the sun as celebrated during May Day.
Saint Walpurga herself was a niece of Saint Boniface and, according to legend, a daughter of 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 Willibald. Walpurga died of an illness shortly after moving the mortal remains of her brother , Saint Winibald on 25 February779. She is therefore listed in the Roman Martyrology under 25 February. Her relics were transferred on 1st May such that she might be buried beside Willibald, and that day carries her name in, for example, the Finnish and Swedish calendars
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01-05-2008, 06:05 PM
