Walpurgis Night

 


Walpurgisnacht is celebrated primarily in Germany, Sweden, Finland and Estonia.

It is the eve of the traditional St. Walpurga feast, protector against witchcraft.

The bonfires ward off evil spirits and witches believed to be gathering on the Brocken mountain.

Brocken is the highest peak in the Harz Mountains, often covered in mist, thus producing what's been called the Brocken spectre - shadows are magnified in the fog and cast upon the mountainside or a cloud bank.


Folklore dates back to ancient Pagan myths, and includes another site known as Teufelsmauer, or Devil's Wall.



I mention horror in the tags because you can catch Joe Bob's "Wicked Witchy Wingding" on Shudder.  He has made it his mission to establish this as an American horror holiday as well, a spring Halloween, if you will.


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