Walpurgisnacht

Discussion of folklore and myths.
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Holdasown
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Walpurgisnacht

Post by Holdasown »

seidkonacat: I have been thinking about Saga and Odin now due to some posts of yours. Tomorrow Odin and Holda return from the Wild Hunt so I am going to start doing daily, out loud readings from some books I have for Odin. Some people on Tumblr had said they have done the same thing when I asked. You have inspired me and wanted to let you know. :)
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Firebird
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Re: Walpurgisnacht

Post by Firebird »

Aye lass! see you on the Brocken

My other group always meets the night before May 1st. ...and we have a wild celebration on our little mountain...makes me wonder if witches still meet on those mountains in Germany. However, we were not especially geared towards a Norse pantheon.

maybe a little background on the wild hunt?
I see it many ways, but I believe it all boils down to this... hunter and hunted are but one. smiley_dance

BB, FF
“There are things known and things unknown and in between are the Doors.”
― Jim Morrison
“All I have seen teaches me to trust the Creator for all I have not seen.”
― RWEmerson
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Holdasown
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Re: Walpurgisnacht

Post by Holdasown »

firebirdflys wrote:Aye lass! see you on the Brocken

My other group always meets the night before May 1st. ...and we have a wild celebration on our little mountain...makes me wonder if witches still meet on those mountains in Germany. However, we were not especially geared towards a Norse pantheon.

maybe a little background on the wild hunt?
I see it many ways, but I believe it all boils down to this... hunter and hunted are but one. smiley_dance

BB, FF
There is some tie with Holda to witches but it's hard to distinguish what she may actually do and and what has been put on her In Urglaawe she is a herbal healer so I think she could very well be. They also believe she and the witches come to a mountains including several in PA. I view the Wild Hunt in two ways. It's the collection of rogue souls and spirits who have avoided or not found a place and feeding of the dead. Witches are almost always tied to it, especially in traditional craft I think due to most of us still doing some kind of ancestor veneration and animism.
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Re: Walpurgisnacht

Post by Firebird »

Holdasown wrote:It's the collection of rogue souls and spirits who have avoided or not found a place and feeding of the dead. Witches are almost always tied to it, especially in traditional craft I think due to most of us still doing some kind of ancestor veneration and animism.
Yes, this is something I wanted to talk about too. The hunt is those rogue souls running round on this night searching for a portal to pop back into this world. They take individuals and entice them into coupling in free sex, hoping they will find the conduit to their return.
The veil thins this night just as in Samhain, the portal works both ways...in and out,,,and the hunt continues, is Holda the protectress of these souls in a way that helps them find the proper parents to return through do you think? And since she is so closely associated to weaving, here energy is there, weaving the greater picture. Oh and maybe it's her that gets the young lovers going, and not the rogue souls...or they are working together.
I look at this hunt as the rush of energy felt in a young and lustful affair, the teasing the chase and the culmination. For if a child does arise form this union...then the other chase begins...
The one that is the life journey that ultimately ends in death. Like my man Jim Morrison says, "no one here gets out alive" and he also reminds us, " we live, we die and death not ends it"... the chase continues, the one of return.
hunter and hunted
we are both
::coolglasses::
“There are things known and things unknown and in between are the Doors.”
― Jim Morrison
“All I have seen teaches me to trust the Creator for all I have not seen.”
― RWEmerson
:mrgreen:
Holdasown
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Re: Walpurgisnacht

Post by Holdasown »

firebirdflys wrote:
Holdasown wrote:It's the collection of rogue souls and spirits who have avoided or not found a place and feeding of the dead. Witches are almost always tied to it, especially in traditional craft I think due to most of us still doing some kind of ancestor veneration and animism.
Yes, this is something I wanted to talk about too. The hunt is those rogue souls running round on this night searching for a portal to pop back into this world. They take individuals and entice them into coupling in free sex, hoping they will find the conduit to their return.
The veil thins this night just as in Samhain, the portal works both ways...in and out,,,and the hunt continues, is Holda the protectress of these souls in a way that helps them find the proper parents to return through do you think? And since she is so closely associated to weaving, here energy is there, weaving the greater picture. Oh and maybe it's her that gets the young lovers going, and not the rogue souls...or they are working together.
I look at this hunt as the rush of energy felt in a young and lustful affair, the teasing the chase and the culmination. For if a child does arise form this union...then the other chase begins...
The one that is the life journey that ultimately ends in death. Like my man Jim Morrison says, "no one here gets out alive" and he also reminds us, " we live, we die and death not ends it"... the chase continues, the one of return.
hunter and hunted
we are both
::coolglasses::
It's definitely about cycles. Feed the dead and dance with them for one day you will be one too. Holda is kinda obscure in a way. She is Germanic more than Norse so most of what I read or get about her is from the PA Dutch who have managed to hold onto lots of lore about her. She not only collects souls some say they pass from her lake into the world (delivered to the body by storks, ha ha). And she is able to grind souls to be reincarnated into the family again in some cases. So she is more than just a psychopomp but not Hela or the keeper of the dead or underworld. In Urglaawe they also burn their buzemans or scarecrows on Halloween due to Holda taking the spirit in it and leaving it open for bad spirits to use. It's all pretty interesting and I wish we had more actually archeology on her.
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Firebird
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Re: Walpurgisnacht

Post by Firebird »

Holdasown wrote:She not only collects souls some say they pass from her lake into the world (delivered to the body by storks, ha ha).
Ya...hummm, I knew those storks were significant somehow...we don't just make up stuff for the fun of it, there is usually some lore behind it. So maybe the stork works both ways, eh? Do you think the stork is also the deliverer of death to the underworld?
I here tell that the woman flying on the goose of the fairy tales of Grimm and others is Holda herself.
I was reading too that the wild hunt has to do with significant weather change...woah, and are we experiencing that today!
Also along that same vein, if Odin and Saga are drinking in the midst of all this change, are they unaware of the shift in seasons or there to simply celebrate? I really like this passage from the Prose Edda:

Benjamin Thorpe translation:
Sökkvabekk is fourth o'er which is named the gelid waves resound
Odin and Saga there,
joyful each day,
from golden beakers quaff.

and another translation...
Henry Adams Bellows translation:
Sökkvabekk is the fourth, where cool waves flow,
And amid their murmur it stands;
There daily do Othin and Saga drink
In gladness from cups of gold.

It is definitely a time to rejoice, for the mighty grip of winter should be at last melting away. :mrgreen:

Today is Walpurgisnacht :mrgreen: , Merry merry May eve!
BB, FF
“There are things known and things unknown and in between are the Doors.”
― Jim Morrison
“All I have seen teaches me to trust the Creator for all I have not seen.”
― RWEmerson
:mrgreen:
Holdasown
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Re: Walpurgisnacht

Post by Holdasown »

Have a great night!! :flyingwitch:
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Re: Walpurgisnacht

Post by Middleagedseeker »

I find all this fascinating! My family is Pa Dutch and there aren’t too many of us left. I’m the only one interested in keeping our family culture alive. I have recently been reading as much as I can about Frau Holda, other Germanic practice s, etc. I can remember as a child my Nana taking me to a Pa Dutch “healer” as she called it. I would love anyone with Pa Dutch info to PM me!
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Firebird
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Re: Walpurgisnacht

Post by Firebird »

Or talk about it here too :fairy:
“There are things known and things unknown and in between are the Doors.”
― Jim Morrison
“All I have seen teaches me to trust the Creator for all I have not seen.”
― RWEmerson
:mrgreen:
Middleagedseeker
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Re: Walpurgisnacht

Post by Middleagedseeker »

firebirdflys wrote: Sun Aug 08, 2021 11:05 pm Or talk about it here too :fairy:
Yes, yes of course! I’m really excited because I have never really felt called to the German pantheons but as I get older I’m starting to feel differently. I’m longing for my ancestors- the Pennsylvania Dutch peoples who came over from Germany. I want to learn about their beliefs before Christianity. I know I read somewhere something like deep inside you can remember? You can hear her calling to you. I don’t know if Mother Holle or Frau Holda is calling to me but I feel like I want to make a connection. The other day I meditated and I could see a fire going in a big ole kitchen somewhere and I could see a woman with a weaving loom. Not a spinning wheel but a loom like making rugs or something? And I remembered as a kid I used to love latchhook rugs. This is so different from what I’m used to. In the past I’ve always worked with Mother Mary, Artemis, or Yemaya. Do you think maybe my ancestors are calling out to me?
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Firebird
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Re: Walpurgisnacht

Post by Firebird »

Absolutely! I think our DNA has a good size role with inherent feelings. I've been thinking of taking up German as a way to kind of connect with that root part of the self.
:lol: Then I could understand the band I like called Faun, they sing in German!
“There are things known and things unknown and in between are the Doors.”
― Jim Morrison
“All I have seen teaches me to trust the Creator for all I have not seen.”
― RWEmerson
:mrgreen:
NeverMoonAWerewolf
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Re: Walpurgisnacht

Post by NeverMoonAWerewolf »

Frau Holle/Perchta is easy to work with if you do it now and then -like offerings at certain times of year-but I would think once you are committed she expects you to stick with it and won't tolerate any laziness.

Holly is her tree,so I usually make offerings (when I think of it I have to admit I forget often enough) on the bank Ihave put under the tree. The holly's branches are resting on the arch over the bank and it is really peaceful.Except that in the area right now are too many working tools so I can't use it.
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Re: Walpurgisnacht

Post by Middleagedseeker »

I wish I could remember more Pa Dutch! But only my Nana and her Mother spoke it- my Mom never did pick it up or have any interest. My Nana has passed on and Mom has Alzheimer’s so there isn’t really anybody to ask questions about our family. But my Mom’s sister does remember vividly that Nana took me to a Pa Dutch healer because I was a sickly child and she was convinced the old woman next door was into “ devil worship” and was after my soul! I kid you not! Apparently my Nana caught her cutting a piece of my hair and stealing some of my baby items??
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