Taufr: Ritual of Awakening
The first to give their blessings to the hamingja of the child are the grandparents, representing the ancestors. Then the father and mother take water from the spring, to awaken the senses of the child by bathing the forehead, eyes, ears, nose and mouth. They each speak their words of blessing and support for the journey as they do this. Present are also the Paten (godparents). They give a talisman on a leather string, traditionally a divided coin, as they speak their blessings and support. At the conclusion of this a large horn is then filled with the spring water to be drunken as it is passed around the circle, each having the opportunity to speak their blessings to the clan and its new kin. Once this is concluded the clan moves on to a small feast afterwards at their lodgings.
Raunächten: The Twelve Sacred Nights
“Raunächten” means “raw nights” which begin after the midnight of Yule and end at midnight of the 5th of January. Aside from being the time when the harbingers of death, cold and hunger descended on the weak and sickly, the fates were also in the process of weaving the shape of things to come for the new year. Hence, the cunning folk carefully observed how each day passed to determine what the forthcoming months would bring; albeit the weather, how the animals behaved, how the wine tasted or if people argued. Whereas, the superstitious went about their affairs cautiously for fear of the impact it might have on the forthcoming. Then on the eve before the 6th of January on which the Perchten begins, the cunning folk went around the community in a procession of lanterns, smudging and blessing each home, which they noted by marking the runes of the three Norns above the main entrance. This ritual was Christianized by marking the initials of the three kings over the entrances, whereas the procession usually involves young children with star-shaped lanterns signing hymns, thus, referred to as the “star singers” (heralding the Star of Bethlehem). Originally the Raw Nights began on the eve of Winter Solstice and were celebrated over the course of 13 days. In ancient calendars, a lunar month was 28 days.
The Perchten is a tradition specific to the mountainous regions of central Europe and involves a variety of festivities and processions to celebrate the underworld goddess Berchta and all the otherworldly demons in her entourage. The object of this was to encourage her to call them back into their alpine enclaves where they were believed to come from. People enjoy dressing up in their various costumes of these fantastic creatures made of wooly sheepskins and horned masks carved of wood. For them it is a wilderness journey much like their shamanic ancestors, celebrated at mountain lodges with plenty of mulled wine and dance on their conclusion. Among these creatures are the ice giants, trolls and the much fabled Krampus, whose mythical existence began as a child snatching boogeyman much like the legends of the Big foot and the Yeti in other mountainous regions of the world. By the 17th century he was adopted by Catholicism as an alterego to St. Nicolas, giving children a birching instead of presents when they were naughty. Hence, he is also well known throughout eastern Europe under a variety of other names.
“Raunächten” means “raw nights” which begin after the midnight of Yule and end at midnight of the 5th of January. Aside from being the time when the harbingers of death, cold and hunger descended on the weak and sickly, the fates were also in the process of weaving the shape of things to come for the new year. Hence, the cunning folk carefully observed how each day passed to determine what the forthcoming months would bring; albeit the weather, how the animals behaved, how the wine tasted or if people argued. Whereas, the superstitious went about their affairs cautiously for fear of the impact it might have on the forthcoming. Then on the eve before the 6th of January on which the Perchten begins, the cunning folk went around the community in a procession of lanterns, smudging and blessing each home, which they noted by marking the runes of the three Norns above the main entrance. This ritual was Christianized by marking the initials of the three kings over the entrances, whereas the procession usually involves young children with star-shaped lanterns signing hymns, thus, referred to as the “star singers” (heralding the Star of Bethlehem). Originally the Raw Nights began on the eve of Winter Solstice and were celebrated over the course of 13 days. In ancient calendars, a lunar month was 28 days.
The Perchten is a tradition specific to the mountainous regions of central Europe and involves a variety of festivities and processions to celebrate the underworld goddess Berchta and all the otherworldly demons in her entourage. The object of this was to encourage her to call them back into their alpine enclaves where they were believed to come from. People enjoy dressing up in their various costumes of these fantastic creatures made of wooly sheepskins and horned masks carved of wood. For them it is a wilderness journey much like their shamanic ancestors, celebrated at mountain lodges with plenty of mulled wine and dance on their conclusion. Among these creatures are the ice giants, trolls and the much fabled Krampus, whose mythical existence began as a child snatching boogeyman much like the legends of the Big foot and the Yeti in other mountainous regions of the world. By the 17th century he was adopted by Catholicism as an alterego to St. Nicolas, giving children a birching instead of presents when they were naughty. Hence, he is also well known throughout eastern Europe under a variety of other names.
The Schabbock
The Schabbock is a mythical baby killer of Austrian and Slovakian folklore, particularly in the mountainous regions thereof. It is naturally assumed this myth was conceived in ancient times by what little was understood about sudden infant death. This night spirit is described as a yeti-like creature with a single glowing horn, riding a flaming birch bessom, although he can also assume the form of a young boy to disguise himself. Shortly before midnight he roosts atop wild cherry trees near farms, waiting for the parents to sleep. To ward off this creature, cribs were adorned with something sacred, a wreath of roses, a sprig of hemp, and a man's tunic.
In the traditional Perchten Walk, he is among the strange wooly creatures that accompany Krampus as the beasts of Winter (the Wild Hunt).
Christmas/Winter Solstice in SW Germany
Many aspects of this festival are Alemannic in origin, yet go back to earlier agrarian traditions of heralding the return of the sun. We know from the Nebra Disk and the Golden Hats that our neolithic ancestors had a meticulous calendar system in that regard, based on both solar and lunar cycles. During the dark days of Winter Solstice in central Europe it is as if all has withdrawn into deep hibernation, huddled under a pristine blanket of solace.
Indeed, this is what our ancestors understood as the passing of the old into the new; the heavy white frosts an integral process of purifying and regenerating the earth in this period. Thus it is time to tidy up the old homestead and sweep out the foul air with smoldering bundles of antiseptic herbs, particularly aromatic conifers from which the sap was collected to make frankincense. Boughs of conifer were hung over the doorways and hearth, sometimes their logs burnt in the hearth for that same purpose. Their garlands also included holly and mistletoe; the red and white berries representing the life giving elements of blood and semen in the royal marriage between the sun and the earth.
This time was known to us as “Weihnachten” which literally means “Consecrating Nights”; namely cleansing, blessing and taking stock. It was, after all, on these dark nights that the old wilderness spirits and frost giants descended on the community to steal away the sick, old and feeble in what was understood as the “Wild Hunt”. So, it was only wise that one kept a healthy warm and well stocked household to remain safely indoors on such nights. Even when the Romans invaded with their Saturnalia and the Mithras cult, they too had to adapt to the climatic conditions from which these traditions had been born, nor could the Holy Roman Empire do more than adopt them under more Latin labels with the masquerades of Saturnalia (Fasching) pushed to the end of the season. Otherwise the traditions remained the same in principle over the course because they were agrarian, where neither laurel nor palm leaf could grow.
Hence the first “Christmas tree” appeared in Freiburg in the year 1419, in front of the local bakery, where children were allowed to plunder its sweets. Then over the course of the 16th century they became increasing popular throughout the communities of the Upper Rhine Valley as a decorated festive tree erected in town squares much like the birch tree is to this day. Of course the nobility, far and wide, soon adopted this unusual trend with their own decorated trees in the courtyards of their burgs and palaces. Small candles, figurines of wood, sweets, dried fruit and nuts suspended on ribbons made the decorum. Adept wood carvers from the Black Forest readily advanced their skills; evolving the wooden figures into nutcrackers and incense burners- and inevitably, the elaborate candle driven mobiles known as the “Christmas Pyramid”. However, the finer Norwegian spruce was a rare commodity in those days, and didn't become a household item until the 19th century when the demand was enough to prosper planting whole forests of them. Nonetheless, alot of the decorum that makes traditional Christmas in the western world these days, actually came from this region.
Perchta as the old Beggar Woman
Translated by QuasizoidLate one afternoon a poor farmer was returning home from Radstadt. On the way he came across an old woman sitting by the wayside leaning on an old basket as she sobbed woefully. “What troubles you mam?” asked the good-natured man, stopping by her side. “That basket must be too heavy for you, so come with me and I'll carry it for you”.
"Certainly, certainly", sobbed the old woman, "the basket is quite heavy; but I can't expect you to carry it. What would the people say, if they see you carrying the basket of an old beggar woman”.
"That doesn't worry me", he replied, hoisting the basket onto his back and moved on slowly, while the old woman huddled by his side.
When they arrived at Altenmarkt, the people did wonder when they saw the farmer burdening a worn out basket on his back, side by side with a ragged old woman. Some stopped and watched, laughing at the unlikely pair, but the farmer paid no attention to the echoes of their mocking words, and calmly carried on towards his home. As he approached his wife called to him; “Say, my old spouse, who are you bringing here today?”
"Just a poor old beggar woman", replied the farmer, "who needs a place to spend the night."
"Well, if that's all it is", said the good natured farmer's wife, "then you can come right in mam, and a bite to eat you'll find too, as you must be hungry.” She guided the old lady to the bench by the hearth, sat her down and gave her a cup of milk and a plate of noodles and let her decently dig in. After dinner she led the tired old woman to a small room where a bed was already made. Then they all retired for the evening.
The next morning, as the farmer got up to see how the old lady was doing, he found her gone. Only her basket she had left behind. Nonetheless, the farmer and his wife firmly believed she would return to collect her possessions.
However, days and weeks went by without a sight of her, so they gave up hope that she'd ever show herself again and decided to inspect the contents of the basket for any clues of her name or where she lived.
Curious, the farmer reached into the basket, only to come up with a hand full of rags, which he tossed to the floor, where they landed with an odd thud. As he inspected the bundle closer, a gleam caught his eye. One silver coin revealed itself, and then another, until finally a stately heap lay there before the joyfully amazed eyes of this steadfast landsman. Thus the poverty of these kind people found an end, and both thanked this good fae, gratefully from the bottom of their hearts, as they now realized that this was Perchta.
Source: Die schönsten Sagen aus Österreich.
Harvest Traditions
By Quasizoid
In SW Germany the harvest begins around the 1st of August with the reaping of quorn. It was a time when community members of all ages gathered in the fields to assist in any way they could. Tables were laid out with the necessary amenities so they could go about their work with little delay. Once all the grain was safely stashed away for the winter, the occasion was celebrated by feasting and the burning of straw dollies in offering for thanksgiving and the hope of fair weather to insure an unspoiled crop. A crown was woven of grains and herbs and raised on a pole to mark the occasion. In the course of these celebrations through September comes the Weinfest, and in October, the Bierfest.
Once all the harvesting is completed, livestock is then herded down out of the mountains in a procession called the “Albabtrieb”. This is where the cattle are decorated with cowbells and garlands, with the lead cow wearing a huge colourful wreath of Alproses. These are also times of village fetes to sell their domestic wares. Samhain then falls at the end of this period in preparation for Winter.
Walpurgisnacht: An Unfortunate History of Misinterpretation
Originally the May feast was a festival of what modern pagans would define as the “Great Rite” on the “Quorn Planting Moon”. Aside from hand-fasting, the festivities included animated dances, noise making and sacred fire rites to banish the last frosts. Rather, it was in the course of Christianizing the Frankish domains, that the festival was renamed after the 8th century English nun Walburga, upon her cannonization on that date about a hundred years later. The story is that her and her brothers Saint Willibald and Saint Winibald, had come there to assist their uncle, Saint Boniface in evangelizing the region, and attest to her gift of healing. However, this did little more than put a Christian meaning to the rites of purification and fertility, this represented by the Holy Walburga holding a sprig of quorn. In fact, the Carolingians were more inclined to doubt the existence of witchcraft altogether.
It wasn't until the Black Death went pandemic in the Middle Ages, that hysteria easily lent to the idea that biblical doomsday was nigh. Thus the holiday became synonymous with scourging and witch burning, to drive away the devil's curse. Often times the blame fell on Jewish communities as their mysterious rituals seemed like black magic to the naïve. Midwives were often blamed for congenital defects in newborns, whereas unwed mothers and spinsters were accused of whoremongering, and soforth. It seems there was no limit to the cause for alarm. While some councils persisted in the denial of witchcraft, more power-hungry authorities inclined to employ self-styled inquisitors and exorcists; though not always sanctioned by a Papal Bull. Nonetheless, the craze readily made popular such misleading works as the Malleus Maleficarum and the Witches Sabbat.
When 18th century revolutions finally introduced federalism, exonerating such esoteric movements as the Rosicrucians and Freemasonry, all previous Witchcraft Acts were finally disbanded and gradually replaced by more humane laws against esoteric fraud; especially false mediums and healers. Nonetheless, the myth of fornicating witches riding around on brooms still lives on in the Black Catholic reaches of the High Black Forest and Upper Bavaria, making the burning of witches (though in effigy) an integral part of sacred fire festivals.
That the May Festival became established as a public holiday, was mostly due to Karl Marx favouring it as an occasion to honour labourers. In Nazi times, however, Walpurgisnacht was conveniently celebrated in conjunction with Hitler's birthday (20th of April). Ironically, the 30th of April was also the day he committed suicide in his Berlin bunker. While some assume the Nazis revered the holiday as Germanically pagan, Hitler was an avid Black Catholic, exploiting much the same conspiracy theories about the Jews. Rather, it was Heinrich Himmler's own theosophical desire to Arisophize religion away from Semitism by suggesting Indo-Aryans as the root of higher civilization. Thankfully, recent DNA studies are finally dispelling the whole Aryan racial myth. Not only were the Indo-Aryans not even the same haplogroup, but they never ventured beyond the mountainous confines of their domain between Persia and the Indus Valley.
Thus, after all misconceptions have to naught, Walpurgisnacht has been restored by modern German pagans as the original fertility festival it was meant to be, as well as what the Holy Walburga would have wished.
The Ostara Festival
German specialists in anthropology and archeoforensics have worked meticulously to establish the nature and origins of these festivals and if they were attributed to any particular deities. This is a complicated task, given that Celto-Germanic pantheons were not only tribally secular, but very much influenced by the geographical nature of their location. In the case of Ostara, any relevence of the title itself to a deity of similar namesake could not be found. What was found in numerous places was matrons of sacred springs and other waters usually honoured that the water be blessed, and in turn, used to bless the naming of newborns. This is not to be confused with Christian baptisms, as the evidence well predates even the arrival of the Romans. Rather, the wights or matron of whatever sacred spring or river's namesake were honored with the offering of garlands. Wells were decorated with these garlands, usually topped off with a crown as seen in my photo. Also, note the wooden plaque with "Wasser ist Leben" (Water is Life). Naturally, the eggs served part of that offering as a suitable symbol of rebirth.
People far removed from the homelands of these traditions tend to wonder what bunnies could possibly have to do with all this. Well, the answer is really quite simple if you think back to how people lived without all the modern conveniences we have today. Of all the animals our ancestors hunted or trapped for food, rabbits are the first to have their young after the winter, thus the first available fresh meat. Indeed, young rabbit is traditionally eaten in SW Germany on this occasion as part of the "Osterfest".
The Greenman Tradition in Germany
The greenman is a forest sprite, celebrated around Whitsun (end of May or beginning of June). He is what gives all the greenery that special glow when all the leaves are out in full burst towards the end of Spring. What remains known about him in Britain, is somewhat fragmented between legends of Herne the Hunter and Robin Hood, while the odd woodwose can be found embellished on a church or garden well. Mind you, these spurious traces may have no relevance with continental traditions at all. Rather, the dances of the Morris Men are said to have been adopted from Sufi traditions observed during the latter Crusades. In Germany, however, this forest sprite appears to have remained consistent with the Hellenic origins of a dryadic elemental- celebrated in part of the fertility rites of spring (or rebirth). With this is comes the long standing tradition of sacred birches and willows in the decorating of wells and sacred springs. He is celebrated by the children as the "Laubmännchen" in a procession of wooden wagons where they gather eggs, smoked ham, bread and money from the community for a special breakfast feast in the town or village square. At the head of the procession, is of course the "Laubmännchen" dressed in all his greenery and dancing with the children.
Firewheel Traditions
Midsun Traditions
When Christianity took over, this became the feast of St. John the Baptist celebrated on the 24th of June, actually the last day of the initial festival. Mind you, it didn't do much change to the old customs, only the name.
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