We’re directly opposite of Halloween at this point. The season started with Candlemas / Groundhog’s Day has come to an end.
May 1 marks the final victory of Spring over Winter, but before departing, the witches and their cohorts have one last fling. The night from April 30 to May 1 is called “Walpurgisnacht”, the night of Walpurgis or Walpurga. The festival is marked by numerous rituals to ward off evil. Legend has it that on Walpurgisnacht the witches would gather on the Brocken, the highest peak in the Harz Mountains. Because of the Walpurgisnacht scene in Goethe’s Faust, in which Mephistopheles takes Faust to the Brocken and has him revel with the witches, the witches gathering became widely known.
Under Christian influence Walpurgisnacht became a fest to drive out evil spirits. Walpurgis derives its name from Walpurga or Walburga. Walburga, Abbess of Heidenheim near Eichstätt, a Catholic Saint, was known as the protectoress against witchcraft and sorcery. On the Eve of May 1, bells may toll in some areas and prayers may be said; there may be blessings with holy-water and blessed sprigs can be found in homes and barns. The most widespread remedy against evil spirits during Walpurgisnacht is noise. As soon as the sun sets, boys of all ages may make noise. Their equipment ranges from boards to beat onto the ground to pistols for firing shots.
The festival is marked by numerous rituals to ward off evil. On the eve of May 1st the bells toll in Luxembourg and many prayers are said, there are blessings with holy water and blessed palms in the homes and barns. In Schmalkalden in Thueringen the little girls, dressed as Hexen themselves, chase out the Walpermännchen. They wear paper hats and sometimes carry sticks in their hands. Similarly, in the south Harz region, the young boys ride stick-horses and chase the Hexen out of the fields. The most widespread remedy against evil spirits during Walpurgisnacht is noise. The boys begin making noise as soon as the sun sets. In Bohemia boards are beaten onto the ground in front of the houses, accompanied by this chant: “Hex geh raus, ‘s brennt dei Haus.” Whoever hears a pistol shot on that evening is supposed to say, “Schiess mei Hex a mit!” In Lippe the noise is referred to as “Maiklappen.” A lot of noise is especially made in front of the houses of married couples who are childless, because it is believed that it is necessary to “further the blessings.” In the Berner Jura the shephard boys, on the eve of May 1, stand atop the manure-piles and crack whips in order to drive away wolves. The wolf is the incarnation of evil, and symbolizes the departure of winter. The manure-pile symbolizes fertility of the fields and gardens, and therefore is often the locale where prayers are said. Farmers who don’t have as many cattle help each other out in the summer. They make a pledge-group, which takes this form in Donaueschingen: they go to a nearby chapel and pray, then they climb together onto a manure-pile, hold hands, and say “Mir (=wir) gmaren miteinand,” which means “we are helping each other to bring home hay and grain with our cattle.” [i.e. they are sharing each other’s manure-piles, which is sprayed onto the fields as fertilizer].
So, folks, there is a parable here — when we lapse into slinging mud at each other, we should look at it from a higher perspective — we are really fertilizing each other’s fields!
In Bavaria the night from April 30 to May 1 is called a Freinacht or Drudennacht. For youth it is an opportunity to play tricks. They may stroll in groups through the streets and wind toilet-paper around cars, smear door-handles with toothpaste, unhinge garden doors and carry them a few meters away, and they may displace shoe scrapers. It is said that at one time boys took a sparred-frame cart to pieces and reassembled it on the roof of the house of the owner.
More Resources –
Waelburga and the Rites of May: customs, symbols. St. Walburga: entry in the Patron Saints Index St. Walburga in the Catholic Encyclopedia: niece of St. Boniface, apostle of Germany Walpurgisnacht – bonfire and witches: many links, many links, variety of items Wein-Hexennacht in Oberwesel am Rhein Hexenfeuer und Feuerwerk in der Walpurgisnacht Die Walpurgis Seite: several images from a Hexentanz – looks like Halloween. Walpurgisnacht im Harz: Hexenzauber und Liebesorakel from Mainz Online.
I’ve been hearing about many different cases of less-than-savory people being snagged via work email lately. Cheaters, thieves, haters, and the like. Who, in this day and age actually thinks that the email they have at work is secure, or for personal use at all? Dumbasses. Most places make folks sign a resource policy, as far as I know… E-Mail, Voice Mail, Cell phone minutes, internet bandwidth. That’s what free yahoo/hotmail/gmail/whatever accounts are all about. No legal liabilities, and nobody looking over your shoulder.
Speaking of free mail…Wow.. someone auctioned off a gmail account for $50! Look at ’em all! (17, when I just looked.)
I’ve been doing *loads* of programming lately. Good to get the brain flexed again after so much general upkeep work. Could be worse, though.. looking at the stats for game developers.
It looks like it’s all work and no play for game developers. The International Game Developers Association (IGDA) has a white paper titled “Quality of Life in the Game Industry: Challenges and Best Practices.” Some of the findings:
Crunch time is omnipresent, during which respondents work 65 to 80 hours a week.
The average crunch work week exceeds 80 hours 13% of the time.Overtime is often uncompensated.
Spouses are likely to respond that “You work too much…” (61.5%); “You are always stressed out.” (43.5%); “You don’t make enough money.” (35.6%)
Mod a disposable cam into a stun-gun
TechTV has a HOWTO for modifying a disposable camera into a stun-gun:
These disposable cameras (about $5 dollars a pop) have a capacitor that can store up to 600 volts of stopping power. When the capacitor discharges those volts, it delivers an amperage comparable to stun guns.
Cool Factoid learned lately… Chickens like to eat scorpions!
I just remembered.. on TV last night, channel surfing before bed, I saw Terminator 2 on one of the Spanish channels. I half-wondered if he’d say “Seeya Later Alligator” or something, rather than “Hasta La Vista, Baby” given that the rest of the voice track was already en Espanol.
