On April 30th, 870AD, St. Walpurga remains were ‘translated’ to Eichstätt, which St Willibald had set up as the Diocesan centre of this part of Bavaria. The evening of April 30th is the beginning of Beltane, the Celtic Fire Ceremony that is 6 months before Halloween, and the beginning of Summer. The Celtic Day began at Dusk, so May Day begins on 30th April. The Christian Church took many local traditions and adapted them to the calendar of the Church, so a Saint’s Day, is preceded by an Eve, All Hallows’ Day and Halloween, and May Day and May Eve. Walpurgisnacht is also halfway between the Spring equinox and the Summer solstice.
As May Day was an uncanny period dedicated to Pagan Deities, it makes sense for Walpurgisnacht to be a time when all the weird things are alive in the world, and for the Christian Church to adapt a saint associated to that day to be a focus for defeating witchcraft. So, it is a popular tradition for this Night to see the burning of an effigy of a witch on a bonfire.
In Germany today it is known as Walpurgisnacht, in Sweden Valborg and as Čarodejnice in the Czech Republic.
Walpurgisnacht has really been taken over by Heavy Metal, and I refer you this page to begin your journey down a dark rabbit hole of head-banging rock. https://astromagicklounge.com/2021/04/30/celebrating-walpurgis-night-with-black-sabbath-aleister-crowley/
I wrote more on my page on St. Walpurga’s feast day, February 25th.
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