Talk:Walpurgis Night

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[edit] Romanian Name

Does anyone have the Romanian name for Walpurgis Night? --Ryttu3k 12:11, 10 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Beltane link

Should this link to Beltane? The page there suggests they are related (or indeed, the same).

I think not. The Walpurgis Night bonfires have their roots in the 18th century when they were used to scare off predators, before releasing cattle on to the pastures. Also, in the southern parts of Sweden fires are lit earlier, around Easter. -- Mic
Well then, should the Beltane page be altered to note the differences? :-) (sorry, totally ignorant here) Evercat 22:47 May 8, 2003 (UTC)
I feel that the celebrations in Northern Europe of traditional holidays such as Walpurgis or Midsummer (holiday) are quite different from what is described elsewhere. I'm especially concerned with the neopagan connotations and in the case of Midsummer I found it necessary to disambiguate into two separate articles. This far I see that kind of development more likely than integration. However, there might very well be connections between Viking, Finnic, Baltic, Germanic and Celtic pagan traditions in pre-christian times. -- Mic 23:21 May 8, 2003 (UTC)
What I mean is, should references to Walpurgis Night be removed from Beltane? Evercat 23:27 May 8, 2003 (UTC)
I'm sorry that I didn't see your response sooner. :> The cutoms refered to under the Walpurgis headline in Beltane, are traditionally observed on other holidays. The reference is probably inappropriate unless there is some kind of source to back it up. -- Mic 06:04 May 10, 2003 (UTC)

[edit] Cultural Links

The author of the popular Harry Potter series, JK Rowling, used this celebration from German folklore to derive an alternate name for a group of dark wizards in the novels, known as “death eaters” (i.e. Walpurgis Knights)

A small note; I believe there was an episode of Lexx from the first season entitled Walpurgisnacht. I don't recall much more than that, but perhaps someone with a clearer memory should include it under References in Popular Culture?

-- It's hard to see why this article makes no mention of Mendelssohn's work "The first Walpurgis Night" [which is, I think, "Die Erste Walpurgisnacht" in the original). I am not competent to add the appropriate comments, but ... perhaps someone else is?

-- In due course I can provide Midi/Noteworthy Music Files of the Work - which should also be referenced in ChoralWiki (for some reason it seems to be totally ignored there under Mendelssohn!).

80.177.220.101 11:42, 8 June 2006 (UTC) MusicJohn, 8/Jun/06

[edit] Title of article?

Why is this page at "Walpurgis Night"? I would expect it to be at "Walpurgisnacht". If it is more common in English to translate, "Night" shouldn't be capitalized. Jkelly 03:13, 23 March 2006 (UTC)

The current online version of EB (in the article "Walburga, Saint") uses a capitalized "Night": "On Walpurgis Night—the eve of May 1, the day on which her relics were taken to Eichstätt—witches are believed to rendezvous in the Harz mountains." up◦land 03:49, 23 March 2006 (UTC)
Fair enough. Jkelly 22:39, 23 March 2006 (UTC)
And, Walpurgis Night is celebrated in Sweden too, so I don't think it's a good idea to just use the german name for it.--84.217.147.11 00:12, 23 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] surprise - no Worker's holiday mention

Surprise this article do not mention any thik about the relation between te workers´ holiday of the firts may and the Walpurgis nigth. Always they are, at least, two dimention for the things one is the formal thrut tath every body knows The exoteric truth. The other is the dark side . The esoteric Truth The satanism maniobrate to obtained their Holiday on the firts of may. The day in with the witches meet in their mountain. They obtain his holiday in disguise of the Reds Parties. Iluminati, my friends, Iluminati Best regards —Preceding unsigned comment added by 83.59.197.33 (talk) 21:12, 30 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] References in Modern Culture section

Some of the items currently in R.M.C. may better fit in a "Trivia" section - including one I am about to add. I thought about adding a "Trivia" section but I did not, primarily because I thought it would be a bit presumptuous on my part. Tzittnan 16:18, 17 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] A very quick canonization?

I could not find a date for St Walborgs canonization, but I seriously doubt it happened the year she died. (the quickest canonization is still something like over 20 years after the persons death)

The best source I could easily find says she is said to have been canonized by Pope Adrian II. (867-872)

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15526b.htm

Canonized 870 by Adrian II, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Walpurga
Chosig (talk) 17:43, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] American and Modern Satanism (Church of Satan)

I feel there should be a more overt reference (see another section) to LaVeyian(sp?) Satanism, as it is one of their few holidays. --Shdwwarlord (Sept. 12, 07. 1:44 a.m.)

Me, too. adding now as no objections were made to your suggestion. Shamanchill (talk) 04:02, 1 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Hexennacht song by Eichenschild

In music, there's also a song by the folk/rock band Eichenschild titled Hexennacht from their album Mondscheinlegenden. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 79.17.153.96 (talk) 06:05, 31 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Trivia/References in modern culture getting out of hand

This section is huge! I sorted it into categories to better focus the kind of trivia that's there, and deleted some very trivial points. However, a lot of the trivia just says Walpurgis Night is the name of a song/play/book etc without saying how that title is related to the content of the work. In other words, there's no context.

Comments and suggestions on how we can improve this? Would simply putting it into paragraph form be a good start? That might allow some further sorting by book/film/music genre. Thanks for you input, from your fellow editor Martinship (talk) 03:23, 30 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] possible error in "Origins" section

Hi. I believe there may be an error in the first line in the second paragraph of the section entitled "Origins" in the article entitled "Walpurgis Night". It states there that Saint Walpurga was born in 710. It then states that she was, according to legend, the daughter of the Saxon prince St. Richard. However, the "Saint Richard" link takes you to an article about Saint Richard of Chichester and that article states that he lived 1197-1253. How could Walurga be mistaken for his daughter? I don't know if it's an error in the article but it is a little confusing. I'm hoping someone who knows can clear it up.

Thanks!

Ervinjn (talk) 12:25, 30 April 2008 (UTC)

I believe I see the problem. The "St. Richard" link goes to the wrong St. Richard. Looking at Wikipedia's disambiguation page (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Richard_%28disambiguation%29) I see "Richard the King (Richard the Saxon)". Unfortunately, clicking on it reveals that Wikipedia currently has no article on Richard the Saxon. I haven't learned to adjust links yet, but I'll try to figure it out. In the meantime, if someone knows how, perhaps they can do it.

I also found the following page about Richard the Saxon in a google search: http://leitourgeia.wordpress.com/2008/02/07/st-richard-of-wessex/

Ervinjn (talk) 13:44, 3 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Hitler and LaVey

I have removed the section connecting Hitler to Satanism due to anachronism. LaVeyan Satanism, the only reference for Walpurgisnacht having any importance to Satanism, was invented twenty five years after Hitler committed suicide. Wikipedia is a place of encyclopaedic and scholarly knowledge, let's save the conspiracy theories for the black helicopter sites shall we? It is enough to mention that Hitler committed suicide on the day I see no reason to speculate it's because he was "communing with the forces of darkness", especially when those "forces of darkness" (i.e. Satan and associated acts) don't exist for most religions in the world. 136.242.180.156 (talk) 16:37, 30 April 2008 (UTC)

Okay, but I don't think that the fact that various Satanic sects observe Walpurgisnacht as a holiday should be omitted, either. Shamanchill (talk) 04:06, 1 May 2008 (UTC)

I agree with removing the Satanist reference connecting Hitler to it. A more appropriate mention would be his membership in the occult mystical Thule Society. Changing now. Shamanchill (talk) 05:14, 1 May 2008 (UTC)

The way it is written still implies Hitler was connected to Satanism, which there is no evidence of. --67.149.150.252 (talk) 10:34, 1 May 2008 (UTC)
Agreed, but the source is a hard (and fairly poor) quote to work with. No offense to whoever made the addition, but an author commenting on another commentator, and on TV, nonetheless? Too many layers of "credibility". I gave up trying to rework it and will look for another source shortly. I don't think that the paragraph is worth deleting entirely, because of Hitler's links to Thule, which would certainly have recognized Walpurgisnacht. Shamanchill (talk) 14:19, 1 May 2008 (UTC)
I recommend removing all mention of the History Channel documentary, 'cause I do not believe it passes muster as a reliable source, all mention of any (tenuous) connection between Satanism and Nazism, and, perhaps, all of the Satanism stuff altogether. I recommend the latter because the sources provided are not all that elucidating. ---RepublicanJacobiteThe'FortyFive' 16:13, 13 May 2008 (UTC)
Agreed and can do. I've been looking for a better source for the speculations of Nazi Occultism in this coincidence in the process of trying to work with this edit. Deleting paragraph now. Shamanchill (talk) 01:46, 14 May 2008 (UTC)
I deleted the HC reference, but on second thought, left the verbiage explaining the controversy arising from the coincidence. I think it summarizes our editing efforts, and fits the article well. Shamanchill (talk) 02:08, 14 May 2008 (UTC)