“Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by the rulers as useful."
As you know, Christians in power began persecuting Pagans in an attempt to destroy the old religions, a practice that continued well after the empire had fallen, and there were new kingdoms in its place.
One of the ways of ridding out the religion and culture of Paganism, besides a torture and death here and there, was the Christianization of Pagan holidays.
The Celtic holiday of Samhain became the Catholic holiday of All Hallows’ Eve, now known as Halloween.
Ostara became Easter.
For those of you wondering what painting eggs has to do with the return of Jesus, it symbolized the return of Spring, which is what Ostara was about.
One of the Pagan holidays was May Day, which is the day after Walpurgisnact.
One of the Pagan holidays was May Day, which is the day after Walpurgisnact.
The Video by Faun just goes to show that Paganism is alive and well, despite two thousand years of attempts at Christianization.
May Day, still celebrated is all about welcoming Summer. The Germanic Pagans celebrated the night before by lighting a bonfire, and dancing around a Maypole which symbolized a big throbbing Schwanz.
The night before May Day, known as Walpurgisnacht (Walpurgis Night) is celebrated by German Pagan Folk band Faun, and they do I beautifully.
Faun’s “Walpurgisnacht” of German Pagans coming out to celebrate goes like this:
“In den Abendhimmel steigen
Heute Nacht die Zauberweisen
Wildes Volk und Liliths Art
Lauernd Winde heimlich fahrt
Lasst uns zu den Feuern streifen
Raunend nach den Sternen greifen
Gutes und auch böses Wort
Tragen wir heut fort und fort”
In the sky tonight
The witches rise
Wild Folk and Lilith's kind
Lurking, secretly riding the winds
Let us wander to the fires
Whispering, reaching for the stars
Both the good and the bad word
We carry on and on tonight
An English translation really doesn't do justice to how poetic this sounds in German. But as you listen you can feel the music.
The very beginning has this nice drum rhythm that lets you know you’re in for something special. Then after the vocalists do some beautiful harmonizing, they move into the chorus.
“Hört die Geigen, hört die Geigen,
Die Feuer sind entfacht
Folgt dem Reigen, folgt dem Reigen
In der Walpurgisnacht”
Hear the violins, hear the violins
The fires are ignited
Follow the dance, follow the dance
In the Walpurgisnacht
Faun’s ode to Paganism is definitely about the pre-Christian Pagan celebrations bridging the past with the present.
