WALPURGIS

Phoenix rising out of the flames, rebirth through fire.

Walpurgis night bonfire in front of City Hall on the lake in Stockholm where I grew up. The tradition is to have a fire and sing songs and celebrate the coming of spring. Some even jump through the fire for purification. Walpurgis is connected to Beltane the ancient pagan festival of fertility held on May 2nd. In Germany it is called Hexen-nacht and it does have associations with witches all over Scandinavia too.

The first part of the first act of Faust is called Walpurgisnacht.

Incidentally Hitler and his gang all committed suicide in Berlin on Walpurgis in 1945.