Introverted non-communicative type here, please don't take it personally.
A collection of eclectic and fascinating things. May not be SFW. Including but not limited to: Books, Language, Science, Beauty, Bats, Turtles, Cats, Owls, Cephalopods, Star Trek, Doctor Who, Avengers, Loki, Community, Coffee, Politics, Halloween, and ...
Restorative nostalgia is when you feel like things used to be better and you long to relive the past, and reflective nostalgia is when you feel wistful about how different things used to be, but you maintain a sense of amused acceptance.
The crescent Earth rises above the #lunar horizon, taken from the Apollo 17 spacecraft in lunar orbit during final lunar landing mission in the Apollo program.
April 30th is Walpurgisnacht, the halfway point to Halloween. It’s the eve before Beltane and in German tradition it is essentially a second Halloween. In medieval Germany it was believed to be the night where witches and faeries have secret festivals in forests to sell their potions, charms, and spells, to dance, tell stories, and cavort with fae and goblin alike. It is a night of powerful magick and when the veil between worlds becomes thin (Much like on Halloween itself).
Goblins, imps, trolls, ghosts, and demons are supposed to roam loose on Walpurgisnacht, along with hungry vampires, and dark faeries.
(Artwork by Brian Froud)
Dracula’s Guest by Bram Stoker is set during Walpurgisnacht and there are two pivotal scenes in Goethe’s Faust (parts 1 and 2) at Walpurgisnacht celebrations.
This year’s Walpurgisnacht comes with a full moon (Moon reaches its peak on the 29th).
Once Upon a Time fans will also recognize Beltane as also being the night Baelfire was born (as he was named for the bonfires of Beltane).
Second Halloween/Walpurgis Night/Witches’ Night is tomorrow! It’s not ancient, it’s not Pagan, but they made it about witches so we might as well make it about witches.
Interestingly, the holiday was appropriated by university students in Finland (traditionally it was an upper class thing). Stealing from the rich is an acceptable form of appropriation.
Walpurgisnacht, known in English as Walpurgis Night, is the German name for the night of the 30th of April. It is the eve of the feast that celebrates Saint Walpurga.
In Germanic folklore, Walpurgisnacht is also known as “Hexennacht” - which literally translates as “witches night” - and is the night that witches gather upon the highest peak in the Harz Mountains in central Germany.
Walpurgisnacht is celebrated throughout Europe (Germany, the Netherlands, Czech Republic, Sweden, Denmark, Slovenia, Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania), in locally varying forms.
