Every year from April 30 to May 1, most of Europe celebrates Walpurgis Night, which became famous all over the world after the release of the novel by Johann Wolfgang Goethe "Faust", where in one of the episodes the main character went to the witches' sabbath with Mephistopheles.
There are at least two versions about the appearance and significance of Walpurgis Night. Traditionally, it was believed that at this time all witches and ghouls met on Mount Brocken and arranged a mystery, accompanying it with witchcraft by the fires, making a magic potion, and also countless copulations with the devil. At the Sabbath, they did their best to delay the arrival of spring, and also cursed the entire human race. In order to prevent damage, people on this night defended themselves and their homes with prayers and rang church bells. Over time, this belief spread throughout the world, overgrown with new myths and "proofs", and then became an excellent basis for the literary works of writers of different eras.
The second version is less mystified. It says that once upon a time on the territory of modern Scandinavia and Germany there was a pagan belief associated with the celebration of the day of fertility. The fact is, as soon as Christianity began to spread and strengthen itself in most lands, the elderly pagans did not immediately come to terms with this. Therefore, every year on the night of April 30 to May 1, they went into the forest away from prying eyes, made fires and thanked the sun god for the generous gifts that the earth gives them. This is how the pagans greeted spring. It is unlikely that it will ever become known for sure whether the rumor accused these people of being in connection with evil spirits or whether they themselves decided to dissolve this rumor in order to protect themselves from any attempts to draw them to a single faith.
The name of the holiday is associated with the name of Saint Walburga (or Walpurga), who lived in the 8th century in the territory of modern Great Britain. Her father was one of the kings of Western Saxony. Before going on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, he left little Walburga at Winbourne Monastery, where she lived for at least 26 years. There she studied several languages and was so educated that the British still consider her one of the first writers in the countries of England and Germany. Walburga is also called the patroness of sailors, because she once managed to pacify a storm with the help of prayer.
A hundred years after her death, her grave was desecrated, which caused the appearance of the shadow of the nun. Later, when the remains of Walburga were transported and left in one of the rocks, they began to exude oil, which healed many people. It happened on May 1st. Then the nun was canonized. This is how pagan and Christian motives were reflected in the famous European holiday.
