Walpurgisnacht

Walpurgis Night was when, according to the belief of millions of people, the devil was abroad–when the graves were opened and the dead came forth and walked. When all evil things of earth and air and water held revel. This very place the driver had specially shunned. This was the depopulated village of centuries ago. This was where the suicide lay; and this was the place where I was alone–unmanned, shivering with cold in a shroud of snow with a wild storm gathering again upon me! It took all my philosophy, all the religion I had been taught, all my courage, not to collapse in a paroxysm of fright.

- Bram Stoker, Dracula's Guest

Hexeglaawe: Hexenkopf Rock

Pennsylvania Dutch settlers called this place Hexenkopf  (witch's head) due to an outcrop of rock resembling the profile of a witch.  Sometimes it's called Misery Mountain or Haunted Hill by the locals.  There are tales of unholy shrieks, evil spirits, and an eerie glow in the moonlight (due possibly to large deposits of mica embedded in the rock).

Lenape Native Americans used this rock as a site for rituals intended to take evil and sickness from the body. Later, immigrants continued this practice.  Local pow-wow doctors used Hexenkopf Rock as a place to transfer sickness, curses, and spells.  For two centuries, misery was deposited into this rocky landscape.

Similar to Mount Brocken in Germany, witches are said to congregate here on the night of April 30th, Walpurgisnacht.  

Walpurgisnacht

Walpurgisnacht

Walpurgis Night was when, according to the belief of millions of people, the devil was abroad–when the graves were opened and the dead came forth and walked. When all evil things of earth and air and water held revel. This very place the driver had specially shunned. This was the depopulated village of centuries ago. This was where the suicide lay; and this was the place where I was alone–unmanned, shivering with cold in a shroud of snow with a wild storm gathering again upon me! It took all my philosophy, all the religion I had been taught, all my courage, not to collapse in a paroxysm of fright.

- Bram Stoker, Dracula's Guest

As From The Smoke Is Freed The Blaze

Come with prong, and come with fork,

Like the devil of their talk,

And with wildly rattling sound,

Prowl the desert rocks around!

Screechowl, owl,

Join in chorus with our howl!

From THE FIRST WALPURGIS-NIGHT by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Walpurgisnacht Reminder

A friendly reminder to swing by the blog on Walpurgisnacht...  regarding the below blog entry from the 13th of April.

Hexenkopf

Hexenkopf Rock or “Witch’s Head” is a large, hilly cluster of rocks which you’d probably walk right past if you didn’t know its long history of witchcraft, evil spirits, death and curses.

Ancient Native American tribes performed rituals of healing there, drawing the evil spirits out of the sick and entrapping them in the rock. The mountains were said to glow from all the evil spirits trapped in them. Early Pennsylvania German settlers, who called it “Misery Mountain,” began holding their own form of healing ceremonies there, called “powwows.” From the 18th century up until the 1950s, local powwowers healed the sick by drawing the evil spirits out of them and putting them in the rock, much like their Native American predecessors. Some say these evil spirits have escaped the rocks and now roam the surrounding woods.

But here's the part that most people don't know...

I was doing some research.  In the 1700's, in that same region, settlers would often find their iron cauldrons and kettles missing.  Unfortunately, they would blame this on the local Indian population.

They could never find them actually using the stolen items, so there's always been something of a mystery surrounding the disappearing iron cookware.  

Check back on Walpurgisnacht… I believe I’ve solved the mystery.

Text source.