Paganistan: Notes from the Secret Commonwealth
In Which One Midwest Man-in-Black Confers, Converses & Otherwise Hob-Nobs with his Fellow Hob-Men (& -Women) Concerning the Sundry Ways of the Famed but Ill-Starred Tribe of Witches.
Dancing Away the Snow
At an elevation of 3,743 feet, the Brocken is the highest peak of the Harz range, Northern Germany's highest mountains. At such an altitude, winter lingers long.
That's why the witches go there for Walpurgisnacht.
We go there, they say, "to dance away the snow."
An ocean and a continent away, here in the American Midwest we're in a similar situation. The maples are blooming and the redbirds are singing for all they're worth, but yet another winter storm is bearing down on us, and we could well be seeing another 8 to 12 inches of snow this weekend. The Winter that Won't Let Go has still got us in its icy grip.
You can see why here in the North, the outstanding religious obligation of Beltane is to dance barefoot on the ground. Someone's got to melt all that snow.
Every year around now we sing the Minnesota May Song.
We've wished you merry May-O,
and now it's time to go:
for since we've started singing,
we've had three feet of snow.
Most years, we laugh.
Well sisters, it's a fortnight and odd days to May Eve as I write this. Soon it will be time to put on the cloaks and dancing shoes and make a night of it.
It looks as if we may have our work cut out for us.
Above: Teufelskanzel ("Devil's pulpit") or Hexenaltar ("witches' altar")
Natural rock outcropping on the summit of the Brocken
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