Perchten Run Kuchl near Salzburg, (c) Christian Brunner 2012 We have arrived at the last night of the Rauhnächte as we call the 12 nights after the Winter Solstice in the German speaking greater Alpine region. This night is dedicated to the third of the three Goddesses of old, Borbet, Christianized St. Barbara, who is most prominently referred to as Mother Percht on that night. Mother Percht is the crone and with that the death aspect of the three-fold Goddess. She leads the Wild Hunt and visits homesteads at midnight with her entourage. In some Christianized version that are the souls of the ..read more

Last night we have contemplated and blessed the twelve months leading up to the next Winter Solstice, lighting a candle for Wilbet, the Maiden of the threefold Goddess known to the people in the Alps and beyond in the German speaking world. The Goddess we honor today is Ambet, the mother, the one who tamed the big worm, the dragon — the symbol of the awesome female power — and stood next to it in the very old paintings. Her Christianized version Margareth stands on it (often reduced to a snake) and holds it in chains. In German speaking regions further north, Frau Holle is very similar in her ..read more

This and the next two nights of the Rauhnächte are dedicated to three Goddesses, or three aspects of one Goddess, appearing as Wilbet, Ambet, and Borbet in old paintings. Many a waterway or town in the greater Alpine region are based on their name, most prominently the German City of Worms, known in Roman times as Borbetomagus. In the Middle Ages, when Christianity settled into European households and life in general, these three Goddesses were replaced by the saints Katharina (or Catharina in her Latin form)(for Wilbet), Margarethe (for Ambet), and Barbara (for Borbet). While the name change ..read more

After a night of celebration, this ninth one of the 12 Nights after the Winter Solstice, the Rauhnächte, this one is calmer and does not really have much of the work we were used to in the previous ones. Still, feasting is tradition, as is spending the day and night with families and friends. When I was a child and my grandparents still lived, we would visit them all and exchange little tokens representing good luck. Typically, those would be treats made of chocolate or marzipan, in the shape of fly agaric mushrooms (toad stools), four leave clovers, chimney sweepers, and pigs. It is easy to ..read more

Tonight, we celebrate. There are many ideas about what should be considered the New Year, and they are all legit in their own right. It seems that at least some Celtic groups, of whom we have some written or verbal information available, considered that the summer and with that the agricultural season came to its end at Samhain. The Gaullish term Samfuin appears on a calendar found in today’s France, in Coligny, and seems to indicate exactly that, summer’s end. But did that mean that “the Celts” thought of the day after Samhain as their “New Year”? Did they even have a concept of a year in our ..read more

This 7th of the 12 nights after the Winter Solstice is the last night that fully falls in the old year. Tomorrow, New Year’s Eve, the Sylvester night, is the night of the calendar transition, and only half of it is in the past year, the other half in the new one. In this night, we are advised to look at our dark side. It’s the last night of the year, and the last chance to do so. So, insofar that’s something which would actually better be done tonight than any other night of the Rauhnächte. At the same time, it’s always good to face the darkness every now and then, and there are other times i ..read more

We are halfway through the Rauhnächte, the 12 nights after the end of the Winter Solstice (more about the correct calculation in the first article). We are still working on taking stock and cleansing what’s no longer needed. Tonight is family night. Last night, we worked on our best friends, how our relationships with them have changed in the past year, and whether or not they should be brought over to the next 12 months cycle. Normally, I would say that shouldn’t be a question — after all best friends are best friends for a reason — but I have seen the strangest (and saddest) things happen i ..read more

This is the fifth of the 12 Rauhnächte after the Winter Solstice, and after last night (article here), this one is a little simpler in terms of what to do. Still important work, though. And — please never restrain your flow of creativity. If this feels like you want to conduct this elaborate ritual you’ve just been itching to do, by all means. Apropos…someone asked me if they still can perform magical work today they didn’t get around to in previous nights. Absolutely. Think of the Rauhnächte as a whole time period for magical work. It is more important that you do the work than feeling restr ..read more

Night number four of the Rauhnächte is coming up fast, and for that one we do need a little more preparation. It’s an important night in the 12-night cycle, and again you will need pen and paper, but this time also something to light one of the two sheets of paper on fire, and something to toss the burning paper in so that you don’t cause a disaster. You might also need to set a little more time aside for tonight’s practicum. But before we dive into that, let’s — like in the three previous nights (read about them here, here, and here) — talk a bit about general Rauhnächte things. We have to l ..read more

We have arrived at the night that represents the month of March of the coming year, and with that the conclusion of the first quarter. Like with every Rauhnacht, anything that you encounter tonight will not only predict what happens next year, but also particularly the month that correlates with the number of the Rauhnacht. (Read about the previous nights here and here.) In the Christian calendar, the official holidays are over and people begin their daily work again. (But remember, no spinning, no milling, and washing as little clothes as possible.) We don’t know to what extent that is a car ..read more