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reetings from Australia. 

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Pip Wilson

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At Glastonbury, Somerset, a man thirty years afflicted with an asthma, dreamed that a person told him, if he drank of such particular waters, near the Chain-gate, seven Sunday mornings, he should be cured, which he accordingly did and was well, and attested it on oath. This being rumoured abroad, it brought numbers of people from all parts of the kingdom to drink of these miraculous seaters for various distempers, and many were healed, and great numbers received benefit.
Richard Gough entry in his diary for April 30, 1751. On May 4, the Englishman added: "'Twas computed 10,000 people were now at Glastonbury, from different parts of the kingdom, to drink the waters there for various distempers".

In Siam on the sixth day of the moon in the sixth month (the end of April) a temporary king is appointed, who for three days enjoys the royal prerogatives, the real king remaining shut up in his palace. This temporary king sends his numerous satellites in all directions to seize and confiscate whatever they can find in the bazaar and open shops; even the ships and junks which arrive in harbour during the three days are forfeited to him and must be redeemed. He goes to a field in the middle of the city, whither they bring a gilded plough drawn by gaily-decked oxen. After the plough has been anointed and the oxen rubbed with incense, the mock king traces nine furrows with the plough, followed by aged dames of the palace scattering the first seed of the season. As soon as the nine furrows are drawn, the crowd of spectators rushes in and scrambles for the seed which has just been sown, believing that, mixed with the seed-rice, it will ensure a plentiful crop. Then the oxen are unyoked, and rice, maize, sesame, sago, bananas, sugar-cane, melons, and so on, are set before them; whatever they eat first will, it is thought, be dear in the year following, though some people interpret the omen in the opposite sense. During this time the temporary king stands leaning against a tree with his right foot resting on his left knee. From standing thus on one foot he is popularly known as King Hop; but his official title is Phaya Phollathep "Lord of the Heavenly Hosts." He is a sort of Minister of Agriculture; all disputes about fields, rice, and so forth, are referred to him.
Sir James George Frazer (1854 - 1941), The Golden Bough, 1922, Ch. 25

I'm a great favourite with the women, perhaps because I know them thoroughly. When I was in Queensland, I was engaged to a girl. Her father insisted on it and she was so pretty and bright that I didn't mind. I got clear of that without treating her badly. I used to take girls out on an evening. As long as they were fond of me it kept them away from more dangerous chaps. Poor kids, their life is miserable enough without having some extra worry about thing like love. Love indeed! I've never seen one solitary man I could stand for a husband, though I've had some splendid pals. A man is decent to a man- he must be, or he might get hurt. But with a woman he seldom plays a fair deal.
Bill Edwards (born Marion Edwards), Australian gender rebel, who was arrested on April 30, 1905   Source

And if you have a favour to request,
Upon Walpurgis Night just mention it.
Mephistopheles to the witch; Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Faust (tr. Philip Wayne, London, 1949)

TV can be a gentle soporific, but its great future lies in waking us up.
Dr Karl Menninger; NBC commenced TV transmissions on a regular basis, April 30, 1939

People's minds are going to rot altogether as a result of television.
Sir Cedric Hardwicke

The discrepancy between the riches of the TV feast and the poverty of the school experience is creating great ferment, friction and psychic violence.
Marshall McLuhan

Why should they ask me to put on a uniform and go 10,000 miles from home and drop bombs and bullets on Brown people in Vietnam while so-called Negro people in Louisville are treated like dogs and denied simple human rights? No I'm not going 10,000 miles from home to help murder and burn another poor nation simply to continue the domination of white slave masters of the darker people the world over. This is the day when such evils must come to an end. I have been warned that to take such a stand would cost me millions of dollars. But I have said it once and I will say it again. The real enemy of my people is here. I will not disgrace my religion, my people or myself by becoming a tool to enslave those who are fighting for their own justice, freedom and equality. If I thought the war was going to bring freedom and equality to 22 million of my people they wouldn't have to draft me, I'd join tomorrow. I have nothing to lose by standing up for my beliefs. So I'll go to jail, so what? We've been in jail for 400 years.
Muhammad Ali (b. 1942), American boxer who, on April 30, 1967, was stripped of his world heavyweight boxing title for refusing to be drafted into the army   Source    More Muhammad Ali quotes at Wikiquote

There can be no whitewash at the White House.
US President Richard M Nixon, April 30, 1973

'Re-education' is a meticulous and long-range process, management must be fight, continuous, comprehensive, and specific. We must manage each person. We must manage their thoughts and actions, words and deeds, Philosophy of life and ways of livelihood, social relationships and travel ... We must closely combine management and education with interrogation.
Nguyen Ngoc Giao, writing in the People's Army magazine in June 1975. North Vietnam re-educators, aided by many Westerners, were victorious in South Vietnam on April 30, 1975.

April 30 is the 120^th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (121^st in leap years), with 245 days remaining.
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Walpurgis night, Finland, Sweden and Germany

The wheel of the year has rolled a little further through the seasons and now we find ourselves at one of those eight stations of the year at which the veil between the mundane and spirit worlds is a little thinner.  

The four main stations ('grand sabbats' in the Neopagan tradition) are the two equinoxes and two solstices. Halfway between each of these are the other significant days, sometimes known as the lesser sabbats, together making this list:

Midwinter/Yule (Christmas), on the Winter Solstice
Imbolc, on February 2 and the preceding eve
Ostara, on the Spring Equinox
Beltane/Beltaine/May Day on May 1 and the preceding eve
Midsummer/Litha, on the Summer Solstice
Lughnasadh (Lammas), on August 1 and the preceding eve
Mabon, on the Autumn Equinox
Samhain (Halloween), on the eve of October 31

We are now on the cusp of the (Northern Hemisphere's) halfway station between the Spring Equinox and the Summer Solstice, known as Beltaine (Beltane). Watch out, spirits are about! – the wheel shows that it is directly opposite Samhain (Halloween); that is, six months from that other witching night.

Tonight's mischief is celebrated in the Harz Mountains of Germany, as well as in Finland and the Scandinavian countries. It is called Valborgsmässoafton in Swedish, Vappu in Finnish, Walpurgisnacht in German.

On the eve of May Day, the Devil and the company of hexen, or witches, were once believed to hold revels on high places, especially Mount Brocken in the Harz range. In 1990 women's groups reclaimed the site.

St Walpurgis

Not too many Englishwomen ever became part of German folklore. St Walpurgis (Bugga; Gaudurge; Vaubourg; Walpurga; Walpurgis; Valborg; Walburge; Wealdburg; Valderburger; Valpuri), the daughter of Richard, King of the West Saxons and a niece of St Boniface, was an Essex-born (some sources say she came from somewhere in Dorset or Wessex) English missionary nun who became an abbess of Württemberg, Germany, where she lived at the convent of Heidenheim, which was founded by her brother St Winibald.

Walpurgis died on February 25, 779 and that day still carries her name in the Catholic calendar. Ancient traditions of May Day Eve became associated with the date of the 'translation' (removal) of her bones to Eichstätt. While her feast day is February 25 (May 1 in the Swedish calendar), May 1 is the feast of her translation and tonight, the eve of May 1, is 'her' witching night in Germany.

Walpurgisnacht

This second feast of St Walpurgis, or Walburga (Beltaine Eve) is one of the main holidays during the year in both Sweden and Finland, along with Christmas and Midsummer. Walpurgisnacht (Walpurgis night) in Germany has been celebrated for centuries. Farmers used to place crosses and herbs above stable doors to protect their livestock from the witches that fly around tonight en route to their 'evil covens' on Germany's highest mountain, the Brocken, in the Harz Mountains. German cartographers of the 18^th Century sometimes added to any map of the Harz Mountains a few witches flying on broomsticks towards the summit of the Brocken.  

German villagers used to light fires in the fields. Any crop illuminated by the firelight or touched by the smoke was sure to be fertile. Or, so it is said.

Tonight's traditions stem from an ancient pagan spring festival. The deities Woden and Freya were the parents of spring. German people used to drink 'the drink of love' (Trank der Mine), which supposedly had rejuvenatory powers and today's 'May punch' or 'May wine' (Maiwein; Maibowle; Waldmeisterbowle) containing woodruff herb (Galium odoratum, sometimes called Asperula odorata, known in Germany as Waldmeister) probably derives from that custom.

Some believe that Walpurgisnacht customs began when the first central Europeans were converted to Christianity: pagans dressed up in frightening costumes to scare away the Christians who were trying to eradicate the old beliefs. The Church, it is said, pushed the Walpurgis cult because St Walpugis was the protector against magic.

The witches arrive at their sabbat on brooms, cats, flying horses, goats and even on pitchforks and shovels. Amidst thunder and lightning they build a fire of spruce trunks which they dance around after Satan, dressed in black velvet, makes his annual speech.

Walpurgis night was used by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe as the dramatic setting for his Faust. It was also the night on which Adolf Hitler, no stranger to occult beliefs, took his own life.

Other customs

At Walpern, in North Bohemia, it used to be customary on Walpurgisnacht for boys to run through the fields carrying burning brooms. At Bad Grund, Lower Saxony, an open-air theatre stages a play on Walpurgisnacht, often written by local authors. In some parts of Germany it used to be the custom to burn straw doll witches on Walpurgisnacht. At Wöhrden, boys bashed the dolls with forks and clubs as they burned in the bonfire.

Arrested by witches

On Walpurgisnacht long ago, a farmer from Clausthal was going to market near the Harz mountains. He saw witches flying overhead as they are wont to do on this day, and recognised them as women from a neighbouring village. They arrested him and threatened him with terrible punishments should he divulge his secret - which he did on his deathbed. Or, so it is said.

Horseplay

One Walpurgisnacht, a young couple was chatting when the girl suddenly realised she had to make her way to the Brocken, the mountain in Germany where witches convene on this night. Her fiancé woke up the next morning - inside a horse.

Walpurgis Society

Early in the 20^th century, a Walpurgis Society was formed in Germany to promote the ancient Walpurgisnacht folklore. At towns like Hahnenklee and Bockswiese, children still dress up as devils and witches, led in procession by an adult in devil's dress, accompanied by a band. Beside a bonfire, the May Queen appears and recites a Spring poem.

The Spectre of the Brocken

On the Brocken, the German mountain which is the Walpurgisnacht witching ground, there is a phenomenon known as the Spectre of the Brocken (or Brocken Bow): spectators' shadows appear greatly magnified on the mists. Scientists say that it is an anomaly caused by light refraction and diffraction. Formerly considered magical, the phenomenon draws tourists and modern witches.  

Images    Image at Wikipedia

The world's oldest map of the heavens

Seen from the Mittelberg, a 252m hill in the Ziegelroda Forest, Nebra, 180km south-west of Berlin, the sun sets every June 22 behind the Brocken. The Brocken is in a direct line of sight on a clear day, 85km to the north-west.

Treasure hunters on the Mittelberg in 1999 found a 32cm bronze-and-gold disc, crafted around 3,600 years ago. The map on its face shows the Brocken as well as 32 stars including the Pleiades. The disc, with the oldest concrete representation of the stars in the world, was placed in a pit in the middle of a ringwall during the early Bronze Age. The ringwall was built in such a way that the sun seemed to disappear every equinox behind the Brocken. Scientists believe the map and site formed an observatory, used to set the calendar for planting and harvesting crops.

The forest nearby contains 1,000 barrows or princely graves from the period, but little else is known about the lost people, who are not mentioned in ancient Greek or other Mediterranean writings.

Walpurgis oil

Walpurgis oil exudes from the rock at Eichstatt in which the relics of St Walpurgis were deposited, and has miraculous healing powers - or, so it is said.

May singing

At Heidelberg, Germany, students traditionally engage in May singing on April 30, singing in the floral month of May.

Walpurgis night trip

Modern researchers have reproduced the concoction said to have been rubbed by witches on their bodies on Walpurgisnacht. Apparently some hallucinogenic effects have been reported from the ointment, which contained, among other ingredients, nightshade and poppies.

Walpurgis revival

 
Valborgsmässoafton, Sweden, coming of Spring

In Sweden, bonfires are lit on mountaintops to scare away winter darkness, a custom that is most firmly established in Svealand, and which began in Uppland during the 18^th century. At the outdoor folk museum on Reindeer Mountain at Skansen, bonfires are made with logs and tar barrels. College students wear white velvet caps and lapel-flowers and sing Spring songs.

In Southern Sweden, a more ancient tradition was for the young people at twilight to collect from the woods greens and branches, which were used to adorn the houses of the village, for which favours the townsfolk paid in eggs.

Swedes still sing 19^th Century songs on Valborgsmässoafton. Traditional spring festivities are also found, according to Wikipedia, "in the old university cities, like Uppsala and Lund where both current and graduated students gather at events that take up most of the day from early morning to late night on April 30. There are also newer student traditions like the carnival parade, the 'Cortège', which has been held since 1910 by the students at Chalmers in Gothenburg."

Vapun Aatto (Vappu Day), Finland

In Finland, May Day Eve, or Walpurgis night, is called Vapun Aatto. As in Scandinavian countries and Germany, it is a Halloween-like night.

Abbey St Walburga

Mischief Night (Devil's Night), York, UK, c. 1888

According to this York, UK, website (apparently defunct, April 2007), 'Mischief Neet', or 'Devil's Day/Night', now usually associated (especially in Eastern USA) with October 30, the night preceding Halloween, used to take place on April 30:

"So says an article in the Yorkshire Folk-Lore journal ('with notes comical and dialectic'), dating from 1888.

"The Fools' Day started April and the Devil's Day ended it, according to this report. The latter turned into mischief night: 'a night supposed by the imps of mischief (rough youths) to be, under some old law or tradition, theirs to do as they wish with'.

"In those days, eggs weren't chucked. Instead 'rain water tubs are let off, "swillin" tubs are upset, doors are taken from their "jimmers", and carried into someone's outhouse or into the waters of some mill dam.

"'Donkeys are led into some field at a distance, and the pinder informed slily [sic] of the asinine trespass, or they are taken and tied to the outside of some queer man's "door sneck".

"'Then again, some old maid's door will be slily [sic] fastened by tying tightly across the door jambs, in front of and to the "sneck", a piece of wood to prevent her coming out of doors till released by a kind neighbour next morning.'"

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May Eve (Beltaine Eve), Britain On this day, English boys used to go gathering may blossom for May Day/Beltaine festivities. From either Irish Gaelic Bealtaine or Scottish Gaelic, it was originally a Druidic then Celtic holiday. In Ireland, its old name was Neen na Beal tina. In the 17th Century, the common practice of youths and girls sleeping out in the woods on the eve of May Day drew heavy criticism from the Puritans, because many girls were impregnated on these occasions.   The witch-tree In England and Scotland, branches of rowan, called the witch-tree, were fastened onto houses and cattle stalls to keep away witches. Rowan is efficacious against evil, according to tradition. This practice mirrors the Halloween-like customs in Germany, Finland and Scandinavia on April 30, Walpurgis night.   Neen na Beal tina, Ireland The eve of May Day (Beltane) is called this in Ireland. It literally means eve of Beal's fire (Belus, Beli, Belinus, Bel or Balder, a deity like the Middle Eastern Baal). It is an evening of danger and mischief on which no nurse will walk with a baby. Young and beautiful people are particularly at risk. The blast is about: a red tumour, breathed on victims by one of the good people in a moment of capricious malice. Cows were made to jump over a bonfire, a practice related to the worship of Beal. The custom protected the cow's milk from theft by the good people. On this night boys used to hit each other on the face with stinging nettles.   Balder's balefires An old Celtic name for this time of year was Beltaine (Beltane). A traditional name for the May Eve bonfires was Balder's balefires.   May Day Eve, Wales On this day the old custom in Wales is that it is unlucky to carry any metal (coins, knives and so on). It was also the custom for nine men to gather nine types of wood, laying the sticks crosswise within a circle on the ground. A fire was ignited on these sticks by rubbing oak twigs together. The bonfire had to be made on a hilltop and all fires within sight of it extinguished.     Larentalia, Roman Empire  A festival held on December 23 and the last day of April, in honour of Larenta (Acca Larentia), the wife of Faustulus and the nurse of Romulus and Remus, or the she-wolf that suckled them. She was also called 'Lupa' on account of her 'loose morals' – she-wolf (lupa), prostitute (lupa). After the death of her wealthy husband, she inherited his fortune, and donated it to Rome, a generosity which the Romans celebrated with an uproarious feast. The sacrifice in this festival was performed in the Velabrum at the place which led into the Nova Via, which was outside of the old city not far from the porta Romanula. Acca is an obscure Latin word: in Greek akko means a 'ridiculous woman' or 'bogey'; in Sanskrit akka means 'mother'. Therefore Acca Larentia seems to be the Mater Larum (Mother of the Lares) showing that she was originally a goddess of the earth, to whom men entrusted their seed-corn and their dead. She is also called Lara, Larunda, Larentina and Mania. In the old Roman calendar, this day was called the Brumalia, the shortest day of the year. Festivities took place at the foot of the Palatine between the Circus Maximus and the Tiber.   Last Friday in April (2004) Arbor Day, USA Arbor Day (last Friday in April but generally celebrated all weekend) marks the 130th anniversary of the tree planters' holiday, but celebrations of late have come to be rather supplanted by Earth Day (April 22). April 27 is the centennial of the death of Arbor Day founder J Sterling Morton. Since his death a century ago, Arbor Day is celebrated in all 50 American states and in many countries around the world. Every two seconds, an area the size of a football field is deforested. Every year, an area of forest the size of Scotland is destroyed, by illegal logging. Soon we will be facing the largest wave of extinctions since the disappearance of the dinosaurs, 65 million years ago. Ancient forests are the living expression of billions of years of evolution. Home to millions of types of plants and animals, these forests sustain as much as 90 per cent of the world's land-based species – everything from owls to orchids and bears to beetles. Every two seconds, ancient forest areas the size of a football pitch are destroyed. Commercial logging is the single largest contributor to this ancient forest destruction. Greenpeace is working to end destructive logging in the world's remaining ancient forests and is supporting alternatives such as sustainable logging and the development of non-wood products. While Greenpeace takes an active role in ending destructive logging, other organizations, such as the National Resources Defense Council, also work toward the same goal. NRDC believes that by changing the government's role from timber sales to long-term protection by building environmentally sound forest management practices, and by working with builders, architects, etc. to reduce the use of wood products, they can prevent forests from being logged, mined or otherwise industrialized. Deforestation    The Wilderness Society     Festival of Floralia, or Floral Games in honour of Flora, Roman Empire (Apr 28 - May 3) This six-day festival was dedicated to the goddess Flora, deity of flowers and youthful pleasures. It was a time of sexual licence during which beans and other seeds, representing fecundity, were planted. Exaltation of Wine, Ribeiro Region, Spain (Apr 28 -  May 1) La Folia Festival, at San Vicente de la Barquera, Spain  (Apr 28 -  May 1) Maidyozarem, feast of mid-Spring, Zoroastrianism (Apr 30 - May 4) Maytime of the Maidens, Italy Feast day of St Adjutor (Adjutre), recluse, Vernon in Normandy Feast day of St Aimo Feast day of St Erkonwald, bishop of London Feast day of St Forannan Feast day of St Genistus Feast day of St Gerard Miles Feast day of St Hildegard Feast day of SS James, Marian (Marianus), and others, martyrs in Numidia Feast day of St Joseph Benedict Cottolengo Feast day of St Lawrence of Novara Feast day of St Louis von Bruck Feast day of St Marie Guyart of the Incarnation Feast day of St Maximus, 3rd-Century martyr St Maximus (d. 250) is a Christian saint and martyr. The emperor Decius published a decree ordering the veneration of busts of the deified emperors. Failure to pay homage to these idols would be punished by torture. The merchant Maximus, originally from Asia was called before the consul Optimus. Therefore Optimus ordered him to be stoned. Maximus was tortured on the rack and was beaten with rods, yet he would not recant. Therefore, Optimus ordered him to be stoned. Accordingly, on May 4, 250, Maximus was led outside the city walls and stoned to death. Feast day of St Miles Gerard Feast day of St Pius V St Pius V, né Antonio Ghislieri, from 1518 called Michele Ghislieri (1504