Witches' NightApril 30th is the night for pálení čarodějnic ("The Burning of the Witches")
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On the night of April 30th, in one of the country's more colorful traditions, many Czechs gather round hillside bonfires for Pálení čarodějnic (The Burning of the Witches, or Witches' Night). To keep witches at bay, people traditionally burn their old brooms. In what's probably a fertility rite, young couples leap the bonfire's dying embers together, while single men leave freshly cut branches on the doorsteps of the woman they love. Though it's officially illegal to light fires within Prague's city limits, an unofficial Čarodějnice celebration, popular with expats, is held on Petřín hill. Held midway between spring equinox (the beginning of astronomical spring) and the summer solstice (longest day), on the night before May Day, the celebration is a confusing tangle of traditions, sharing common features with several other festivities. Many Czechs argue that the celebration dates back to the Iron Age, when Bohemia and Moravia were occupied by Celts. The festival, according to this theory, is descended from Beltane (known as Beltine in Czech), a traditional holiday still celebrated in Ireland, Scotland, and the Isle of Man. There's also a link to Walpurgis Night, a traditional German and Scandinavian celebration of Saint Walburga, which probably predates the old girl herself and harks back to Viking celebrations. The Czech festival's name, on the other hand, probably refers to 16th- and 17th-century witch trials, during which several hundred women were burnt at the stake. These days, thankfully, Witches' Night is a more light-hearted affair -- as much an excuse for a party as it is a pagan rite. |
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