“Rauhnächte” – 12 days and nights starting from 25th december – are drawing nearer! It’s a special time in the year, where the nights are still long, but the days are getting slowly longer too.

It’s a time full of legends (i.e. The Wild Hunt), rituals and witchcraft. This video and the music tell the story of the battle between light and dark, forces of nature, kind and evil spirits – Winterspirits!

The Wild Hunt (“Die Wilde Jagd”) is the name of a european folk tale, where a group of supernatural hunters ride over sky and earth. The passing of this hunting party has different meanings: it’s an omen for war and destruction, for death of the witnesses, but it also can be a good omen.

The hunting party consists of a variety of dieties, spirits, animals: Odin, Wotan, Frau Holle, Perchta, Diana, dogs, wolves, horses and so on. They make a lot of noise and it is recommended to stay at home and perform rituals (i.e. fumigate “Räuchern”) or pray.

The Wild Hunt can be interpreted as a product of fears, as people were afraid of the nocturnal winter storms and the closer communion with the dead during the dark midwinter period seemed uncanny to them.

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