What an overwhelming experience for all the senses! As soon as you enter the Grafinger “Kräuter-Hütt’n” it becomes clear: This is definitely the right place for those who want to find out about “proper smoking at Rauhnacht”. The right accessories cover an entire wall of the small, rustic shop in Urtelbach. For the owner Marlene Englhart-Schweiger – “call me a herbal witch, everyone does that” – this ritual has been around Christmas since childhood: “My grandmother used to go through the house on our farm with a censer made out of a jar of sauerkraut. “If that isn’t announced on the 24th, the Christ child won’t come,” she said.”
Englhart-Schweiger himself uses charcoal and pans. She describes what to do with it as follows: “The first time you go through the rooms with a cleansing mixture. Doors and windows must be closed to concentrate the negative energies. They will go through the second time – without smoke the wagging of feathers is released to the outside. Please ventilate at the same time! The blessing mixture then comes on the third pass.”
Why does the term “witch” not have a negative connotation for Englhart-Schweiger? “If so, then I’m white, not black. That’s a positive thing – they used to be healers, priestesses, spiritual guides.” Perhaps there is a little bit of that in their belief that “between December 21st and January 6th the veils on the otherworld lift and the contact with our source is most intensive”. That’s why then is the right time to “heal the old year, live in the here and now and oracle the new year”. Through these rituals one can ask the spiritual world, those higher powers “to whom we are all subject”, for help.
With “Neunerlei Holz” everyone is assigned a specific life theme.
(Photo: Peter Hinz-Rosin)
This also includes one of the outdoor activities that the Grafinger herb witch organizes in addition to the courses that are always fully booked in the small seminar room behind the sales area. At the winter solstice, the elements are honored, and a fire made of “nine kinds of wood” is lit in a large square. Everyone intuitively chooses a piece from a large pile of wood in the dark – the explanation of which life theme it symbolizes is supplied later. Oak is a symbol of strength, beech conveys structure, hazel is associated with fertility, sexuality and joie de vivre, while elder stands for the inner child and for love. Once you’ve made that decision, it’s all about “letting go”.
Letting go, in turn, combined with reflection on the events of the year that is coming to an end, is also the first element of Martina Schmehl and Margareta Kloppenburg’s “Rough Night Accompaniment”. The two specialists in the spiritual and physical care of women held a special summer solstice festival in June in the yurt on the Ebersberger Alm. The winter counterpart is a course for a maximum of 25 women, which begins with an introductory meeting on December 20th and ends with a final meeting on February 3rd.
Martina Schmehl uses the white frame drum to achieve a trance during shamanic power journeys; Margareta Kloppenborg’s “Black Siberian Mare” is used by the fire when you want to ground yourself.
(Photo: Peter Hinz-Rosin)
The two explain that by spiritually “letting go” it is easier to close with some issues and make room to open up and realign. Setting the course for the new year, so to speak. All of this works better in the company of other women – even if you can’t change anything about a situation, you just have to accept it. Because in the community it becomes clear that, despite all individuality, one is not alone with problems and suffering. Smoke is smoked at the start, and the women also make candles, which are intended to serve as a reminder of the thoughts and emotions associated with them even after the rough nights.
But when do they begin, these special rough nights? Even the experts don’t quite agree on that. Only their total number is undisputed: twelve.
When the Perchten come, the creepy onlookers are not far – here at the Stangl inn in Neufarn.
(Photo: Christian Endt)
Wolfgang Uebelacker, who leads the Kirchseeoner Perchten with a mask, red leather robe and devil’s fiddle (a long staff with two cymbals attached), says: “The last six are clear – the most important is the “Perchtnacht”, i.e. Epiphany, from the fifth onwards the sixth of January. And it must be six in the old year.”
This results in the situation that for some Thomas Night, i.e. the winter solstice on December 21st, is one of the rough nights, but for others it is not. “For the Germans and Celts, the year was divided into twelve lunar cycles – that makes 354 days. So eleven days and twelve nights are missing. They were inserted as rough nights. If you start on the 21st, you leave out the holidays, and then you come back to the mystical number twelve”, says Robert Bauer, who, as Ebersberg city guide, refers to the rough nights specialized. He knows the smoking mentioned at the beginning from his own grandparents. “I’m too much of a realist to do it myself. But for those who take it seriously, it can be important to shed dark moods.”
In the Grafinger Kräuter-Hütt’n nothing is off the peg, everything is self-collected.
(Photo: Peter Hinz-Rosin)
Marlene Englhart-Schweiger collected the ingredients for her personal Rauhnachts mix at home and abroad – “every holiday is practically a business trip”. Must contain “the divine element (like frankincense), herbs for the ancestors (like juniper) and a protective plant (like angelica) as a cloak for the dark time”. Customers really appreciate this offer, as well as the tinctures, ointments and drops. Sometimes she comes to Grafing from far away. The demand has definitely increased, and the audience has also gotten younger, says the herb witch, and gives three more tips for smoking. “Very important: Turn off the smoke alarm when you walk through the house with coal. Be prepared to get involved in the ritual, don’t just do it because everyone is doing it. Don’t run straight away, but start by lighting a candle and saying a little prayer or hold a meditation.”
Guided meditations or imaginary journeys, mantras, as well as special yoga units are also included in the daily video impulse of the “Rauhnachts Accompaniment”, but the “shamanic natural walk” and above all the practical actions are very important, according to the two providers.
The filling bowl is formed from clay with the eyes closed, then glazed and fired. Throughout the year, it can contain chocolate or little wish lists, reminding of the balance between giving and taking.
(Photo: Peter Hinz-Rosin)
Especially when it comes to the future in the new year, the design of a “vision board”, i.e. a collage with wishes, as well as the pottery of a bowl with closed eyes is more than just an outlet for the creativity of the participants: By just focusing on doing Concentrate not on the (supposed) beauty of the end product, one’s own heart’s desire becomes much clearer, according to Schmehl and Kloppenborg. In the end, a core sentence of what is particularly important to you could be distilled out. It is also of great concern to both of them to bring lightness into a time that used to be very fearful.
What all interlocutors immediately mention is the bleak possibility that the “wild hunt” could get caught in clothes hanging out to dry, because then they would become a shroud. That’s why washing is taboo during the rough nights. But since people today have more than just one workday and one Sunday robe, as city guide Bauer explains with a laugh, those who believe in it can actually do without turning on the washing machine. According to the herbal witch, “death” could also mean the end of a love relationship or the loss of a job.
City guide Robert Bauer is not only an expert for Rauhnachts stories, but also for the Ebersberg parish church.
(Photo: Christian Endt)
Bauer says that some myths are also used to explain natural phenomena. The wild hunt, for example, was a reason for the winter storms – and should be scared away with the crackers on New Year’s Eve. On the other hand, it was also about having the legitimacy to allow yourself a break from everyday tasks. He explains why people are increasingly turning back to these old customs today: “Whenever things get difficult – in the case of illness, war or the plague – people flee into mysticism to find something positive. But: even if only one If you avoid depression part of the way, then a lot has already been helped.”
Back to the Wild Hunt – allegedly it was also the trigger for the sometimes terrifying Perchten costumes. “In order not to be recognized, one masked oneself as horribly as possible,” explains Wolfgang Ubelacker. Although the Perchten would actually have brought blessings into the houses. “In return, the boys got something to eat and the opportunity to get to know one or the other girl.” The “passengers”, i.e. the various groups that make up the Perchten train, are still welcomed with joy today. “You feel the desire to go back to the origins of that time. Away from buying, buying, buying. People want something real.”
Well-established customs here, pre-Christian rituals in a modern guise there. But it doesn’t matter whether you are spiritually inclined or not: You can “heal” the old year by paying open bills and returning things you have borrowed.
Information and registration: Rauhnachts accompaniment www.im-kreis-der-frauen.de or www.frauen-heilkunde.info, www.marlene-kraeuterhuettn.deRauhnacht tours in Ebersberg www.ebersberger-krippenweg.de/fuehrungen and www.perchten-kirchseeon.de.