Scenes from the Russian fairy tale “Vasilisa the Fair,” to set the mood for the eve of Cross Quarter, which happens Friday night, April 30 (opposite All Hallow’d Eve on Oct 31), when the Moon wanders from Scorpio to Sagittarius, across the mighty River of Milky Way stars, and the witches come out to exhaust their mischief before the fertile season of fruit and flower becomes dominant.

“All of a sudden whom should she see but a man on horseback galloping past. He was clad all in white, his horse was white and the horse's harness was of silver and gleamed white in the darkness.

“It was dawning now, and Vasilisa trudged on, stumbling and stubbing her toes against tree roots and stumps. Drops of dew glistened on her long plait of hair and her hands were cold and numb.

“Suddenly another horseman came galloping by. He was dressed in red, his horse was red and the horse's harness was red too.

“The sun rose, it kissed Vasilisa and warmed her and dried the dew on her hair.

“Vasilisa never stopped but walked on for a whole day, and it was getting on toward evening when she came out on to a small glade. She looked, and she saw a hut standing there. The fence round the hut was made of human bones and crowned with human skulls. The gate was no gate but the bones of men's legs, the bolts were no bolts but the bones of men's arms, and the lock was no lock but a set of sharp teeth.

“Vasilisa was horrified and stood stock-still.

“Suddenly a horseman came riding up. He was dressed in black, his horse was black and the horse's harness was black too. The horseman galloped up to the gate and vanished as if into thin air.”

Find the a full version of the tale by clicking here.

And more about Walpurgis Night is on Wikipedia at this link.

Hear more about Walpurgis Night on The Storyteller’s Night Sky weekly public radio segment.

And from the radio archives, click here.

Image by Patricia DeLisa from the 2009 Fairy Tale Moons calendar, available in our shop.