Whitsunday (or Pentecost) is one of the principal feasts of the Christian church, celebrated on the 50th day after Easter, to commemorate the descent of the Holy Spirit on the disciples. The day became one of the three baptismal seasons, and the name Whitsunday is now generally attributed to the white garments formerly worn by the candidates for baptism.
Pentecost (Shavuos) is a feast of the Jews, celebrated on the 50th day after Passover. The word Pentecost is of Greek origin (pentekoste hemera) and translates into "fiftieth Day." Whitsunday is connected with the Jewish Pentecost not only in the historical date of its origin, but also in the underlying idea. The Jewish festival is one of thanks for the first fruits of the earth, the Christian for the first fruits of the spirit (Britannica, Vol 23, p. 585).
Depending on Easter, Whitsunday falls into late May or early June, and in Germany it is an official two-day (Sunday and Monday) holiday. A vast array of different kinds of celebrations abound throughout the German- speaking areas, however they all deal with the central theme of "thanksgiving." Thanksgiving for the fruit of the earth as an agricultural festival, and thanksgiving for the gift of the spirit, flow together in a thanksgiving festival, celebrated in the market place and in the church.
Dictated by the northern climate, in some areas Whitsunday has taken the place of the "Maifest." In Silesia, for instance, the Maypole was not erected until Pentecost. As the young green was brought in from the woods to decorate buildings and streets, there was discovered in the woods a fantastically dressed creature, which was brought with jubilation and cheering into the village where it would be thoroughly cleansed and washed. Part of the ritual was to guess who was hidden under the guise. Most of the time it was a young man of the village, who was covered with green branches and bundles of reed with a mask of tree bark covering his blackened face. In southern Germany he is called "Pfingstl." In the Harz it was the May King with a crown on his head, and in Thuringia it is the "wild man." The water, the young green, leaves and flowers in these rituals symbolize cleansing, renewal and fruitfulness.
In Thuringia young girls celebrated the day with a game called "Topfschlagen" (strike the pot). A blindfolded girl had to find and hit a pot or pan (turned upside down) with a stick or a long-handled wooden spoon. The main price was the "Pfingsthahn," a rooster on a perch. This game is now played by children all over Germany and not only on Whitsunday; usually a candy such as a gummi bear, or a little gift is hidden under the pot.
For most rural areas Whitsunday was the day when, for the first time that year, the livestock would be taken out to pasture. The first or the last animal would be decorated with a wreath of flowers and was the "Pfingstochse" (the Whitsunday Ox). And there were also special foods. In Tyrol one celebrated with a big portion of "Maibutter" (whipped cream or butter with sugar and cinnamon) and young men of the village, the "Goaslschnalzer" would crack their whips in a d isplay of skill and strength, and in a special rhythm, without getting them tangled up.
The Feast of the Descent of the Holy Spirit has been symbolized for almost two thousand years by the image of a dove suspended in the air. Church services reenact the "Heilig-Geist-Schwingen," the descent of the holy ghost through the "Heiliggeistloch," a round window in the center of the church. During the "veni creator spiritus" (come Holy Spirit), an artificial dove, fastened to a gilded wheel, appears through the hole and is lowered on the slowly rotating and swinging wheel, until it hovers above the heads of the praying congregation. The organ plays, there may be brass instruments joining in, and the choir may sing in a great crescendo of thanksgiving.
The Feast of Pentecost (sometimes called Whitsuntide) is celebrated fifty days after the Resurrection. It commemorates the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostle according to the promise of Christ-- Saint John 14:16-17 and St. John 16:13. Here the chosen messengers received the gift of tongues--Acts 2:1-13.
The Festival of the Holy Blessed Trinity (a rather late German invention) comes on the Sunday after Pentecost. It begins a long season of instruction which is filled up with the teaching of Christ and his apostles. Into this season fall a great many church Festivals, such as Reformation Day, Anniversaries, Dedications, etc.
Ruth Reichmann
Max Kade German-American Center
Indiana Univ.-Purdue Univ. Indianapolis
FURTHER RESOURCES compiled by Robert Shea
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