The Wild Hunt is the name given to a wild procession of spirits. The Wild Hunt rides on windy, stormy nights as well as on specific dates of the year like Halloween, May Eve, and Midsummer’s Eve. They are particularly active during the winter, especially during the Yuletide season.
The Wild Hunters aren’t the only spirits out roaming around at night. Trooping Fairies cavalcade, especially on full moon nights, Halloween, May Eve, and Midsummer’s Eve. Their territory often overlaps with the Wild Hunt. The tradition of a parade of spirits who may or may not be accompanied by spirits of the dead and living devotees appears around the world, including areas as isolated as Hawaii. Legends of the Hawaiian Night Marchers predate European contact while in Japan, Hyakki Yako names the Night Parade of at least one hundred spirits.
Sometimes these spirits troop or march like soldiers. Sometimes they’re wild revellers or marauders. Dionysus and Shiva are but the most famous of those who lead spirit parades. Some welcome the participation of people. Anyone who likes revelling with ghosts and spirits is welcome. Other processions, like the Night Marchers of Hawaii, are more exclusive. Human reactions to these processions vary. These spirits are powerful and unpredictable and it is usually considered advisable to stay out of their way. Magical practitioners, however, often seek to observe or join this parade of spirits.
In some European traditions, dead souls periodically travel in procession to visit families and loved ones, led by deities who bridge thresholds of death and life like Freya, Berchta, Herta, and Hulda, all of whom serve as leaders of the Wild Hunt.
B. Clay Moore and Steven Griffin’s 2003 comic, Hawaiian Dick: Byrd of Paradise, draws upon legends of Night Marchers on the Pali Highway.
Hanging with the Hunters may be punishment or pleasure. The Wild Hunt may do more than party: they may enforce justice. A Danish runestone (gravestone engraved with runic inscriptions) concludes with the warning, “A rati be he who destroys this stone.” The rati is a person whose soul is taken and driven by the Wild Hunt.
Under the influence of Christianity, the nature of the Hunt changed; it was no longer considered sufficient to merely avoid the Hunt for fear of being swept up. It was now sinful to even watch the Hunt as it passed. The Hunt became associated with witchcraft. Those humans who sought to participate (or who were trapped by the Hunters) were perceived as wicked witches or damned souls.
The Wild Hunt, once associated with souls of the dead seeking brief reunions with loved ones, became associated with the punishments of Hell. The spirit who heads the hunt was literally a headhunter, out searching for transgressors against Christianity who would be forced to join the host of imprisoned souls forever. The host of the Hunt now included those who somehow fell outside Church sacraments: unbaptized babies, illegitimate children, major sinners, suicides, those deprived of funeral rites. Heathens, Jews, and witches were allegedly among those riding with the Hunt, too. Travelling souls of shamans are allegedly fated to join the Wild Hunt if unable to rejoin their bodies.
There are two ways to interpret this, depending upon personal perception:
• Disobedience to the Church dooms you to this parade of the damned.
• Those uninterested in Church sacraments revel in this sacred carnival.
The Wild Hunt is but one of many names for this nocturnal procession of spirits. Others include Asgard’s Chase, Spirit’s Ride, Holla’s Troop and Cain’s Hunt. Spirits who lead the Wild Hunt include Arawn, Berchta, Diana, Freya, Frau Gaude, Herodias, Herta, Hulda, and Odin. See their individual entries for further details.
SOURCE:
Encyclopedia of Spirits: The Ultimate Guide to the Magic of Fairies, Genies, Demons, Ghosts, Gods & Goddesses– Written by :Judika Illes Copyright © 2009 by Judika Illes.