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Halloween History and Tradition
Halloween is very much ingrained in our collective unconscious, and has a very long history. It was basically the Celtic New Year (Samhain). Like the Norse legend of the world being born of ice, they see winter as the first season, not the last (or rather they did). Halloween is more like the traditional Thanksgiving.…
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Spirit of Giving
We complain about the modern Christmas being commercialized, but our ancestors did a lot of fortune seeking at that time of year even before the age of super malls and trendy stores. There was also a running debate regarding praying to angels, and this is part of why angels are a related image in Christmas. They…
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A Day of Remembering
What do you know about witches? Pointy hats and brooms. There was a period where everyone wore the pointy hats, and broom was originally a term used to describe any of a variety of herbs. Puritans with the belt buckle on the hat? Yes. The buckle was also common. An inquisitor likely wore that sort…
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Guide for the Dead
The veil between the worlds was viewed more or less as being open Halloween night, and human beings were not the only beings in the underworld which was not a deep, dark, dank cavernous region. It was viewed as being much like our world, but better kept, blessed as it was the abode of the…
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Fate of the Damned
As for who decided the fate of the evil dead, it was not decided by any of the gods. They had a concept of spiritual purity or wyrd. This is maybe why we call people weird these days, to imply there is something wrong with them, but everyone had wyrd. The triple goddesses of the…
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Halloween Night
There were other issues afoot with oncoming winter. One of those relates both to nobles and commoners. The onset of madness was seen as more likely to occur Halloween night, and nights after these people were considered to be away with the fairies as they do still sometimes say in places in Ireland. In their…
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Carolling and Processions
Today we are talking about carols. In today’s world we tend to underestimate the significance of music to society. The original meaning of the word carol was circle dance and they were not confined to any specific event though they have always had a festive spirit to them. Carols were later adapted to depict points…
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Carols, Hymns and Chants
Are there any links between carols, hymns and chants? Ah yes, carols, hymns and chants… Everyone familiar with things like Gregorian chant? Chants were taken up by monks and pilgrims as they were engaged in either ritual processions like funerals or on pilgrimage. Gregorian chant is just a more contemporary version of an ancient practice.…
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Communal Glue
Today, how many people have a grasp on music? Or art in general? Not many unfortunately. It is definitely uncommon, but originally it was the glue of the community. What is the communal glue now? Iphone? And the advertisements they plug us into. Even television serves to celebrate something we no longer have public sanction…
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Forms of Relationship
I read that the viral commercials don’t even result in as many sales. It’s true, they don’t. When they hit on the principle that makes things go viral it weakens interest in the physical product. People are instead fascinated with the spirit expressed by the commercial. There is a spirit world. If not a literal…
Category: Tradition
Supposedly we in this enlightened era have gotten away from the old superstitions. This seems blatantly false. We just leached any meaning or wisdom out of them reducing them to psychosis. Jung delved into mystical practices, ancient symbolism and systems of thought because in his practice of psycho-analysis (despite it being a supposed age of reason) he saw these forces and practices still reproducing themselves, even without guidance or tradition to preserve them.
Well tradition is alive, and the more we understand their meaning and significance the more we know ourselves.
“A love for tradition has never weakened a nation, indeed it has strengthened nations in their hour of peril.” Winston Churchill (British Orator, Author and Prime Minister during World War II. 1874-1965)