culture rape?

[Deoridhe]

whiporwill-o

yet another thing that was never told to me before gonk .

This is where a solid grounding in comparative religions REALLY comes in handy.

Here's the thing - by and large, people like staying with what is familiar. New, strange, different things make us (not all of us, Tea) nervous, in general. So the tendency is to move into something new bringing as much of the old as we can, whether dressed up in new clothes or using some older form of address so it sounds different.

See: people interpreting karma as a shiny, new form of sin and creating the concepts of "good" and "bad"karma.

So a general grounding in comparative religions comes in handy. I knew about the use of shabbat among Jews because I had attended a shabbat one Friday night. The English derivation of shabbat is sabbath, which probably sounds familiar. A lot of the terms used by modern neo-paganism actually come from The Witch's Hammer, which was written by people persecuting people as heretics from Christianity, hence a lot of "witchcraft" being inverted Christianity.

But people don't like to admit that. It's a lot less cool that eight holidays (from two cultures - but who's counting anyway?) which parcel out the year in a neat manner.

For the record, the solar "shabbats" are Norse and the in-between "shabbats" are Celtic, primarily Irish if my memory doesn't fail me.

whiporwill-o

back on the subject of halloween specifically, i have always read (even before i became a witch) that it was the night when the spirits roamed in our world and so it is the perfect night for communicating with and honoring one's ancestors (please correc me if i am wrong).

Eh, it can be considered that, I guess. To some of the norse, the entire period of time between the fall equinox and the winter solstice was dangerous in terms of spirits and gods making away with you.

Other traditions hold that it's not times when the differences become porous, but rather places.  

[whiporwill-o]

Deoridhe

Eh, it can be considered that, I guess. To some of the norse, the entire period of time between the fall equinox and the winter solstice was dangerous in terms of spirits and gods making away with you.

Other traditions hold that it's not times when the differences become porous, but rather places.

can you please tell me me why "it can be considered that, i guess"? there aren't any knowledgeble people in my town that i know of that i can ask or discuss such matters with (as i am still having difficulty explaining to my boss that she is not a wiccan high priestess as she does not belong to a coven and is not even wiccan to begin with). so i am just wanting to cover all of my bases here.

here is an excerpt from on of the books i have:

"HALLOWE'EN - Festival, celebrated on 31 October, when ghosts roam abroad and witches traditionally hold their sabbaths. Originally a pagan festival of the dead, Hallowe'en marked the end of the Celtic year. It was said that the sun itself entered the gates of Hell on this date, providing an opportunity for evil spirits to slip out and menace the earth for forty-eight hours.... One of the most widely held notions connected with the festival is the idea that on this date the souls of the dead make thier way back to thier earthly homes..."

there is a hella ton more, but it is late and the excerpt is freakishly long, mostly contains old wives' tales and superstitions, but anyway, from this it seems like, since they are likely to be around anyway, it would be a logical time to honor loved ones who have passed (and pray one doesn't invite something unwanted by accident, but that is why precautions are taken).  

[Kashaku-Tatsu]

too2sweet

My mother, mother-in-law and mom's best friend (who was like 2nd mother to me) all passed away in the month of August, so I usually take the time to honor them and their memories (and others who have passed on to a lesser degree). I really want it to be a celebration of their lives, but it still ends up being a cry-fest at the moment, but it's something to strive for anyways.

I can sympathize with that, I grieved long and hard at the passing of one of my favorite great-aunts growing up and I know when my grandmother passes it'll hit hard (she was my mother growing up).

To help pass through grief I have a permanent ancestor altar where I have pictures and trinkets I've received from the deceased family members. I do a massive ritual to those who've passed at our Oct 31 ritual (not calling it samhain as to not ruffle feathers stare ), but I have a little daily "miss you" talk with them. Keeps a connection with them and helped the grief pass faster... maybe an idea to use if not already ^-^

On the topic of Samhain, I've always known it to be one of four fire festivals, but after this thread I dug through some books and sites and haven't found another term for it, even the neo-pagan sites called it Samhain and still recognized it's gael roots... I'm curious to know what other names the other pagan groups call it.

I know the mexicans have "el dia de los muertos" (ends up being a week long celebration down here lol), and a catholic friend of mine said they have "all souls day".  

[TeaDidikai]

whiporwill-o

back on the subject of halloween specifically, i have always read (even before i became a witch) that it was the night when the spirits roamed in our world and so it is the perfect night for communicating with and honoring one's ancestors (please correc me if i am wrong).

Not quite. See, Samhain was the night when the shield between the worlds was dropped in Ireland.

In so much that people confuse Samhain and Halloween, it's become associated as such. The fact of the matter is the two dates aren't alike.  

[TeaDidikai]

Kashaku-Tatsu

I do a massive ritual to those who've passed at our Oct 31 ritual (not calling it samhain as to not ruffle feathers stare ),

I love how this isn't about intellectual honesty, accuracy, or even taking a stance against culture rape- but to ensure those who would object to your racism remain silent.

Quote:

On the topic of Samhain, I've always known it to be one of four fire festivals, but after this thread I dug through some books and sites and haven't found another term for it, even the neo-pagan sites called it Samhain and still recognized it's gael roots... I'm curious to know what other names the other pagan groups call it.

The Gael have their holiday. Other people, even uneducated neo-pagans celebrate something else. What they call their festival is up to them. The Wica have a festival that falls on November's Eve, and my understanding is they call it such.