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Post by Séamus on Apr 21, 2019 6:37:44 GMT
One of the four or so articles recommended on my phone by Google for Good Friday was an editorial from the Irish Times. The columnist bemoaned what a dreadful day it was in 1970s Ireland with so little to do and his father being stuck in all day without a single pub opened. But then he announced that there was a positive side unknown to him then, that the older Irish, in touch with their folkloric traditions did many interesting things on Good Friday, such as cut their hair (which that day increased the scalp's health), store away any hanging cuts of meat (if a gentleman knocked against one he apparently went bald- hard to understand exactly how the writer thought this was any less restrictive than liquor licences) and wash their feet in honour of the Last Supper, keeping the water until the following Holy Week- (but why he considered keeping your feet water for twelve months as a shot-in-the-arm for the day, I've no idea).
But, as a tiny bit of a nature buff, I was delighted to hear that Ireland traditionally associated three birds with The Redemption- the swallow, which tried to give Christ water to quench His thirst and was rewarded by never having to experience Winter, the heron, which tried to take the weight of the Cross and was rewarded by having no predators, and the Robin, which was originally associated with the Passion not Christmas, which, trying to remove the Thorns received it's red breast.
I was looking at an Australian tree recently, something like a bottlebrush but with white flowers, and it just happened that a lot of parakeets started drinking the nectar, joined by honeyeaters(the main bird found in Perth suburbs) and there were bees also, which I probably wouldn't have noticed except for the birds. Somehow the symbolism of 'Tree of Life' kept coming to my head and also a Belfast artwork that I've seen only in one or two photos, but these left an impression:"The Leaves of the Trees Were for the Healing of the Nations"(1920s) by Wilhelmina Geddes, St John's (church of Ireland)a window based on one of the nicer parts of Biblical Apocalypse. No birds in the stained-glass but a similar 'feel' nevertheless.
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Post by tomás laserian on Apr 23, 2019 8:03:04 GMT
Happy Easter
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Post by Séamus on Apr 23, 2019 12:05:23 GMT
A Sunday-paper quiz that we were looking through yesterday contained fifty Easter trivia questions. The sacred ones were basic enough, but it was interesting to learn some of the exotic customs they mentioned, including throwing pots (Corfu), exploding a cart (Florence), the making of a 5000 egg omelette on Easter Monday(Haux), hanging straw Judas dolls(Brazil),Good Friday kites(Bermuda), and, of course, Obermmergau. Question #25, IN SWEDEN IT IS AN EASTER TRADITION FOR THE CHILDREN TO DRESS UP AS WHAT? I guessed correctly as witches, only because I've often seen an Easter arrangement of witch dolls and coloured eggs at a Swedish patisserie. 1945 book Country of My Choice by Kees VanHoek described an Easter Sunday parade in Dublin on the silver anniversary of the Uprising: "Every window, every roof, every vantage point was almost as crowded as broad O'Connell Street itself.... What can one single out from a three-hours-long parade? The tense emotion on the faces of martial young officers carrying the national and army flags; the gay (sic) blare of regimental bands playing unceasingly; armoured cars nozzling by to the Derry Air; the soft purring sound of cars and motorcycles, of ambulances and firefighters; the steel-helmeted ranks of young soldiers, eight abreast; the disciplined elan of the Local Defence Force.....Anti-Gas squads like men from Mars...Cumann na mBan- theirs was the only splash of colour....Mr deValera arrived.... Bareheaded, standing beside a table, the Head of the Government proceeded to hand every veteran the Medal in it's little box" Not as exciting as Fred Astaire and Judy Garland but a charming description. |
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Post by Séamus on Apr 26, 2019 2:18:22 GMT
I forgot to mention an interesting one: spraying young ladies with perfume in Hungary. I suppose it symbolises the holy women and their anointing perfumes. Something slightly connected to the season that came to my mind the other day (my father was singing the song) was the 'When the Swallows Come Back to Capistrano' legend. I often wondered (especially not knowing much about American climates) when they actually DID go back to Capistrano town? I was told that the significance was that they arrived at the town on it's patron's actual feast. The saint's preVaticanII feast is in Lent, the new calendar has October and, then, the Franciscans may have had a completely different day. Looking it up, one source claimed that it was actually on St Joseph's day, 19 March, that they arrived at the old Spanish Mission town, of course this is close to St John of Capistrano's own feast pre-70s. Incidentally, the priest who popularised the legend had an Irish name. The different recordings that come up include Elvis, Pat Boone, the Shadows and Bugs Bunny. |
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Post by optatuscleary on Apr 26, 2019 5:23:27 GMT
I forgot to mention an interesting one: spraying young ladies with perfume in Hungary. I suppose it symbolises the holy women and their anointing perfumes. Something slightly connected to the season that came to my mind the other day (my father was singing the song) was the 'When the Swallows Come Back to Capistrano' legend. I often wondered (especially not knowing much about American climates) when they actually DID go back to Capistrano town? I was told that the significance was that they arrived at the town on it's patron's actual feast. The saint's preVaticanII feast is in Lent, the new calendar has October and, then, the Franciscans may have had a completely different day. Looking it up, one source claimed that it was actually on St Joseph's day, 19 March, that they arrived at the old Spanish Mission town, of course this is close to St John of Capistrano's own feast pre-70s. Incidentally, the priest who popularised the legend had an Irish name. The different recordings that come up include Elvis, Pat Boone, the Shadows and Bugs Bunny. The swallows are abundant in California, especially in rural areas. At the lake I grew up going to in the Sierra Nevada, there was a seldom-used houseboat that was covered with the nests. From what I read, the swallows spend the winter in South America and come to California for the summer. This makes sense: a lot of our birds here are migratory. In spring and summer there are birds chirping all night. As for the climate, San Juan Capistrano is more mild than where I live. Southern California near the ocean is warm in summer and only slightly cool in winter. The Central Valley, where I live, is extremely hot in summer and sort of cold in winter, with incredibly dense fog (it causes delays in school schedules) and almost all of our rain for the year. Coastal Northern California is more like Oregon: dense forests of redwoods, more frequent rain. There are a lot of other climate regions as well. Capistrano is decidedly in coastal Southern California. You may or may not know about the tradition in California of “Mission Reports.” Even in the completely secular public schools, fourth graders (9 and 10 year olds) are asked to select one of the Spanish Missions in California and research it. Some schools ask students to create a model of their mission (some are made of sugar cubes, most out of cardboard). Leftists of course argue against the entire thing, saying it glorifies the mission era and colonialism. However, most schools still do it. My mission was San Luis Rey, which is near San Diego. My wife, however, studied San Juan Capistrano. When I asked her about the swallows she said “they just go there.” I believe it is more of a statewide return, but that it was particularly noted at that mission. |
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Post by Séamus on Apr 28, 2019 7:43:30 GMT
I ......... Something slightly connected to the season that came to my mind the other day (my father was singing the song) was the 'When the Swallows Come Back to Capistrano' legend. I often wondered (especially not knowing much about American climates) when they actually DID go back to Capistrano town?...etc...y. The swallows are abundant in California, especially in rural areas.....etc.... You may or may not know about the tradition in California of “Mission Reports.” Even in the completely secular public schools, fourth graders (9 and 10 year olds) are asked to select one of the Spanish Missions in California and research it. Some schools ask students to create a model of their mission (some are made of sugar cubes, most out of cardboard). Leftists of course argue against the entire thing, saying it glorifies the mission era and colonialism. However, most schools still do it....etc....... The attitude towards the missionary past exists everywhere. I'm actually surprised that the only indigenous Australian who's commemorated on a banknote (Ngarrindjeri-tribesman,David Unaipon,$50 note- shared with anti-Catholic feminist Edith Cowan) was missionary-born and educated AND worked as an church-organist among many achievements. He was also against the fledgling antiAustralia Day movement. You actually got me checking whether the little mission church was still depicted on the newly redesigned note, as it was on the 1990s version. It actually is, but as a sort of watermark. |
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