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Published: November 2nd 2007
After work, I met up with Naomi and we headed to the Methodist Church in Nicholson Square, where an interfaith group meets monthly to discuss different topics. This month’s topic was the environment, so I was really interested. It was actually really great, everyone was really nice and friendly, and Christina (who met me for church this past Sunday) was there as well, so it was good to see her again. The person who was leading the discussion, Julia, actually works for an environmental company, so she was very knowledgeable. As I mentioned in my “Cultural Differences Blog” the UK seems to be ahead of the US in environmental concern and action. They are actually the first country on the verge to pass a climate control bill. The bill sets out a blueprint for moving the UK to a low-carbon economy. They are making a target of a 26-32% decrease in emissions by 2020, and a 60% reduction by 2050 that would be legally binding. It seems pretty great.
After the meeting, Christina, Julia and I headed up to the Royal Mile, where there was a pagan festival on. Called Samhuinn (or Samhain), (pronounced sow-inn) it is a pagan festival which
heralds the end of summer and the onset of winter. There were tons of dancers and drummers, while a story thru dance was going on, complete with fire. There is a green man paraded through the streets before he was ‘slain’ by winter. There were pyrotechnics, nearly naked Red Men, huge puppets, and the White Warrior Women. Samhuinn means ‘summer’s end’, and it honors the dead and closes the year. Samhuinn was also considered the celtic new year. “It marked the end of summer and the time to bring herds in from summer pastures to lowland fields and enclosures for protection. With the signs of approaching winter, it is understandable that the festival should have a strong association with death. The trees are bare and the land barren of the earlier vegetation - nature itself seems to be dying. It was believed that this was the night of the dead - a time for the spirits of the departed from the previous year to pay one last visit to their relatives before departing for the other-world forever. Also taking advantage of this closeness between the land of the living and the dead were the mischievous and malevolent spirits of the
underworld, and measures had to be taken to protect against their pranks. Thus evolved the tradition of modern Hallowe'en to wear masks - originally to disguise oneself against the unwanted attentions of spirits and faeries. The main theme of these ancient narratives was the battle between light and dark, summer and winter. The two characters fight to the death, winter overcoming summer as inevitably as the seasons, but the medicine-man steps in to revive the summer figure, thus ensuring the return of spring and light.”
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Dad
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Halloween
I just watched a show on the origins of Halloween on the History Channel. They do the same thing in Ireland. One other thing they mentioned is that is Celtic tradition to put food and sweets on the outskirts of town to appease the spirits and keep them out of their homes-thus, the origins of Trick or Treating.