Religion and Ethics Forum
General Category => General Discussion => Topic started by: Nearly Sane on February 07, 2018, 03:18:18 PM
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Following on from suggestion on the Searching for God thread as regards folk traditions, here's a thread and a link to discuss such. The link is about UK ones but I think we can range as far afield as people's knowledge.
http//folkcustoms.co.uk
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http://language.gg/Guernsey_Folklore
A bit about the folklore of my home island.
I heard a lot of tales when I was a kid, how many of them had an validity I don't know. My favourite one relates to my family and home. The Minstrel Blondel was given lands in Normandy and the Channel Islands by Richard The Lionheart as a reward for rescuing him from the prison in Austria. Not only is my family home supposed to have been built on the foundations of Blondel's house, we are supposed to be direct descendents of Blondel on my father's side. There is no verifying evidence, but it makes a nice story. :)
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http://language.gg/Guernsey_Folklore
A bit about the folklore of my home island.
I heard a lot of tales when I was a kid, how many of them had an validity I don't know. My favourite one relates to my family and home. The Minstrel Blondel was given lands in Normandy and the Channel Islands by Richard The Lionheart as a reward for rescuing him from the prison in Austria. Not only is my family home supposed to have been built on the foundations of Blondel's house, we are supposed to be direct descendents of Blondel on my father's side. There is no verifying evidence, but it makes a nice story. :)
Arr, but it's unlikely you're related to him because I can remember one of your posts where you confessed to being totally unable to sing in tune.
Now there's some rational logic for you L R.
Regards ippy
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Arr, but it's unlikely you're related to him because I can remember one of your posts where you confessed to being totally unable to sing in tune.
Now there's some rational logic for you L R.
Regards ippy
HA! HA! My father had an excellent voice, and was part of choir which did a tour of the US in 1961.My sisters and daughters have good voices too, so there! :P
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HA! HA! My father had an excellent voice, and was part of choir which did a tour of the US in 1961.My sisters and daughters have good voices too, so there! :P
NA NA NA but that's all them, not you :P :P :P
Regards ippy
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NA NA NA but that's all them, not you :P :P :P
Regards ippy
I take after my ENGLISH mother, in that respect, who couldn't sing either.
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I take after my ENGLISH mother, in that respect, who couldn't sing either.
Yea, just as well because they say Blondel was French anyway :P :P
Regards ippy
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Yea, just as well because they say Blondel was French anyway :P :P
Regards ippy
I have French ancestry on my father's side as well as Irish, quite a mixed bag is little me. ;D My maiden name is French.
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I have French ancestry on my father's side as well as Irish, quite a mixed bag is little me. ;D My maiden name is French.
Arr but my wife's an atheist Gospel singer, so there :P :P
Regards ippy
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I have a rather wonderful book called:
FOLKLORE, MYTHS AND LEGENDS OF BRITAIN
It was first published in the 1970s and my grandparents had a copy which fascinated me as I was growing up. That copy was lost in the mists of time, moves and deaths. But a few years ago I tracked down another copy second hand. It really is amazing with sections covering just about any and every folklore tradition in Britain. Many of the chapters are geographical, so you can track down the traditions in your favourite town or village.
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I know it well. I had a copy but it got list through the vagaries of life too. Loved it
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I know it well. I had a copy but it got list through the vagaries of life too. Loved it
There is a second hand copy available on Amazon right now - just £30!!!
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When I left home my grandmother made me take a chair and a bag of salt. And every time she or her sister gave someone a bag or purse it had a silver coin in it (which could never be removed or spent) so that it would always have money in it,
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There is a second hand copy available on Amazon right now - just £30!!!
Yes, considering it.
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Dear Rhiannon,
My old Mother was a test case in superstition, a bit of background on her, her Dad, my Granddad, Masonic, Orange order, hated Tims, if he saw a woman wearing a bracelet on her ankle, she was a Fenian, he was a hard man.
Anyway my Mother, her religion was Bingo, her purse was full of lucky charms, Crucifix, leprechauns, elves, small bottle of water from Lourdes, a twenty five pound chip from a Casino and a little cameo of the Virgin Mary.
Growing up in our household, you couldn't open a umbrella in the house, you couldn't cross your knife and fork on the plate, new shoes were never put on the table, something about death, new shoes should never be higher than your feet.
You had to salute a magpie, and sneezing, ones a wish twos a kiss three is a disappointment.
Bringing in the New Year, my Mother would not start the New year until a Tall dark Stranger crossed the doorstep, it was always my mate Steve, who we always joked, he is hardly a stranger :P
Gonnagle.
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Did Steve carry some black bun, whisky and a lump of coal?
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Yes, considering it.
Go on - you know you want to - all 550 pages awaiting you.
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Dear Sane,
Lump of coal a 12 cans of lager, he had to leave with six cans, he had two more houses to visit that were a superstitious as my old Mother :P
Gonnagle.
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We used to go out in the street and rattle pots and pans to chase the old year out.
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I still break the bottom of the eggshell after I've eaten a boiled egg...in case a witch uses it as a boat, as do both my sons, and their children. ;D
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Never heard of any of these!
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I don't know whether this counts, but many years ago I worked briefly for John Lewis in Nottingham back in the days when it was still called Jessop and Son. I worked in the decorating department and amongst the things my 18 year old self tried to sell were rolls of wallpaper.
My manager could not work out why a certain pattern did not sell well in Nottingham - when it sold really well in other John Lewis stores, except notably Sheffield, where it was also a non-starter in sales terms.
The wallpaper was attractive enough with bright colours and trees, flowers, vaguely oriental - but, and this is the important but, it had birds on it.
John Lewis had done some research, apparently you don't sell wallpaper with birds printed on it in mining areas. Obviously going back to when canaries used to be taken down mines to warn of gas. The power of association, eh?
Incidentally they didn't stop using canaries until 1986 I've just read whilst looking into this. Much later than I had thought.
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In my home island some of the very old houses have ledges on the chimneys so the witches can stop and take their ease, when flying around on their broomsticks. I find that most convenient when I am visiting, as broomstick flying can be tiring. Which reminds me, mine is due for a service. ;D
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In my home island some of the very old houses have ledges on the chimneys so the witches can stop and take their ease, when flying around on their broomsticks. I find that most convenient when I am visiting, as broomstick flying can be tiring. Which reminds me, mine is due for a service. ;D
You might like this then
http://winsham.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/wheres-witch-to-rest-chimney-stacks-and.html
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You might like this then
http://winsham.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/wheres-witch-to-rest-chimney-stacks-and.html
Thanks. :)
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Some rural Orthodox communities have an interesting if macabre tradition, which involves a service at a grave five years after death. During this service the remains of the departed one are disinterred, if the body is fully decomposed it is seen as a good sign, since the deceased sins have all been forgiven, and the skull & bones are then placed in an ossuary. It's seen as a kind of reverse burial, i.e the ultimate triumph over death.
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Some rural Orthodox communities have an interesting if macabre tradition, which involves a service at a grave five years after death. During this service the remains of the departed one are disinterred, if the body is fully decomposed it is seen as a good sign, since the deceased sins have all been forgiven, and the skull & bones are then placed in an ossuary. It's seen as a kind of reverse burial, i.e the ultimate triumph over death.
Lovely! ::)
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And in other places it is a method of optimising scarce land. Burial plots are rented not owned.
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Go on - you know you want to - all 550 pages awaiting you.
And ordered
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An old local custom when Hull long distance trawlermen set out for their three week stint at sea was for their wives/mothers never to wash their clothes the day before they set sail. The idea seemed to be that you would be tempting death by drowning by putting their clothes under water and washing away their souls.
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An old local custom when Hull long distance trawlermen set out for their three week stint at sea was for their wives/mothers never to wash their clothes the day before they set sail. The idea seemed to be that you would be tempting death by drowning by putting their clothes under water and washing away their souls.
I have heard of that too.
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Making Yorkshire pudding yesterday, my daughter had a go at mixing the batter, and I remembered to tell her that if she stirred it to the left she'd be stirring in the devil. Only clockwise stirring please.
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Counter clockwise being what I might refer to as widdershins
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Widdershins
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Walking under ladders is supposed to be unlucky, I make a point on walking under them unless there is someone on it.
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Counter clockwise being what I might refer to as widdershins
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Widdershins
And sunwise is deosil.
I nearly used the term widdershins in my original post but then decided it made me sound like a right neopagan.
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Superstition and religion appear to go hand in hand. ::)
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Superstition and religion appear to go hand in hand. ::)
Magical thinking such as superstition is widespread. It's what we are. Even you making a point of walking under a ladder seems like magical thinking to me.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magical_thinking
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Magical thinking such as superstition is widespread. It's what we are. Even you making a point of walking under a ladder seems like magical thinking to me.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magical_thinking
I walk under a ladder to stick two fingers up at superstition.
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I walk under a ladder to stick two fingers up at superstition.
Which sounds exactly like magical thinking
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Which sounds exactly like magical thinking
In your opinion, not mine.
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In your opinion, not mine.
Why would you do something for no reason here?
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I think too that all of us have some odd notions now and again - seems like part of being human to me - even if these don't quite fit known customs or superstitions.
For example: for years we have had a 3-pronged fork in the cutlery drawer - it is an isolated example and belongs to no cutlery set we've ever had, nobody knows where it came from, nobody ever uses it and if someone picks it up by mistake they will immediately swap it for a common or garden fork: yet when whenever we've moved house or bought new kitchen stuff and we've mentioned getting rid of it nobody is prepared to be the one who does the deed.
No idea why.
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I think too that all of us have some odd notions now and again - seems like part of being human to me - even if these don't quite fit known customs or superstitions.
For example: for years we have had a 3-pronged fork in the cutlery drawer - it is an isolated example and belongs to no cutlery set we've ever had, nobody knows where it came from, nobody ever uses it and if someone picks it up by mistake they will immediately swap it for a common or garden fork: yet when whenever we've moved house or bought new kitchen stuff and we've mentioned getting rid of it nobody is prepared to be the one who does the deed.
No idea why.
Many of us do strange things, it is hard to be weirder than little me, ::) but I wouldn't think they were all motivated by superstition.
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I think too that all of us have some odd notions now and again - seems like part of being human to me - even if these don't quite fit known customs or superstitions.
For example: for years we have had a 3-pronged fork in the cutlery drawer - it is an isolated example and belongs to no cutlery set we've ever had, nobody knows where it came from, nobody ever uses it and if someone picks it up by mistake they will immediately swap it for a common or garden fork: yet when whenever we've moved house or bought new kitchen stuff and we've mentioned getting rid of it nobody is prepared to be the one who does the deed.
No idea why.
It's a long term part of your home Gordon! Not a superstition. Steak forks usually only have two or three prongs and if it's a big fork, it could be part of a carving set.
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It's a long term part of your home Gordon! Not a superstition. Steak forks usually only have two or three prongs and if it's a big fork, it could be part of a carving set.
It is a normal fork size: so how did it appear in our cutlery drawer ( cue theme from the Twilight Zone). It is an oddity that, for me, is both sily and life-enhancing at the same time - a trivial mystery that has sparked years of family exchanges.
So the odd fork is safe - for now :)
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It is a normal fork size: so how did it appear in our cutlery drawer ( cue theme from the Twilight Zone). It is an oddity that, for me, is both sily and life-enhancing at the same time - a trivial mystery that has sparked years of family exchanges.
So the odd fork is safe - for now :)
We have the cup that I don't use
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I'm not superstitious because it's unlucky.
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We have the cup that I don't use
I don’t think I could live with a cup that couldn’t be used, or a fork. I’d feel that there was an interloper.
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I don’t think I could live with a cup that couldn’t be used, or a fork. I’d feel that there was an interloper.
Throwing it away would just bring worse things. It's at the back of the cupboard. I can't stop others using it but I make sure we have enough cups clean to not use it. It was bought as a present for 'The Wonderful Man' when I was being at my least wonderful. Whenever it got used after that, it always reminded me of it and as part of the mindset I felt bad things then happened. It stays there as a reminder and as part of the magical thinking that even though In know is magical thinking is embedded.
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I have a good clear out of stuff we are not using on a regular basis.
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Throwing it away would just bring worse things. It's at the back of the cupboard. I can't stop others using it but I make sure we have enough cups clean to not use it. It was bought as a present for 'The Wonderful Man' when I was being at my least wonderful. Whenever it got used after that, it always reminded me of it and as part of the mindset I felt bad things then happened. It stays there as a reminder and as part of the magical thinking that even though In know is magical thinking is embedded.
I can relate to that. But I’m a purger of the past. I burn my journals even though they may hav things I need to remind myself of, not always good things. I burn cards, letters, documents. Something I can’t burn, if I didn’t feel it could be used by someone else I’d smash and bury it, or smash it and throw it in a river, or the sea, and put something new in its place, something different, and something that gives, like a tree. Magical thinking? Of course, but what’s life without a bit of magic.
I sold my wedding ring for scrap and bought a painting. I like to think of it being consumed by fire, in the absence of a handy fiery mountain.
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I can relate to that. But I’m a purger of the past. I burn my journals even though they may hav things I need to remind myself of, not always good things. I burn cards, letters, documents. Something I can’t burn, if I didn’t feel it could be used by someone else I’d smash and bury it, or smash it and throw it in a river, or the sea, and put something new in its place, something different, and something that gives, like a tree. Magical thinking? Of course, but what’s life without a bit of magic.
I sold my wedding ring for scrap and bought a painting. I like to think of it being consumed by fire, in the absence of a handy fiery mountain.
I hope you are not serious about dumping your garbage in the river or sea? :o
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I can relate to that. But I’m a purger of the past. I burn my journals even though they may hav things I need to remind myself of, not always good things. I burn cards, letters, documents. Something I can’t burn, if I didn’t feel it could be used by someone else I’d smash and bury it, or smash it and throw it in a river, or the sea, and put something new in its place, something different, and something that gives, like a tree. Magical thinking? Of course, but what’s life without a bit of magic.
I sold my wedding ring for scrap and bought a painting. I like to think of it being consumed by fire, in the absence of a handy fiery mountain.
When I eventually passed my Contracts exam, I ritually drowned my notes.
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I hope you are not serious about dumping your garbage in the river or sea? :o
Do it all the time, Floo, obviously.
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When I eventually passed my Contracts exam, I ritually drowned my notes.
Has to be done sometimes.
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It sure does!
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Go on - you know you want to - all 550 pages awaiting you.
And it has arrived
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Apparently today is Bird's Wedding Day
http://theepicentre.com/valentines-day-birds/
And of course Ash Wednesday
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We often have a couple of pigeons 'spooning' on our fence, it is quite amusing. :D
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My kids made up a song called Pigeons in Love to sing to the avian fornicators in our garden.