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Maeshowe
Re: Survival
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"Indeed, there are dances and songs and festivals enough in Britain today that have their roots in 'the old ways'. But have you considered that a more 'coherent' tradition might still be out there somewhere?"

Interesting! There is of course an ongoing Pagan revival in Britain. Many folk customs as you say and then there are those who invent rituals and don robes etc. How much of this is real? What is real are the emotions and desire to re-connect that many participants seem to genuinly experience and strive for.

Try to get hold of a book called "Twilight of the Celtic Gods" (1996) by David Clarke and Andy Roberts. The authors interview elderly people in remote places in the Peak District and the Dales. Nothing New Age about it and seems genuine to me.

Two quotes from interviews:
"Our traditions may have been of immense antiquity, or could have been of fairly recent origin. To me it didn't really matter. It felt right and it seems clear to me that we had a fragmentary knowledge of something far older which gave us a real sense of belonging to the land and each other. Its almost gone now and that's a great shame."

"Did we worship? No not really. To us being alive and part of the mother was worship for us - staying true to the tradition and marking the special times, being open to the natural powers of the weather and those locked in the landscape."

Other people describe how they learnt the traditions from their grandparents - a boy from his grandmother and a girl from her grandfather. They would walk the hills together learning the names of every plant, type of stone, insect and animal as well as the name of rocks and special places and the stories associated with them.

I won't go on...


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PeterH
Posted by PeterH
4th May 2005ce
09:57

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Re: Survival (Littlestone)

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Re: Survival (moss)
Re: Survival (Littlestone)

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