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meetthefatess · 4 years

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Hi dear! I just finished listening to In the Green and I'm in love, it's so beautiful and the vocals are amazing. However I'm having a hard time understanding it. Would you be willing to do a summary of like each song so that I can figure out what's happening? Totally understand if that's too much work though, I'm happy just listening to it without fully understanding. Love you!

Hi! I wouldn’t mind at all 🥰

Some of these descriptions are going to be longer than others bc I know more about certain songs. Also disclaimer, I haven’t seen the show in person so this is based on reviews & interviews I’ve seen talking about the show & the music itself! If anyone has corrections, pls let me know!

(tw for mentions of rape, I’ll tag accordingly)

O Virga ac Diadema: this is actually a song written by Hildegard von Bingen, who was a brilliant scientist, composer, philosopher (among other things) in the Middle Ages & who this musical is based on! Most, if not all, of the Latin chanting sections are taken from Hildegard’s own work! I’ll probably mention this again when the next one comes up.

Death Ceremony: following the death of her sister (which we will get into later) Hildegard is given away by her mother to Jutta. Hildegard was the youngest of 10 siblings and very shaken by her sister’s death, so this was likely done to lessen the burden on the family. My understanding is that this song is Jutta officially taking over the care of Hildegard. She is excited at the idea of Hildegard being acquainted with death (through the lessons she plans to teach her) because it is what she herself has been pursuing in her search for “the light.” The slam at the end of the song represents the two being locked in the cell together.

If I Had a Knee: in this song we become acquainted with the “pieces” of Hildegard. Because of, as she says, a “life shattering experience” she has broken into the Mouth (Ashley Pérez Flanagan), Eye (Rachael Duddy), and Hand (Hannah Whitney). This is how she has processed her trauma. She believes her mother sent her away because she is broken like this and if she just becomes whole (or one “piece”) again she will be able to return home. We also get a little forshadowing to Confession when she sings “If I had a knee I could climb out the window.”

The Rule: Jutta promises she can help the Hildegards become whole again because she used to be broken & knows what they are going through. She also believes that helping the Hildegards will give her the freedom she has been searching for and show her “the light.” We get a little look into Jutta’s life as a noblewoman here too! Jutta also brushes away the Hildegard’s questions about how she broke (or HER life shattering experience) and insists that the only thing that matters is she was able to get herself under control (by locking herself in the cell) and become whole again.

I Am Hungry: I Am Hungry is centered around Mouth and the desires held by that piece of Hildegard. These solo (ish) piece songs I believe are how Jutta learns about & tries to “fix” Hildegard one piece at a time. Mouth battles with feeling ungrateful, despite this opportunity to become whole thanks to Jutta, being uncomfortable in her own skin, and feeling like a monster. I don’t know as much about this song but it is a Bop and Ashley Pérez Flanagan is SO good.

Eve: this is one of the lessons Jutta teaches (directed at Mouth) on how to make her trauma easier to bear. I believe this lesson is given after Hildegard has her first period? Jutta’s lessons are starting to reveal her own pain and flawed judgement with the line “if you kill your every care, your burden will be less to bear.” Once again, A Bop

Ritual: time is passing in the cell! The Hildegards are still working to become whole, with the help of Jutta (who sings “it takes time to be whole” in response to the Hildegards’ “I’m trying”). They are becoming frustrated because they are still broken and are not sure what they are supposed to be learning.

Little Life: perhaps realizing that the Hildegards are more inclined to believe in light & life than the death-oriented lessons Jutta tries to teach them, Jutta gives another lesson. Jutta further shows she has gone through trauma too in understanding the Hildegards are “hiding the feeling [they’ve] done something wrong.” We also learn the name of Hildegard’s sister (Agathe) and that she has died. Jutta insists that Hildegard can get past her pain by sacrificing parts of herself (“you have nothing to lose if everything’s gone”). This also begins the instruction to dig (in which the Hildegards dig their own grave to help them become whole).

Sun Song: Hand remembers her childhood fondly & running through the woods with her sister Agathe before her death. She is trying to reason with Jutta and show her that the outside world is beautiful and that they don’t have to lock themselves away (literally). Eventually, Jutta recounts her own youth. She was engaged but decided to run away from her family instead of submit to her would be husband. She and Hand sing about the freedom they experienced in the outside world.

In The Green: the talk of the outside world awakens Jutta’s own trauma (her voice overlapping with that of Shadow, the broken piece of her that holds said trauma). When she chose to run away, she was found out and raped by a man (he is familiar to Jutta, so we can assume this is her would be husband) in the garden she was running through. In the end Jutta appears both to be yelling “leave me alone” to the man in her memory and to Shadow, who she has buried away and pretends does not exist anymore. “In The Green” or “The In The Green memory” is how this memory is referred to later in the musical.

Burial: as reasoning with Jutta does not work, the Hildegards turn on her and say they will no longer help her find the light. Jutta yells back “okay, stay broken. Have it your way.” Then the Hildegards turn on each other (mostly on Hand, the one they sing “you don’t belong here” to). They blame their trauma on Eye for having seen “Agathe’s secret,” Mouth for not keeping the secret, and Hand for not helping Agathe. More foreshadowing to Confession with “Agathe’s bleeding, I am not helping.” They all individually begin to break down and, because they feel they can’t focus on Jutta’s tasks: watch, wait, and try, they fully focus on digging until...

Underground: the Hildegards’ digging unearths Shadow, a piece of Jutta that she hid away, insisting she had already become whole. Shadow holds the memory of the day Jutta was raped, and understands that the pieces of Hildegard hold similarly traumatizing memories from the day their sister died. Shadow does not want to be revealed because Jutta does not want that memory to be part of her. (Think back to The Rule when Jutta says “when I see the light, I will erase my history for good” and tell be that doesn’t make you SO SAD)

Confession: the Hildegards tell their story to Shadow. Agathe sneaks out at night to meet with a man. Hildegard is scared Agathe is going to run away with him so tells their mother. Their mother is angry (likely because their family was lower nobility & did not approve of the relationship?). Agathe gets pregnant and has no husband, so wants to get rid of the baby so she isn’t ostracized or reminded of what happened. She convinces Hildegard to come with her to find herbs by the river that will “take the swelling from her belly.” This ends up killing her while Hildegard watches in horror. This also shows us how Hildegard was broken “I shouldn’t have seen (eye), I shouldn’t have said (mouth), I shouldn’t have lead her across the river (hand).”

Sun Song Reprise: after finally talking about their trauma, the Hildegards reflect. They realize that they can’t ever be how they used to be, but they can still be alright and will carry Agathe’s memory within them. They realize they don’t have to become “whole” to fix themselves.

Light Undercover: Shadow is in awe at how they’ve overcome their memory and found “the light.” She wants them to stay with her and share their light. The Hildegards realize hiding their trauma was what truly broke them and try to get Shadow to share the in the green memory with them so they can carry the burden of it together. Shadow is adamantly against this, saying Jutta made her disappear and she is content with the light from the Hildegards. The Hildegards insist that Shadow can find her own light if she just speaks about the memory.

The First Verb: the Hildegards sing about the lessons they’ve learned and the flaws in their previous mindsets. They want to help Shadow overcome her history. Shadow sings “I saw myself inside of a dream, but with your help I can wake up, make myself scream.” Essentially to become part of Jutta again and help her.

O Viridissima Virga: another song of the real Hildegard’s! A lot of her works revolved around nature and the earth mother which is is really cool thematically with the show. In my opinion ig

Light Undercover/ In The Green reprise: The Hildegard’s continue to try and coax the light out of Shadow who finally recounts the memory (voluntarily or involuntarily I do not know).

The Ripening: Jutta, presumably faced with her history once again, is conflicted. She believes she has done everything right but she still isn’t free, the only thing she’s ever wanted. She has sacrificed her whole life to her work and yet, is still trapped in darkness. Existential. Crisis.

Forgiveness: (if I’m interpretting correctly) Jutta has died. The Hildegards feel they were too late but now reflect on the lessons they have learned once again. “You have to be broken to see light in the dark.” Presumably why Jutta could never see the light is because she insisted she was not broken anymore and buried her broken pieces away.

Integration: Hildegard takes over Jutta’s place at the monastery and teaches and helps more women heal. This song is a lot about the rest of her life! If you have a little bit of background knowledge about Saint Hildegard (I don’t have much) this probably makes a good deal more sense.

Exorcism: Hildegard is faced with a member of the family her community helped destroy. Another woman who was silenced (this time by Hildegard’s influence). Story isn’t over?

Helpful timeline & things: Hildegard was 14 when she was locked in the cell with Jutta. Jutta had already been in the cell for 6 years. They remained in it together for 30 years. The only opening was a small window through which they were delivered food.

Some parts of this are my own interpretation so it’s totally cool if you see some lyrics as meaning different things!

Also, if you have questions about any songs in particular, feel free to shoot me another ask! Hopefully this helps!

#tw rape #in the green #long post #it is currently 2 am #so I will rb in the morning #but yeah #glad you like it!#ily!!#it’s an ask!

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mamsellechosette24601 · 4 years

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In the Green vs the real Hildegard's writings and philosophy

Because of “In the Green”, I started reading a bit about Hildegard and her thinking so as to better explore the themes of the musical. I read the book “Hildegard of Bingen: A Spiritual Reader", by Carmen Acevedo Butcher, which was short and insightful, with lots of excerpts from Hildegard, so I’ll share what I got from it in relation to the musical.

1. The symbolism of the colour green and of the sun

"Hildegard called this vigor viriditas, the “green” energy of agape love pulsing through the entire universe. Over and over in her writings, she chooses viriditas to express God’s vitality and the ways His goodness and love charge the whole world with life, beauty, and renewal—literally, with “greenness.” Her unique, creative use of this Latin word makes it something of a neologism in her work. In Hildegard’s mind, viriditas was first found in the green of the garden of Eden, but it is also the green of whatever twig you or I happen to be looking at in this present moment, whoever we are, wherever we may be. She knew that the natural opposite of this “greening” energy was spiritual desiccation (including what we often call “depression”). But, like God’s mercy, His revitalizing viriditas has no limits. Wherever Hildegard looked, she saw that this “green” force animates every creature and plant on this planet with verdant divine love."

"The patriarchs and prophets who prefigured and predicted Christ were the “roots” of God’s divine tree, on which sprouted the most delicate “bud,” who is God’s Son, and from Him grew the “fruit” of the virtues: Humility, Charity, Divine Love, Patience, and their sisters. This is a favorite metaphor for Hildegard, and in her songs she praises the Virgin Mary as the “twig” or “branch” on which the “bud,” baby Jesus, flowered. By her intelligent selection of this one word, oculus, Hildegard has shown the center of her work—that to see God is to grow."

"In one of this volume’s poems praising Mary, “Grateful for the Unobtrusive Good,” Hildegard’s use of metaphors suggests that she saw no separation between symbol and fact. Metaphors were reality to her. Hildegard’s point in this song is that the divinely made sun giving earth life is also, in a mystical way, the life-giving Son of God who as the Word made creation’s every twig, including Mary, and yet was also Mary’s “Bloom”(…) In this song to Mary, the sun (also God’s Spirit) shines on the Virgin Mary, the “greenest twig.” She is a twig, not even a branch; but she is green with God’s pregnant vitality, and her comparative insignificance (as a woman, and unmarried) prepares her for the greatness of God’s Spirit to grow within her and produce the miraculous “flowering” of God’s divine-human Son. Her weakness is her strength, a recurring theme in Hildegard."

So, when Jutta sings “I can see the last of the light / Reflected in the green / Of everything”and we know what is going to happen, we’re supposed to cry at the distortion of life’s goodness

Sun Song gains a much more religious meaning, when we see everything that the sun and nature meant for Hildegard. In her “Book of Divine Works”, the Holy Spirit says: "I’m the divine flame of life, I burn above the golden fields, I sparkle on water, and I shine like the sun, the moon, and all the stars. Together with the loving, hidden power of the wind, I make everything come alive. Remember that I’m also Reason. I inform the wind of the first Word that created all things. I’m your breath, I’m the breath of all things, and none die because I am that Life." (should I read into In the Green’s “Air leaves my lungs/ I’m lying on my back / I’m staring at the sky / I open up my mouth but the air swallows my cry”? Jutta was forsaken by God, completely).

Death Ceremony, with its translation of “O Viridissima Virga”, introduces us to Jutta’s and Hildegard’s quest away from Eve’s curse and towards the Virgin Mary. The “little green branch” seeks the “branch of freshest green”, instead of rotting.

The idea of strength in weakness, which the Hildegards find in First Verb, appears, together with the aforementioned notions of the “green” and the “bud”, in Hildegard’s “Play of the Virtues”. "The virtues and the souls: 'When the world began, everything pulsed with life and was the tenderest shade of green.Flowers blossomed everywhere. But, after the Fall, everything green faded." The Warrior-of-Truth saw it all and said: 'I see what happened, but my house is not yet full. Look at me instead. I’m the image of your Father. Know my broken body broken for you. I’m exhausted. I’m tired of being made a laughing-stock. It goes straight through me. Even my followers lose heart. But remember this. The original abundance of green did not have to shrivel up, and your faith will see its way to strength, until you know the divinity of my jewel-covered body intimately, a gem in each injury, and each injury a bud. Look, Father! See my wounds? Now, let people everywhere kneel before God the Father, who’ll hand us strength on strength."

2. Hildegard’s “Scivias”, where she first shares her divine visions vs Jutta

In “Scivias” Hildegard writes a metaphor of the sinning soul. Turning away from God and towards sin (the “North”), the soul speaks “I regret that so much now! For I was captured, robbed, blinded, and violated. My garment was torn. I was dragged to a gruesome place and subjected to the worst kind of slavery”.

Then the soul repents, and hides in a cave, like Jutta hid in the Undergound: “After I’d said this, I went down the narrow path and hid from the eyes of the North. I went into a tiny cave and wept because I’d lost my Mother Zion. I wept, too, for all my wounds. I wept for my sadness. I wept and wept. I cried so many tears, they absorbed my pain and bruises. Then I smelled something very sweet. It reminded me of my mother’s soft breath on my cheek. That small comfort made me cry some more. I was so full of joy that I cried until it shook the mountain of my cave." The crying out of joy that will force the soul out of the cave also kind of reminds me of The Ripening, especially in this connection to a mother’s love (“In living I have learned/ to love another as a mother/ And I’ve felt that love inside my wicked flesh”) but I may be reading too much into it.

The soul then is persecuted by her enemies, and we are told “Then I saw poisonous snakes, scorpions, and other hideous reptiles slithering towards me. The snakes were hissing. I screamed, “Mother! Where are you?! Help me!” I heard my mother say, “Run, daughter! The Omnipotent, Unconquerable Provider has given you wings. Fly! Fly over these things blocking your path!” And I did." Compare this to “I’m not going back / I’ll run until I die / And when I can no longer run / I’ll teach myself to fly / I try”. All in all, the world of Hildegard’s visions is far from the reality Jutta faced.

The soul faces self-doubt and recovers remembering it was created by God: “The Devil’s poison arrow is the evil robbing me of my spiritual joy. I don’t want to celebrate people or God. I doubt everything when I feel this way, including my salvation. But when God helps me remember that He created me, then—even in the middle of my depression—I tell the Devil, “I won’t give in to my fragile clay. I’ll fight you!” How? When my inner self decides to rebel against God, I’ll walk with wise patience over the marrow and blood of my body. I’ll be the lion defending himself from a snake, roaring and knocking it back into its hole.” It echoes Jutta’s advice to Hildegard in The Rule, but of course, she is not whole like she claims she is. (“When you are whole, you will be like me / When you are whole, you will move confidently / Through your life / And you will understand how the boulder becomes sand / And you will know how to not become sand / When you are whole, you will never be scared / When you are whole, you will always be prepared / For a dragon's attack! / And you will slay the beast..or scare him away at least / And you will never again be the least”)

3. In “The Play of the Virtues”, Hildegard focuses a lot on clothing, as a metaphor for the “wearing” of salvation, as something we’re born with and must keep clean. This enhances how soul shattering Jutta’s experience was, “His hand pulling at my skirt”.

4. Letter to the Belgian Monk Guibert (1175) and Light Undercover: "My spirit is ever illuminated by what I call the shadow of the living Light. It has no physical limitations whatsoever and is much brighter than a cloud through which the sun shines. I can never predict when or how I’ll see it. As water reflects the sun, the moon, and the stars, this shadow of the living Light reflects God’s Word, sermons, virtues, and the things that humans do. Whatever I see in that Light’s shadow stays in my mind for a long time, stored away. I see and understand, hear and know at the same time. I only know what I see in these visions, because I’m untaught. I record what I see and hear, without adding my own words, and my Latin is unrefined, because that’s how I hear it in my visions. I’ve not been taught to write like a philosopher. Also, my visions are filled with images and sounds that are nothing like words spoken by any human. They’re more like a blazing fire and a cloud floating through a clear sky. I can’t comprehend this Light’s shadow any better than I can look right at the sun. Also, sometimes in that shadow (but not very often) I see another light. This is the living Light I spoke of earlier. I’m even less able to explain what this Light is like in comparison to the other. But I can say that when I look at it, every feeling of sadness disappears, and my every ache leaves me. I’m no longer an old, sick woman. I become young again." “Light is in the dark”, strength is in weakness.

5. The entire play gains a deeper, metalinguistic meaning, when we learn that for Hildegard, “When we sing, we repossess some of the Eden lost when Adam fell”. (Letter to the Prelates at Mainz, 1178).

6. Becoming Whole

Hildegard’s visions in “The Book of Life’s Merits” and Underground"I saw a very tall man. His head and shoulders were above the highest clouds. His torso was in a white cloud below this, while his upper legs were in the earth’s atmosphere. From the knees down, he was planted in the earth, and his feet were rooted in the deepest waters of the abyss, which represent the virtues and their power. They are the antidotes to sin, because they have the might to make anything whole. They do this by cleansing whatever they touch and making it holy. They nurture and sustain the world, and they bear all things. Everything on earth steeps in the moisture of the virtues and is made strong, in the same way that the soul makes the body moist and healthy, regenerating it."

In contrast to Jutta’s teachings about the body, Hildegard finds more balance in her writings, as Butcher puts it “Hildegard understood the symbiotic relationship between body and soul. She knew that when the body and soul are not in sync, a person’s whole world is out of whack. While she believed that the physical body is easily wayward and must be controlled, she did not teach that the body is evil (…) Hildegard’s work also emphasizes taking care of the body, because it is the sacred temple of the Holy Spirit”. Against ideas of duality, Hildegard brings “God’s goodness and the essential wholeness of a divine creation that refuses to be separated into neat-but-useless categories of earth and spirit, body and soul, nature and people”.

#in the green #grace mclean #hildegard von bingen #me doing this instead of studying #good thing I study medieval history anyway

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cardest · 3 years

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Solar System playlist

Look up! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s....the Solar System playlist. Click play here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-iHPcxymC18LD_V5saMr7QzWS1Q3VAU6

What’s out there beyond our own planet? A mystery at every turn. Mercury to Pluto. The Sun and the Moon, even Phobos gets a mention here. So come by the Neptune Towers and enjoy this Solar System playlist.

SOLAR SYSTEM

001 Amorphis - Far From The Sun 002 The Beatles - here comes the sun 003 Swans - Song For The Sun 004 Mastodon - Once More 'Round The SunStiff Little Fingers 005 Soundgarden - Black Hole Sun 006 Isaac Hayes - Driving In The Sun 007 Tom Petty - dark of the sun 008 DREAMTIME - Sun 009 Circus Diablo - Red Sun Rising 010 Tiamat - The Sun Also Rises 011 Covenant - Bringer of the sixth sun 012 Agoraphobic Nosebleed - hung from the rising sun 013 Alice in Chains - When the Sun Rose Again 014 Lindemann - Children Of The Sun 015 Paradise Lost - Return to the Sun 016 Popol Vuh - Morning Sun 017 Spiritual Beggars - Blood Of The Sun 018 Queens Of The Stone Age - My God Is The Sun 019 TREMENTINA - Kisses in your eyes (Almost Reach The Sun ) 020 Voivod - Divine Sun 021 Blues Pills - Little Sun 022 Neurosis - Enemy of the Sun 023 Extol - Behold The Sun 024 Septic Flesh - Infernal Sun 025 Lamb of God - Straight For The Sun 026 Ensemble Economique - Red For The Sun 027 Black Sabbath - Under The Sun 028 Jesu - Opiate Sun 029 Orchid - Into the Sun 030 The Young Gods - Kissing The Sun 031 Iron Maiden - brighter than a thousand suns 032 Swans - I Am the Sun 033 Therion - Son Of The Sun 034 Sun Ra - Sun song 035 Pink Floyd - eclipse 036 Mike Patton - Eclipse Of The Sun 037 Bonnie Tyler - Total eclipse of the heart 038 God Is An Astronaut - First Day Of Sun 039 Elton John - Don’t let the sun go down on me 040 Eddie Fisher - Sunrise, Sunset 041 Hopscotch Songs - The Planets of our Solar System Song 042 Michael Schenker Group - Blood Of The Sun 043 Iron Maiden - total eclipse 044 Solefald - Sun I Call 045 Man or Astro-Man? - Antimatter Man 046 Kreator - when the sun burns 047 Creedence Clearwater Revival - bad moon rising 048 George Harrison - beware the darkness 049 Heretoir - To Follow The Sun 050 Cat Stevens - Moonshadow 051 Hypocrisy - Adjusting the Sun 052 Rush - Between Sun & Moon 053 Manfred Mann - blinded by the light 054 Sevendust - Black Out The Sun 055 Sunbeam Sound Machine - Real Life 056 Bill Withers - Ain’t no sunshine 057 Gwar - They Swallowed the Sun 058 Katatonia - Ghost Of The Sun 059 The Beatles - I’ll follow the sun 060 Sammy Hagar - little eclipse/sunshine 061 Stevie Wonder - you are the sunshine of my life 062 Pink Floyd - fat old sun 063 Sun Ra - Sunology 064 Mystic Sunship - out there 065 Cream - sunshine of my love 066 Diesto - High As The Sun 067 Sunwølf - SOlar 068 Kyuss - Molten Universe 069 Moonspell - Shadow sun 070 Neurosis - A Sun That Never Sets 071 Therion - An Arrow From The Sun 072 Candlemass - The Killing Of The Sun 073 Xandria - Kill The Sun 074 Morgoth - Drowning Sun 075 Primordial - Wield Lightning to Split the Sun 076 Lake of Tears -When My Sun Comes Down 077 Jackie DeShannon - Where Does The Sun Go 078 Peter Criss - Down With The Sun 079 Walker Brothers - The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore 080 Devin Townsend - Midnight Sun 081 Sigh - Midnight Sun 082 Black Label Society - Dark Side of the Sun 083 AMORPHIS - Moon and sun 084 Cynic - Moon Heart Sun Head 085 Sun Ra - Planet Earth 086 David Lynch - Sun Can't Be Seen No More Sarah No More 087 Opeth - Moon Above, Sun Below 088 The Eternal - A Quiet Death of The Sun 089 High On Fire - The Sunless Years 090 The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Third Stone From The Sun 091 Bruce Dickinson - Navigate The Seas of The Sun 092 Voivod - Mercury 093 Melechesh - Of Mercury And Mercury 094 Gustav Holst - Mercury, the Winged Messenger 095 Clutch - Mercury 096 Soilwork - Mercury shadow 097 Satyricon - Mental Mercury 098 Moonspell - Moon in mercury 099 Poisonblack - Mercury Falling 100 Alejandro Jodorowsky, Ronald Frangipane & Don Cherry - Venus (Vond) 101 Boney M - Nightflight to Venus 102 Red Hot Chili Peppers - Subway To Venus Nihal Chahdi 103 The Nefilim - Venus Decomposing 104 Electric Wizard -Venus In Furs 105 Popol Vuh - Venus Principle 106 Bananarama - Venus Venus Mosquera 107 Apocalyptica - The Shadow of Venus 108 Archgoat - Sodomator Of The Doomed Venus 109 Ordo Rosarius Equilibrio - Phosphorus Ascending Anthem of Venus 110 Gustav Holst - Venus, the Bringer of Peace 111 Billy Idol - Venus 112 Boyd Rice - Between Venus and Mars 113 Dee D. Jackson - Venus, the goddess of love 114 Therion - Dark Venus Persephone 115 T-Rex - Venus loons 116 Television - Venus 117 Paul McCartney and Wings - Venus and Mars & Rock Show - 118 Theatre of Tragedy - Venus 119 David Bowie - Space oddity 120 The Byrds - Spaceman 121 To-Mera - Earthbound 122 Borknagar - Inherit the Earth 123 Devin Townsend - Earth 124 William Shatner - Planet Earth 125 Clutch - Earth Rocker Jen Rocker 126 DEVO - Planet Earth 127 Misfits - Earth AD 128 Les Baxter - Earth light 129 Louis and Bebe Barron - Come Back to Earth with Me 130 Tristania - Tender Trip on Earth 131 Joseph Arthur & The Lonely Astronauts - Lonely Astronaut 132 Voivod - Target Earth 133 Samael - Son of Earth 134 Billy Preston - Space race 135 Alice Cooper - Last Man On Earth 136 Agalloch - ...and the Great Cold Death of the Earth 137 Deep Purple - space truckin 138 Steve Miller Band - space cowboy 139 Crowbar - Liquid Sky And Cold Black Earth 140 Jesu - Mother Earth 141 Devin Townsend - Earth Day 142 Animals as Leaders - Earth Departure 143 Amorphis - Enchanted by the Moon 144 Goatsnake - House of the Moon 145 Elton John - Rocket man 146 Cramps - Rock On The Moon 147 The Stranglers - Rok It To The Moon (Bonus Track) 148 Frank Sinitra - fly me to the moon 149 Blood Ceremony - Drawing Down the Moon 150 Elvis Presley - flaming star 151 Les Baxter - The other side of the moon 152 In Flames - Moonshield 153 Ozzy Ozbourne - bark at the moon 154 Fields Of The Nephilim - Moonchild 155 Iron Maiden - Moonchild 156 Blue Oyster Cult - stairway to the stars 157 Voivod -Moonbeam Rider 158 The Black Crowes -Black Moon Creeping 159 Grand Magus - Silver Moon 160 AC DC - next to the moon Craig Norman 161 Manilla Road - fires on Mars James Daniel danke 162 Alejandro Jodorowsky, Ronald Frangipane & Don Cherry - Marz (Esla) 163 Entombed A.D. - Down To Mars To Ride 164 Grateful Daed - dark star 165 Orange Goblin - Return To Mars 166 Ascension of the Watchers - Mars becoming 167 Styx - come sail away 168 Faith No More - Woodpecker From Mars 169 Kreator - Mars Mantra 170 The Misfits - Mars Attacks 171 Gustav Holst - Mars, the Bringer of War 172 Judas Priest - invader 173 Electric Wizard - Priestess Of Mars 174 Queen - Flash Gordon 175 Stone Temple Pilots - First Kiss On Mars 176 Hoodoo Gurus - mars needs guitars 177 War Of The Worlds ~ The Eve of the War 179 Noble Jackals, Penny Dreadfuls and the Systematic Dehumanization of Cool - Mars Needs Women 180 Alice Cooper - Might As Well Be On Mars 181 Total Recall Jerry Goldsmith - First Dream (Total Recall) 182 Laibach -Mars On River Drina 183 Lantlôs - Neige de Mars 184 The Misfits - Teenagers From Mars 185 Voivod - Phobos 186 2001_ A Space Odyssey Theme Song (Also sprach Zarathustra) 187 Covenant - Planetary black elements 188 Killing Joke - Asteroid 189 Kyuss - Asteroid 190 Alejandro Jodorowsky, Ronald Frangipane & Don Cherry - Jupiter (Clen) 191 Blues Pills - Jupiter 192 Samael - Jupiterian Vibe 193 Earth Wind & Fire - Jupiter 194 Tumbleweed - Jupiter Aje Morris 195 The Cure - Jupiter Crash 196 Devin Townsend - Jupiter 197 Gustav Holst - Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity 198 Celestial Season - Jupiter 199 KATAKLYSM - EMBRACING EUROPA 200 David Bowie - I Took A Trip On a Gemini Spaceship 201 Isao Tomita - Space Fantasy 202 The Misfits - Lost in Space 203 Gwar - Lust In Space 204 Alejandro Jodorowsky, Ronald Frangipane & Don Cherry - Saturn (Sal) 205 Älgarnas Trädgård - Rings Of Saturn 206 Electric Wizard - Saturn Dethroned 207 Les Baxter - [ Saturday night on saturn 208 While Heaven Wept - Saturn And Sacrifice 209 Ash Pool - On The Rings Of Saturn Adam And Eve Conceive Cain 210 Scott Kelly - Saturn's Eye 211 Gustav Holst - Saturn, the Bringer of Old Age Ximenenes Y. Zeroth 212 Samael - Born Under Saturn 213 The Devil's Blood -Everlasting Saturnalia 214 Stevie Wonder - Saturn 215 Circle - Saturnus Reality 216 R.E.M. - Saturn Return 217 The B-52's - There's A Moon In The Sky (Called The Moon) 218 Fu Manchu - Saturn III 219 National Geographic Space Kit - The Eerie Sounds Of Saturn 220 AYREON - To the Solar System 221 Voivod - Meteor 222 Alejandro Jodorowsky, Ronald Frangipane & Don Cherry - Uranus (Berg) 223 Klaatu- Anus Of Uranus 224 Arcturus - Kinetic 225 Gustav Holst - Uranus, the Magician 226 Cathedral - Suicide Asteroid 227 Movie Moment - Contact (First Contact) OST 228 Alejandro Jodorowsky, Ronald Frangipane & Don Cherry - Neptune (Axon) 229 Lisa Gerrard - Neptune 230 Neptune Towers - To Cold Void Desolation 231 Fu Manchu - Neptune's Convoy 232 Altar of Plagues - Neptune Is Dead 233 Lenny Breau - Neptune 234 Gustav Holst - Neptune, the Mystic 235 Darkthrone - Neptune Towers. 236 Neptune Sounds - Celestial Love Songs (NASA Voyager Recordings) 237 Jimi Hendrix - Valleys Of Neptune 238 Vista Chino - Planets 1 & 2 239 DEATH - Vacant Planets 240 Black Sabbath - Planet Caravan 241 ZZ Top - Planet of Women 242 Alejandro Jodorowsky, Ronald Frangipane & Don Cherry - Pluto (Lute) 243 Alchemist - Brumal - A View From Pluto 244 B 52s - Hallucinating Pluto 245 Charlie Hunter - Astronaut Love Triangle 246 YES - Arriving by UFO 247 Ramones - Zero Zero UFO 248 Jefferson Airplane - Have you seen the saucers 249 saxon - watching the sky 250 Devin Townsend - Planet smasher 666 Voivod - Moonbeam Rider Hit play: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-iHPcxymC18LD_V5saMr7QzWS1Q3VAU6

#solar system #solar system playlist #songs about space #songs about planets #uranus #phobos #venus #planet songs #space music #planets

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jbeverywhere · 4 years

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Noc Kupały - Noc Świętojańska

Well, let’s write about another polish tradition. I mean, the night 23/24 of June is famous in many countries. So let’s see what’s going on that night in Poland.

Let me explain why I put 2 names.

Noc Kupały (Ivanа-Kupala) - 21/22 of June, the shortest night - pagan Slavic holiday.

Noc Świętojańska (Saint John's Eve) - 23/24 of June - catholic celebration.

Nowadays it’s one event. Christians couldn’t destroy pagans ceremonies so they changed names of them and a little bit the character and the objectives. It was easier than prohibit to celebrate it.

So the catholic festive - nothing interesting, I’ll describe more Noc Kupały, the pagan day because it was first and has its craziness. Ant my description is about traditions in Kraków because they’re quite different in the others parts of Poland.

And I’ll describe it basing on my own experience XD

The day starts with the sunrise! The most famous sunrise in Kraków. It’s obligatory to go to Krakus Mound to see it. But be early enough to take a spot - thousands of people will be there as well! And good luck with the weather xD

But at least before was nice!

sleeping is for weak people.

Look above my head xD you see? those dots are people on the mound xDDD

Ok, so this is the morning spirit. In Kraków there are 4 mounds and this one with Wanda Mound are for sunrises and sunsets. I mean, the sun goes down/up once a year above one of them when you are looking from the other one #magic.

In Kraków there is an organization which tries to keep the pagan ceremonies alive.

So in the afternoon/evening in the same Mound there was another event. And it was crazy. We met in this park next to the mound, many people were dresses in white clothes, like in the past times. Even me! I was prepared xD

Slavic doe! (Córa wódy, oczyszczona łania słowiańska).

Maybe you already know, or not, but people were drinking (illegally of course). And the best should be mead (miód pitny) but Soplica lemon and honey was good too. And the organizers had the best costumes xD (and they were for sure -> song). When we were a loooot, they started. First some organizing words and then we started to going down to the forest (old quarry - kamieniołom). It was quite creepy xD Alone for sure I would never have gone there. And it was darker and darker.

And there was small square, everything already prepared. The day before they upload on the event a “songbook”. What do I mean by “everything prepared”? Well, the night was about praying to the pagan gods, especially to the ones responsible for fire and water. It was about catharsis!

The night is full of the fireworks. And the first one is a burning figure of one of the gods. We should have brought some food like apples, bread to “give it” to the god as a sacrifice.

They asked people to make circles - around it and also they asked for volunteers to be in the first circle, the closest one. And because I was with my Erasmus friend who was super excited about this “tradition”, we went to be there, in the first line... It was creepy crazy. And the lyrics from the songbook... I couldn’t read it, I felt like I was calling demons 🙈

And the storm came! With huge lightning!!! They put the fire to the monument and it was quite dangerous for us in the first line xD We run away (like in Fallas...).

Here is a short example how it was xDDD

youtube

We didn’t stay long, because of the weather. The rain started on our way back from the forest. And this wind... MASAKRA hahaha I remember I just stopped and started laughing like stupid because of this tragic situation.

So this was my experience. Let’s write more about the tradition.

Wreaths

Like you see my head in the photo above, girls should have wreaths (thanks man for that one xD). Why? Girls make those wreaths from magic herbs, and later they throw it to the river. few meters further there are boys who are trying to catch them. And this is how couples are made xD If nobody catch some wreath - the girl will get married soooo late, if the wreath goes under - loneliness or death. #lifeIsBrutal

Predictions

Of course all about love future life. Who with who, when, where. Predictions with herbs, flowers and water.

Campfires

Jumping through the fire and dancing around are to protect from illnesses etc.

Flower of Fern

The most important one! The legend says that this night the fern blooms! If you find the flower of the fern you will be rich (I’m not rich but I live like a millionaire). But the truth is different. The flower was just an excuse to go to the forest and make looooove ;) In those times it was illegal before the wedding! But this night was magic... and they were just looking for the flower!

Ok. That’s all. Sounds crazy, I know. It was creepy experience in my life xD And the more you read about Noc Kupały the more it’s destroying your mind.

I’ll leave you with polish band - Żywiołak. They sing about those pagan traditions. Sorry it’s in Polish. But has English subtitles!

youtube

#noc kupały #pagan #firecamps #kupala #slavic

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unclefungusthegoat · 5 years

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Will The Circle Be Unbroken? - Far Cry 5 Week (Day 6): Music

Hello all! So in all honesty, I wrote most of this an entire year ago hahaha, for the Hope County Gothic Festival but got really shy about posting it. But I figured I could use it for the Far Cry 5 Week, for the Music day! It’s a songfic, featuring a song that I really wish had been in the game - Will The Circle Be Unbroken and it’s FUNERAL FIC HOOORAAAAY.

Here is the song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9F1l6xXLSI0

Get ready for some ALTERNATIVE EULOGIES too, because sadness is fun.

This can be read on AO3: HERE

All my FC5 Week fics can be read: HERE

Trigger Warnings: Canonical Major Character Deaths, Mentions of Child Abuse, Mentions of Drowning, Decomposition, Fire and Funeral Pyres

The ceasefire was fragile.

Undefined.

No flag upon ramparts, or ink marked on a page. Just an agreement, whispered, gestured and silently promised, that a single night would be set apart for retrieval and burial of the dead. Sundown until sunrise. Not a shot to be fired, confession to be heard, building to be bombed, or heretic strung up. Just stillness and rest. A new Sabbath, of sorts. And for the people of Hope County who spent vast swathes of the day clinging to their lives, it seemed nothing short of a miracle.

It was on this night, on a dusty road through the dead farmland, that a procession of faithful came marching. Their faces were turned to the darkened sky. Eyes burning with sorrow, searing vibrantly like stardust. Alight with fury. Dampened with grief. And with their gaze, they spared no glance for the heretics who lined the path. No care for the vengeful, who bit their tongues and held in their spittle, and sought a glance of the dead to ease their blood lust. Not even a thought for the sinner who had taken so much, challenged their holy purpose. Given them this weight upon their shoulders.

The Father led with faltering step.

His eyes were hazy behind tinted glass. His fingers trembled. His scars, his sins, seemed to burn. But his voice was resolute, the melody echoing through the dark:

There are loved ones in the glory, Whose dear forms you often miss; When you close your earthly story, Will you join them in their bliss?

Carried aloft upon the faithful’s shoulders, upon beds made from velvet, slept the Heralds of Eden. Stilled into a long awaited peace, punctures incarnadine between their ribs a stark reminder of how they had suffered.

Each lay daubed in their own decay.

Will the circle be unbroken By and by, Lord, by and by. There's a better home awaiting In the sky, Lord, in the sky.

It was a song they had always known.

And though it was his flock that called the hymn forth, Joseph could only hear Jacob's low timbre, humming it to ease him into sleep when the belt marks on his back cut too deep. After Old Mad Seed had bellowed Bible verses in his ears, and torn heathen drawings from where they were pinned proudly on the bedroom wall. On the school bus after another endless night hearing Mother scream.

Then slowly he heard his own voice, tinged with a weariness too antiquated for how young he had been. He heard it reverberate through the orphanage halls, the eve before John had been taken away. He'd stroked his brother's hair and caught his tears with his thumbs, and sang until the sun rose:

In the joyous days of childhood, Oft they told of wondrous love, Pointed to the dying Saviour; Now they dwell with Him above.

The lyrics had been worn down by their use when he had been alone. Comforting. Protective. Like an old pair of boots too reliable to cast aside, or a threadbare blanket that still smells of home.

Or the memory of a brother stood boldly in the fire’s glow.

“Jacob...”

Dog tags now around his own neck, metal scraping with every step.

A blood soaked rabbit’s foot.

“You sought purpose. You were lost. I showed you who you once were, and opened your eyes to the Garden you were born to protect. And you cast aside your weakness- the weariness wrought deep within your soul by governments and generals who sought to use your compassion for their selfish ideals. You became strong, brother. You sheltered our Eden with a heart forged in battle. You asked nothing but brotherhood in return. You embraced your family with the strength of gods. And you carried that strength until the end.”

The Soldier, freshly slain, lay proud, like a Viking martyr. Knife threaded between his fingers, the ancient burns that speckled him like rust on the armour he still seemed to bear. His Judges crowned the mountain ledges, howling to the night sky. In the torchlight, his fiery hair shimmered like copper wire; a fleeting glance might think it a halo encircling his skull. His mind, once full of the horrors of war, now quieted. His mouth, that knew the taste of man, free to taste the soil.

Will the circle be unbroken By and by, Lord, by and by. There's a better home awaiting In the sky, Lord, in the sky.

“Faith...”

He had yet to choose another.

None else had her heart, her spirit, her devotion.

“There were some who thought you cruel. Calculating. Jezebel incarnate. They did not understand that you were a mother, and with the burden of motherhood comes a heavy hand. I chose you because you did not shy away from the lessons children must learn. You took the lost and gave them wings. You took the despairing and gave them hope. You took the sick of soul and gave them peace. You took the name of Seed and let it’s glory shine through you. Rest well, my sister. Sleep well, my Faith.”

The Siren once wielded beauty. Now her face was swollen and pallid, bloated where the water had filled her pores and the creatures of the lake had begun to strip her skin away. Yet how sweetly she was scented by the flowers in her flaxen hair! It mingled with the fresh smell of the trees and the distant tang of smoke, heightened in the darkness, when the senses are keen. Even in death, she seduced onlookers with her song. A song composed of silence, of hope and dreams now lost, underscored with the cries of those who mourned.

You remember songs of heaven Which you sang with childish voice, Do you love the hymns they taught you, Or are songs of earth your choice?

Will the circle be unbroken By and by, Lord, by and by. There's a better home awaiting In the sky, Lord, in the sky.

“John...”

He’d finally reached the sky.

Feathered his wings.

Joseph’s heart was fracturing. Oh, the things he wished to say...

“I carry your sin upon my shoulder, that same shoulder three times you felt bitten by wrath. It is a sin of neglect. Neglect of your faith and your body, and by that, God, for we are made in his image. You saw a god every time you glanced in a mirror. A cruel world made you vain and selfish, and the child who had suffered so greatly thought you invincible. You drowned in your pride, as I drown in my regret that I could not save you. I pray that you know my disappointment, John, and I beg mercy for your soul. In all my prayers, and my dreams of eternity together, I ask only that God sees how very hard you tried.”

The Baptist had rotted where he had fallen, swallowed by the damp earth. Shards of dirt had claimed the sorrows inked upon his flesh, the stories he’d wanted to the world to know. His palms were frayed by rope. His lungs were lined with lead. But now he lay in the starlight, arisen from nature’s oesophagus to be cleansed and laid to rest with honour. The bones of his collapsing face seemed testament to how he’d be forgotten. But oh, how they cried his name! A saint, redeemed. A sinner, saved.

You can picture happy gath'rings 'Round the fireside long ago, And you think of tearful partings, When they left you here below.

Will the circle be unbroken By and by, Lord, by and by. There's a better home awaiting In the sky, Lord, in the sky.

In the distance, he could see the pyres silhouetted by the moonlight. Though their bodies were cold, his Heralds would soon feel warmth again, and the embers that rose from the flames would carry their souls to the stars.

It would be a sight remembered for an age; the first flames of a Collapse long awaited.

And soon, all would burn-

-------------------------------------------------------------

Joseph’s eyes flickered open, and the fuchsia tinge of this new world’s morning mist settled into view. He sat lost in the blossoming forest, somewhere near the old compound. Sweet nectar scented the air. Damp grass and sodden earth cocooned his feet. He shivered slightly, his naked chest baptized by the dew.

Before him lay a single grave, shallow and solitary. Dirt was unceremoniously cast across it, and a rusted iron crucifix of Eden’s Gate, now New Eden, stood guard.

No flowers.

No velvet.

No choir of lamenting brothers and sisters.

Not even their names.

His body had whined under the strain of shovelling. Age and years of almost starving had weakened his arms, but when the Judge had offered to accompany him, to put to rest the overwhelming guilt that had consumed them, and to move the dirt for him, he gently refused. He owed it to his family to do it himself. It had taken him days to hike across the county, alone with only his memories, to collect their remains. What little remained of them after all those years.

He had had not the strength, or enough of them left, to dig three.

But they were reunited now, in eternal embrace. No ceremony. No procession. No pomp and martyrdom, as he had dreamed. Their resting place was the picture of modesty. Humility. A grave for the truly devoted. Their bones would turn to chalk and clay, and they would feed the insects and the reawakened soil.

Watch the new Eden grow.

Someday he’d be buried there with them.

Together forever.

And he thought, as he rested beside them to finish their song:

What more had they ever wanted?

One by one their seats were emptied, One by one they went away; Now the family is parted, Will it be complete one day?

Will the circle be unbroken By and by, Lord, by and by. There's a better home awaiting In the sky, Lord, in the sky.

#far cry 5 #FC5Week #FC5Week2019 #far cry new dawn #joseph seed #jacob seed #john seed #faith seed #the judge #this was a total shortcut so I didn't have to write something for every day hahahaha #I'm behind on my main fics hahaha #but now it's back to writing UNdead John #ugh this is massively description heavy but oh well #also with this #I've hit exactly 87000 words published on AO3 #woooooooo

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howwelldoyouknowyourmoon · 5 years

Text

Introduction to The Tragedy of the Six Marys book by Pak Chung-hwa

This is the Korean Edition

▲ The Tragedy of the Six Marys – Korean edition 1996 newspaper ad for “An Unofficial History of the Unification Church.” which is the name the book was given in Korea. 野錄統一敎會史 (세계기독교 통일신령협회사) 박 정 화 외2인 지음 (前 통일교창립위원)

_____________________________________

Introduction by Pak Chung-hwa (from pages 279-282 of the Japanese edition)

I started to write this book in 1985. I decided the title of the book should be The Unofficial History of the Unification Church. If I express the title in Japanese it would be called A Documentary on the History of the Unification Church.

The purpose of this book is to make a record of my experiences with Sun Myung Moon during the 13 years I spent with him, so people may know what is behind the facade or illusion [of the Unification Church].

For the years before and after the founding of the Unification Church [in 1954], I was in a position to get to know the despicable misconduct of Sun Myung Moon, who did not behave as a religious person, but nevertheless proclaimed himself to be the Second Advent of Christ.

Under the pretext of the “restoration principle”, he had sex with anyone he could lay his hands on whether they were married women or students. He made one girl pregnant and forced her to illegally stow-away to Japan where she gave birth [to Hee-jin Moon]. Such actions carried out by a human being cannot be forgiven.

However, at the time I was a disciple of Sun Myung Moon and consequently I was hoping that it would ultimately lead to their happiness. I could only watch over them, since I believed in the teachings of the principle.

I knew too much about the misdeeds of Sun Myung Moon. In 1962, he betrayed me in an underhanded way and so I cut off all ties with him.

Almost twenty years later I was asked to visit the headquarters church by former colleagues and subordinates (who had now become senior leaders) and I decided to accept.

The expectation from the church was to use me as a valuable living witness to the early days. However, they wanted to get me to speak in front of the believers only within certain parameters (such as the difficult time when Sun Myung Moon travelled south from the [Heungnam] prison). But I also had a secret reason to agree. I wanted to know the fate of a large number of believers after I had left – the ones who had shared joys and sorrows in the Unification Church with me. What I discovered were the tragedies which I have described in this book.

Those women who followed Moon, believing that they would be happy if they believed in the principle and Moon, later became very poor and had to worry about where their next meal would be coming from – they existed like the living dead. They became like pathetic dying plants because of Moon.

That was my motivation to undertake this book – and these women urged me to publish it as soon as possible. As far as I know, when they were young, all of them were wealthy.

That is why Sun Myung Moon latched on to them. They lost their virtue, their property and their families, and they became estranged from their children. Now in old age they live lonely lives.

As I knew the process of their demise [to being virtual prisoners], I was keenly aware of an obligation and responsibility to publicize the facts.

However, on the other hand I also felt anxiety and concern. At that time the political situation of Korea was that it was under a military government. Some in powerful positions, or with authority, in the army were in communication with the church behind the scenes. There was no way they would permit such a publication.

Mr. Tahk Myeong-hwan who wrote the “recommendation” for this book is an example. Mr. Tahk, who has continued his criticism of the Unification Church, was one day kidnapped by the KCIA and was beaten on his back. This left a big scar that will never go away in his life. Even after this, Mr. Tahk has persevered.

In my case the problem is different. I do not fear repression through power and violence. I am now 81 years old and I am not well. I am recuperating from cerebral infarction. With my difficulties I fight as best I can. As this is equivalent to my last message – which I will write with every drop of life left in me, I no longer fear for my life, but my purpose cannot be fulfilled if I am killed before I achieve the publication of this book.

I wrote the manuscript bit by bit, and waited for the right time.

In due course, President Kim Yong-sam, who is popular as a serious Christian elder, was born. Due to his brave decisions, the purification of Korea in political circles and other fields is taking place at breakneck speed.

With that background, I came to meet the President Shigeto Saito of Constant Friend Publishing who visited my humble far away home in Incheon, and committed to the publication of this book that I believe in from the bottom of my heart. The desire I had for many years is coming to pass. I am truly delighted.

The hard work of organizing, categorizing, translating, writing and editing the 6,000 pages of Korean-language manuscripts for publication progressed more quickly than I expected. I was grateful for that.

At this opportunity I would like to give my sincere thanks to Constant Friend Publishing of Korea and Japan, to Mr. Kim Ki-son from Busan for translations, Mr. Chi-yong from Busan who is studying at university in Japan, and Kinoshita san and other publishing staff at Constant Friend Publishing.

I am going to donate the royalties of this book for the relief of those who were sacrificed by Sun Myung Moon and are now suffering in their old age.

Finally, I want to offer a sincere prayer to the spirits of “the victims of Sun Myung Moon and Unification Church” who have died without finding real happiness.

October 1993

Pak Chung-hwa

Link to an English translation of the book (work in progress)

https://tragedyofthesixmarys.com/

______________________________________________

Remarks from Constant Friend Publishing • Editorial Department

Mr Pak Chung-hwa’s manuscript consisted of about 6,000 pages, each with 200 characters. He wrote down his conversations with Mr Sun Myung Moon, and the contents of their meals. It is a valuable record for understanding the early period of the Unification Church. However, the text was drastically cut down for the Japanese and Korean books that were published.

______________________________________________

cover band from the Japanese book:

The Unification Church was a sex cult! Sun Myung Moon’s wrongdoings included robbing married women of their property and causing virgins to give birth. The author, who was a former close aide and one of the founders of the Unification Church, said he wanted “to reveal everything before I die” perhaps as his last will (or testament) before death! “A testimony in the last chapter is a confession of one of the six Marys who practised the sex relay.”

Sayings of Sun Myung Moon – from women [followers] “It is the restoration of women that Jesus failed to achieve when he was alive in the world. First of all, it is necessary to wrest back the woman who fell through having sex with the Archangel Lucifer. This is done by the same method through depriving six husbands of their wives – these are the six Marys.” “After restoring the Six Marys, the second coming Messiah then chooses a virgin who has no experience of sex. She is established as Eve in the [marriage] ceremony of the Lamb.” “Satan is the ruler of this world, but all the possessions in this world originally came from God – so all the things Satan uses, such as the husband’s money and the property in the house, must be donated to me even if they are stolen. Although we might break the laws of the world, God will forgive us.”

Kouyu Shuppan publications (Constant Friend Publishing) Non-Fiction Books

_________________________________

LINK to the full KOREAN book (with photos) HERE

LINK to the full JAPANESE book (with photos) HERE

_________________________________

Introduction to the Tragedy of the Six Marys website

The Tragedy of the Six Marys book:

About the book

Table of Contents

Six Marys Chapter 1

Six Marys Chapter 2

Six Marys Chapter 3

Six Marys Chapter 4

Six Marys Chapter 5

Six Marys Chapter 6

Six Marys Chapter 7 (complete translation)

– Eu Hyo-min (36 couple)

– Eu Shin-hee (joined in 1953)

– Kim Deok-jin (wrote many ‘Holy Songs’)

– Postscript by Pak Chung-hwa (moved to be the Introduction to the book)

– Appendices

#The Tragedy of the Six Marys #Pak Chung-hwa #六マリアの悲劇 #野錄統一敎會史 #세계기독교 통일신령협회사

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jayceparkblog · 3 years

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How Great Britain Has Celebrated New Year's Eve Over Time

The inherent symbolism in passing from the old year to the new has characterised the ritual and ceremony around the British New Year since Pagan times. Culture Trip chronicles the ways in which this celebration has changed over time.

This post contains links. Thank you so much for your support and for helping keep this blog running!

Celts, Calendars and Christianity

The Celts celebrated their new year with fire as they believed light and life sprang from death and darkness. New Year was first celebrated on January 1st in Rome 153 BC, and it would be almost 2000 years before Britain did the same. In 1572 Pope Gregory introduced the Gregorian calendar to establish more consistency around Easter, retaining January 1st as New Year’s Day. Catholic countries adopted it, but Protestant Britain resisted until 1752, when it finally switched for trading purposes.

Christmas Banned

In the religious and political turmoil of 17th century Britain, a Puritan order banned Christmas until 1660 when it was restored with the monarchy. The Scots, however, continued to frown on Christmas, focusing on the secular feast of Hogmanay on December 31st. This remained the case for over 300 years!

Read more: https://cupdf.com/document/new-year-in-great-britain-new-year-in-britain-is-celebrated-on-1-january.html

Playing With Fire

In Celtic times smoke was believed to ward off evil spirits and fire to entice the sun’s return. Fire rituals remain central to festivals in Scotland and Northern England. On New Year’s Eve in Stonehaven, Grampian, a parade of 60 kilted marchers with pipes and drums swirl balls of fire on wire ropes around their heads. In Allendale, Northumberland, a procession of men in fancy dress called ‘guisers’ carry tubs of flaming tar above their heads to the town square where they are launched onto a bonfire, the last one thrown coinciding with midnight when the flames reach their zenith. The old year dies as church bells ring in the new.

The Bells Are Ringing

Church bells are traditionally associated with major public events like royal weddings and it was customary for bells to chime at midnight on New Year’s Eve, accompanied by ships’ horns in ports and people running onto the streets banging pots and pans. Today, the clock tower at the Palace of Westminster and the chimes of Big Ben are icons of the British New Year.

Let’s Get Together

Most places in Britain have a spot where crowds gather at major events. In London the earliest documented gathering on New Year’s Eve was in 1878 at St Paul’s Cathedral when people came to hear the newly installed bells ring in the New Year. Over the years the crowds grew and became more uproarious until the cathedral authorities tried to stop it, unsuccessfully. On January 2nd 1892, the Illustrated London News reported ‘questions of public order and morality.’ This was echoed in a letter to the Times, 1935, ‘often the new year breaks upon a scene of horseplay and alcoholic excess.’ After the Second World War the London gathering place moved to Trafalgar Square. And since 2004 the gathering place includes the banks of the Thames in view of the London Eye.

Read more: https://cupdf.com/document/new-year-in-great-britain-new-year-in-britain-is-celebrated-on-1-january.html

We’ll Take A Cup O Kindness Yet

Auld Lang Syne is said to be one of the most popular songs no-one knows the words to. Scottish poet Robert Burns penned his version of the ancient Scottish song in the 18th century, but few know it was actually a Canadian who made it widely popular. When bandleader Guy Lombardo heard Scottish immigrants singing it in his hometown in Ontario his band started playing it. They performed it at midnight on New Year’s Eve at the Roosevelt Hotel, Manhattan, in 1929 and a tradition was born.

Read more: https://cupdf.com/document/new-year-in-great-britain-new-year-in-britain-is-celebrated-on-1-january.html

A Dark Stranger At The Door

‘First footing’ — the first foot in the house after midnight — remains common in Scotland but similar traditions exist elsewhere in Britain. To ensure good luck the first foot should be a dark male bearing coal, salt, bread and a dram of whisky symbolising warmth, wealth, food and good health respectively. The dark male is a throwback to Viking days when a fair-haired stranger could mean trouble. In Wales, if the first foot is a woman and a man answers the door this is considered bad luck.

The origins of Hogmanay are obscure. Some say it refers to a smoking stick, others that it’s an oatcake. Many Hogmanay celebrations originated from invading Vikings. Today, Edinburgh’s is the largest in Britain with an all-night street party. In the Republic of Ireland New Year’s Eve, or Oiche Chinn Biania, is celebrated by parties with midnight fireworks followed by parades and live music. In Wales, children used to rise at dawn on New Year’s Day to visit neighbours carrying apples skewered with twigs and evergreens to symbolise growth and prosperity. They were greeted with coins or ‘calennig‘.

Superstitions And Resolutions

British superstitions to be attended to before midnight on December 31st include cleaning the house, taking out the ashes from the fire and clearing all debt. New Year’s Day in many communities is marked with a public swim to start the new year afresh. Such traditions reflect the inherent symbolism in passing from one year to the next. It’s a time for reflection, taking personal stock, renewal and looking forward with hope. The famous diarist Samuel Pepys wrote in December 1661: ‘I have newly taken a solemn oath about abstaining from plays and wine which I am resolved to keep.’ Making and breaking New Year’s resolutions remains an established part of British culture.

Read more: https://cupdf.com/document/new-year-in-great-britain-new-year-in-britain-is-celebrated-on-1-january.html

New Year’s Eve Today

New Year’s Eve in Britain is a normal working day. New Year’s Day was made a public holiday in 1974, now regarded as the end of the festive season and a counterpoint to the family focus of Christmas. Brits may spend Christmas with family and see friends on New Year’s Eve. Since the Millennium many cities put on grand public firework displays. Typically a countdown to midnight is followed by Auld Lang Syne and people greeting and embracing each other. Celebrations may go on well into New Year’s Day. So, as you sip your festive fizz and watch the sky light up with fireworks, consider how the British New Year has evolved since the Dark Ages.

Read more: https://cupdf.com/document/new-year-in-great-britain-new-year-in-britain-is-celebrated-on-1-january.html

#New Year Britain #New Year's Eve #new year celebration

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kclenhartnovels · 7 years

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Engine Oil and Rosewater

So, since I decided I am actually going to write Eve’s book(s), I was thinking more about the long history she has that isn’t talked about between 1800s France, and present-day America. So I decided to break my own heart and delve into one of her meaningful relationships. Here it is from Eve’s journal.

Her name was Mary.

Her husband always called her 'lamb', and she hated it. I met her in 1943, building engines for fighters and bombers that would bring freedom to Europe. Her husband had been deployed for six months. Six days a week, she and I would punch our cards in the factory and work alongside each other, and within the first few months we could assemble an engine in our sleep. She told me about growing up in a small town, planting roses with her mother and learning to sew from her grandmother. Her grandmother had come to America from Italy, and never learned a word of English, but could stitch such beautiful, even lines that every woman in town would flock to her for wedding dresses. She told me about watching her father's face when he heard about Pearl Harbor, the despair that seeped down every wrinkle. It was the first time she'd seen him cry. He died two weeks later; she was sure his heart had broken.

Six days a week, she would tilt her head close to mine and I would ask her again about her life, our arms stained with grease from fingers to elbows. She told me how she had grown up across the street from her future husband. His name was Joseph. Their parents were best friends, and it seemed they were destined from birth to wed. When their mothers got tipsy on wine, they would titter about creating another holy couple—Mary and Joseph. Then they would cross themselves and ask God to forgive them while still giggling beside the fire. She told me how they got married in the town's only Catholic church, and how through the whole ceremony she could do nothing but study the stained-glass windows that had framed her life. She said she found God only in those greens, blues, yellows, reds, the little squares that told stories best when the sun came lancing through like His fingers to touch her cheeks. She read me the letters Joe wrote to her from France.

Six days a week, she would touch my arm when we took a break for lunch. I would make bread, and she would bring cured meat and hard cheese, and we would sit outside of the factory on a broken rail, making rough sandwiches and letting our hair dry in the sun. She would ask me how I made my bread, and I would tell her I lived in a French monastery and learned their secrets, and she would laugh. She asked where I was from, and I begged her instead for more stories of her Italian grandmother, sewing lace and singing songs of the sea. I helped her write letters back to Joe. She never knew what to say to him.

On Sunday, June 25, 1944, I was in her house. I had gone with her to church that morning, and I promised I would show her how I baked bread. We stood under her kitchen window, flour covering our arms from fingers to elbows, kneading while the sun shone through the pane like the fingers of God. A man in uniform knocked on her door, and with one government-sealed letter, her husband was dead.

I cradled Mary in my arms all night. She didn't cry. Joe had always left her feeling hollow. Their marriage was for their parents, maybe for him, but never for her. He had been mean while drunk and absent while sober. When he was drafted, she didn't cry. She kissed him goodbye. He touched her cheek. Then his absence was a part of her life, too. But now he would never be returning, and she felt like an empty pew, nothing but a promise of salvation and love. I held her against my chest. Her hair smelled like engine oil and rosewater.

In the dark, she told me all her secrets she couldn't confess in the factory and in the sun. She and Joe had a child the first year they were married, but when he was two he died of polio. She still mourned him. Joe had become so much more angry after the death of his son. He drank more. He blamed her. He blamed her for never having another. She took medicine her mother gave her to ensure she would not bear him another child. She felt like a bad Catholic. She felt like a strong woman. She wasn't sure she could be a good Catholic and still feel like herself. I slid my fingers into her hair and she listened to the sound of my heartbeat.

On Monday, June 26, 1944, I moved into her home.

Time makes some memories hazy, but I will never forget Mary in the kitchen, in the sunshine. I was the first one to initiate a kiss. She had pulled bread from the oven, and her smile left me breathless. I had to taste her lips. She kissed me back, and I felt such chills I forgot it was summer.

Living together brought so many questions she never asked me. Her fingers traced over my scars the first time we lay naked together, but she never asked. She would stare into my eyes, and I would see her look from one to the other, but she never asked why one was blue and one was green. The first time she found a bright white feather outside the bathtub, she looked at me and I feared she would call me angel. The only question she ever gave was why I never took off my gloves. I had cut off the fingertips so I could touch her, but I dared not let the skin of my palms ever come close to brushing her. I didn't know how to answer her question. I told her first I was hiding scars. She touched the parallel scars across my temple and said she didn't care about them. I begged her not to ask me again.

She didn't ask again.

On September 2, 1945, the war ended.

People flooded the streets, cheering, praising God, opening bottles of champagne. Mary and I held each other in front of the radio, squeezing so tight I feared we would pull the breath from each other. She ran her hands up my back, and for the first time she found the feathery base of my wing. I kissed her. I took her to the bedroom, and I told her everything. When I couldn't find the words to explain what I was—how could I, when even I don't know?—she traced every scar on my body, she closed my eyelids with her fingertips, and with both hands explored the wing that kept me forever off-balance and afraid of exposure. She came away with a feather, and started laughing. She laughed until she cried, but her smile never ceased. She said she could see why I had both angel and demon in me. I asked her why. She said an angel would never shed so many feathers for her to sweep.

Mary and I lived on that little street for fourteen years. I went to church with her every Sunday. We would lay a bible across our knees and hold hands underneath it. The light from the stained glass gave such life to her smile. I missed the smell of engine oil, but when the men returned, our jobs disappeared. Mary got the deed to her father-in-law's shop, where he would buy and sell goods. When he died, we became pawn brokers. The little street thrived. Roads were paved, commerce boomed, the city seemed to grow around us. Mary swept feathers from the pawn shop floor. I bought flowers for the mantle.

On May 13, 1959, Mary got sick.

For fourteen years, I had held her in my arms every night and watched her glorious dark hair earn silver streaks. For fourteen years, I held her face in my hands and watched the wrinkles form, first at the corners of her eyes from her perpetual smile, then around the curve of her mouth. For fourteen years, she looked in the mirror and laughed how I had ruined her girlish figure with warm bread. For fourteen years, I didn't change.

On December 23, 1959, I carried Mary into the church, curled up with her beneath the moonlight turned red by the stained glass, and cried into her hair. I felt her last breath against my cheek, the tangle of her fingers against my back, holding onto downy feathers as if they would carry her to a heaven I could never get to. She died with a whisper on her lips—she promised she would wait for me. I told her I could never reach her again. She said she would find me. I buried her outside of the church, where the morning sunlight hit first and lingered all day. I leave her bowls of rosewater for her hair.

Today, someone traded in their grandfather's toolkit. In it was a bottle of engine oil, the can so rusted it was a wonder it hadn't leaked. I took it to Mary, and I sat beside her in the sun. I told her when I go home, I'll make another batch of bread, but I'm still waiting on her to join me for lunch. I told her fifty-eight years was a long time for her to find me again. When I go home, and the bell chimes above the pawn shop, the sun lances through the front window like the fingertips of an unfair God.

I'm still waiting.

#writing #abomination #excerpt #abomination series #eve #honey why you gotta make me cry while writing

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meetthefatess · 4 years

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hello would you be able to give a quick summary of the parts of itg that are not in the album but are in the book? feel free to ignore this if you are not comfortable doing that because that's totally fair.

Oh sure! I’ll break it down by scene like they do in the script

(This actually ended up kind of long, I apologize, but there’s so many sweet moments between Jutta and the Hildegards even though it ended like it did)

Prologue: Includes Virga Ac Diadema & Death Ceremony

In between the two songs we get a conversation between Hildegard’s mother and Volmar, the monk she is given to & who helps entomb her. Mother explains that Hildegard is sick and hasn’t spoken since her sister died so the family can’t take care of her. Volmar shows the cell to Mother and assures her that Hildegard’s basic needs will be met (“she’ll be technically dead, but super comfortable.”)

Hildegard is a puppet at this time (played by Hannah Whitney) and does not speak.

In the Cell: includes If I Had a Knee & The Rule

Before both songs, Jutta and Hildegard (now in pieces) are alone. Jutta introduces herself and tries to get Hildegard to talk (“we’re going to play this game?”). That interaction leads directly into If I Had a Knee which is immediately followed by The Rule.

Years Pass I:

No songs! Just a short interlude that repeats some of the lyrics from the rule (essentially “watch wait try dig” & some other motifs set to music to represent time passing. If that makes sense?)

Bodies: includes I Am Hungry and Eve

The mouth portion! Essentially! Very cool part imo.

After I Am Hungry is sung, the Hildegards tell Jutta they aren’t feeling very well and start panicking when they realize they are bleeding (started their period) and tell Jutta they’re dying and she has to call for help. Mouth also says “I think I’m being punished. Agathe, my sister, she died from something like this” which is the first time Hildegard talks about Agathe.

Jutta calms them down and explains that they’ll be fine in a few days. She also talks about the first time it happened to her and how it got her out of going to a “stupid party” her family was holding. So she danced in her room by herself.

Jutta and Mouth connect about hating going to those parties and being paraded around, so Mouth says “maybe it’s not so bad to bleed” and Jutta Very Much disagrees. Jutta explains that bleeding means they are now a target to be hunted and that they have to stunt it (by not eating) for Hildegard to be in control. This leads into Eve.

Years Pass II:

No “songs”, similar short interlude to the first one showing the passage of time

Rituals: includes Ritual and Little Life

Eye portion!! One of my favourites too honestly

Ritual is sung as Eye and Hand help dig a hole. After the song Jutta walks over and praises Eye’s work. Eye accepts the compliment but is a little upset saying she doesn’t get the point of digging for no reason and asks Jutta why they’re doing it.

Jutta tells her they’re digging their grave and they all freak out. Eye says she thought they were making room for a garden (😭) and asks Jutta, “why am I digging my grave??” which leads into Little life.

After Little Life we get one of my FAVOURITE bits of dialogue where Eye says, “what can I lose if I’m already broken?” and Jutta goes “you can start with that attitude.” I just think it’s so fucking funny.

But anyways, Jutta says that Eye needs to watch for her weakness, the part of her that hates the work, and when she finds it, that’s what she’ll bury. Jutta says she buried her own “weakness; it’s unnecessary” which is our first reference to Shadow. This is where Jutta tells Eye not to blink (or sleep) anymore in order to gain control.

Years Pass III:

Same as the others!

The Past Intrudes: includes Sun Song, In The Green, and Burial

Hand part? Kind of?

Eye and Mouth are very tired and hungry and just want to take a break. Hand notices and convinces them to rest for a little while. Jutta sees them and asks what’s going on and Hand manages to convince her that they’ll be able to work better if they have a little time to refresh. Once Jutta relents, a beam of sunlight falls through the window and Sun Song starts.

Sun Song leads right into In The Green and we see Shadow on the stage for the first time.

After In The Green the Hildegards ask Jutta what happened and she gets defensive and denies anything did, saying she let them down when she let them rest (“You will forget all the nonsense you think you saw. You will get back to work, stay awake, shut your maw, and you’ll work even harder to make up for the time you lost.”)

Hand stands up for Eye and Mouth which starts her big argument with Jutta. Hand says Jutta’s methods aren’t working and at first Jutta seems desperate (“You will be whole and I will see the light.”) but gets very upset when Hand asks her what the light even means and how she knows if it’s real (“Jutta, what about sunlight? Can’t we go outside and see it? You said it helped you once, maybe that’s all you need!”) which uhhhh does not go over well. Their shouting leads into Burial and bro this part is so emotional.

Underground: includes Underground, Confession, Sun Song Reprise, Light Undercover, The First Verb, and O Viridissima Virga

Before Underground starts the Hildegards see Shadow and recognize her from In The Green. They ask her who she is and she says “I’m Jutta. I live here.” She says Jutta buried her and asks if Jutta buried them too. The Hildegards say they are broken too and that they can’t take back what they did.

This is also the first reference of Shadow as Jutta’s bones and how the Hildegards realize Jutta is still broken.

Underground starts and leads right into Confession. After Confession Shadow asks the Hildegards what Agathe said to her before she died, but tells them they don’t have to tell her if they don’t want to. This leads into Sun Song Reprise and the rest of this part is sung through.

Rebirth: includes Light Undercover/In The Green Reprise, The Ripening, and Forgiveness

The Hildegards make it back up to the cell with Shadow and find Jutta sitting in the middle of the room where she had in Sun Song instead of at her Prie-dieu (where she sits and prays between songs earlier in the show).

Jutta doesn’t notice Shadow at first and gets up and starts apologizing to Hildegard for yelling and says they can work slower and she can wait to see the light if it would help them.

The Hildegards are so excited about finding the light with Shadow they tell her she doesn’t have to wait and start singing Light Undercover/In The Green reprise to Jutta.

At the end of the Light Undercover portion when they start singing “You are the light” to Jutta she gets upset and says “How dare you tell me what I am”

Then the In The Green portion starts she pretends she doesn’t see Shadow until she starts panicking and saying “Stop it.” until the end of the song where Shadow says “I want you to see me,” to her (the parallel to Sigewize saying the same thing in Exorcism hits SO hard)

Right before The Ripening, after Jutta has made Shadow leave the stage, Jutta says “I should never have let you in here with me. I don’t need you.” to the Hildegards which OUCH. Jutta exits the stage (dies) which leads into Forgiveness.

The Other Tithe: includes Integration

We are back outside the cell and Volmar knocks after hearing the Hildegards singing. He talks to Hildegard (now just Hannah) through a window and tells her it’s been 30 years and that Richardis will be joining her and Jutta in the cell.

Hildegard tells him Jutta is dead but is excited when Volmar says the door is going to be opened. The door opens and Hildegard emerges. She says she doesn’t want to stay in there because it was Jutta’s choice not hers (Volmar: “Jutta was pious!” Hildegard: “Jutta was suffering!” Which is some more of my fav dialogue).

Hildegard convinces the Marchioness (Richardis’ mother) to let Richardis stay with her in the monestary instead of in the cell. The Marchioness and Volmar eventually agree which leads into Integration.

Exorcism: includes Exorcism:

Just the song!

Again very sorry this is so long and rambly, I just love this show sm & couldn’t bear to leave some of my fav pieces of dialogue out.

#in the green #it’s an ask!#masterpost tag #in the green musical

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theasatrucommunity · 7 years

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Asatru Holidays

For more info visit our website: http://www.theasatrucommunity.org/holidays

The month of January/Snow Moon

January 9 - Remembrance for Raud the Strong (a Norwegian chieftain whom Olaf Tryggvason killed for refusing to convert. The end of a metal horn was put down Raud's throat; a poisonous snake was then put into the horn and the other end heated to drive it along...).

January 14 - Thorrablot: This holiday began the Old Norse month of Snorri. It is still observed in Iceland with parties and a mid-winter feast. It is of course sacred to Thor and the ancient Icelandic Winter Spirit of Thorri. On this day, we should perform blot to Thor and invite the mighty Asaman to the feast.

DISTING / DISABLOT

January 31st

Also called 'Charming of the Plough/Plow' after the Anglo-Saxon spell and ceremony. Recorded as a regular feast only in Sweden, this blessing takes place January 31st. The name means 'Thing (assembly) of the Goddesses'. In Sweden, it was the first public moot/fair and market of the year; in Denmark, this is the time when the first furrows were ploughed in the field. This is a feast of new beginnings, at which the work in the fields for the growing season to come is blessed. For Charming of the Plough/Plow the equipment would be “charmed” as well as the field, and seed so that the crops would be in abundance. The Landvættir / land wights would be honored and thanked for their help in the planting, growing and eventual harvest.

The month of February / Horning

February 2 - Barri: This is the day we celebrate the wooing by Ingvi Freyr of the maiden Gerd, a symbolic marriage of the Vanir God of Fertility with the Mother Earth. It is a festival of fertility, the planted seed and the plowed furrow. For those of you who garden, this is the time to plant seeds indoors, to later be transplanted in the summer garden.

February 9 - Remembrance for Eyvind Kinnrifi (whom Olaf Tryggvason tortured to death when he refused to convert, by putting a metal brazier filled with burning coals on his belly).

February 14 - Folk etymology has led to this day being called 'Feast of Vali' in modern Asatru. Saint Valentine has no associations with Vali, nor to the thinly disguised heathen Lupercalia rites which take place on this day. Many Heathens still honor this God on February 14th.

The month of March / Lenting

March 9 - Day of Remembrance for Oliver the Martyr: He was an adherent of Asatru who persisted in organizing underground sacrifices to the Gods and Goddesses despite decrees by St Olaf the Lawbreaker forbidding such activities. Betrayed by an informer, he was killed by Olaf’s men while preparing for the Spring sacrifice in the village of Maerin Norway. Many other men whose names are lost to us were also killed, mutilated, or exiled for taking part in such sacrifices.

OSTARA / SUMMER FINDING

Spring Equinox near March 21st

Ostara is celebrated on the spring equinox around March 21. This feast marks the beginning of the summer half of the year. It is a celebration of fertility and was known as a fire festival (fire used to represent the sun). It is named after the goddess Ostara (Anglo-Saxon Eostre), who was such an integral part of heathen Germanic culture that the Christians stole and absorbed it as their own spring feast which was adapted for the Paschal holiday, and was converted to the Christian Easter. This was all done to get more heathens to convert to their Christian beliefs. Her name is related to the Germanic words for "east" and "glory"; she was the embodiment of the springtime and the renewal of life.

At the equinox, the sun rises directly in the east and sets directly in the west. In the northern hemisphere, before Ostara, the sun rises and sets more and more to the south, and afterwards, it rises and sets more and more to the north.

Spring equinox is the beginning of spring in the northern hemisphere. The holiday is a celebration the rejuvenation of the Earth, fertility and growth; traditional decorations include budding boughs, flowers, decorated eggs and the Rabbit motif. Mating season starts early in the spring especially for rabbits and birds. Male hares could be seen jumping around wildly and acting crazy. This is where the phrase “Crazy as a March hare” comes from.

Heathen folk customs associated especially with Ostara's feast include the painting and hunting of Easter eggs, which, according to German tradition, were brought or laid by the 'Easter Hare'. The Hare was the holy beast of Ostara, slain and eaten only at her blessing. In Germany, bakeries sell hare-shaped cakes at this time of year. Fires were also kindled on the hilltops at dawn, especially in Germany. Another common folk-custom which still survives in rural areas is the performance of plays at which Summer battles with Winter and drives him out, or at which an effigy embodying Winter is beaten, burned, or drowned.

Today, Ostara is seen as the feast to awakening the Earth, the gods and goddesses, and the human soul. Life becomes brighter and more joyful after the Ostara feast has been rightly held.

March 28 - Ragnar Lodbrok Day: Ragnar was one of the legends most famous Vikings. On this day in Runic Year 1145 he raided Paris. It just happened to be Easter Sunday. Today toast Ragnar and read from his Saga.

The month of April / Ostara

April 9 - Remembrance for Haakon Sigurdsson (Haakon the Great), one of the Jarls of Hladhir, a great defender of Heathenism in Norway during the brutal period of forced conversion to Christianity.

April 15 - Sigrblot/Sumarsdag: Today we celebrate the first day of Summer in the Old Icelandic calendar. In Iceland, it had strong agricultural overtones, but elsewhere in the Nordic world, it was a time to sacrifice to Odin for victory in the summer voyages and battles.

April 22 - Yggdrasil Day: On this day, we realize the great significance that the World Tree plays in our culture, heritage, and spirituality. It is from the World Tree that we came, and it shelters and nurtures the Asatru today, and will offer refuge come Ragnarok. Trees are the lungs as well as the soul of Midgard.

MAY EVE / WALUBURGIS NIGHT

April 31st - May 1st

Waluburgis Night (Valborgsmassoafton in Swedish, Vappu in Finnish, Walpurgisnacht in German) is a holiday celebrated on April 30, in Finland, Sweden and Germany.

It is named after a woman called "Valborg" (alternative spellings are "Walpurgis", "Wealdburg", or "Valderburger") born in 710 somewhere in Dorset / Wessex as a niece of Saint Boniface. Together with her brothers she later travelled to Württemberg, Germany where she became a nun and lived in the convent of Heidenheim, which was founded by her brother Wunibald. Valborg died on February 25, 779 and that day still carries her name in the Catholic calendar. However, she wasn't made a saint until May 1 in the same year, and that day carries her name in the Swedish calendar.

Viking fertility celebrations took place around April 30 and due to Valborg being declared a saint at that time of year, her name became associated with the celebrations. Valborg was worshipped in the same way that Vikings had celebrated spring and as they spread throughout Europe the two dates became mixed together and created the Valborg celebration.

Waluburgis is one of the main holidays during the year in both Sweden and Finland, alongside of Yule and Midsummer. One of the main traditions is to light large bonfires, and for the younger people to collect greens and branches from the woods at twilight, which were used to adorn the houses of the village. The expected reward for this task to be paid in eggs.

The tradition which is most spread throughout the country is probably singing songs of spring. The strongest and most traditional spring festivities take up most of the day from early morning to late night on April 30.

Historically the Walpurgisnacht is derived from heathen spring customs, where the arrival of spring was celebrated with bonfires at night. With the Christianization of Germany these old customs were condemned as heathen.

No true Germanic Heathen name survives for May Eve; the German Walpurgisnacht is derived from the well-documented Christian St. Walpurga. To avoid confusion, and because no better name survives, many Germanic heathens have replaced 'Walpurga' with the name of the second-century Germanic seeress 'Waluburg'. This festival marks the beginning of summer in Scandinavia.

In all the Germanic countries, it is a time when witches are particularly active, a belief memorialized in Goethe's description of the witch-moot on the Brocken (Faust, Act I) and Mussorgsky's "Night on Bald Mountain".

It is also the Germanic equivalent of Valentine's Day and a night of love: young men are expected to go out into the woods to gather green branches and wildflowers with which they decorate the windows of their beloveds. For both these reasons, Heathens consider Freya to be the ruler of this festival, as she is mistress of both witchcraft and love. The traditional 'Maypole' or 'May Tree' is also a part of the celebration of this feast; in Scandinavia, the 'May Tree' is carried about in processions, a practice which probably goes back to the Vanic fruitfulness-procession of earliest Heathen times. Fires were kindled on grave mounds or other high places on this night; it is traditional for folk to leap through the flames for luck. A fire kindled by friction (the 'need-fire') might also be used to protect cattle against illness or cure them.

The month of May / Merrymoon

May 1 - May Day: The first of May is a time of great celebration across Europe, as the fields get greener and the flowers decorate the landscape with colorful confusion. Freya turns her kindly face to us after the night of Walburg. Celebrate the birth of Spring and the gifts of Freya on this day.

May 9 - Remembrance for Gudrod of Gudbrandsdal, whose tongue was cut out by the Norwegian king 'St. Olaf' (not to be confused with Olaf Tryggvason despite the similarity of names and methods. St. Olaf, otherwise known as 'Olaf the Fat' or 'Olaf the Big-Mouthed', was canonized for his efforts to convert Norway by fear, murder and torture).

This Norwegian martyr spoke out against the tyranny of the Christian fanatic Tryggvason, and urged others to resist him. For this, the king had his tongue cut out.

May 20 - Frigga Blot: Today we rejoice in the warmth and splendor of Spring. A traditional time for a Kindred campout, perform blot to honor the AllMother and thank her for the health and vitality of the Family, Kindred and Tribe.

The month of June / Midyear

June 8 - Lindisfarne Day: On this day in the year 1043 Runic Era (793 CE) three Viking ships raided the Isle of Lindisfarne, officially opening what is the Viking Age.

June 9 - Remembrance for Sigurd the Dragon slayer (known in German versions of the story as Siegfried). Sigurd the Volsung: He is the model hero. His wooing of the Valkyrie Brynhild, the winning of the treasure of the Nibelungs, and slaying the dragon Fafnir, are priceless parts of our Asatru heritage.

MIDSUMMER

Summer Solstice near June 21st

Midsummer is the religious celebration held at the summer solstice. This feast usually falls around June 20-21. Midsummer-related holidays, traditions and celebrations are found in all the Germanic countries of Northern Europe. Midsummer's eve is considered the second greatest festival of the Germanic holy year, comparable only to the 12 days of Yule.

The Summer Solstice is the date with the longest day and hence with the shortest night. This date usually falls near June 21.

Certain celebrations take place on the evening of the summer solstice. Great roaring Bonfires, speeches, songs and dancing are most traditional. Folk traditions include the making of wreaths, the kindling of fires, the burning of corn dollies (human figure made of straw), and the adornment of fields, barns, and houses with greenery.

Midsummer as particularly a time to make blessings to Baldur. Model Viking ships are also sometimes made from thin wood, filled with small flammable offerings, and burned. Midsummer is the high point of the year, the time when deeds are brightest and the heart is most daring. This is the time when our Viking forebears, having their crops safely planted, sailed off to do battle in other lands. It is a time for action and risk, for reaching fearlessly outward.

Other traditional events include raising and dancing around a huge maypole. Before the maypole is raised, greens and flowers are collected and used to "may", the entire pole. Raising and dancing around a maypole to traditional music is primarily a fertility ritual.

The holiday is considered the time of the death of the Fair God of sunshine, Baldur and thus the turning point at which summer reaches its height and the Sun shines longest, but at the same time it is when the days will soon begin to shorten and the Earth is beginning its slow descent into winter again. For that reason, some groups prefer to honor the Goddess Sunna for she is the Sun that shines on crops during the summer months. It is important to note that midsummer is actually the first day of summer and not the middle.

One idea for midsummer is to remain awake all night and mark the shortest night of the year, then at sunrise to perform a "Greeting of Sunna" blot to her.

Another midsummer custom is the rolling of a flaming wagon wheel down a hill to mark the turning of the wheel of the year. If fire would otherwise be a hazard, one could parade a wheel covered with candles for similar effect.

The month of July / Haymoon

July 9 - Day of Remembrance for Unn the Deep Minded: Unn was a powerful figure from the Laxdaela Saga who emigrated to Scotland to avoid the hostility of King Harald Fairhair. She established dynasties in the Orkney and Faroe Islands by carefully marrying off her granddaughters. As a settler in Iceland she was considered one of the great chieftains of Iceland as she continued to exhibit all those traits which were her hallmark-strong will, a determination to control, dignity, and a noble character. In the last days of her life, she established a mighty line choosing one of her grandsons as her heir. She died during his wedding celebration, presumable accomplishing her goals and worked out her orlog here in Midgard. She received a typical Nordic ship burial, surrounded by her treasure and her reputation for great deeds.

July 29 - Stikklestad Day: Olaf the Lawbreaker (“St. Olaf”) was killed at the battle of Stikklestad on this date in the year 1280 R.E. “Olaf the Fat” acquired a reputation for killing, maiming, and exiling his fellow Norwegians who would not convert to Christianity, and for carrying an army with him in violation of the law to help him accomplish his oppression. Today honor the warriors who brought justice to the Lawbreaker.

The month of August / Harvest

FREYFEST / FREYFAXI / LAMMAS

August 1st (Or July 31st)

The name Lammas is taken from an Anglo-Saxon heathen festival which was forcibly Christianized. The name (from hlaf-mass, "loaves festival") implies, it is a feast of thanksgiving for bread, symbolizing the first fruits of the harvest.

Heathens mark the holiday by baking a figure of the God Freyr in bread, and then symbolically sacrificing and eating it.

Again, no purely Heathen name has survived for this festival, which takes place at the beginning of August, as this was the time when the first fruits of harvest were brought to the church as gifts; since this was taken over from Heathen custom. In English and German tradition, the First Sheaf was often bound and blessed as an offering to Heathen deities or the spirits of the field at the beginning of harvest, just as the Last Sheaf was at its end. English folk custom also includes the decoration of wells and springs.

In Heathenism today, the feast is especially thought of as holy to Freyr as a fertility God, Thor as a harvest God and his wife Sif, whose long golden hair can be seen in fields of ripe grain. The warriors who had gone off to fight at the end of planting season came back, loaded with a summer's worth of plunder and ready to reap the crops that had ripened while they were gone. Loaf-Feast is the end of the summer's vacation, the beginning of a time of hard work which lasts through the next two or three months, while we ready ourselves for the winter.

Freyfaxi marked the time of the harvest in ancient Iceland. Today the Asatru observe this date as a celebration of their harvest with blot to Freyr and a grand Feast from the gardens and the fields. Any grains harvested are made into breads and other seasonal fruits and vegetables are included in the feast. Preserving foods from the harvest is also done this time of year. Some groups gather to help each other preserve food for the winter.

August 9 - Day of Remembrance for Radbod: On this date, we honor Radbod a king of Frisia what was an early target of Christian missionaries. Just before his baptism ceremony, he asked the clergy what fate had befallen his ancestors who died loyal to Asatru. The missionaries replied that Radbod’s Heathen ancestors were burning in Hell-to which the king replied: “Then I will rather live there with my ancestors than go to heaven with a parcel of beggars.” The baptism was cancelled, the aliens expelled, and Frisia remained free.

The month of September / Shedding

September 9 - Day of Remembrance for Herman of the Cherusci: Few mortals have privileged to serve our Folk as did Herman, a leader of the tribe called the Cherusci. He defeated Varus’s three Roman Legions in 9 C.E. Herman was very aware of his duties not only as a member of his tribe but also as an Asaman - indeed the two were probably inseparable with him. Shedding is the ideal time to give him praise, because the crucial battle for which he is remembered was fought during this month.

FALL FEAST/HAUSTBLOT

Autumn Equinox near September 21st

Fall-feast is another joyous festival in the Asatru holy calendar, and falls on the Autumn Equinox, and is the beginning of autumn in the northern hemisphere. Also called Winter Finding - Fall fest represents the second harvest of the season.

Bonfires, feasting, and dancing played a large part in the festivities. Even into Christian times, villagers cast the bones of the slaughtered cattle upon the flames, cattle having a prominent place in the pre-Christian Germanic world. (Though folk etymology derives the English word "bonfire" from these "bone fires,") With the bonfire ablaze, the villagers extinguished all other fires. Each family then lit their hearth from the common flame, bonding the families of the village together.

Practically speaking it marked the beginning of the gathering of food for the long winter months ahead, bringing people and their livestock in to their winter quarters. To be alone and missing at this dangerous time was to expose yourself and your spirit to the perils of imminent winter. In present times, the importance of this part of the festival has diminished for most people. From the point of view of an agricultural people, for whom a bad season meant facing a long winter of famine when many would not survive until spring, it was paramount.

At the equinox, the sun rises directly in the east and sets directly in the west. In the northern hemisphere, before the autumnal equinox, the sun rises and sets more and more to the north, and afterwards, it rises and sets more and more to the south.

In ancient times, our European ancestors celebrated their Harvest Feast, and found many reasons to be thankful and to celebrate. Our people have done this for as long as we can trace our history. Although what our people have felt thankful for has certainly changed over the many years. Remember as you sit down this year with your family, you're participating in an ancient tradition. And it's a great time to figure out what you're thankful for or for your kindred to hold a blot of thanks.

The month of October / Hunting

October 8 - Day of Remembrance for Erik the Red: Remember the founder of Greenland, (exiled for murder he sailed west to Greenland) and father of Leif Erikson, the founder of Vinland. Erik remained loyal to Thor even when his wife left the Gods and refused to sleep with her Heathen husband.

October 9 - Day of Remembrance for Leif Erikson: this is a day that even the U.S. Government admits who should dedicate to the man who beat Columbus to the shores of Vinland by over 500 years.

October 14 - Winter Nights/Vetrablot: In the Old Icelandic Calendar, winter begins on the Saturday between the 11th and 17th. Winter Nights celebrates the bounty of the harvest and honors Freya and the fertility and protective spirits called Disir, that She leads (often the Disir are seen as our female ancestors). Give glory to Freya and pour a libation of ale, milk, or mead into the soil an offering to the Disir and the Earth itself.

WINTER NIGHTS / VETRNAETR

October 31st

Winter nights is held the 31st of October. Winter nights marked the last of the harvest and the time when the animals that were not expected to make it through the winter were butchered and smoked or made into sausage. The festival is also called "Elf-Blessing", "Dis-Blessing", or "Frey-Blessing", which tells us that it was especially a time of honoring the ancestral spirits, the spirits of the land, the Vanir, and the powers of fruitfulness, wisdom, and death.

It marks the turning of the year from summer to winter, the turning of our awareness from outside to inside. Among the Norse, the ritual was often led by the elder woman of a family - the ruler of the house and all within.

One of the MOST common harvest customs of the Germanic people was the hallowing and leaving of the "Last Sheaf" in the field, often for Odin and/or his host of the dead, though the specifics of the custom vary considerably over its wide range. The Wild Hunt begins after Winter nights, and the roads and fields no longer belong to humans, but to ghosts and trolls.

The Winter nights feast is also especially seen as a time to celebrate our kinship and friendship with both the living and our earlier forebears. It marks the beginning of the long dark winter time at which memory becomes more important than foresight, and when old tales are told and great deeds are toasted as we ready ourselves for the spring to come. It is a time to think of accomplishments achieved and those which have yet to be made. Winter nights also marks the beginning of a time of indoor work, thought and craftsmanship.

This festival and feast celebrated the accessibility, veneration, awe, and respect of the dead. This was also a time for contemplation. To the ancient Germanic people, death was never very far away, and it was viewed as a natural and necessary part of life. To die was not as much of a surprise or tragedy it is in modern times and death as not viewed as something "scary" or "evil". Of higher importance to the Germanic people was to live & die with honor and thereby live on in the memory of the tribe to be honored at this great feast.

Starting on this night, the great divisions between the worlds was somewhat diminished which can allow the forces of chaos to invade the realms of order, the material world conjoining with the world of the dead. This is when the Wild hunt began in which the restless spirits of the dead and those yet to be born walked amongst the living. The dead could return to the places where they had lived and food and entertainment were provided in their honor. In this way, the tribes were at one with their past, present and future.

(Another example of changing the Germanic Heathen calendar to convert more pagans to Christianity. Winter nights on October 31 became "All Hallows Eve" and November 1st was declared "All Saint's Day".)

The month of November / Fogmoon

November 9 - Remembrance for Queen Sigrid of Sweden. Wooed by Olaf Tryggvason, the relationship ended sharply when she told him that she had no intention of leaving the gods of her fathers and he slapped her across the face. She was the chief arranger of the alliance that brought him down.

November 11 - Feast of the Einherjar, in which the fallen heroes in Valhalla, and in the halls of the other Gods and Goddesses are remembered.

November 27 - Feast of Ullr and Skadi, Weyland Smith's Day celebrating the greatest of Germanic craftsmen.

The month of December / Yule

December 9 - Remembrance for Egill Skallagrimsson, Odin was his God, and the blood of berserkers and shape-shifters ran in his family. His lust for gold and for fame was insatiable. Yet the same man was passionately moved by the love of his friends and generously opened handed to those who found his favor. The same brain that seethed with war-fury also composed skaldic poetry capable of calming angry kings. Can it be by accident that Egil worshipped Odin, the great solver of paradoxes and riddles?

YULE / YULETIDE

Sunset of the Winter Solstice (approximately December 20th)

Yuletide is the pre-Christian Germanic Midwinter celebration. The name Yule is derived from the Old Norse HJOL, meaning 'wheel,' to identify the moment when the wheel of the year is at its lowest point, ready to rise again. Hjol has been inherited by Germanic and Scandinavian languages from a pre-Indo-European language level, and is a direct reference to the return of the Sun represented as a fiery wheel rolling across the heavenly sky. Yule celebrations and traditions at the winter solstice predate Christianity by thousands of years.

There are numerous references to Yule in the Icelandic sagas, and in other ancient accounts testifying to how Yule was actually celebrated. It was a time for feasting, giving gifts, drinking and dancing.

The Yule holiday is the most important and most popular of all the native Germanic spiritual celebrations. Yule marks the return of the God Baldur from the realm of Hel and the loosening of winters grip on the frozen Earth.

The commencement of the Yuletide celebration has no set date, but is traditionally 12 days long with the start of the festivities beginning at sunset on the winter solstice (In the northern hemisphere, this date usually falls on or around December 20th) This Germanic Heathen holiday was forcibly stolen by early Christian missionaries and became known as the "12 days of Christmas".

The first night of Yule is called Mothernight, when Frigga and the Disir (female ancestral spirits) are especially honored. Mothers Night is appropriately named, as it represents the rebirth of the world from the darkness of winter. This is the date with the shortest day and the longest night of the year. A traditional vigil from dusk to dawn is held on the Mothers night, to make sure that the sun will rise again and welcome her when it does.

Yule is the season at which the gods and goddesses are closest to Midgard: our deities were called 'Yule-Beings' by the Norse, and Odin himself is called Jólnir, the "Yule One" and is where the image of Santa Claus is derived from. Yule is also the season during which the dead return to earth and share the feasts of the living. Elves, trolls, and other magical beings roam freely, and must either be warded off or invited to come in friendship and peace. Yule is the time of the year at which the Wild Hunt - Odin's host of the restless dead - rides most fiercely; it is dangerous to meet them, but gifts of food and drink are left out for them, for they can also bring blessings and fruitfulness.

Yule is a time for dancing, feasting and family. Sun wheels are sometimes burned as part of folk festivities. It was the practice in Germanic Heathen times to swear oaths on a hallowed boar. This survived in Swedish folk-custom; a large boar-shaped bread or block of wood covered with pigskin was brought forth at Yule for this purpose through the beginning of this century. Boar-cakes are used for Yule-oaths by most Heathens today. Especially meaningful oaths were also sworn on the horn or cup while drinking at the Yule-feast. The 'New Year's Resolution' is a diminished form of the holy Yule Oath. The fir or pine-tree which is carried into the house and decorated is an ancient Germanic custom, brought to America by German immigrants.

The tree on which holy gifts are hung was Heathen in origin representing Yggdrasil. In Germany, those who kept the old custom hid it inside so the church authorities wouldn’t notice, but in England and Scandinavia, the trees and various spirits received their gifts outside. In those latter countries, it was a candlelit and ribbon-bedecked wreath, the ring of which may have reflected the oath-ring or the Yule sun-wheel, that was traditionally brought in to decorate the home. The Yule-log is also an old Heathen custom. This log was supposed to burn all night during the longest night of the year to symbolize life lasting even in the time of greatest darkness, its fire rekindling the Sun in the morning. Its ashes or pieces were used as protective amulets during the rest of the year. Those who lack large fireplaces often use 24-hour candles instead.

The 12 days of Yule is largely devoted to baking cakes, cookies, and breads and making the unique decorations which beautify every Heathen home at this holiday season. There are, for example, intricate paper cutouts to make and put on the walls; stars, wooden toys, straw Goats and Wild Boars to hang on the Yule tree. The straw animals, which are still widely found throughout Sweden, are intimately related to ancient Norse Germanic mythology; originating in legends of the sacred animals of the gods; the Goats of Thor (Yule Goat - Julbock in Swedish), and the Wild Boar of Freyr (Yule Boar - Julgris or Julegris - also Swedish).

Most of the symbols associated with the modern holiday of Christmas (such as the Yule log, Santa Claus & his Elves, Christmas trees, the Wreath, the eating of ham, holly, mistletoe, the star...) are derived from traditional northern European Heathen Yule celebrations. When the first Christian missionaries began trying to force the Germanic peoples to Christianity, they found it easier to invent a Christian version for popular feasts such as Yule and allow the celebrations to go on largely unchanged, rather than trying to suppress them. Halloween and Easter have been likewise assimilated from northern European Heathen religious festivals.

December 31 - Twelfth Night: This culminates the traditional twelve days of Yule. Each day of which represents a month of the preceding year in miniature. Reflect on the past year. Take stock and lay a course for the future. Make New Year’s resolutions in the old way by swearing your oath on a sun wheel of evergreen, Yule wreath, or on your Hammer.

Sources:

https://stonecircles.wordpress.com/about/my-asatru/asatru-calendar/

http://odinsvolk.ca/O.V.A.%20-%20SACRED%20CALENDER.htm

http://www.ravenkindred.com/RBHolidays.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%81satr%C3%BA_holidays

https://www.asatru.org/holidays.php

#The Asatru Community #TAC #Asatru #Heathen #Pagan #Norse #Norse Pagan #Mythology #Norse Mythology #Norse Culture #Holidays #Holy Days

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