Myth

Calendar change-over eve…

Angela PorterLeave a comment

The old to the new

Well, the end of the calendar year, and the astronomical year if the Winter Solstice is seen as the end of one cycle and the start of the next, has come with a pile of revelations from a friend and a series of bangs that have released some inner demons and tears and uncovered an emptiness and knotted-ness in my gut area.

I’m pleased for my friend, don’t get me wrong.  At last they are taking the little yet huge step they need to take to release them from a situation that is untenable for them and into a new phase of their life’s journey.  I wish them happiness and joy and love.  I worry that they are chasing a rainbow, a dream that will not live up to reality, they’ll find the grass isn’t greener, but I know that they’ll find themselves progressing forward in a way they couldn’t where the currently are at.

Their excitement, fear, trepidation, hope and all the other things their going through has stirred up some ‘stuff’ within me that needs to be worked on and examined, which are, in no particular order:

  • Job and Career – Teaching is no longer healthy for me and though I find pleasure and satisfaction in some areas of the job, increasingly I’m finding it harder and harder to cope with other aspects of it.  I need to look at myself and what I can offer in terms of being an employee and what I need from a workplace in order to feel appreciated, valued, successful and that I am achieving good and truly helping people.  What kind of career I want, I don’t know.  Maybe training as a hypnotherapist will lead me along the way.  However, I do know I need to identify what I’d like to do, and that starts with what I can do and so on.
  • Relationships – I’ve been single for, gosh, thirteen and a half years now.  Along the way I’ve had many experiences placed along the spectrum of good to absolutely goddam awful.  I’ve felt time and time again the hurt of rejection and the blow it delivers to my self-esteem, self-respect and so on, and of course I realise that I expected nothing else.  Well, it’s about time that changed and it’s time for me to learn about relationships…big step for me.  How I do this, I don’t know, but it will start with me looking at myself honestly at the qualities I have, good and not so good, and come to accept and care about myself.
  • Friendships – I have a small number of very good friends, but learning to ask for help and accepting it when it is given is … a big hurdle for me.  I’ve had to be strong and independent for so long, to prove I can do it, that admitting I can’t is a big thing.
  • Creativity – I do not do enough to develop my writing skills and to weave stories.  I doubt my ability to do this.  I fear plagiarising, being unoriginal, being boring or trite.  I fear failure (damn that ultra-perfectionist part of me that doesn’t recognise when something is good enough).  I feel a sense of being overwhelmed when I think about telling a tale.  The result is I do nothing.  I also am lacking inspiration in art, finding myself doing the same kind of thing over and over and over …

The common threads running through all of this involve me learning to love myself by knowing who I am and to accept myself for this, warts and all.  I need to raise my self-esteem, my confidence, to be brave enough to start something.  Above all else, I need to find the courage to be brave enough to share something of myself with others.

To follow tradition or not?

This year, more than at any other time, I’ve found the traditions and the significance of events more puzzling and confusing.

The rational scientist in me recognises that time is a continuous flow, the only markers on time are the ones we place there so that we can agree on when we are talking about and the meaning we attach to those markers is manufactured to satisfy a need for predictable events in our lives, to bring some kind of order to what appears to be an otherwise random and chaotic existence.

Then the more spiritual aspect of me kicks in and says that it’s OK to do this, to mark the various points on the wheel of the year, the various events that we celebrate, the things we give meaning to.  They connect us together, for we are all connected, not just to all other human beings, not just to all life on Earth, but to the very stuff the Earth and, indeed, the Universe is made out of, the energy that constantly flows round and round.

We are not disconnected from the cycles that we can observe on this planet.  We may rationalise that they are caused by scientific laws, that they have no meaning.

However, I’m coming to realise that they do have meaning.  They bring us together and remind us that we are not separate, that what one of us does impacts on the whole, to a greater or lesser degree.  By honouring the traditions we connect to the patterns that are stored in the universal consciousness for humans have been honouring the same observed patterns and events over many, many generations.  It’s a way of honouring our forebears, of connecting to the present day, and of speaking to the future too.

It’s important, however, to decide if the particular traditions or observances fit in with your own philosophy, why you celebrate in the way you do, and to recognise that it is perfectly acceptable to change them as you grow and develop as a person, and not to just follow them blindly because you have always done them.  It is, of course, perfectly acceptable to create traditions of  your own too.

It may be that because I lead a very solitary existence, traditions celebrated by oneself have not really had any particular meaning, or have changed as my spiritual philosophy has grown and developed over the years.  Perhaps it is important that I find which traditions, which celebrations have meaning to me, and develop ways of observing them that lets me understand where they have come from, the meaning they have for me at this time, and how they will impact on the future.

Of course, I’m not sure if all of that made any sense at all!  Sometimes I need to get it out of me by writing and mithering and wittering on.

Words and Art Combined

Angela Porter4 Comments

Earth

Earth © Angela Porter 2011

Watercolours, pen and ink on cartridge paper.  24cm x 18cm.

I completed this picture as a kind of experiment.  A dear friend of mine suggested that instead of filling the curlicues of my current very spiral art with more curlicues and spirals that I should add words instead.  I have lots of ideas of what to do with this, perhaps, eventually.  But this was the first of it’s kind.

I wanted to put together a painting that had words and symbols and images that go with the esoteric element of earth, but the words I chose haven’t quite worked out.  However, I am pleased with the apple/wheat/leaf border and the ivy border too.  I’m also pleased that I left empty space, not because I got fed up of this, but because I felt it was all finished and balanced.

This will be an idea I come back to, that of the four elements I mean.  Words have been important in creating my latest pieces of art.

PF Summer Camp, Late May Bank Holiday Weekend 2011

PF Summer Camp 2011 © Angela Porter 2011Watercolours, metallic watercolours, Zig Art and Graphic pens, Rotring pens with black ink on watercolour paper.  9cm x 18cm.

Last weekend, I gave a talk entitled ‘Death and disposal in the Bronze Age’.  In the talk, I concentrated, it turned out, on how the landscape in which the monuments are set can and other factors such as time of day, season or weather have an effect upon how people experience the site.  I drew on the work of archaeologists such as George Nash and Ann Woodward’s book ‘British Barrows‘ who discuss such things.  I have found it a fascinating, if a little brief study by myself, but I already have books on order for when I have the time to dig deeper into such matters.

I mention this because it may be that the barrows could have acted as ‘mnemonics’ for reciting the history of the clan who were the barrow-wrights.  Terry Pratchett and Jacqueline Simpson, in ‘The Folklore of Discworld’ write:

“The landscape is full of stories.”

What I set out to do in this particular painting was to put words in that act as memories of the weekend, especially the ‘bardic circle round the camp fire’ in the evening, where there were songs and stories and friendly banter and chatter.  This is something I have never done, the camp fire thing that is.  I loved it and want to take part in one again.  I may even be able to take my flute and play something, or tell a story; I think the informal and non-judgemental nature of such a gathering would allow me to do this.

I wander off topic here.  The colours and shapes I chose to represent the flow of ideas, talk, music as well as an opening of the mind and an igniting of certain things for me.  I am really quite pleased with how it has turned out, and it was another experiment as I used Zig Art and Graphic Pens to draw the design with; they are water soluble and bled into the watercolour paints.  It has turned out to be a happy accident, as I’m pleased with the colours in places which give an aged feel to the work, kind of like an old, hand coloured etching.  This is how a lot of my work tends to be, but I really want more vibrant colours so that black doesn’t swamp them.

Time

Time 1 © Angela Porter 2011Watercolour, Zig pens and Rotring pens with black ink on cartridge paper.  7.5cm x 15cm.

This was an experiment, again.  I started it last week and left it for a few days to ponder what to do with it.  The colours I had used seemed quite insipid and I wasn’t at all sure where it was going.  The purchase and subsequent playing with the Zig pens a couple of days ago gave me another technique to use in my art, and in this case it’s worked out well, I think.  Things aren’t as irritatingly perfect as my work has been in the past, but I think that adds something to the work.  I like the way the Zig pens add depth and intensity of colour, while being able to be washed out with a damp to wet brush to very subtle shades.  I feel I’m going to love using them in this way!

The adage ‘Time heals all wounds’ is, of course, not entirely true.  There are some wounds that never heal, unless it’s the final journey to whatever awaits us after this earthly existence.  I do think the words are particularly pertinent to me at this point in my personal progress.  I have been having counselling for a number of years now to help me heal the emotional wounds of the past and the damage it has done to my self-image.  It’s a long, slow process it seems.  I often feel guilty for talking so long, to be going round and round in circles, and there have been moments when we almost believed it was time for me to cut loose, then something happens to knock me back a few steps.  As I’ve been told, you can’t heal the damage done over 40-something years overnight, it takes time to undo the learned concepts and to replace them with new ones.  I am getting there, though, even though some days, or weeks, I feel I’m back to where I was.   Art helps me to relax, de-stress to bring joy into my life, and it’s a great re-balancer for me.  I am so grateful I have discovered this gift, and that I have people who encourage me to explore new ways, as I’m still not able to be self-motivating or to find the inspiration that sometimes I lack.

Flowers, folklore and folk-medicine

Angela PorterLeave a comment

Our Fathers of Old

Excellent herbs had our fathers of old –
Excellent herbs to ease their pain –
Alexanders and Marigold,
Eyebright, Orris and Elecampane –
Basil, Rocket, Valerian, Rue
(Almost singing themselves they run)
Vervain, Dittany, Call-me-to-you –
Cowslip, Melilot, Rose of the Sun.
Anything green that grew out of the mould
Was an excellent herb to our fathers of old.

Wonderful tales had our fathers of old,
Wonderful tales of the herbs and the stars –
The Sun was Lord of the Marigold,
Basil and Rocket belonged to Mars.
Pat as a sum in a division it goes –
(Every herb had a planet bespoke) –
Who but Venus should govern the Rose?
Who but Jupiter own the Oak?
Simply and gravely the facts are told
In the wonderful books of our fathers of old.

Wonderful little, when all is said,
Wonderful little our fathers knew.
Half their remedies cured you dead –
Most of their teaching was quite untrue –
“Look at the stars when a patient is ill.
(Dirt has nothing to do with disease),
Bleed and blister as much as you will,
Blister and bleed him as oft as you please.”
Whence enormous and manifold
Errors were made by our fathers of old.

Yet when the sickness was sore in the land,
And neither planets nor herbs assuaged,
They took their lives in their lancet-hand
And, oh, what a wonderful war they waged!
Yes, when the crosses were chalked on the door –
(Yes, when the terrible dead-cart rolled!)
Excellent courage our fathers bore –
None too learned, but nobly bold
Into the fight went our fathers of old.

If it be certain, as Galen says –
And sage Hippocrates holds as much –
“That those afflicted by doubts and dismays
Are mightily helped by a dead man’s touch,”
Then, be good to us, stars above!
Then, be good to us, herbs below!
We are afflicted by what we can prove,
We are distracted by what we know
So-ah, so!
Down from your heaven or up from your mould
Send us the hearts of our Fathers of old!

Rudyard Kipling

Yes, there were some dreadful examples of medicine in days long ago, yet there were also many examples of folk-medicine that did work and that we use today.

For example research in biomedical Egyptology shows that many were effective and that some 67% of the cures recorded in various papyri complied with the 1973 Edition of the British Pharmaceutical Codex. They used honey, a natural antibiotic, to dress wounds and treat throat irritations, for instance, and aloe vera was used to treat blisters, burns, ulcers and skin diseases. They also used mouldy bread to treat infections; one of the moulds that grows on bread is penicillin!

There are many more examples of cures that worked and the active ingredients are used in modern medicine. Indeed, there is a branch of science called ethnobotany or ethnopharmacology that studies folk-medicines with the hope of finding new and active ingredients to treat the plethora of diseases still suffered by humanity.

Regardless of whether they worked or not, reading and researching about the uses of plants and other materials in folk medicine as well as the theories our fathers of old had about illness is something that I find fascinating, when I have the time to dig and delve into it. I find lots of interesting tales about where the names of plants come from, so I learn more about etymology, history, folklore, legend and myth. I get to look at photographs and illustrations of the plants used, so widening my knowledge and experience of art and so inspiring me to create my own. One day, the tales may even help to inspire me to do my own creative writing, maybe poetry, about all the wonderful lore that surrounds our most familiar plants, crystals, rocks, horseshoes, and so on.

Mistletoe and Ivy

Angela PorterLeave a comment

Well, as I’d done some notes about holly previously I thought it would be a good idea to complete the trio of plants most associated with Yuletide/Christmas/Winter festivities.

Mistletoe (Viscum album)

Early antiquaries thought all types of Christmas foliage came from that used by the Romans at Saturnalia, which was a festival that originated in Greece.  However, once mistletoe became especially popular, the more picturesque theory of Druidic origin gained ground.  Pliny the Elder (AD 23-79) recorded the following about mistletoe:

The Druids hold nothing more sacred than mistletoe and a tree on which it is growing, provided it is Valonia oak … Mistletoe is, however, rather seldom found on Valonia oak, and when it is discovered it is gathered with great ceremony, and particularly on the sixth day of the Moon (for which these [Gallic] trips constitutes the beginning of the months and years) … Hailing the Moon in a native word that means ‘healing all things’, they prepare a ritual sacrifice and banquet beneath a tree and bring up two white bulls, whose horns are bound for the first time on this occasion.  A priest arrayed in white vestments climbs the tree and with a golden sickle cuts down the mistletoe, which is caught in a white cloak.  Then finally they kill the victims, praying to God to render his gift propitious to those on whom he has bestowed it.  They believe that mistletoe given in drink will impart fertility to any animal that is barren, and that it is an antidote for all poisons.

Steve Roud in ‘Oxford Dictionary of Plant-lore’ comments that ‘largely as a result of this passage, more nonsense has been written about mistletoe than any other British plant’.  It is responsible for more disinformation in British folklore than almost any other.   Whatever its merits in itself, it has been repeated over and over and has been used for many flights of fancy about Druids and the ancient origins of our customs and beliefs.

Because of its Druid and pagan associations, mistletoe is traditionally banned from churches, according to the very influential John Brand in 1849.  However, recent research has shown he was wrong, at least for some regions such as Staffordshire where churchwardens’ accounts record repeated purchases of mistletoe.  In 1648 is first listed among the many evergreens decking churches and homes at Christmas by Herrick in Hesperides, no 893.   From the Middle Ages on, the use of holly and ivy in this way has been well recorded.

Mistletoe became important in the late 18th century as part, and soon to be the most valued part, of the elaborate kissing boughs/bushes that were hung up in farmhouses and kitchens, of which kissing under the mistletoe was first recorded in 1813.  There were rules as to when it must be taken down, which varied regionally.  Why mistletoe was included was never recorded, and why kissing beneath it became popular is never fully explained, though it is commonly attributed to it being a Druidic/pagan fertility plant.  This has been stated again and again that it has become ‘The Truth’ as opposed to ‘the truth’.

‘Pliny was writing about the Gauls, not the Brits.  We do now know where or from whom he got his information about the Druids.  Classical authors, however reliable they may be in other respects, are at their most unreliable when describing foreign people, their lands and their beliefs.  There is no hint anywhere else to support Pliny’s report.  There is no other mention of the sacred nature of mistletoe in Britain until antiquarians began reading and believing Pliny’s report some 1500 years later.  Even if Pliny’s report was accurate, there is no evidence that the practice was continued into historical times or had any influence on later lore.  Modern mistletoe beliefs are reported almost exclusively from England, and not the Celtic areas where was are told the Druidic traditions continue to have resonance.’ (4)

Nordic Mistletoe Myths

There may be a link to ancient Nordic myths too.  Mistletoe, apparently, was the plant of peace in Scandinavian countries and if enemies met beneath it, they would lay their arms down and keep a truce until the next day.  Perhaps it was this ancient Norse custom that led to the one of kissing beneath the mistletoe?

This tradition, however, went hand in hand with the story of  the death and resurrection of Baldur, one of the most intriguing of the Norse myths, and perhaps it is this that is the start of the tradition of mistletoe as a ‘kissing plant’.

Baldur’s mother was the Norse goddess, Frigga. When Baldur was born, Frigga made each and every plant, animal and inanimate object promise not to harm Baldur.  However, Frigga overlooked the mistletoe plant — and the mischievous god of the Norse myths, Loki, took advantage of this.  Always the prankster, Loki tricked one of the other gods into killing Baldur with a spear made from mistletoe.  This god was Hoder, who was Baldur’s blind brother.  Loki guided Hoder’s hand, and Baldur’s heart was pierced by the spear.  The death of Baldur, a vegetation deity in the Norse myths, brought winter to the world, although the gods did eventually restore Baldur to life, but not before Frigga’s tears had become the white berries of the mistletoe.   After this, Frigga pronounced the mistletoe sacred, ordering that from now on it should bring love rather than death into the world.  Happily complying with Frigga’s wishes, any two people passing under the plant from now on would celebrate Baldur’s resurrection by kissing under the mistletoe.Mistletoe etymology

While the romantic traditions woven around mistletoe give us a feeling that the plant is all dreamy and lovey-dovey, it’s interesting to ponder the etymology of ‘mistletoe’.  The second century Anglo-Saxon name for it was misteltan, with  mistel meaning dung and tan meaning twig.  It was believed at that time that the plant grew directly from the birds’ dung rather than the seed that passed through its digestive system.

Kissing and love

  • When a kiss is exchanged beneath the mistletoe, a berry should be removed.  Once all the berries have gone, no more kissing that year!
  • If an unmarried woman is not kissed beneath the mistletoe, she will not marry in the coming year.
  • If a couple in love kiss under the mistletoe, it is considered a promise to marry.

After Christmas is over …

  • Mistletoe should always be kept until the Christmas following.  It is believed around the Chudleigh district that it will stop the house from being struck by lightning.  At Ottery they say it will ensure that the house will never be without bread.
  • A piece of mistletoe must be kept to be burned under the Shrove Tuesday pancakes.
  • A piece of mistletoe must be kept from one year to the next because while mistletoe stays in the house love also stays.
  • A sprig kept hanging on the beam until next Christmas will keep the witches out/keep evil spirits way/goblins away.

My own mistletoe tradition

I must admit that I keep a bunch of mistletoe hanging in my front room at home.  I change it, usually, on the Winter Solstice, burning the old out doors.  I use a blowtorch to set fire to the old bunch and it burns fantastically well!  I make sure I stand upwind of the fumes too.

Why do I do this?  Well, it’s become a tradition for me at this time of year.  It symbolises the protection around my home that exists to keep bad away – maybe not ghosties and ghoulies and things that go bump in the night, but to keep people of ill intent out, to neutralise any ill intent sent my way, to create an environment of peace and harmony and love.  It seems to work … perhaps simply because it is a physical symbol of my intent to have such an environment around me, a safe environment to retire to when the world outside is just too much to cope with and I need quiet time to rest and recuperate.  Burning the old symbolises letting go of the past years’ troubles and worries and upsets and so on, and the fire purifies the darker elements that the mistletoe has symbolically soaked up, returning them to the light.

Whether you believe it or not, it works for me!

Ivy (Hedera helix)

Considered by some to be unlucky to have in the house at any time other than Christmas.

Ivy leaves formed the poets crown in ancient times, as well as the wreath of Bacchus, to whom the plant was dedicated most probably because leaves of ivy were bound around the forehead to prevent intoxication.

    Greek priests presented a wreath of ivy to newly-weds as a symbol of fidelity.

      English taverns used to display a sign of an ivy bush over their doors to advertise the excellence of the liquor served within – ‘Good wine needs no bush’.

        References

        1. Steve Roud, ‘Oxford Dictionary of Plant-lore’
        2. Jacqueline Simpson and Steve Roud, ‘ A Dictionary of English Folklore’
        3. Ronald Hutton ‘The Stations of the Sun’
        4. Steve Roud, ‘Penguin Guide to the Superstitions of Britain and Ireland’
        5. The Mistletoe Pages
        6. Norse Myths and Mistletoe at About.com
        7. The Truth vs. the truth – an old Wyrdsmithing blog engry
        8. BBC’s h2g2 website

        Winter Solstice 2010

        Angela PorterLeave a comment

        All the very best of the Winter Solstice greetings and wishes to all!

        The exact point of Solstice is at 23:38 UTC, which is when the Sun enters Capricorn.   In the Northern Hemisphere, this marks the longest night and also the gradual returning of light to the world as the days gradually lengthen once again.

        What makes this year’s Winter Solstice extra special is that there is a Lunar Eclipse fall on the same day, for the first time since 1638.  Sadly, it was not possible for me to view the Lunar eclipse as the skies were cloudy here, and no doubt the hills would have obscured my view of the Moon in any case.

        In my immediate environment, in the Northern Hemisphere, nature is in it’s annual dormancy and the return of the light from this day on is a reason enough to celebrate the continuation of nature’s seasonal cycle.  With the snow still covering the ground, life having slowed down due to the freeze here in the UK, there’s an even bigger sense of the big sleep of nature.

        The Winter Solstice had, no doubt, great significance to prehistoric people, no doubt linked to the uncertainty of seeing life through the harsh winter months.  Evidence for this remains in the apparent alignments of Neolithic and Bronze Age sites such as Stonehenge (Winter Solstice 2010 at Stonehenge) in England and Newgrange (Winter Solstice at Newgrange 2010) in Ireland to astronomical events such as the Winter Solstice.  The lives of these people depended very much upon the seasons and weather and it must have been important for them to mark the cycles of the seasons in some way, just as we do still.

        The Feast of Yule was a pre-Christian festival observed in Scandinavia.  At this time of year, fires were lit to symbolise the heat, light and life-giving properties of the returning Sun.  A Yule log was brought in and burned in the hearth in honour of the god Thor.  A piece of the log was kept to act as both a good luck token for the year and to act as kindling from which the next year’s Yule log was lit.  Ashes from the log were also collected to be spread on the fields to ensure a good harvest that year.

        There are many festivals coinciding with the Winter Solstice around the world, as can be easily read about on the web – see for instance Wikipedia.

        How will I be spending the day?  Well, not as I would in years past.  Normally, I’d replace my bundle of mistletoe at dawn, burning last year’s old bunch.   This will have to wait for a day or two until I can get out and about!   The mistletoe hung in the home acts as a protection against negative thoughts and deeds.  Burning it releases and purifies that which it has absorbed over the year.  Part of the day will be spent in meditation/quiet thought/reflection on the past year and particularly upon the progress I have made in achieving goals in life and giving thanks for all those people and circumstances which have aided me in my progress, whether they realised it or not, and whether I realised it or not at the time! Sometimes, the people and situations that vex us most are responsible for the greatest progress in our personal development.

        How will you spend the day?

        1. Guardian – Article about the coincidence of Solstice and the Lunar Eclipse
        2. National Geographic – Article about the coincidence of the Solstice and the Lunar Eclipse
        3. Winter Solstice at Time and Date.com
        4. December Solstice Traditions at Time and Date.com
        5. Winter Solstice on Wikipedia
        6. Yule on the BBC website

        Holly

        Angela PorterLeave a comment

        English Holly (Ilex aquifolium)

        Holly © Angela Porter 19 Dec 2010

        Etymology

        The word holly comes from the Old English ‘holegn‘ which became the Middle English ‘holin‘, which Tolkien fans will recognise – Hollin was the name among men for the land of Elves that thrived to the west of the Mines of Moria, known as Eregion, and it was famous for its holly trees.

        In Welsh holly is called celyn.  In Terry Pratchett’s ‘Soul Music’, Imp Y Celyn is the lead singer of The Band With Rocks In

        Folk names for holly hulver bush, holm, hulm, holme chase, holy tree and Christ’s thorn.

        Holly decorations

        Holly is one of the most striking objects in the winter woodland with its glossy leaves and clusters of brilliant scarlet berries. It is very much connected with Christmas in many Western cultures. From very early days, it was gathered in great quantities for Yuletide decorations, both of the church and the home. The old Christmas Carols are full of references to holly.

        Christmas decorations are said to derive from a Roman custom that involved sending gifts to their friends during the festival of Saturnalia which occurred in mid-December. Strenae, twigs of holly or laurel with sweets fastened to them, were a popular gift. Boughs of holly and other evergreens were also used as decorations. Evergreens are symbolic, of course, of enduring and renewed life as well as a way to encourage the return of vegetation at the end of Winter.

        The Christians were quick to adopt holly for their own celebrations, with the holly representing the crown of thorns that Jesus wore, the berries symbolising drops of blood. A medieval legend asserts that the holly sprang up from the places where Christ walked, hence the name Christ’s Thorn.

        Old church calendars have Christmas Eve marked ‘templa exornantur‘ (churches are decked), and the custom is as deeply rooted in modern times, whether you celebrate Christmas, Yule, the Unconquered Sun, or the return of the light, as it was in either pagan or early Christian days.

        Childhood memories of ‘trimming up’.

        As a small child, I can remember going to bed on Christmas Eve to an ordinary home.  Generally, we were in bed early –  6pm on a school night, 7pm any other night.  On Christmas Eve, my parents used to keep us up until gone 7pm just to try to get us all to sleep through the night – I am one of six children, the second oldest.  I’d be blamed for everything, including the indecently early hour of waking on Christmas morning.  We’d make our way downstairs, bags of gifts in hand, and we’d be amazed!  The stairwell was lit by twinkling fairy lights.  The front room was sparkly with shimmering tinsel, metallic versions of fancy paper-chains, and the lights, baubles, lametta and tinsel on the tree.

        As a child this was magic!  It was, in many ways, the best part of the day.  We were always told that the the fairies that lived in the central heating did the work of decorating, but as we grew up, we took our places to help the ‘rents decorate, as well as taking part in the toast at 10pm to members of the family past and present.  Even when we were all young adults, the house was never decorated before Christmas Eve, and even when we all had moved away to our own homes we still returned on Christmas Eve to decorate for the ‘rents.  I still believe the rest of the family do so now.

        Holly superstitions

        It is said to be unlucky to cut a branch from a holly tree; it should be pulled off instead.

        Old stories advise people to take holly into their homes to act as a shelter for elves and fairies who could join mortals at this time without causing them harm. However, it must be entirely removed before Imbolc Eve (31st January) as just one leaf left within the house would result in bad luck.

        In Somerset, it was considered unlucky for holly to be brought into the house before Christmas Eve, and then only brought in by a man.

        In Herefordshire and Worcestershire, a small piece of holly which had adorned a church at Christmas time was regarded as very lucky to hang up in your home, even though the domestic decorations had to be burned as usual.

        Pliny tells us that if holly is planted near a house or a farm it would repel poison, deflect lighting and protect from witchcraft.

        Pythagoras noted that the flowers would cause water to freeze and if the wood, if thrown at any animal, would cause the animal to return and lie down by the wood, even if the wood did not touch the animal.

        A good crop of berries on holly is still said to be a sign that a hard winter is on the way.

        Holly uses

        Holly wood is heavy, hard and white-ish and it was used for the white chess pieces, ebony being used for the black.

        In the 1800s, weaving looms had holly wood spinning rods; holly was less likely to snag the threads being woven as it is a very dense wood and can be sanded very smooth.

        Peter Carl Faberge used holly cases for his famous Easter Eggs, as well as small objects such as hand seals.

        Holly is also used for veneering.

        1. www.wikipedia.com
        2. www.botanical.com
        3. homepage.ntlworld.com/blackbirdhollins/articles/Holly%20tree.htm
        4. “English Folklore” J Simpson and S Roud

        Comets

        Angela Porter2 Comments

        “Comets are long-haired stars with flames, appearing suddenly, and presaging a change in sovereignty, or plague, or war, or winds or floods.”
        Northumberland Bede, De Natura Rerum c. 725AD

        Ancient Beliefs

        The word comet comes from the Greek word kometes which means ‘long hair’.  Our ancestors thought comets were stars with hair trailing behind them.

        In ancient times, people thought comets were ‘power rays’ of supernatural beings.  They also thought that comets contained fire because they were so bright in the sky.

        Some people believed comets brought curses with them.  They believed that comets caused cattle to give birth to dead calves, princes to die,  natural disasters to occur, and disease and pestilence to spread across the land.  Emperor Nero of Rome had all possible successors to his throne executed in order to save him from the ‘curse of the comet’.

        Not all people believed comets were bad omens; some believed they brought good fortune.  Others believed that they carried angels through the heavens.

        Not so ancient beliefs …

        In 1909 and 1910, the appearance of Halley’s Comet in the skies caused panic in cities around the world. Pedlars did a lot of  business selling ‘anti-comet sickness pills’ and umbrellas to protect people from the effects of the comet.

        In March 1997, the members of a cult called ‘Heaven’s Gate’ committed suicide by drinking a cocktail of poisons.  They believed that the coming of comet Hale-Bopp was a sign that it was time for them to shed their Earthly bodies so that their spirits would take flight behind the comet and so be taken to a higher plane of existence.

        More about Comet Hysteria can be found here.

        Halley’s Comet

        The Chinese recorded sightings of Halley’s Comet as far back as 240BC.

        The famous Bayeux Tapestry shows Halley’s comet shining brightly in the sky before the Battle of Hastings in 1066.  Some people believed that the comet meant that King Harold of England would lose his throne to Duke William of Normandy in this battle, and he did!

        Edmund Halley studied comets and developed a theory that the comets sighted in 1531, 1607 and 1682 were actually the same comet.  He successfully predicted the return of this comet in 1758, but sadly died 16 years before his prediction was proved correct.  Halley’s Comet is next due to return in 2061.

        Other Cometary Scientists

        In 1577, Tycho Brahe showed that comets travelled far beyond the Moon; prior to this, people believed comets travelled in the Earth’s atmosphere.

        Sir Isaac Newton (1642 – 1727) discovered that comets travel in elliptical orbits around the Sun.  He also believed comets were members of the Solar System, like the planets, and that comets could return again and again – he was right!  Comets that are seen quite often, every 100 years or so, come from the Kuiper Belt.  Comets that we only see every few thousand years come from the Oort Cloud.

        Meteor Showers

        Comets leave a trail of debris behind them as they orbit the Sun.  If this trail crosses the Earth’s orbit, then at that point every year for a long time there will be a meteor shower.

        The Perseid meteor shower occurs every year between the 9th and 13th of August as the Earth passes through the debris of the Swift-Tuttle comet.  The Orionid meteor shower occurs in October when the Earth passes through debris left by Halley’s Comet.  The Leonids, around 18th November, result from debris from comet Tempel-Tuttle which visits the inner Solar System every 33 years.

        Hale-Bopp

        On July 23, 1995, an unusually large and bright comet was seen outside of Jupiter’s orbit by Alan Hale of New Mexico and Thomas Bopp of Arizona. Careful analysis of Hubble Space Telescope images suggested that its intense brightness was due to its exceptionally large size. While the nuclei of most comets are about 1.6 to 3.2 km (1 to 2 miles) across, Hale-Bopp’s was estimated to be 40 km (25 miles) across. It was visible even through bright city skies, and may have been the most viewed comet in recorded history. Comet Hale-Bopp holds the record for the longest period of naked-eye visibility: an astonishing 19 months. It will not appear again for another 2,400 years.

        Swift-Tuttle

        This comet was first seen in July 1862 by American astronomers Lewis Swift and Horace Tuttle. As Comet Swift-Tuttle moves closer to the Sun every 120 years, it leaves behind a trail of dust debris that provides the ingredients for a spectacular fireworks display seen in July and August. As Earth passes through the remnants of this dust tail, we can see on a clear night the Perseid meteor shower. Comet Swift-Tuttle is noted as the comet some scientists predicted could one day collide with Earth because the two orbits closely intercept each other. The latest calculations show that it will pass a comfortable 24 million km (15 million miles) from Earth on its next trip to the inner Solar System.

        Hyakutake

        On January 30, 1996, Yuji Hyakutake (pronounced “hyah-koo-tah-kay”), an amateur astronomer from southern Japan, discovered a new comet using a pair of binoculars. In the spring of that year, this small, bright comet with a nucleus of 1.6 to 3.2 km (1 to 2 miles) made a close flyby of Earth — sporting one of the longest tails ever observed. The Hubble Space Telescope studied the nucleus of this comet in great detail. This is not Comet Hyakutake’s first visit to the inner Solar System. Astronomers have calculated its orbit and believe it was here about 8,000 years ago. Its orbit will not bring it near the Sun again for about 14,000 years.

        Some interesting websites about comets and myth.

        Comet Mythology from Astrononmy-Education.com

        Comets, Meteors & Myth: New Evidence for Toppled Civilizations and Biblical Tales – This is an interesting article from space.com.

        Fruitful art?

        Angela PorterLeave a comment

        Arty things

        Well, I’ve just scanned in and added a pen and watercolour wash illustration of crab apples to yesterday’s post.  I got the bramble one done yesterday, though I’m not at all sure about using acrylic paints.  I do like the vibrancy of colour they give, but I also like the subtlety of watercolours too.  And working out how to use black ink with the colours so it looks ‘grown up’ and not childish/cartoony to me is a bit of a challenge, and I’m not at all sure that I’m succeeding.  But it is making for interesting art experiments I suppose.  Not sure what next though …

        Awake too early

        I woke up at stupid o’clock this morning, mind rushing, unable to settle to read, to meditate or anything.  I think that may be to do with today being the last day of my summer holidays and the return to work is really looming large.  I’ve had a rough few years at work, battling with stress/depression and other things, and though I am getting better, there’s still a way to go.  I don’t quite know how things will pan out – I’m doing my best to be positive about things, but the pressures involved in spending time with people, the noise, the fuss, the bustle, and that’s only the first day without the pupils back!  I do want to change careers but I have no idea what to … I’d like to work with my creativity, something that involves writing, art, imagination, working with people I can relate to, where there’s a level of respect and warmth would be good, where there are people I can bounce ideas off …exactly what that would be, I don’t know, but when I’m ready to make that move all will be apparent I’m sure.

        I had an interesting time last night where I was showing some of my art to friends at my healing group.  They were pressuring me to frame my art, hang it, sell it, take it to galleries and hotels and libraries and craft centres and and and to display and sell it.  In the future I may be able to do that, but I find it so hard to show my art to people I know (unless it’s through the relative anonymity of t’interweb) and the thought of promoting it myself is … painful.  I found myself becoming quite angry and agitated as they kept repeating what I should do … and I tried to explain why I can’t do it…the financial cost of exhibiting is prohibitive for me at this time in my life.

        Anyone know an agent who would represent me, or any other suggestions that don’t involve me pushing way too far outside my comfort zone?

        A new month

        Today is St Giles’ Day. St Giles died around the year 710.  During his lifetime he founded a monastery in Provence, near Arles, and that is about all that is known about his life.  The medieval myth makers, however, provided a colourful set of incidents for his life, including an explanation of how he was given the money to found the monastery.  When he was living as a hermit he had pet doe who provided milk for his nourishment.  Unfortunately, the King’s huntsmen loved to chase the doe and eventually they trapped her in the dense thicket in which Giles lived.  The doe was protected by harm by Giles’ prayers but he was wounded by a huntsman’s arrow.  The King recognised Giles’ holiness and bestowed many gifts upon him which he used to found the monastery.  Giles’ was also reputed to have remarkable healing powers as well as the ability to get a pardon for people’s sins, no matter how great or small, by praying.  These tales contributed to his fame, and Giles was widely popular in medieval England and many churches were dedicated to him.  His feast day was conveniently placed in the year for outdoor events, particularly local fairs, feasts and revels. [1]

        1. Steve Roud – The English Year

        Apples and Brambles

        Angela Porter6 Comments

        I’ve chosen apples and brambles for today’s blog as they always seem to go together.  I noticed the blackberries on the brambles ripening during my jolly around the Valley Lines last week.  I’ve not been blackberrying in years and years, most probably not since I was a child.  I remember the abundance of blackberry pies, blackberry and apple crumbles, blackberry jam, apple jelly and frozen blackberries in our home.  With six children, there were plenty of us to gather them!  There were also the trips to collect whinberries (blueberries), as well as visits to ‘pick your own’ farms to harvest strawberries, raspberries and loganberries.

        In later years, it would be my father who collected crab apples and blackberries to make his wines – along with sloes and young nettle leaves, young oak shoots, rosehips, rose petals, dandelions, and anything else he could brew.  I never appreciated his brews – all except the raspberry wine he made one year which was sweet and still tasted of the fruit – though others thought they were wonderful.  I do remember spending long hours writing out labels for his wine; I’ve always had nice handwriting and dabbled with calligraphy in the past too.  Now that’s something I’d forgotten about.

        A few years ago a friend suggested, quite strongly, that I should collect sloes and make sloe gin, as well as to harvest the fruits of nature.  Well, I’ve not done so yet…

        There are many recipes on tinternet and in books for blackberries, apples and so on, so I’ll not repost them.  Mind you, I could say the same about superstitions, myths, herbalism and the like, but I’m pulling together information for myself from many diverse sources, perhaps for future reference or just because I’m interested in it in the here and now, I don’t know.

        Crab Apple (Pyrus malus)

        (c)Angela Porter 1 Sept 2010The crab apple tree is native to Britain and is the wild ancestor of all the cultivated varieties of apple trees.  Apples of some sort were abundant before the Norman Conquest and were probably introduced into Britain by the Romans.  Twenty-two varieties of apples were mentioned by Pliny; there are now around two thousand cultivars.  In the Old Saxon manuscripts there are many mentions of apples and cider.

        The Encyclopedia of Bartholomeus Anglicus, printed in Cologne around 1470, has a chapter on the apple:

        Malus Appyll tree is a tree yt bereth apples and is a grete tree in itself…it is more short than other trees of the wood wyth knottes and rinelyd Rynde.  And makyth shadowe wythe thicke bowes and branches; and fayr with dyurs blossomes, and floures of swetnesse and lykynge,; with goode fruyte and noble.  And is gracious in syght and in taste and vertuous in medecyne…some beryth frute and harde, and some ryght soure and some ryght swete, with a good savoure and mery. [1].

        The apple has been used as a symbol for sin, sexual seduction, beauty, love, sensuality, love between two men.  In art, Venus is often shown holding an apple as a symbol of love.    Apples also feature in many fairy tales, Snow White perhaps being the best known example where a poisoned apple puts Snow White into a deep sleep.

        In the Old Testament of the Bible, it represents man’s fall; in the New Testament it represents man’s redemption from that fall.  The phrases ‘the apple of one’s eye’ and ‘a word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver’ both come from the Bible.

        The larynx in the human male is called the ‘Adam’s Apple’ because of the folk-tale about the Forbidden Fruit sticking in Adam’s throat and causing a bulge.

        Heracles, the Greek hero, as part of his Twelve Labours had to travel to the Garden of the Hesperides.  His task there was to pick the golden apples growing on the Tree of Life that could be found at the centre of the garden.

        Eris, the Greek goddess of discord, was disgruntled after she was excluded from the wedding of Peleus and Thetis.  To retaliate, she tossed a golden apple that was inscribed with ‘Kallisti’ – for the most beautiful one – into the wedding party.  Hera, Athene and Aphrodite, three of the goddesses attending the party, claimed the apple.  Paris of Troy was chosen to select the recipient of the apple.  After being bribed by both Hera and Athena, Aphrodite tempted him with the most beautiful woman in the world, Helen of Sparta.  He awarded the apple to Aphrodite and in doing so indirectly caused the Trojan War.

        Another Greek myth concerns Atlanta who raced all her suitors in an attempt to avoid marriage.  She outran all but Hippomenes (also known as Melanion) who defeated her not by cunning but by speed.  Hippomenes knew he could not win in a fair race, so he used three golden apples, which were gifts from Aphrodite, the goddess of love, to distract Atlanta.  It took all three apples and all of his speed, but Hippomenes was successful, winning the race and Atlanta’s hand.

        In Norse mythology, Iduna, the goddess of Spring and youth, nurtures an apple orchard in Asgard.  Every evening she would feed an apple to the gods and goddess in order to keep their youthfulness.

        In Celtic mythology, Conle receives an apple which feeds him for a year, but alsogives him an irresistible desire for fairyland.

        The mystical Isle of Avalon, the famed placed of eternal rest for Celtic heroes, including King Arthur, literally means ‘apple land’ or ‘apple island’.

        Isaac Newton, according to popular legend, came up with the theory of universal gravitation after observing an apple falling from a tree.

        Wassailing the orchard trees on Christmas Eve, or the Eve of the Epiphany, is still practiced in Britain.  Herrick mentioned it among his ‘Ceremonies of Christmas Eve’:

        Wassaile the trees, that they may beare
        You many a Plum and many a Peare:
        For more or lesse fruits they will bring,
        As you do give them Wassailing

        The Wassailing ceremony consisted of the farmer, his family and labourers going out into the orchard after supper, bearing with them a jug of cider and hot cakes.  The latter were placed in the boughs of the oldest of best bearing trees in the orchard, while the cider was flung over the trees after the farmer had drunk their health in some such fashion as the following:

        Here’s to thee, old apple-tree!
        Whence thou may’st bud, and whence thou may’st blow.
        Hats full!  Cap full!
        Bushel – bushel bags full!
        And my pockets full too! Huzzah!

        The toast was repeated three times, the men and boys often firing off guns and pistols, the women and children shouting loudly.

        Roasted apples were usually placed in the pitcher of cider and were thrown at the trees with the liquid.

        A mixture of hot spiced ale, wine or cider with apples and bits of toast floating in it was known as ‘lamb’s wool’.  The name is derived from the Irish ‘la mas nbhal‘ meaning ‘the feast of the apple gathering’ (All Hallow’s Eve), which is pronounced something like ‘lammas-ool’ and this became corrupted into ‘lamb’s wool’.  Each person who drank the spicy beverage would also take out an apple, wish good luck to the company, and eat it.

        It was believed that if an apple tree blossomed out of season then misfortune or death was foretold.

        If the Sun shone through the branches of apple trees on Christmas Day, or Old Christmas Day, then there would be an abundant crop of apples.

        Peel an apple so that the peel remains in one long strip.  Throw the strip over the shoulder to form the initial of a potential husband on the ground.  This is an activity that is performed particularly at Hallowe’en.

        To indicate the direction of a lover’s home, flick an apple pip into the air while reciting  ‘North, south, east, west, tell me where my love does rest‘.

        Children were warned that Awd Goggie and Lazy Lawrence were nursery bogies that protected orchards and unripe fruit.

        The proverb ‘An apple a day keeps the doctor away’ seems to have been first recorded in the form ‘Eat an apple on going to bed and you’ll keep the doctor from earning his bread’.

        Bramble or blackberry (Rubus fruticosus)

        Blackberry (c)Angela Porter 31 Aug 2010The shoots of bramble have the ability to root where they touch the ground thus forming an arch.  Sufferers from boils, rheumatism and hernia were passed through the arch formed in this way.  Sometimes, a child suffering from whooping cough was passed under the arch seven times.  The cough was then thought to leave the child and stay within the bramble.

        In the Highlands of Scotland, people used a length of bramble shoot entwined with ivy and rowan to ward off evil spirits.

        Eating blackberries after the first frost was considered unlucky. In the UK, superstition says that blackberries should not be picked after Michaelmas (29 September), or the 10 October (Michaelmas by the old calendar).  It is said the devil has claimed them by urinating over them, spitting on them, stamping on them or wagged his tail over them and so leaving his mark on the leaves.  The link with Michaelmas is because this feast celebrates the battle when Archangel Michael drove Satan out of Heaven and hurled him down to Earth; perhaps the joke is that he landed in a bramble bush, but this is not clear.

        Note to self…and other reflections

        More art to do!  Yay!  Got some ideas … maybe … need to work on my more stylised, black-line and colour work …using acrylic inks or paints for the vibrancy of colour …

        I’m so glad I started a blog, regardless of whether anyone reads it or not.  It’s given me a focus to both research, write and be inspired to create art.

        If I’m honest I’ve been seriously lacking that focus and impetus for a long while thanks to my emotional state … I do tend towards depression, though I do my best to ameliorate it by engaging in activities that give me pleasure, but lately nothing much has done that … I’ve felt like I’ve been going through the motions, with no real purpose to them.  Not that everything needs a purpose, and doing something for the sake of the joy or contentment it brings is purpose enough.  However, I’ve been struggling with allowing myself to do pleasurable things, to feel the joy they bring … and perhaps the recognition of this this morning will help me move forward with my therapy, and in allowing myself to feel joy and pleasure.

        As I look back at earlier entries, I can see how my approach is slowly evolving in terms of how I present information.  I’ll eventually work out a consistent ‘format’ that suits me in terms of colours of ‘quotes’, illustrations, references, hyperlinks.

        1. Botanical.com
        2. Apple symbolism on Wikipedia
        3. Roy Vickery – Plant-lore
        4. Bramble on HubPages
        5. Steve Roud – The Penguin Guide to the Superstitions of Britain and Ireland.
        6. Jacqueline Simpson and Steve Roud – A Dictionary of English Folklore.

        Dew, dew or is it Duw, duw?

        Angela PorterLeave a comment

        Morning dew and duw…

        This blog title is a kind of a pun.  In Welsh, Duw means god.  The expression ‘duw duw’ is often used to mean ‘well I never’, ‘well,well’, or ‘dear me’, though it is often used in the place of a swear word.

        After a chilly night, I woke to find the first dew of late summer covering the cars in the street.  As if any other reminder of the rapid approach of Autumn is needed.  I do love dew, the way droplets of it cling to spiders webs and sparkle in the early morning Sun like jewels; the way the wetness intensifies the dusty, dry colours of late Summer.

        Dew and folklore

        Dew gathered on St Bride’s Day (1st February) was considered to be particularly good for the complexion.  Bathing the face in dew early on May Day (1st May) Morning was excellent for the complexion, helping to whiten the skin and eradicate freckles. [1]

        Samuel Pepys, on 28th May 1667, recorded the following in his diary:

        After dinner my wife went down with Jane and W. Hewer to Woolwich in order to a little ayre, and to lie there tonight and so to gether May dew tomorrow morning, which Mrs. Turner hat taught her as the only thing in the world to wash her face with, and I am contented with it.

        His wife obviously believed that any time in May would do.

        May dew was also occasionally reported as generally medicinal, especially for weak limbs.  Also, some claimed that you could ‘make a wish’ while gathering it [1].

        Some dewy weather proverbs [2, 4] are:

        When dew is on the grass, rain will never come to pass.  When grass is dry at morning light, look for rain before the night.

        If three nights dewless there be, ’twill rain you’re sure to see.

        With dew before midnight, the next sure will be bright.

        If you wet your feet with dew in the morning, you may keep them dry for the rest of the day.

        Dew beliefs from Launceston, Cornwall include

        …a swelling of the neck can be cured by going to the grave of the latest young person of the opposite sex before sunrise on the first of May (Beltane, ‘May Day’) and gathering the dew by passing the hand three times from the head to the foot of the grave.  The dew is then applied to the neck… A child weak in the back may be cured by drawing him over grass wet with morning dew on each of the mornings of May first, second and third. [3]

        Herse was the Greek goddess of the plant-nourishing dew.  Her parents were Zeus and Selene [5].

        1. Steve Roud – The English Year
        2. Dew Folklore
        3. Gandolf.com
        4. The Old Farmers’ Almanac
        5. Theoi Greek Mythology