Happy birthday to wakingbear!

Following up on my interest in Urglaawe, I've been looking into Der Belsnickel, a Pennsylvania Dutch version of Santa Claus that isn't the big jolly guy. Instead, he's thinner (although still wearing fur, as the name suggests), and goes from house to house, rewarding good children with snacks, and punishing (usually just threatening to punish) bad children by whacking them with a rod or bundle of twigs. Usually it was used to scare children and keep them in line.

The Santa Claus that we see everywhere only came after the publishing of "'Twas the Night Before Christmas" and associated artwork. Prior to that, the figure was shown in several Germanic countries as tall, thin, wearing blue, often wearing a brimmed or pointy hat, who was called Yule Father, Jultomte, Julnisse, or other similar names. It's pretty clear that they were versions of Odin. And while the Puritans banned Christmas when they arrived here, it was up to the early German settlers to bring the Yule tree and associated traditions that we enjoy today. Yet even after the big red Santa became popular, the Belsnickel tradition kept going for a while in the Penna. Dutch communities. At one point there was even a large red Santa holding the bundle of twigs. Today the tradition continues with someone dressing up as the Belsnickel and brandishing the twigs, just enough so that kids have a tangible reminder to stay out of trouble. But he also hands out snacks for the children, and also often gives to the poor.

A modern form that is becoming popular in stores is a Santa doll or ornament in dark, heavy furs, without the red, without sleigh or reindeer, and sometimes with a gift bag and/or a rod. This 'old-school Santa' is a lot closer to the Belsnickel than the usual one; to Heathens, it's the one that looks more like Odin. It's a nice contrast to the usual sea of red during the season, and it's certainly nice to see more Heathen lore creeping back into our culture.

Odin--he sees you when you're sleeping, he knows when you're awake...

Congratulations to Dan O'Halloran for his victory in NYC. After facing religious hostilities (and even racial hostilities) on top of the usual political difficulties in elections, he finally won. This should be good for Heathen PR, as well as the greater pagan community. Now everyone can get back to seeing him as an individual, and judging him on his performance in office.

As mentioned elsewhere, I've been reading up on Urglaawe, the Pennsylvania Dutch form of Heathenry. And I'm glad I took more than just a quick glance, because I've uncovered some cool stuff.

What makes Pennsylvania Dutch different from other German immigrants is that they first arrived in the 17th century, leaving war-torn areas in Europe for a new life in America, and they quickly settled in, identifying with America rather than Germany, while keeping their language (a different dialect of German) and culture alive at home. They were the first to publicly protest slavery, they were among the first to volunteer for the Revolutionary War, they developed inventions such as the Pennsylvania/Kentucky Long Rifle (which had a decisive impact in the war), served in all major wars, gave us several words in American English, etc. Why my interest? I'm descended from them via my father's line, and I'm doing some research to find more family members.

The language itself is worth noting. When the founding fathers of the country talked about the German population, they weren't talking about modern High German from major cities with loyalties to Germany; they were talking about the Pennsylvania German population that had been there for about a century and were loyal Americans. Their language was (and is) different from standard German, and there's been little contact with their cousins in Europe. If you're used to seeing modern German, the written language looks a bit odd. But if you start pronouncing the words, and interesting detail emerges--it shares many words and details with Anglo-Saxon, in a 'Germanized' form. There used to be a lot of speakers, but the language has declined since the 1950's, and now most speakers are Old Order Amish and Mennonites. The non-Amish speakers are fewer in number, but are still around in communities scattered across the northeast US. It's not as prominent because they consider it rude to speak their German when other non-speakers (i.e. English-only) are around.

In terms of culture, the Pennsylvania Dutch have kept many old Germanic traditions alive. Hex signs, rune working, spell working, herbalism, folk healing, calligraphy and illumination, traditional music, recipes, brewing, farming customs, stories, and other arts are still living traditions. They were brought over centuries ago and have been allowed to prosper in a land of freedom. This provides a good basis for reconstruction of Heathen practices from early Germany, as they weren't subject to the same pressures of war and religious conformity. Those that settled here were Christian, but it was much more syncretic (rune and spell working, etc.). It looks to be interesting and informative.

Happy birthday nicanthiel!

I've noticed that with me and many friends, there will be a number of friends and acquaintances who will all have basically the same name. For example, when I was in high school, I knew far too many Brians. Brian G, Brian F, Bryant B, Brian B, Bryant G, Brian R, another Brian, and another Brian, etc. For others, its running into too many Crystals, for another it's an abundance of Michaels, and so on.

So, what's the name (or names) that you keep running into with people you know?

As some of you may know, I'm a language geek. If I spend enough time around a certain ethnicity, I get curious and start looking up their language and culture. I learned some basic Japanese in school, and took classes in Chinese while working at a Chinese computer company, because I just had to know what the conversations were that surrounded me every day. And it was a great experience. But for some reason, I'd known about Korean for many years, but never really got around to it, or had the need to. Until now.

We've all seen the stereotypes of Koreans, either as manic Tae Kwon Do stylists, overachieving students, surly shop owners, or makers of inexpensive cars. But as with everything, there's much more. After spending time with various local Koreans, seeing their local churches, and seeing a substantial amount of Korean in "Lost", I finally got curious enough to start learning the language. I didn't have a pressing need, just a persistent desire to know more. So I started with a phrase book, then read online resources, watched instructional videos, etc. And what I found is pretty cool.

Korean is grammatically similar to Japanese, but uses a lot of Chinese vocabulary. And my prior exposure to both those languages has been helpful. But I found out something else. Instead of using tones or long words to distinguish meanings, it uses a richer vowel set, including more "Germanic" vowels. And the native Hangul script is far easier to understand and pick up than Chinese writing. So it ends up being a sort of "easy Chinese". And when reviewing episodes of Lost that have a lot of Korean, I've noticed some nuances that didn't make it through translation to subtitles. The language is accessible and a lot of fun. I've used it on occasion with Koreans I've run into, and half of them are surprised that I knew some of it, and wanted to know how I was learning it. It's been rewarding, especially considering how little effort has been involved so far.

and...



I've got plenty of politically relevant opinions, but for now, let us simply remember what happened, not just those that died, but also the many heroes who lived and helped.

After looking up some stuff on Lost and Oceanic Airlines, I found this:



...knives... ;)

I've found what I believe to be a cool Heathen cultural relic that survived the conversion. In the church, it was known as the virge, wielded by a Virger/Verger. During services, the Virger would direct the congregation like an usher, but held a sturdy stick mounted with a metal ball, for pointing, directing, and sometimes whacking (unruly people or animals). What's distinctive about the virge (and it's descendent, the ceremonial mace), is that it is a durable stick or rod, and the metal ball on the top is the same diameter as the stick. It is either otherwise unadorned, or else topped with a small symbol such as a cross (in a church) or some other symbol of state. The symbols on top have changed to suit each place where it is used, but otherwise the basic instrument has been unchanged for many centuries. The office of Virger has been combined with Sexton (tending and maintenance of church grounds) and Usher

What's also interesting is that, as a ceremonial mace, it has been a symbol of kingship, such that early civilian uses of it were frowned upon by lords, and that in parliamentary use, it is carried by the sergeant at arms, and placed in a certain location to open the legislative session, as well as removed to signal the close of the session. This is different from a scepter (which tended to be a long thin staff) or a Drum Major mace (which is also long and thin). It's a symbolic phallus that's meant for occasional use as a weapon.

When Frey's importance is considered as a primary deity in many parts of Britain and Scandinavia, such an instrument makes sense. It makes one wonder if the parliamentary use is descended from a similar use at a Thing (Germanic governing assembly), where the god is symbolically brought in to oversee the session, and the god keeps order if necessary through the lawspeaker (or a sergeant at arms).

Here are some pics.


A church virge and the Mace of the United States House of Representatives.

...such as this:

A couple of days ago, I found out something fascinating about the Michael Jackson HIStory promo video. The opening speech and choral music in the video are in Esperanto. The speech (translated) says (in part):

"... everyone of the world builds this sculpture in the name of worldwide motherhood and love, and the healing power of music."

The same guy (the construction foreman) later says (translated) "Come here!" while motioning to others. The green star symbol of Esperanto shows up as a giant metal star, the metal star on Michael's shoulder, and the star on the caps of the (multi-ethnic) soldiers, who instead of saluting, do Michael's dance moves at the Arch of Triumph.

Looking at the video in this context, together with the cinematography, it's a beautiful work of art with a sweet message, that of healing music conquering the world and bringing joy.

This copy of the video has the Esperanto captioned, after about a 50-second intro with some comments in French (e.g. filmed over 10 days, costing 7.5 million francs, where the Esperanto starts, etc.):



It's too bad that critics of the video never bothered to look at the positive messages and symbols, and foolishly said it was celebrating fascism or dictatorship.

It's 1000 years older than stonehenge:

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/06/090615-stonehenge-tombs-crop-circles.html

It was only a generation or so ago that we were living in an analog world. Writing with pencils, computing with slide rules, using manual typewriters and spirit duplicators for copy, taking dictation with shorthand and steno, television and telephones with simple circuits, listening to the radio with a crystal and a "cat whisker", learning semaphore in boy scouts, creating light with carbide lamps, playing card and board games made from simple materials, etc. Yet we were able to produce nuclear power, go to the moon, make advances in computing, and so on.

Now everything is digital. Yes, pretty much everything. Quick, easy, cheap, and common. But then we worry about power outages, industrial pollution from electronics manufacture, loss of common skills (e.g. penmanship and spelling), dependency on megacorps for supplies and updates, and other concerns. Many of us try to live greener, not just in power consumption, but also in better contact with people and nature. And yet the loss of many of these skills has happened so rapidly that many are having to use the internet to regain the information.

Some individuals have decided to make their households independent of the power grid, either for cost or for preparedness reasons. Having solar panels and generators is a solid step in that direction. But I think it would be complementary and just as helpful to have lower-tech items around (and enough practice to use them). Who knows what kind of manufacturing or distribution crises will interrupt supplies, or what kind of energy tax will make many items cost-prohibitive?

I'm not advocating a sudden, backward change. But I do think that it's a good idea to reconnect with some older versions of stuff we use--stuff that some of us remember as kids. Play some poker around a table. Dust off the Scrabble or Monopoly box. Play the Dictionary game. Try out some candles or lanterns for setting the mood. Improve one's penmanship or calligraphy. Sketch some pictures. Try shorthand as a "human tape-recorder". Learn fire by friction (can only be learned through experience). Talk around a campfire. Learn the ways of the local weather and critters. Tell time by the sun and stars. Try out sailing. Learn to ride horses.

No need to be complete Luddite, but there's something to be said for simple stuff that works. And in the years ahead, it can come in handy.

A rare sword from Bamburgh Castle (Northumbria) from the 7th century was both advanced in construction and showy in appearance:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/tyne/5097510.stm

While the techniques of layering were known by both Celtic and Germanic tribes at the time, and different compositions of steel were welded together in a native form of pattern-welding, this find was unusual in that it had two additional strands in the construction, which would have made it exceptional in both beauty and strength. A Saxon Excalibur? :)

To be brief--there has been some intense drama lately, and it saddens me. Because I don't log on to LJ much, because I don't want to inadvertently drag others into the conflict, because I don't want people getting hurt through misunderstandings, and because I don't want my position in the GFS to cause problems, I've made some cuts on my friends list. It pains me, as it isn't because of personal conflicts involving me, and there are those who have been good to me. Perhaps things will be better after some of this settles down. :(

For those that haven't already heard, vanirpriestess and I are Gesiths in Fyrnsidu, we're on the Witan, she runs the Scopas Gildscipe (Bardic guild), and I run the Feohterna Gildscipe (Warrior guild). Wessex Hearth is back, with better organization.

Also, vanirpriestess's new book Visions of Vanaheim is now available. It is a major work, covering a lot of material on Vanic practice, and weighing in at almost 600 pages. She wrote most of it, with several others contributing various articles, including yours truly. :)

Ok, now with the dry news stuff out of the way, here's more explanation and detail. We're Gesiths because we're experienced Heathens, rather than newbies (FWIW I've been identifying as Anglo-Saxon since 1998). We run our respective guilds because we each have things that we want to contribute to the organization. She's been writing poetry and filking songs for a long time, so it's only natural that the historical Anglo-Saxon equivalents (poetry, verse, riddles, flyting, etc.) would be explored. I've been running the local ARMA sword group for a while, and have done enough related research that I wanted to have a place in Fyrnsidu to explore historical warrior skills and roles in a Heathen context, as well as their modern study and application. Visions of Vanaheim is the result of many writings and discussions of Vanic practice, and a printed book that consolidated this was needed.

The Gift meme, mostly copy/pasted from freyaw:

The first 7 people to respond will get something created by me. That is: MADE. Handcrafted. Stuck together. Conceived. Etecetera.

This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:

- I make no guarantees that you will like what I create, but I will do my best.
- What I create will be just for you.
- It'll be done this year (2009).
- What you will get will depend on where you are (there are things that can't be posted internationally) and how I am feeling.
- If there's something you know I do well, you can even request something - but I don't guarantee to fulfil the request.
- You have to be willing to send me your address so that I can get it (whatever it is) to you :P

The catch is that you should post this in YOUR journal. There is no obligation to repond to me, but you do need to make the offer to others. It's like pass-the-parcel - or paying it forward! :-)

GO!