must there be a title

also the english are weird about folk culture. we are. we've relegated our folk dances and music to the zone of esoteric nerd shit that only weirdos do, and then we go looking for esoterica in the non-english parts of our heritage because we don't think we've got any of it of our own

#YEAH!!!!!! #people get so weird and skittish about morris and melodeons and stuff #but then they’re like oooh the mystical highlands oooooh the Irish fae oooooh the mabinogion #cheering for the Mari Lwyd and turning their back on the Abbots Bromley Horn Dance #there’s a thorny rose of English pride #where to describe yourself as English is seen as somehow more… I dunno #right wing brexitty xenophobic #than to describe yourself as British #I am made whole by my experience as part of the collection of nations that make up the British Isles #but I am English #and I think if we get embarrassed about that and shuffle it away into British #what we actually do is more imperialist than if we don’t #because we sort of imprint ourselves onto other things that we already politically claim to own #because we are frightened that if we look at what we already have #we will see ourselves as a small and strange country #and not the lynchpin of an ever diminishing empire #that now only exists in how much it can deny itself in the process of claiming ownership of others #and to dive into this world of English folk is seen as peculiar and hobbyist and eccentric #why? why should we not be interested? why is it so specialist? #but instead we rely on specialists #and while I am grateful that they are there #in the pubs and clubs and street sides #it does feel that our folk culture is kept vital by individual passion and not by national habit #which is a place of risk

some really good points here from @rapidashrider. i've always felt the same way about being "british" vs being "english" (although in my clase it's complicated by having scottish family members and a fair chunk of welsh ancestry that makes "english" feel a bit reductive for me), but in the past couple of years i've talked to quite a few welsh and scottish folks who actually find it less offputting for people to say "english" -- possibly for the same reasons you articulate here, that when we obscure our englishness under the heading of "british" we're kind of claiming the whole instead of acknowledging that we are only part of it

i found that a very interesting perspective because within england i think being too aggressively "english" rather than "british" does give off ukip/bnp vibes (though, i mean, the names of those parties suggests the opposite...) and most people i know would feel a bit weird about describing themselves that way, but apparently that's not at all the impression others have of us, which i imagine causes all sorts of mismatched vibes in communication

and yes i think treating welsh/scottish/irish traditions as in some way "mystical" and "magical" and our own as embarrassing is imperialist, acutally; people think it's not bc it's not inherently derogatory towards those other traditions, but it is profoundly Othering, and it erases the real, human history of how those traditions have developed and survived (and ignoring that a lot of aspects of that survival are in response to oppression and attempts at erasure). "our weird nerds waving handkerchiefs around" vs "their ancient magic dance because they're Closer To Nature than us" -- that is not benefiting either tradition

and finally those last tags: it does feel that our folk culture is kept vital by individual passion and not by national habit, which is a place of risk. exactly. there have been a lot of responses to this post where people are outlining their own engagement with english tradition and that is great and i am so glad that those people are doing that and it's been delightful hearing about people's local morris troupes or whatever -- but that it survives in corners is not the same as being a living part of our cultural heritage. very often, it's being put in the box of "esoteric nerd shit": a museum exhibit, a memory, a relic dragged out for special occasions, no longer belonging to the everyday

and certainly there are arguments to be made for the role these traditions play for us now as our sense of community and culture has shifted (especially in urban areas, and it's especially in urban areas that they've been lost) , but the fact that people keep going looking for these traditions elsewhere shows that there's a place for them

Traditional braiding and hair decorations of Bulgarian girls and beliefs related to them

(Translation of this article by Anelia Krumova)

Little girls belonged to the group of so-called podevki. They usually held their hair in two braids around their ears and scalp, which were tied at the nape of the neck in one or two braids. The order in which the little girls' hairstyles were styled followed the growth of the hair, aiming to achieve a maiden's hairstyle. Braiding began around the ears, catching the short, not yet grown side hair. As the girl grew older, the braid continued to the nape of the neck, and the lower braids were finally formed. In the Sofia region, for example, two kukunduka were made for 9-10 year old girls, then three kukunduka for 13-14 year olds, in order to move on to proper maiden's braiding.

Girls, who reached marriageable age, marked their affiliation with a specific hair styling that immediately distinguished them from bangs. They differed in their open hair and hairstyles from numerous braids, which were complex and difficult to do, but comfortable to wear.

„Lesata“ was a common hairstyle in different areas of Bulgaria. The hair was parted in a straight line, braiding the hair around it. The braids passed along the ears, the nape of the neck and finally on the back, gathered in a common braid. The number of braids was about 22, and the final braid included 6, 9, 12 floors. Another common type of maiden entanglement was that of "rows", which consisted of a large number of small braids - about 60, which went down the shoulders and back, and sometimes reached the knees. The length of the hair and the small entanglements made both types of hairstyles very difficult to perform. Therefore, they were made by skilled women from the family or went to special "weavers".

To make these intricate and beautiful hairstyles, the girls did not rely only on their natural hair, but resorted to attaching additional braids, such as ones made out of fallen hair spun on a distaff for example. This is how the favorite maiden ornament kosichnik/ kosatnik was created at that time. It imitated natural hair and included, in addition to the braids of the girl's own hair, braids woven from threads, embroidered with coins and beads, and even garlic cloves. The kosichnik covered the back and waist, finding the role of a symbol of female fertility.

To give even more beauty to the girl's hair, a variety of woolen ribbons in red were used, on which numerous beads were strung, as well as pompoms, coins, snails, balls of untwisted wool. These strips were placed on the forehead or between the braids. All of them had an "apotropaic" function - the ability to repel evil forces. Because it was believed that the hair, which was exclusively on display for the girls, had to be protected from bad looks, envious or admiring, which carried the so-called uroki - unfriendly forces. For this reason, bright, pierced, shiny, smelly and jingling objects - strong and well-known apotropaic - were attached to the hair. This was done so that people's attention could not be on the hair, but on the decoration, which was able to withstand bad looks.

A maiden, that would make a kitka ( a single or several flowers gathered together) to demonstrate love, and the bachelor, who'd steal it from her if she was in his heart, were symbols of traditional love relationship of the past. This is why, the kitka was invariably present as an element of maiden decoration. Placed behind the year, the kitka symbolised entering marriageable age.

Another maiden's decoration was peacock's feather. It was considered to be the bearer of ancient mythical messages and was used by girls in transition rituals such as lazaruvane, kumichuvane, engagement and wedding. The rest of the time, the feathers of ordinary poultry were used as a substitute. In Sofia area, the expression "girl under a feather" was understood as a girl who is ready to get married.

In conclusion, the girls' hairstyles can be said to be a sign, a message to the public about the readiness, desires and preferences of the girl.

Adding a few more images of kosichnitsi (from the Bulgarian National dress book by M. Veleva and Evg. Lepavtsova)

in Finland, it is illegal to kill a bear when it’s hibernating. If you ask a hunter why that is, a number of them will tell you it’s wrong simply because it is the law, and they don’t make a distinction between what is right, and what is legal. Most people like that are perfectly normal, decent and respectable people, just like the rest of us.

 But if you ask people who think about things, the answer is vague. Killing a hibernating bear would just feel… impolite? You can’t fucking shoot a man when he’s sleeping, that’s just fucking rude. It’s just not the right thing to do.

 Long before hunting laws were established in Finland, you couldn’t kill a sleeping bear, and what commands you is something older than law: tradition. Even at a time when hunting was a matter of life and death, and a bear fighting for its life is mainly a matter of death, you just didn’t kill a hibernating bear, you have to wake it up first. Hunters risked their lives, the lives of their brothers and everyone in the hunting party, who were friends, family and men that they loved, to give the bear a fighting chance.

 In the modern time, the hunting season of bears is in the summer, for the warmest summer months. There are many reasons for why they are allowed to tread safely in autumn and to sleep in peace through the cold months, almost all of which are rational and scientific, and do not touch the old traditions.

 Old faith says a living thing has many souls - henki, luonto, itse. Plants only have one - the one that wills them to grow. Animals have two, both the spark of life and nature that enables them to act. A human being also has the third, one that makes them a person, personality, itse, literally “self”. But the soul that travels in your dreams is not the soul that defines a human - animals have that one as well. When your dog runs in her sleep, her soul is elsewhere, where a dog is needed.

 One’s waking soul is elsewhere when they sleep and dream. A bear’s soul is somewhere else when they are hibernating - there are two words for “hibernation” in finnish, one of which is talviuni, “winter sleep”, and that is the one that bears have - and if you kill a sleeping bear, their soul is not in the body, it is still out there, and it can find you, and as a revenge for killing its body, Ghost Bear will kill your entire fucking family.

Saw an op-ed that was on the surface a complaint about kids not wanting to take on family heirlooms but read like an elegy to dying traditions. The hardest part was the anxiety without recognizing that they didn’t pave the way for the decisions they assumed their kids would make.

(This is written entirely within the dominant white/western culture - about traditions that have neglectful stewardship rather than those actively suppressed)

The anxiety makes sense. You’re seeing, too late to do anything about it, that there’s no foundation - no space - for the traditions you expected to pass on. Your kids _can’t_ take your mom’s fine china. So now instead of enjoying what you have you worry about its future.

I see a pattern in these op-eds though - a pattern in what’s left unsaid. There were responsibilities tied to these traditions. You collectively assumed they _would_ be passed along. So collectively, what did you do to ensure those traditions _could_ be passed along?

Op-eds never speak for everyone, but it’s worth acknowledging the pattern in what speech is deemed worth sharing widely.  And in this particular pattern, there’s an answer: that answer looks like “nothing.”

You want the china passed down but your kids have no room in their rentals. You want grandkids but your kids don’t have the financial stability. You want that cross-country RV neverending road trip but you’ve had decades of wanting lower taxes more than you wanted infrastructure.

The bleak outlook for traditions is a direct result of the unmaintained foundations for them. The second best time is always now - if it’s important enough to op-ed about, what are you willing to change to get it back? What will you give up or re-prioritize?

I kinda think that world-defining assumptions are always gonna break without maintenance. So rather than getting mad at whoever’s next for not carrying on the norms we didn’t do upkeep on, when it’s my turn, I hope I’m introspective enough to help instead of externalize & blame.

This.

I follow a Facebook group of “Memories of …” for my hometown - a rustbelt community that has gone from a thriving hub of industry to a much-less-thriving place.

The group is a collective lament.   Decades-old pictures of well-kept churches.  Aerial shots of the main intersection downtown, lined with big cars.    Scanned advertisemetns from local stores featuring pictures of their interiors.   These alternate with the drumbeat of news:  the Catholic diocese is closing churches.  Selling them.   Tearing them down.   STores downtown are closing.   The traffic light has been replaced with a four-way-stop.

“That’s the church my parents were married in!” “How could they tear down that beautiful building.  Such memories!” “All the businesses are closing.  It must be the taxes.” ”They’ve sold the old lodge downtown.” “They’re not opening the skating rink this year.  We always used to go.”

And sometimes I chime in. 

“Do you attend that church?  Do you give? Or do you just want the building to look pretty for you? “ “Do you volunteer at that park?  Why not?” “Did you vote for that recreation bond issue?” “Are you a member of that Lodge? Why not?” “Do you shop downtown?   Or did you start shopping at Walmart and Amazon to save a few bucks?”

If you feel something is worth preserving, why do you not participate in its preservation?  

Community is not a spectator sport. 

bruh

everything about this… this statue, the choppy waves, the cliffs behind her, the echo, the drumming….. aesthetic

Lyrics in Faroese:

Trøllabundin eri eg eri eg Galdramaður festi meg festi meg Trøllabundin djúpt í míni sál í míni sál Í hjartanum logar brennandi bál brennandi bál

Trøllabundin eri eg eri eg Galdramaður festi meg festi meg Trøllabundin inn í hjartarót í hjartarót Eyga mítt festist har ið galdramaður stóð

English translation:

Spellbound am I, am I The wizard has enchanted me, enchanted me Spellbound deep in my soul, in my soul In my heart burns a smouldering fire, smouldering fire

Spellbound am I, am I The wizard has enchanted me, enchanted me Spellbound in my heart’s root, my heart’s root

Did anyone else just get the shivers? Cuz I’m definitely getting the shivers.

Btdubs, the singer is Eivør Pálsdóttir.

Reblogging again for the haunting wizard lyrics

shoutout to the faroe island for being the only real viking island left

I know the islands are owned by Denmark but this reminds me so much of Iceland

Fun fact this woman is trying to single handedly preserve this kind of singing in her culture by performing and making people aware of it because it’s been fading with time and she’s afraid if she doesn’t spread it it will disappear and be lost to future generations