a midsummer celebration with pagan, hedonistic roots. burning a witch, a ceremony that once meant something positive and strong and feminine, was turned negative and anti-woman by, you guessed it, christianity. we talked about taking it back as a precisely a positive, strong, feminine act. i will no longer hold myself back from the fire, for fear of being sent to bloksburg (where ever that may be). embrace the witch, i say. and the light. and the long, midsummer nights. even if there was as little bit of rain, it wasn't enough to douse our pagan fires. it's a couple of days after the solstice, but it must have originally been in celebration of that. and here we are, still embracing the light and the sense of ceremony.
3 comments:
I so wanted to have a massive bonfire at Frieda's solstice birthday party but was vetoed - too many other people's small children about apparently...
Here's a funny thing: those wish lanterns are severely frowned upon here, too many have started fires - on mountainsides and in townships! The winelands area (out near Spier/Moyo) is full of mountains, townships and wedding venues ... a dire combination it turned out when the lanterns became all the rage at weddings, and responsible for lots of uncontrolled burns. Now they're very un-PC! But such a lovely concept ...
I love this whole idea!
xox
@molly - it's true, we have no idea where they're landing...but we had this idea they were burned out when they landed. at least it's not dry in our area and i've not heard of any fires! :-o
@feisty harriet - it is quite a wonderful ceremonial act, even if it does involve burning a witch. :-)
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