Comments on: Age Old Celebrations http://www.mindonfire.com/2008/02/04/age-old-celebrations/ Religion, SF, and Other Speculative Fictions. Thu, 09 Feb 2012 18:55:49 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3 By: John http://www.mindonfire.com/2008/02/04/age-old-celebrations/comment-page-1/#comment-10267 John Thu, 07 Feb 2008 15:56:02 +0000 http://www.mindonfire.com/2008/02/04/age-old-celebrations/#comment-10267 Thanks for your comment, Cobwebs! It makes me wonder what these celebrations were like when things were truly bleak and survival through the winter was not guaranteed. My birthday, which was on SuperBowl Sunday, is also the same day as a holiday in Japan called <em>Setsubun no Hi</em>. The word <em>setsubun</em> means "dividing the seasons" and is celebrated by throwing beans at people in demon masks, chasing out the bad luck and welcoming the new. Sounds like Imbolc in a kimono. Thanks for your comment, Cobwebs! It makes me wonder what these celebrations were like when things were truly bleak and survival through the winter was not guaranteed.

My birthday, which was on SuperBowl Sunday, is also the same day as a holiday in Japan called Setsubun no Hi. The word setsubun means “dividing the seasons” and is celebrated by throwing beans at people in demon masks, chasing out the bad luck and welcoming the new. Sounds like Imbolc in a kimono.

]]> By: Cobwebs http://www.mindonfire.com/2008/02/04/age-old-celebrations/comment-page-1/#comment-10166 Cobwebs Tue, 05 Feb 2008 17:37:47 +0000 http://www.mindonfire.com/2008/02/04/age-old-celebrations/#comment-10166 I think the "friends and food" thing is fairly accurate; most of the traditional celebrations around this time of year are involved with humanity shoring up its morale in the face of winter. I'm originally from Southern California, and it wasn't until I moved to Virginia that I really grokked why so many cultures had the winter=death/spring=birth thing. When all the trees are bare and everything is under a foot of snow, you *really* want some reassurance that things aren't going to stay cold and dead. Celebrations help, and drinking beer with friends strikes me as an excellent way to poke winter in the eye. I think the “friends and food” thing is fairly accurate; most of the traditional celebrations around this time of year are involved with humanity shoring up its morale in the face of winter.

I’m originally from Southern California, and it wasn’t until I moved to Virginia that I really grokked why so many cultures had the winter=death/spring=birth thing. When all the trees are bare and everything is under a foot of snow, you *really* want some reassurance that things aren’t going to stay cold and dead. Celebrations help, and drinking beer with friends strikes me as an excellent way to poke winter in the eye.

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