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lkh_lashouts2006-12-22 07:27 pm
catskin.livejournal.com) wrote in lkh_lashouts2006-12-22 07:27 pm
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Your religion is wrong! All wrong!
http://blog.laurellkhamilton.org/2006/12/happy-winter-solstice.html
Happy Winter Solstice
Laurell, bold.
Me, baffled.
Happy Winter Solstice
Laurell, bold.
Me, baffled.
Tonight is the longest night of the year; Winter Solstice. Every culture that I am aware of has some sort of holiday around this time of year.
Of course, dear readers, there may be some cultures that have managed to slip under her radar. She probably can't get calenders for all of them, you know?
Most with some theme of doing something to encourage the sun to return.
Like shagging some fairy who used to be the personification of the sun's mighty sun powers?
Uh-oh, I think I just foresaw the plot of the next Merry book.
Our own religion has a version of this in the Holly King and Oak King. The Holly King ruled the year until tonight, but he will give his crown to the Oak King who will rule until Summer Solstice. Truthfully, it would make more sense to Jon and I to crown the Holly King at winter and the Oak King at summer, but this was the tradition as I can find it written up.
She means "this was the tradition according to my calendar," kids.
You mean you and Jon aren't out there spreading the message, Laurell? Here, let me. Hey, pagans, Wiccans, you're doing it all wrong! Laurell says it should be the Holly King at Winter! Okay? All your traditions and celebrations are the wrong way round - Laurell and Jon figured it out. You need to get with the programme and kick the Oak King to the curb until Summer, okay?
What? What was that? Laurell can stick her holly where?
It's the tradition that most Wiccans follow, but we are puzzled by it. If it makes more sense to us to have the Holly king crowned at Yule, could we do that, change it, or would that be not okay?
Laurell, given the lack of consistency within your own books, why are you worrying about consistency within your religion?
Yes, it's based on old religious beliefs and customs, but modern Wicca really dates to Gerald Gardner. Good ol' Uncle Gerry, is really the founder of our faith in many ways. We hold to festivals and ways of faith that are older than Christianity, but the way we put it all together is new.
Brand! Spanking! New! Wicca! Call now and recieve a free box of I Can't Believe It's Not Wicca, personally endorsed by LKH and Jon, who will be happy to tell you everything you're doing wrong by crowning the Oak King in Winter.
Seriously, who is she kidding? I'm sure this is all part of her "I'm so Goth but don't call me Goth because I won't be labelled!!!!11!!!" schtick.
I guess our faith is like a marriage; something old, something new, something borrowed . . . okay, I don't know where the blue comes in. I mean blue can mean healing, or Goddess energy, or both. Blue can stand for the element of water, or air. Blue can represent the God, as well, the blue of the sky and him watching over us. So, let it stand, something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue. Keep the light shining, tomorrow the sun returns.
Blue can also represent a type of music and my mood. I am blue because of you, Laurell. And as far as I'm aware (please correct me if I'm wrong, because I probably am) green is the colour traditionally associated with healing, not blue.
Of course, dear readers, there may be some cultures that have managed to slip under her radar. She probably can't get calenders for all of them, you know?
Most with some theme of doing something to encourage the sun to return.
Like shagging some fairy who used to be the personification of the sun's mighty sun powers?
Uh-oh, I think I just foresaw the plot of the next Merry book.
Our own religion has a version of this in the Holly King and Oak King. The Holly King ruled the year until tonight, but he will give his crown to the Oak King who will rule until Summer Solstice. Truthfully, it would make more sense to Jon and I to crown the Holly King at winter and the Oak King at summer, but this was the tradition as I can find it written up.
She means "this was the tradition according to my calendar," kids.
You mean you and Jon aren't out there spreading the message, Laurell? Here, let me. Hey, pagans, Wiccans, you're doing it all wrong! Laurell says it should be the Holly King at Winter! Okay? All your traditions and celebrations are the wrong way round - Laurell and Jon figured it out. You need to get with the programme and kick the Oak King to the curb until Summer, okay?
What? What was that? Laurell can stick her holly where?
It's the tradition that most Wiccans follow, but we are puzzled by it. If it makes more sense to us to have the Holly king crowned at Yule, could we do that, change it, or would that be not okay?
Laurell, given the lack of consistency within your own books, why are you worrying about consistency within your religion?
Yes, it's based on old religious beliefs and customs, but modern Wicca really dates to Gerald Gardner. Good ol' Uncle Gerry, is really the founder of our faith in many ways. We hold to festivals and ways of faith that are older than Christianity, but the way we put it all together is new.
Brand! Spanking! New! Wicca! Call now and recieve a free box of I Can't Believe It's Not Wicca, personally endorsed by LKH and Jon, who will be happy to tell you everything you're doing wrong by crowning the Oak King in Winter.
Seriously, who is she kidding? I'm sure this is all part of her "I'm so Goth but don't call me Goth because I won't be labelled!!!!11!!!" schtick.
I guess our faith is like a marriage; something old, something new, something borrowed . . . okay, I don't know where the blue comes in. I mean blue can mean healing, or Goddess energy, or both. Blue can stand for the element of water, or air. Blue can represent the God, as well, the blue of the sky and him watching over us. So, let it stand, something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue. Keep the light shining, tomorrow the sun returns.
Blue can also represent a type of music and my mood. I am blue because of you, Laurell. And as far as I'm aware (please correct me if I'm wrong, because I probably am) green is the colour traditionally associated with healing, not blue.
no subject
Just fyi.
no subject
Wicca having ancient roots doesn't make it an ancient unbroken tradition. Wicca did not exist until Gerard Gardner wrote his book in the 1950s. This simply means it's a young religion, not an invalid one. Gardner picked and chose bits from many other religions, so I get pissy when I get certain people screaming at me about 'stealing their festivals' considering the circumstances.
How old the roots of a religion are do not make it any more or less valid. It's a religion. Having said that, people shouldn't make false claims about their religion. Here, there are people complaining about the misrepresentation of their faith, about the use of a deity figure at the wrong time of year. I'm venting about people who say things like 'It's my Yule tree' when it's in the house, as (from what we know about) Germanic pagan beliefs, having a tree cut down to put it in a house to decorate would be an abomination. The Roman festival of Saturnalia had a tradition of bringing in a branch or tree to decorate. However, what's more likely is that we are simply following the custom Prince Albert made popular in the UK in the 19th Century. I don't see why it would hurt to say 'It's a Christmas Tree!' when it's clearly a Christmas tree, not a Yule tree.
I have a lot of interest in the pre-Roman history of Europe, so I am well aware of 'cult' practices across Europe, and the UK in particular. The Romans imposed better organisation and a homogenisation of beliefs by including prominent local deities in their pantheonic faith until Constantine converted to Christinity and most of the Roman Empire followed suit.
no subject
On the contrary, the roots are very important. I would say "ancient oral tradition" is not the same as an "organized religion", yes? Wasn't that the point you were just making about pagan cults? Then you are definitely in the wrong, as many of these so-called "cults" contained detailed, specific mentionings and stories that were passed down through generations. One good example of this is Judaism.
There are several branches of Wicca/paganism, just as there are of any other "organized" religion out there. Wicca as a movement may have been officially on the map in the 1950s, but the key foundations of that religion go back much farther than that. So what if it was a cult? So were Christianity and Islam, once.
I'm not trying to start a war about what Wicca means; I simply wanted to clear up my response to your comment. If you have an interest in pre-Roman Italy at all, I fail to see why the connections between the Old Religion of the Etruscans and Gardner's work would escape you.