Archive for September 16, 2015
Mumming Links
Dver has created a nifty new website about mumming and mask traditions in Europe and North America- Masks & Monsters
She’s of a similar mindset to me on the subject- if it works, if it’s spiritually and aesthetically effective, it doesn’t matter whether a folk tradition is a survival of pagan customs. This is also a great opportunity to branch out and share with one’s broader non-Pagan community, particularly arts & cultural groups, nature-oriented groups and so forth.
Calendar Customs– great guide to festivals and customs around the United Kingdom
In the Twin Cities area- here are some groups that do work with masks, mummery and puppetry and related forms of folk dancing. Many of them welcome public participation! (though often with membership or workshop fees) Scholarships are also sometimes available, so look carefully at each site.
Minnesota Krampus– The Austrian and Bavarian traditions of St. Nik, Krampus and friends are brought to life at Yuletide and throughout the year at German folk festivals in the Midwest. Krampus mask-making workshops are being held at the German American Institute in St Paul.
Spielmannszug MN– Karneval in Minnesota- celebrate the Feast of Fools at multiple events from Nov 11- Ash Wednesday.
BareBones Productions– they put on a Halloween show every year which is amazing, and also participate in many parades and festivals in the area.
In the Heart of the Beast Puppet & Mask Theater– has shows throughout the year, as well as the May Day Parade and festival in Powderhorn Park.
The Online People’s Front of Judea
I’ve been attempting to learn more about various social justice issues by reading about them both with books and online communities. Over the years, since Livejournal, on thru Facebook and Tumblr, I’ve seen an ongoing downward spiral of discourse. While certainly there have long been problems, there’s an increasing amount of nasty games I’ve come to question some of the basic theories and ideologies that I’ve long believed in, such as Critical Race Theory and intersectionality- while still supporting certain aspects such as- yes oppression is bad, human rights are good, oppressions and identities are inter-related and so forth. Reading Will Shetterly’s blog has been very eye-opening. (He’s a science fiction author, a socialist & a Unitarian who’s also wondering what the heck happened to fandom…) I haven’t been following the various sagas with Hugos, Sad Puppies, Gamergate, avoiding them as much as I’ve been able to avoid the Ferguson/Black Lives Matter saga. Maybe I’ll just read an actual Icelandic saga…
Fortunately I have Monty Python to help me make “sense” of human absurdity…
What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us? (also a good one to post in Pagan groups when someone is complaining about teh Eevil Romans)
The Social Consequences of Everything
These are commented on by someone who *actually does think sexism, racism, homophobia etc are Real Things, but points out the problems with some of these checklists. But people still don’t understand irony and sarcasm. It’s also hard to tell, because some people are kind of walking parodies. I came across “bathing privilege” I thought at first this meant to point out that some people have access to running water and baths/showers and some don’t- fair enough, but it was just someone who *chooses to not bathe* whining about how oppressed he was by Western culture. I couldn’t tell it was for real or not. He also mentioned being on the autism spectrum, and I know sensory issues and executive functioning (i.e. Getting Stuff Done/Organized) can often be barriers for many of us when it comes to personal hygiene, but we can learn to work around those problems (sometimes with help) I’m also well aware that American and Japanese culture in particular, have higher standards of personal hygiene than much of the rest of the world (in part due to wealth) and I think a broader range of cleanliness can be reasonable, depending on your social environment.
Someone else has claimed “non-incest privilege” is a thing (you can’t help who you’re attracted to!) for what the .01% of cases in which it’s not abusive? Also the person that informed us all that homophobia and transphobia are ableist terms because clinical phobias are a Real Thing! Now there’s always going to be someone in every movement doing or saying ridiculous things, it’s just way more visible now. Yay internets!
The Lefthander's Path 