Pleasing the Sun God
Posted at 6:00 AM on December 21, 2009
by Dale Connelly
(33 Comments)
Radio Heartland has tickets to give away to a show at the Cedar Cultural Center this Wednesday night - a much anticipated Holiday Special featuring Roma di Luna and Eliza Blue!
Enter the drawing.
Obey the rules.
Good luck!
The Winter Solstice occurs today - at 11:47 am in the Central Time Zone.
The Earth is leaning away from the sun at its usual jaunty angle of 23.5 degrees, putting the northern hemisphere into a dark place for a while. It feels cold and scary, which is reason enough to lavish praise on whomever or whatever you credit for putting us in this awkward spot. After all, when somebody's got you on the ropes and there's no way out except through their beneficence, it's best to make nice.
But getting on the good side of the mighty and powerful can be tricky - just as it is with friends and family, there's always guesswork involved when selecting a trinket that will appeal to your particular deity. Ancient people in a number of different cultures thought human sacrifice was a swell offering - good enough to get the sun to come back, anyway. And as is the case today, the burden of coming up with that perfect gift fell most heavily on only one member of the family. Bummer.
Thank goodness our definition of seasonal human sacrifice has changed. These days the holder of the short straw merely has to get up in the middle of the night to go stand outside Toys R' Us for a Zhu Zhu Pet. Cold and humiliating and potentially disappointing, but at least when it's all done you've still got your head attached and you can have an eggnog and brandy and a good laugh while you wonder "Why did I do THAT?"
I'm still amazed at the lengths I went to for acquiring specific Beanie Babies as a praise offering to our young son fifteen years ago. I was looking at the collection just the other day, now stored in a couple of boxes tucked under a bed. All that fake fur and all those pellets, wantonly shaped into small animal totems. So many bears, but a lot of dogs, cats, lizards, and even a unicorn. Oh the simulated humanity! And for what? Beanie Babies are the shag carpeting that decorates a large swath of the '90's. Inexplicable.
What ancient holiday ritual have you practiced that now leaves you shaking your head in wonder?
Comments (33)
i wonder why i do a lot of things; but we haven't ever had a holiday ritual (except flaming archbishop). think this is because we don't have children. my friend's little girl loved beany babies too, Dale. i'm sure that collection is in boxes somewhere also.
happy solstice. we are NOT offering up a goat - just so that's clear.
Currently trying to satisfy the Sun God by finding a Life Savers book for my 23 year old. I think that 8 rolls of Life Savers in a book JAcket will drive away the darkness and encourage him to pass that last class he needs to graduate from the University.
Teh staff of 7 stores thought I was crazy to be looking for a book about Life Savers.
Dale, can you chase away the darkness with Peter, PAul, and Mary's "Light One Candle?"
Good morning everyone.
Beth-Ann, I'll get "Light One Candle" into the first section after 7 o'clock. Thanks for the request.
To a certain extent gift-giving falls into that category.
To a certain extent gift-giving falls into that category.
To a certain extent gift-giving falls into that category.
I don't miss filling stockings. That took a lot of effort - thinking of things to put in them that would halfway convince their young recipients that the big guy chose the loot. For example, toys from McDonalds didn't cut it. "What - you don't believe Santa eats Happy Meals??"
My son had every Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle figure there was. I used to rationalize all the purchasing thinking we'd just buy all they made, then we wouldn't have to buy any more. My wiser older good friend who had a son same age as mine laughed at me and said, "They don't quit making them. They know sucker moms like you are a dime a dozen!" Then I flipped her off and that was the end of it.
Jim - she didn't say it quite like that and I didn't really make that gesture. I'm a teacher, for God's sakes.
I've always thought that Colm Wilkinson singing "Music of the Night" from the original
Les Miserables soundtrack is perfect for the longest night of the year - a time to see what's in the shadows. If you can dredge that one up I'd love to hear it!
Greetings! I tried not to fall into that trap of buying the coolest toys or whatever the kids wanted. So I gave lame "educational" toys, practical gifts, socks and underwear. They're probably scarred for life.
Before having kids, I spent many happy hours shopping carefully for elegant, tasteful gifts for my siblings and parents.
Now I've become my mother -- I buy small, clearance-priced items throughout the year as I find them to give to whomever. But they're still nice ...
Cood Morning to All,
Okay, Donna, I know you are just joking when you mention certain signs made with your finger, right? I was just joking a while back when I made a comment about your some times"colorful" entries.
There is a big collection of trendy kids' Christmas gifts at our house including Beanie Babies and I think even some Mutant Ninja Turtle figures. However, the sacraficial holiday offering I remember the most was the lucky pick of a good gift.
One year I realized at the last minute that I needed one more major gift, so I ran out and got a large Kitchen Aid mixer. Some how this has turned out to be the best gift ever and there are now several of them being used regularly by family members.
We had a tradition growing up that was perfectly rational - but not good for my lactose intolerant husband once he was in the picture.
My mom was a church musician prior to retirement and so Christmas Eve was always hectic for her when I was a kid. She created the idea that something she called "milk mush" (milk porridge - sort of a variation on romegrot) was a special meal just for Christmas Eve. It worked. It was sweet and cinnamon-y (we got to add all the sugar and cinnamon we wanted to), and she got to make something easy: milk cooked together with flour. She had created a special meal for Christmas Eve that didn't require a lot of prep, my brother and I got something we would gladly eat quickly between church services and still have time to open a couple of presents. It all worked swimmingly 'til I was grown up and brought home a guy who can't digest cow's milk well...
Hey - how about "Morning Has Broken" by Cat Stevens or "Good Day Sunshine" (I think that's the title) by the Beatles for a "welcome back sunshine and longer days" kinda song?
Good Morning All-
It's probably way too obvious, but after all it is Monday! Could you please play Ann Reed's song about a winter solstice party? I'm not sure of the title. . . something about the "last, darkest day of the year"? Thanks, Dale
You have a Beanie Baby UNICORN, Dale?????? Grandbabies love unicorns and I'd found the first one...I spent most of Saturday scouring the shops for a unicorn. Found a lovely white Dragon and Angel Bear... Everything's wrapped though, and going in the mail today! (bubble lights too, Joanne. :)
What was the question?
this brings to mind my dearly departed mother-in-law, who always took such joy in stuffing stockings with the crappiest little trinkets she could find at the Axe Man on University Ave. that WAS a tradition, and best was, we didn't have to buy the stuff we just had to admire and laugh as we dug thru our stockings. she was a real gem and i miss her.
and Jim, you should know that Donna has a phenomenal memory, so if you say something about her she remembers it. so be careful - don't let that "teacher" thing fool you. i think she has connections.
Peggy, i like that "see what's in the shadows" idea. (except, in the goat barn, that might be a rat.) eeeeeeeewwwww!
Dale, isn't there a unicorn song of some kind?
I just have to share my current family tradition. When we gather with siblings and in-laws on my side we don't give gifts anymore, but we do a White Elephant Gift exchange. The rules are: It has to be something already in your house and you can't believe anybody paid money for it.
Wrap it up beautifully and try to convince others how wonderful it actually is. We pick numbers and either pick a gift or take someone else's gift. It gets quite raucous with my large family and really hysterical as there's always 2 or 3 White Elephants that everyone wants and tries to steal. The final rule is you have to TAKE IT HOME. Can't leave it at the host's house or they will ship it to you!
It's great fun and there's no shopping involved. Even the kids have fun watching the antics of the adults involved.
Someone has to say this: LUTEFISK
Although I love it, but not my digestive ssytem any more. I always wonder though who decided to soak dried fish in lye until it turned to jellied mush and then eat it.
Wow...is this a potential hanging curve toward any religion you'd care to slam. But, of course, we're all too nice to do something like that. When I was a youngster, it was a tradition of mine to listen to a Christmas LP (yup, an actual ~record~) by a Chipmunks knock-off group called The Bunny Hoppers. I really don't wonder why I did that because I still love that record, so that doesn't really qualify. I guess the ritual that leaves me shaking my head in futility every year is asking my folks what they'd like for Christmas.
Is the Earth's lilting tilt actually 'jaunty' or more 'rakish'? Or am I just being difficult again?
Dale: the PPM limit for today has been exceeded, but maybe you could play their "A-Soulin', which is about Boxing Day in England, a tradition we do not have.
TGITH: I would call the earth's tilt "Bogartish."
OK -- there's a couple posts here that beg further explanation. Barb in Blackhoof - a "flaming archbishop"? Sounds like something out of "Angels & Demons" ...
LifeSaver Books - you mean they don't make them anymore? Those were awesome.
Love the Ax Man trinkets -- what a hoot!
"Milk Mush" as a special Christmas meal -- Anna, your mom was very wise!
Finally, I'd say the Earth's tilt is "rakish." Especially since it might change suddenly in a couple years. And, yes TGiTH, you're just being difficult, but we like rakish troublemakers ...
We didn't do the appeasement of the sungods so much as the ancestor worship. My dad was a pastor, so immediately after church, we would rip through the presents under the tree, then pile into the car for the trip North (saints forfend we should be late for dinner, and we were always last there).
How my mother lived through those Christmases, I will never know, no wonder I can remember her nodding off in the Grandparents' living romm in the middle of 30 people!
We stay home for Christmas now and spend the day in decadent leisure.
Too late for today, but there is the great song about the Christians and the pagans celebrating together.
I once spent a solstice in Bolivia (June 21 there). The idea there was to go outside at sunset with rattles, pots and pans, or any other noisemaker you could find and make an incredible racket to drive away the dark. Never mind that when you're within spitting distance of the equator the difference between longest day and shortest day doesn't seem all that important.
One thing must be said for all the solstice rituals and sacrifices: At least up to now, they seem to have worked.
Clyde Scrooged... in my family we had salt cod from a box instead of lutefisk, so I honestly have never tasted it. But the lefse we have is the genuine article, my dad learned to make it from his mom and taught me. It's a dying art.
Joanne - re: tilt changing, have you by chance read something by Drunvalo Melchizedek?
Don - the Bolivians seem to have the right idea, wish we would do that. Well, I suppose we could... another way to meet the neighbors!
Joanne IBL - in a sauce pan, mull some port wine (about 4 cups) w/ clove-studded orange peels (and lemon too if you like that tartness - we do). after you have mulled as long as you can wait, pour about 1.5 cups of brandy into the wine and ingnite (be careful - luckily you do this BEFORE you have had a FAB) turn the lights out and admire the flame, but not too long or all the alcohol will burn off. smother the flames with the cover of the sauce pan.
pour into heat-proof cups and be careful not to breathe too deeply when you sip. even the fumes are lethal. we really don't like this drink (makes one shiver as it goes down) - too sweet and too strong - but i love the name.
re lutefisk: Lou's cafe in Barnum has lutefisk dinners thru december but one has to reserve early because they are packed. (of course, if you've ever been to Lou's you'd see that they can seat about 20 people in there - tightly.
Barb in Blackhoof -- thanks for recipe. I thought it was a church accident -- all those candles burning, long robes and incense burners you know -- BSO Rafferty would have had a cow seeing (Catholic) churches in the old days.
Barbara in R - not sure, but that name sounds familiar. Jim has lots of Zacharia Sitchin books (very tedious) and he has Surviving 2012-type of book(s) -- very weird, but convincing. We have lots of metaphysical books. The whole earth-switching-its-axis theory has been bandied about for decades.
Barb in Blackhoof--in "It's a Wonderful Life" in the bar scene, Clarence the angel asks for a "Flaming rum punch and hop to it, my good man."
Barbar in Robbinsdale and Don--I used to try to get people to do a midnight solstice celebration for both December and June. I guess I don't know enough people willing to be heathens for a night.They do a celebration on the day the sun comes back north of the arctic circle.
Also, Barbara--I forgot about the salt cod. Used to come in a wooden box. My mother in her childhood in Lamberton and Sebeka her father always got them oysters for Christmas. The salt cod was her version of that tradition because she got sick on oysters.
Dale--I meant to ask for PPM's "A-souling'" for tomorrow. It is my favorite Chistmas song.
Clyde -
You're wondering about the origins of Lutefisk? My guess is the Swedes thought it would be fun to dump dried or fish-like things in lye and serve it to their Norwegian neighbors. Never ones to offend, the victims pretended to enjoy it. And since both Swedes and Norwegians are noted for their quiet perseverance, the joke endures even as its origins have been forgotten.
It's a bit like the Irish inventing the bagpipes and giving it to the Scots as a joke. As I am Scottish-Norwegian, I pride myself on my people being able to take a joke. I even married a mostly- Swedish girl.
Beth-Ann - I just saw a Life Savers book at Target. It wasn't with the "books" of SweetTarts or Nerds, but in another candy aisle.
Clyde - yes, the salt cod comes in a little wooden box with a sliding lid. I can still usually find it at Lunds or Byerly's during The Season.
Thanks for the Life Saver support. I whined at work and one of my colleagues just let me know she found one for me. The Sun God must have been appeased!
These are great lyrics of hope at this dark time of year. I am sustained and nurtured by their beauty. I first heard this song on the Morning Show, and they will always mean a lot to me:
Light of the Light--
We can wait no longer, we can wait no more.
We can wait no longer, we can wait no more.
After the darkness,
Unspeakable high processions
Sun and moon and countless teeming stars.
We came down from the garden
Wandering with our questions,
Where this life? Oh why this restless soul?
Who will soothe the fevered children,
Who will heal these separations,
Maybe even now it’s coming...
We can wait no longer, we can wait no more.
We can wait no longer, we can wait no more.
Let’s go together
I with you and you with me
We’ll climb the mountains, walk the trackless plains.
Carry me through forever
Lift me up and wash me clean and
Let me melt into that endless flame.
Light of the light,
Light of the light,
Light of the light.
Light of the light,
Light of the light,
Light of the light.
Oh my soul.
Steer us to uncharted waters, hoist the anchor, shake out every sail.
My brave soul.
If they’re all the seas of heaven
Why should we not go where all maps fail?
We’ve been waiting in this harbor
***We were built for deeper waters***
Farther, farther, farther, farther now.
Now!
Light of the light,
Light of the light,
Light of the light.
Light of the light,
Light of the light,
Light of the light.
We can wait no longer, we can wait no more.
We can wait no longer, we can wait no more.
We can wait no longer, we can wait no more.
We can wait no longer, we can wait no more.
-- Kris Delmhorst adapted these lyrics from Walt Whitman's, "A Passage to India"
PS Dale and Mike played this amazing song this morning a little after 7:00 a.m. Thank you for the inspiration!
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