*Ø* Blogmanac January 25 | A big day in world folklore
Burns Day
All over the world, Scots will gather tonight for the annual Burns Supper.
There they will honour the life and work of their national poet Robert Burns. Usually they will enjoy a great feast and there will be the singing of national songs, many of them from the pen of Burns himself. It may be that these revels have their origins in the ancient Norse Disting festival of the Dísir, protective maternal deities or guardian goddesses.
And there's a hand, my trusty fiere!
And gie's a hand o' thine!
And we'll tak' a right guid-willie waught,
For auld lang syne.
Disting (Disirblot)
The dísir may be considered ancestors of humans and they are associated with the Norse goddess Freya. They are valkyrie-like guardians of the dead. One of the dísir’s functions was to assist women in childbirth, leading to these deities holding an important position as agents of destiny. The Disting was held at the beginning of February and the end of October, and is still celebrated by various Neopagan religions such as Asatru and Germanic heathenism ...
Tenjin Matsuri (festival), Japan
This festival, popularly known as Kitano Tenjin, is held at Kitano Shrine at Osaka. It is dedicated to Sugawara-no-Michizane (845-903), a highly-gifted official of the Heian court (794-1185) who instituted many reforms of great benefit to the fledgling Japanese nation. He was deified under the name of Tenjin and is the god of scholarship, language and calligraphy, having taught humans to write. This is the first of Tenjin’s festivals for the year at this shrine. There are many shrines to him in Japan, and students go to them to ask his blessing on their studies.
Feast day of St Dwynwen, the 'St Valentine' of Wales
Saint Dwynwyn’s Day is celebrated in Wales as a kind of St Valentine's Day, particularly among women who will send cards to their lovers today ...
These are just snippets of today's stories. Read all about today in folklore, historical oddities, inspiration and alternatives at the Wilson's Almanac Book of Days, every day. Click today's date when you're there.
Burns Day
All over the world, Scots will gather tonight for the annual Burns Supper.
There they will honour the life and work of their national poet Robert Burns. Usually they will enjoy a great feast and there will be the singing of national songs, many of them from the pen of Burns himself. It may be that these revels have their origins in the ancient Norse Disting festival of the Dísir, protective maternal deities or guardian goddesses.
And there's a hand, my trusty fiere!
And gie's a hand o' thine!
And we'll tak' a right guid-willie waught,
For auld lang syne.
Disting (Disirblot)
The dísir may be considered ancestors of humans and they are associated with the Norse goddess Freya. They are valkyrie-like guardians of the dead. One of the dísir’s functions was to assist women in childbirth, leading to these deities holding an important position as agents of destiny. The Disting was held at the beginning of February and the end of October, and is still celebrated by various Neopagan religions such as Asatru and Germanic heathenism ...
Tenjin Matsuri (festival), Japan
This festival, popularly known as Kitano Tenjin, is held at Kitano Shrine at Osaka. It is dedicated to Sugawara-no-Michizane (845-903), a highly-gifted official of the Heian court (794-1185) who instituted many reforms of great benefit to the fledgling Japanese nation. He was deified under the name of Tenjin and is the god of scholarship, language and calligraphy, having taught humans to write. This is the first of Tenjin’s festivals for the year at this shrine. There are many shrines to him in Japan, and students go to them to ask his blessing on their studies.
Feast day of St Dwynwen, the 'St Valentine' of Wales
Saint Dwynwyn’s Day is celebrated in Wales as a kind of St Valentine's Day, particularly among women who will send cards to their lovers today ...
These are just snippets of today's stories. Read all about today in folklore, historical oddities, inspiration and alternatives at the Wilson's Almanac Book of Days, every day. Click today's date when you're there.
Pip Wilson posted item above at 2:52 PM | Permalink
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