Messages In This Digest (5 Messages)
- 1a.
- Jack-In-The-Green From: Silver Fox
- 2a.
- May Day Chant From: Silver Fox
- 3a.
- May Day Hobby Horses From: Silver Fox
- 4a.
- May Day Spell From: Silver Fox
- 5.
- An Ostara Gift for you -- free downloadable meditation From: karentate108
Messages
- 1a.
-
Jack-In-The-Green
Posted by: "Silver Fox" silverfox_57@hotmail.com trickster9993
Sun Apr 24, 2011 6:50 am (PDT)
Jack-In-The-Green
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Jack_In_the_ Green
A Jack in the Green (also Jack in the green, Jack-in-the-green, Jack i' the Green, Jack o' the Green etc) is a participant in traditional English May Day parades and other May celebrations, who wears a large, foliage-covered, garland-like framework, usually pyramidal or conical in shape, which completely covers their body from head to foot. The name is also applied to the garland itself.
History
In the 16th and 17th centuries in England people would make garlands of flowers and leaves for the May Day celebration. After becoming a source of competition between Works Guilds these garlands became increasingly elaborate. This got out of hand and the garland eventually became so big it covered the entire man. This became known as Jack in the Green. For some reason the figure became particularly associated with chimney sweeps; there are several theories as to why this happened but none has been proven conclusively.
By the turn of the 19th century the custom had started to wane, the Victorians disapproving of such bawdy and anarchic behaviour. The Lord and Lady of the May with their practical jokes were replaced by a pretty May Queen. There was no place for the drunken, noisy Jack in the Green.
Jack in the Green was revived in Hastings by a group of morris dancers in 1983 and has become a major event in the town calendar.
Jack is a colourful figure, almost 3m (nine feet) tall, and covered in greenery and flowers. He is accompanied by attendants, known as Bogies, who are completely disguised in green rags, vegetation and face paint. The attendants play music, dance and sing as they guide Jack through the streets to celebrate the coming of Summer.
Revivals of the custom have occurred in various parts of England and Jacks in the Green have been seen in Bristol, Deptford, and Whitstable, Kent among other places. Jacks also appear at May Fairs in North America.
Observations
Amongst modern "folkies" and neo-pagans the Jack in the Green has become identified with the mysterious Green Man depicted in mediaeval church carvings and is widely felt to be an embodiment of natural fertility, a spirit of the primeval greenwood and a trickster; by extension he is linked to such mythological characters as Puck, Robin Goodfellow, Robin Hood, the Green Knight and others.
Similar characters to the English Jack in the Green were known in parts of Europe and Russia, and may be still. Some were involved in mock sacrifice, where the leafy framework was thrown or ducked into a pond or river (sometimes with the person still inside it). These festivities were variously associated with Easter Monday, St George's Day (23rd of April), May Day, and Whitsuntide. Occasionally the disguise was straw rather than leaves, a link with the straw bears of German Carnival (and the sole English example, the Whittlesea Straw Bear), suggesting these particular figures personified Winter rather than Spring or Summer. Folklorist Sir James Frazer cited many examples in The Golden Bough.
Other related figures in Britain include the Burry Man of South Queensferry and the Garland King of Castleton, Derbyshire, who parades on Oak Apple Day.
Trivia
British progressive rockgroup Jethro Tull recorded a song called Jack-In-The-Green on their Songs From The Wood album.
Pianist Jools Holland wrote a track called "Jack O The Green" in conjunction with Suggs (Graham McPherson) of Madness after Suggs witnessed an ancient ceremony in Whitstable, where the coming of Spring is celebrated with the Jack o' The Green parading through the streets to an old English folk melody. Having heard this each year Suggs was captivated by it. On holiday in Tuscany he saw a band of local musicians gather with traditional Tuscan instruments in a small village square. Their own Green Man appeared and much to Suggs' surprise they played the same tune. Their collaboration takes the folk melody, creates a variation on it, and sets them to ska rhythms.
"Jack in the Green" is the name of Painting No. 10 in the Masquerade (book) by Kit Williams. The main character, Jack Hare, appears in disguise on each page of the story: in this picture he is a transparent green jelly in a shop window; this is a pun on Jack in the Green and the moulded shape of the jelly itself bears a vague resemblance to a Jack in the Green.
A character called Jack in the Green has appeared in a number of comic books, including Neil Gaiman's Midnight Days, Swamp Thing Vol.2 #47 and Hellblazer: Lady Constantine #s 1,2 and 3.
Silver Fox
"It is all true, it is not true. The more I tell you, the more I shall lie. What is story but jesting Pilate's cry. I am not paid to tell you the truth."
Jane Yolen; The Storyteller
- 2a.
-
May Day Chant
Posted by: "Silver Fox" silverfox_57@hotmail.com trickster9993
Sun Apr 24, 2011 6:50 am (PDT)
May Day Chant
By Doreen Valiente; Witchcraft for Tomorrow; Phoenix Publishing 1985
Here we come a' piping,
In Springtime and in May;
Green fruit a' ripening,
And Winter fled away.
The Queen she sits upon the strand,
Fair as lily, white as wand;
Seven billows on the sea,
Horses riding fast and free,
And bells beyond the sand.
Silver Fox
"It is all true, it is not true. The more I tell you, the more I shall lie. What is story but jesting Pilate's cry. I am not paid to tell you the truth."
Jane Yolen; The Storyteller
- 3a.
-
May Day Hobby Horses
Posted by: "Silver Fox" silverfox_57@hotmail.com trickster9993
Sun Apr 24, 2011 6:51 am (PDT)
May Day Hobby Horses
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Hobbyhorse
The 'Old 'Oss capturing a young woman during the May Day festival at Padstow, Cornwall. The most famous traditional British hobby horses are probably those of the May Day 'Obby 'Oss festival in Padstow, Cornwall. They are made from a circular framework, tightly covered with shiny black material, carried on the shoulders of a dancer whose face is hidden by a grotesque mask attached to a tall, pointed hat. A skirt (made from the same material) hangs down from the edge of the frame to around knee-height. There is a small, wooden, horse's head with snapping jaws, attached to a long, straight neck, with a long mane, which sticks out from the front of the frame. On the opposite side there is a small tail of horsehair.
There are two rival horses and their fiercely loyal bands of supporters at Padstow: the 'Old 'Oss is decorated with white and red, and its supporters wear red scarves to show their allegiance; the Blue Ribbon 'Oss (or "Temperance 'Oss") is decorated with white and blue and its supporters follow suit. A "Teaser" waving a padded club dances in front of each 'Oss, accompanied, as they dance through the narrow streets, by a lively band of melodeons, accordions and drums playing Padstow's traditional May Song. The 'Osses sometimes capture young women beneath the skirt of the hobby horse; often they emerge smeared with black.
Children sometimes make "Colt" 'Osses and hold their own May Day parades.
At Minehead in Somerset there are also two rival hobby horses, the Sailor's Horse and the Town Horse. They appear on May Eve (called "Show Night"), on May Day morning (when they salute the sunrise at a crossroads on the ouskirts of town), 2 May and 3 May (when a ceremony called "The Bootie" takes place in the evening at part of town called Cher). Each horse is made of a boat-shaped wooden frame, pointed and built up at each end, which is carried on the dancer's shoulders. As at Padstow, his face is hidden by a mask attached to a tall, pointed hat. The top surface of the horse is covered with ribbons and strips of fabric. A long fabric skirt, painted with rows of multicoloured roundels, hangs down to the ground all round. A long tail is attached to the back of the frame. Each horse is accompanied by a small group of musicians and attendants. The Town Horse is accompanied by "Gullivers", dressed similarly to the horse but without the large frame; as at padstow, smaller, children's horses have sometimes been constructed.
Morris Dance
A hobby horse is depicted in a stained glass window, dating from between 1550–1621, from Betley Hall, Staffordshire, now in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, directly below a Maypole and surrounded by what appear to be morris dancers (accession no. C.248-1976).
Some traditional English Morris dance sides (teams) have hobby horses associated with them.
Silver Fox
"It is all true, it is not true. The more I tell you, the more I shall lie. What is story but jesting Pilate's cry. I am not paid to tell you the truth."
Jane Yolen; The Storyteller
- 4a.
-
May Day Spell
Posted by: "Silver Fox" silverfox_57@hotmail.com trickster9993
Sun Apr 24, 2011 6:54 am (PDT)
May Day Spell
Source: Element Encyclopedia of 5000 Spells by Judika Illes
May Day is the holy day belonging to the Roman spirit of flowers and happy sex, Flora. She may also be petitioned for fertility, especially if infertility treatment and sex on demand has dampened the joys of the sexual experience.
1) Request healing, happiness, and access to life's pleasures.
2) Flora is beckoned with fresh flowers: she especially favors lupines. Her sacrament, the gift that you can give her, is blissful sex. (All rites for Flora are traditionally performed nude.)
Silver Fox
"It is all true, it is not true. The more I tell you, the more I shall lie. What is story but jesting Pilate's cry. I am not paid to tell you the truth."
Jane Yolen; The Storyteller
- 5.
-
An Ostara Gift for you -- free downloadable meditation
Posted by: "karentate108" karentate108@ca.rr.com specialjourn
Sun Apr 24, 2011 12:44 pm (PDT)
Enjoy Free Downloadable Meditations Celebrating Spring and
Ostara
Compliments of Karen Tate
http://www.karentate.com/Tate/ giftshop. html#meditations
<http://www.karentate.com/Tate/ >giftshop. html#meditations
Blessings of the season,
Karen Tate
www.karentate.com
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<:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::]]======0
The Worldwide Spirit of Paganism
in Australia, America & Worldwide!
Take a Look at Our Huge EBay Store
For all your Magickal & Ritual Supplies
http://stores.ebay.com.au/Astarte-Earthwise
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This Earthwise Book of Shadows group holds the expectation
that a tolerant, mature and respectful dialogue be strived
for in our communications with each other. Members are
encouraged to challenge anyone not adhering to these
principles and to notify the list owner Astarte if you are
offended by a posting, write to me at
earthwise@bigpond.com
Thank you.
___________________________________________________________________________
Earthwise is a world wide group.
We are based in Western Sydney, NSW. Australia.
Located in the valley before the beautiful Blue Mountains were
we hold sacred rituals, workshops, social events and outings,
for more information see our calendar of events at Witches Meetup
http://witches.meetup.com/1293/
___________________________________________________________________________
Astarte also works full time as a Psychic Counsellor, Medium,
Clairvoyant, Healer and Teacher.
If she can be of assistance to you, please see her home page at
www.earthwise.net.au
___________________________________________________________________________
ARE YOU CREATIVE?
Astarte is always sourcing new suppliers of quality pagan
related items, to purchase wholesale or even put on consignment,
she willing to purchase worldwide items for the Earthwise Store.
If you have something of interest please contact Astarte
earthwise@bigpond.com
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