Thoughts for the Palindrome Day

BLOG FOR 02-02-2020 - supposedly a palindrome (reads the same forward and backward) like this occurs only once in 900 years.  Even rarer than Haley's Comet.

I’ve been reading a good book by Madeline L’Engle, entitled “Walking On Water”.  It’s about the creative process in relation to faith.  It especially cites the value of myth and fantasy in the human experience, both as reader and writer.  I first read it 35 years ago (it was published in 1980), but now it means much more to me.  Yes, I was writing fantasy-fiction back then, but now I’m much farther along the pathway of my life.  Many more experiences.

And it ties in very well with reading I’ve been doing recently about C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, especially their thoughts on the value of “Faerie”--their word for myth and fantasy.  They saw it as “true” in the sense that it shows the human mind searching for truth—the truth they believed was ultimately revealed in Jesus.  (They called the story of Jesus the "Ultimate Myth" because it was "true".)

I also concur that myth and fantasy shouldn’t be summarily dismissed by our post-modern, fact-infused culture as “untrue” and therefore “unworthy.”  I can remember this being a prevalent attitude among conservative, fundamentalist Christians in my early years of marriage and child-rearing.  Yet, I still read and wrote fantasy, and found that it spoke to me in ways that merely “factual” writings didn’t.

Since L’Engle wrote her book in 1980, our culture has experienced a big return to fantasy.  Just as one example, there’s the 40+ years of continuing popularity of Star Wars.  And even Narnia, Lord of the Rings, and Harry Potter.  Or the popularity of movies based on the mythical heroes of Marvel Comics.  Some ultra-conservative Christians disdain these.  But I find myself agreeing more and more with Lewis, Tolkien, and L’Engle. (Speaking of disdain, L’Engle was criticized by conservatives for naming one of her spiritual characters in A Wrinkle in Time, Mrs. Which, because it sounded like witch.) 

But after nearly 70 years on this earth myself, I believe we as humans appear to have a need for “Faerie”, and when it is denied, the pendulum somehow manages to swing back to it again and again.  I think it shows we have a deep need for faith in some form, no matter how much culture tries to separate us from it.  Dare I say “amen”?

What's the Big Deal?

Why Solstices and Equinoxes?

I can remember as a child in elementary school learning about the Equinoxes and Solstices.  Maybe I was more interested in earth science and astronomy than my peers, but the image of the globe tilted on its axis, turning each pole in turn toward the sun in its yearly circle, has stuck with me all these years.

About eight years ago, I asked my geographer son to build me a miniature Stonehenge in our backyard.  He was glad to oblige, and used his dad’s GPS to accomplish a very accurate placing of each of the sight-stones in relation to the central one.  I can now tell exactly where the sun will be on our horizon at each solstice and equinox.

Why was this important to me?  I think partly because I need to remind myself that even when things in my world are growing dark, I can look forward to the eventual return of light.  That life is not just a linear journey from birth to death.  That it’s also cyclical.

As many of my Facebook friends know, I annually count down to the Winter Solstice.  This is the one I look toward the most, for it represents the coming back of light.  It was important to ancient cultures too, as we can see from the many ancient monuments like Stonehenge, which are oriented to show exactly when the solstices will come.  I actually find it surprising that so many of my friends now comment that they look forward to my countdown.  Maybe there’s an ancient “memory” in our DNA that points to these same times of the year that were so important to our ancestors

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Ironically though, as our world grows darker in most ways, we try to push back that dark with our artificial lights.  Whether they are street lights or Christmas lights, they actually block out the stars that our ancestors looked to for guidance.  Some places on earth, including Glacier National Park, are promoting their dark night skies, ideal for stargazing.  People even talk about “light pollution” now in all our urban areas.  Astronauts in space can tell exactly where the cities are as they orbit the night side of earth.  Each metropolitan area and even small towns are seen by their artificial lights, clumps and strings of them scattered across the face of the globe.  I wonder if it sometimes looks to these spacemen like a disease on the surface of the earth.

While we keep trying to find ways to push back the dark, maybe we need to be looking more for the lights within ourselves.  Yes, our world is a mess and seems to be getting worse almost daily.  But perhaps if each of us tries to let our lights shine out to others around us, we can do a better job of pushing back the dark.

Advent and the Solstice

I'm about a month late with this blog, but I'm going to post it.  I'm not getting much notice anyway.

"The people who dwelt in darkness have seen a great light..." (somewhere in Isaiah)
This is one of my favorite verses for Advent, the four weeks before Christmas.

And Advent is my favorite season of the church year, despite the fact that it's the darkest period in the seasons--in the northern parts of the globe.

I think I've always felt the need to look to "the light of the world"--Jesus.  Especially in the dark season of the year.  Jesus is associated with light in many parts of the church year.  And so we get out all those Christmas lights to brighten the darkness closing in around us.  I often wonder what it would be like in the southern hemisphere where there is no Christmas in their winter.  How difficult!

I'm also sure this is why I count down to the Winter Solstice, when the light begins to return.  And I'm not the only one.  Witness all the ancient monuments like Stonehenge that relate to pinpointing the solstices.

The world around us today is getting darker all the time, and not just physically.  All our artificial lights try to hold back the darkness, but instead they obscure the stars in the night sky that our ancestors used as their inspirations and guides.  I hope we can choose not to dwell in the world's darkness and so-called light, and instead embrace the Light of the World.

A Call for Comments

I know I've been very inconsistent with my blog this year.  Once a month was my goal.   I started well, as most New Year's resolutions do.  But I wasn't getting any comments that people liked my blogs of chapters of my next book.  Was anyone reading them?  It appears not, because I've gotten no comments when I stopped posting them

However, I will reconsider posting more of "The Journeys Saga", if there's anyone out there who cares about it.  So I need to hear.  Okay?

Long Wait Til the Countdown

The days are getting shorter by about 3 minutes a day, according to our weather person.  This is a hard time of year for me.  Impending darkness.  At least in the northern US we also get to look forward to Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Observances meant to remind us that light will return to this world.  Personally, I'm glad the early church put the celebration of Jesus' birth in December, to coincide with the gradual return of light after the Winter Solstice.  I'm getting anxious to start the countdown, but it's still too early.  We're almost to 60 days, tho.  Sorry. Couldn't resist.  It's a long way off... 

Happy Lammas (No, Not LLamas)

August 1 marks the midway point between the Summer Solstice and the Fall Equinox.  Like the other midway feasts (May Day, Halloween) it had significance in early agrarian societies.  But it is the one that's been lost for the most part. No, it doesn't have anything to with the South American animal, or the seekers of Tibetian Budhism.

It’s taken me a long time to find information on Aug. 1 or Lammas.  I finally got information in a book on Druids that I ran across at a workshop of Celtic Heritage in America.  I learned, as I suspected, that Lammas is a feast of harvest.  In northern climates, it would be just the early first-fruits.  The word Lammas in Irish is Lughnasadh, and in Scottish Gaelic it’s Lunasad.  Lunasa is Irish for August, too.   The ancient god Lugh, in Irish myth, is god of all arts and crafts.  He is also considered to be the greatest of the gods, and the name implies he has a large head.  Lugh is found beyond the British Isles, too, being depicted in early art from Sweden to the Punjab.  Of course, the Irish added  their own twist, weaving the story that Lugh has now become “Lugh-chromain” which is the Irish word we pronounce as “leprechaun,” certainly a crafty character if ever there was one

It's May, It's May!

May has finally arrived, amid freezing nights, wind, and record cool temperatures in many parts of the northern tier.  But at least it's here!  Happy May Day to everyone.

May Day is a carry over of an old festival called Beltaine,which I've found is a celebration of the coming of spring and the fertility of the earth.  It must have arisen in northern climes, because I can really relate to waiting until May for spring to arrive.  It never shows up in March when the Spring Equinox takes place.  At least not in Montana.  In fact, May 1 is the midpoint between the Spring Equinox and the Summer Solstice.

Some of you may remember May Baskets we made for family and friends on May Day.  Or perhaps even dancing around the May Pole.  These are probably pagan in origin, but who can argue with bright colors and spring flowers after a long, bleak winter?  I sure can't.

When I worked at Holy Family Catholic School, I encountered a festival I'd never heard of called "May Crowning".  It involves a procession with brightly colored spring clothing and flowers, and it's when the Virgin Mary is crowned with a wreath of flowers as Queen of the May.  If any of you saw the 1990s movie "Sister Act" perhaps you remember the song the nuns were singing which said "Salve' Regina".  That's one of the songs of May Crowning, and it means "Save us, O Queen."  The takeover of a pagan festival by the Church is nothing new, as many of you know.  But it doesn't bother me.  I like the idea that things from our early heritage have been put into new molds and carried on into the present day.  To me it shows that God is over all.  And after all, who made all those lovely flowers?  According to Jesus, he clothed the flowers better than "King Solomon in all his glory."

One spring, my best girlfriend and I found a whole field of daisies near her house.  We picked a huge bunch and handed them out all over our high school (of almost 2000 students!).   By the end of the day, there were daisies to be seen everywhere.  We had such fun that day.  Maybe a few of our classmates even remember it.  Such a contrast to what is happening in school now.  I hope it's not too late to try to spread some joy instead of pain.

So, if you can find some, grab a few of those colorful flowers and crown someone with them.  Happy Beltaine!