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Archive for the ‘Holidays’ Category

INDEPENDENCE DAY: With Beauty and Fecundity For All

Posted in Features, Holidays, tagged , , , , on July 5, 2010 | 2 Comments »

What does it mean to be a patriotic American in this day and age?  If we shop at Wal-Mart, we may be under the impression it means buying red, white, and blue plastic crap—extruded petroleum from China, of course.  Newspapers suggest that being patriotic means supporting the wars du jour, rooting for the home team [...]

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REMEMBERING IN TIME: Memorial Day, ritual, and thoughts in silence

Posted in Holidays, tagged , , , , , , , , on May 28, 2010 | 4 Comments »

As we ponder the history and meaning of our New Old Traditions, Memorial Day is upon us. Barbecues and clearance sales! Car races and a day off from school! Apparently these things that most Americans associate with Memorial Day are the reasons that prompted Congress to pass a bill in 2000 that declared 3pm on [...]

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PAGAN POLICE CAN TAKE OFF FOR PAGAN HOLIDAYS: Novel concept of “equality” rippling through the UK

Posted in Holidays, News, tagged , , on May 11, 2010 | Leave a Comment »

On the heels of the recent New Jersey school system vote to allow school children to take off for pagan holidays, it appears, in at least the UK, police officers are now allowed to do the same. The Pagan Police Association claimed yesterday that it had been recognised by the Home Office as a “diversity [...]

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MAY DAY HAYMARKET FESTIVAL RECAP: Springfield, IL

Posted in Holidays, tagged , , , , , , on May 4, 2010 | 1 Comment »

The organizers of the 2nd Annual Haymarket Festival in Springfield, Illinois, did so on behalf of the people of Springfield. Organizer Drew Duzinskas said, “It’s about coming together in spring. I like to see cool things happen this time of year.” His intention in participating in the planning was to put on an event that [...]

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MAYDAY/BELTANE 101

Posted in Holidays, tagged , , , , , , on May 1, 2010 | Leave a Comment »

May Day is celebrated by different peoples for many reasons. May Day is the traditional Labor Day, or International Workers’ Day, often celebrated with demonstrations, rallies, and street marches by unions, anarchists, and socialist groups. In the United States, May Day is celebrated as a remembrance of the Haymarket Massacre in Chicago in 1886, in [...]

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MAYDAY! BELTANE! MAYDAY! BELTANE!: Three images

Posted in Holidays, tagged , , , on May 1, 2010 | Leave a Comment »

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HAPPY EARTH DAY: Derrick Jensen on spiritual and ecological death urges

Posted in All That is Sacred, Holidays, tagged , , , , , , on April 22, 2010 | Leave a Comment »

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MERRY IN THE EAST ON THIS EASTER OF RISING SUNS. HAIL! HAIL!

Posted in All That is Sacred, Holidays, tagged , , , , , , , on April 4, 2010 | 3 Comments »

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FIVE APRIL FOOLS TO AVOID or THE GREATEST PRANKS OF ALL TIME: A short illustrated guide

Posted in Holidays, tagged , , , on April 1, 2010 | 2 Comments »

1. Anything that requires writing “April Fools!” in lighter fluid.

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WHAT IS BIRTH ON THIS VERNAL EQUINOX? by Annie Reveler

Posted in All That is Sacred, Holidays, tagged , , , , , , , , on March 21, 2010 | 2 Comments »

Children. The decision to bring them into the world. A world. This world. Our personal avatars into the future. Avatars, earthly incarnations of gods and goddesses. Or, virtual representations, or alter-ego. This world, the Anthropocene Era: systems beginning to fail, great die-out of species, climactic shifts, even the seasons, the great rhythm, put in chaos.

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THE SPRING EQUINOX ACCORDING TO THE N.O.T.: A celebration of difference, new memes, and new visions

Posted in Holidays, New Old Traditions, tagged , , , , , , , , , on March 20, 2010 | 1 Comment »

HALLMARKS OF THE SPRING EQUINOX AS REVELATED WITHIN THE N.O.T. Birth On the Spring Equinox the sun is born and immediately begins to influence our day-to-day activities. People start looking forward to picnics and parkside cook-outs. The thump-and-boom of dancehall auto speakers ushers in what promises to be another outdoor summer, while the unraveling of [...]

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A SEASON OF VIOLENCE: A Meditation for the Coming Spring and the intensity that is the home birth

Posted in Holidays, New Old Traditions, tagged , , , , , , , on March 19, 2010 | 8 Comments »

As spring arrives, We Revelers focus on the balance between day and night. We talk of spring as a time to celebrate equality and union. We think of the peace that we will feel lying outside in the grass. We think of the flowering trees and the young tender vegetables that will soon replace our [...]

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DOING IT OURSELVES: Ritualizing our holidays

Posted in Holidays, New Old Traditions, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 19, 2010 | Leave a Comment »

After attending a winter solstice get-together that was entirely infused with ritual and meaning, I decided to recreate this experience on the vernal (spring) equinox. Although the winter solstice gathering was enjoyed by a large group of extended friends, I am spending March 20/21 with my lover, and so we planned our intimate rituals accordingly. [...]

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UPDATE: PASSED!: NEW JERSEY APPROVES SCHOOL CALENDAR MAKING WICCAN/PAGAN HOLIDAYS LEGIT

Posted in Holidays, News, tagged , , , on March 17, 2010 | 1 Comment »

UPDATE: According to our favorite NJ pagan on the scene, Mrs.B, the new holiday calendar has been passed. What does this mean for school kids in NJ? Don’t want to pass on any false info, but we think it means you can be excused from school for Samhain! Boo yah! We’ve got a call in [...]

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HOW TO BE A LITTLE BIT IRISH: Part 2—Celebrate the important things in life

Posted in Holidays, tagged , , , , , on March 17, 2010 | 4 Comments »

Last week I explained what not to do to celebrate a very New Old St. Patrick’s Day. Then Onalistus gave us some exciting history of the tensions between our dear saint and our dearer pagan brethren with some advice on how to honor that. But, now that March 17th is upon us, I know all [...]

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THE FESTIVAL OF LIFE IN THE CRACKS: Or, how the immediacy of the neighborhood keeps on keepin’ on

Posted in All That is Sacred, Features, Holidays, tagged , , , , , , , on March 16, 2010 | 3 Comments »

Weeds growing up through the cracks in the pavement is a fractal assertion of life revealing itself through the cracks of civilization. My neighborhood is indicative of that, and this year’s Festival of Life in the Cracks (March 10) coincided with a meteorologically beautiful day, one of the first of spring’s blessings of warmth and [...]

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SOME WEAR A SNAKE ON ST. PATRICK’S DAY: The silent rebellion

Posted in Holidays, New Old Traditions, tagged , , , , , on March 14, 2010 | 2 Comments »

Within the hagiographies (fancy word for the study of saints), St. Patrick is known as the man who, among many other valiant, if questionable, acts, rid Ireland of the dreaded snake! How a single person with nothing more than a walking stick could shoo away thousands of snakes into the Irish sea, I have no [...]

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HOW TO BE A LITTLE IRISH: Part 1 — Stop Dying Things Green

Posted in Holidays, tagged , , , , , , on March 11, 2010 | 4 Comments »

I’m a quarter Irish. I know, we all are. Well, I really am. My name is Erynn. My grandmother carried the very Irish name of Katherine Burns. So there. Despite my total claim to Irish heritage, I have trouble getting excited about St. Patrick’s day. New Old Traditions is a little on the fence about [...]

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THE PUSH: With five ways to honor (and make it through) the limbo of Winter’s End

Posted in Holidays, New Old Traditions, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on February 28, 2010 | 5 Comments »

We Revelers in the New Old Tradition recognize a time of year we call “The Push,” which begins around February 1st and extends all the way to the Spring Equinox on or around March 21st. Admittedly, The Push is not a holiday you will find on any calendar outside of our tradition. You will not [...]

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VALENTINE’S DAY IN INDIA: Ladies likey, men get defensive

Posted in Holidays, News, tagged on February 15, 2010 | Leave a Comment »

Valentine’s Day in India is kind of funny. People here love love. By that I mean hearts and, like, cupidy stuff. Bubbly stuff. I’m forgetting how the mainstream in the US gears up for Valentine’s Day, but here it’s definitely all over the television. Ads depicting people swinging each other are plentiful. The Bollywood hetero-dancing [...]

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