The use of Sympathetic Magic in old religions is of course well-documented. It is believed* that one of the reasons that bonfires were lit at Samhain, Yule, Beltane, etc was to prompt the sun into offering of its own rays - that the sun god, seeing our puny fires down on earth, would be encouraged to pour out the blessings of his warmth. At Beltane the hope was that the sun would continue to strengthen. At Samhain, that he wouldn't dwindle away. And at Yule, that he wouldn't disappear completely.
We retain the tradition of lighting bonfires and/or wicker people (we accept male and female wicker people of all genders and several) at various key times of the year. Unlike our forebears, with generations of scientific training and post-modern cynicism behind us we just like lighting bonfires.
All of which may give some background to this morning's rather odd events. Encouraged by my downgrading of the snow alert, Burghley and Edith Weston, rather than hiding out from the cold, went to the opposite extreme.
Running around the courtyard dressed in bermuda shorts, flower-print tops and sunglasses could be classed as tasteless at most seasons of the year. But in the current climate I think that "suicidally dim" might be a better classification.
Needless to say, after half an hour of chanting, laying down on the snow as if sunbathing and shouting "ooh isn't it warm", they were both struck down with hypothermia. It would appear that the sun has resolutely refused to come out in sympathy, and our real concern is that the spirits of the snow may have regarded it as some kind of botched sacrifice to them, in which case we're all in real trouble.
All in all, the worst bit of sympathetic magic since the Prophets of Baal nicked themselves shaving. Enjoy the link, to a "children's" page which manages to treat the mass-execution of a group of (no doubt sincere, well-meaning) people in quite a light-hearted way, I think.
* Or at least, lots of books say. None of the old people left any writings.
The term Sympathetic Magic was I thought related to Political Correctness and 'Elf and Safety'.
ReplyDeleteThe activities under SM are to make anything real, sound like something completely different.
For example the activity of the 2 dimwits (intellectually challenged) who laid down in the snow would be regarded as perfectly normal in the PC, E&S aware Secular World. It is in fact a celebration of the life and religious conversion of His Holiness, Tony Blair. As many of his cabinet will attest, they laid down for him, to many times to remember (orchestrated via Alistair Campbell of course). This was done so prayerfully during cabinet meetings that it has now become part of Cabinet Ritual during their annual reunions at Blackpool or Brighton.
So to see it now adopted as part of Pagan Worship is a salutory message for Pope Blair.
The Ritual Burning of Wicker People you mention is in fact a PC & ES exercise for Fire Extermination Engineers (Fireman), who require this sort of visual aid with a practical application to help them to practice taking days off and cleaning our windows (Yes they do). It is good to see your community volunteers actively supporting this worthwhile training.
I look forward to the next episode.