Salutations, traveler of The Internets! Welcome to William's Bloody Hell, so named after our founder, Sir Bloody William.
He is seen in the likeness above in a rare, 19th century woodcut. This
image was rumoured to have been
commissioned after a bout of unpleasantness
in the White Chapel district of London. Do enjoy your stay and peruse our many, varied offerings, much of which cannot be found elsewhere!
:: Today's soundtrack: Operation Ivy "Take Warning" ::
I find the power of tradition to be fascinating. People who go about doing things pretty much out of habit and not really knowing "the real" reason they're doing what they're doing. I, myself, am no stranger to this. I have mentioned before here that my upbringing wasn't very religious, we still celebrated X-mas, but as a small child I had no idea about the baby Jesus or any of that aspect to it. All I knew was that on X-mas people exchanged presents with their family and loved ones. That's it. You may laugh and think me ignorant for this, but I have since discovered that I was not alone. There are quite a few people who celebrate holidays without knowing what exactly it is they're celebrating.
For example... Guy Fawkes Day. A while back, I had got a bee in my bonnet about wanting to know about this holiday. I'm in the United States, and this holiday is mainly celebrated in the United Kingdom. I knew some English folks who were staying in town for a bit over summer and decided to ask them about it. The conversation went something like this:
"So, what can you tell me about Guy Fawkes Day?"
"Right. Bonfire Night."
"Yeah, what's it about."
"Well, we light bonfires and have fireworks. All that."
"I got that part. But what exactly are the bonfires and
fireworks for? What are you celebrating?"
"...It's a fireworks holiday. Haven't you got one of those?"
"Yes, we have. Independence Day."
"Right I don't suppose you know what them fireworks are
about?"
"Uh, yeah. It's the day we celebrate our independence from
England."
"Oh."
Honest. I asked about five people there. None of them knew why they celebrated Guy Fawkes Day, just that they did. I even asked on the internet, too. One person got as far as "Remember, remember the fifth of November... um, I don't remember the rest." I have now realized that a Google search was the way to go on this, and in case you're curious, Guy Fawkes and some associates tried to blow up Parliament in 1605 by stowing gunpowder in the basement. Fawkes was discovered in the basement with the powder and executed. Word got around of this plot, and people lit bonfires out of thanks that it did not succeed. Now you can brag to all your friends.
Also, what about Easter traditions? In these modern times, Easter is celebrated by Christians as the day that Jesus rose from the grave after his crucifixion as a martyr. Okay, if that's the case, where does the Easter bunny fit in? What's the deal with the painted eggs? I'm sure many of you, even the hard core church goers don't know for sure. I knew for a while that the answer was pagan ritual, as in order to make Christianity more "palatable" to pagans, the church sort of "adopted" various pagan rituals and holidays as its own. As to the specifics, though, I had no idea where the colored eggs fit in with all this. A friend e-mailed me a link, after I had expressed my curiosity on the matter. It seems that the very name of "easter" is after an Anglo-Saxon goddess, Eostre. She was the goddess of spring and rebirth (the Spring Equinox was her festival day), and colored eggs were her tokens, as eggs were often meant to symbolize a rebirth of sorts, appearing to be an inert object which brings forth new life. She loved children and would give them bunnies or chicks as gifts. It has been noted that sometime in the 1500s in Germany, parents started telling their children that if they were good, the Easter Hare would bring them eggs. So, yes, all you Christian church goers, you're taking part in pagan rituals, you filthy heretic, you.
And while we're talking about pagan ritual, how about that Halloween, huh? There are still a surprising amount of people who seem to think that Halloween is somehow related to Satan and/or devil worshipping, which is very untrue. And now I'm sure some of you are trying to be Mr Smarty Pants, and barking out at me, "I know it's named after All Hallow's Eve!!" Well, bully for you. Care to tell me about trick or treating? What's the deal? Why do we do it? Most of us don't know WHY we do it, but we do it anyway, year after year. Most of the Halloween traditions started with the Irish Celts, and came over to the States during the potato famine in the 1800s. Trick or treating originated on November 2 (All Soul's Day) and people would go door to door on this day asking for soul cakes. If someone gave them a cake, it meant they had to say a prayer on behalf of a dead loved one of the cake giver. The more prayers a soul got, the faster it could go to heaven. Would you still go out and beg for candy if it meant saying prayers all night?
It doesn't end there, but I'll
give it a little rest. I find it so interesting the way many of us people are a
slave to our traditions, that we are willing participants in things we know
nothing about! All I'm saying is, maybe you should take a moment to think about
the things you take part in. Keep that in mind when you're going out to drink
all night with your friends on Cinco de Mayo or not wearing white after Labor
Day.
William (a tradition for the new generation)
PS-- WOW 5,000 hits! thanks youse guys!
