Rituals of the year

[mtbc]

Today is Good Friday for those of us in the West. Traditionally one might eat fish. Whereas, for Easter Sunday, ham is popular in the US and lamb in Europe. This got me to thinking of Martinmas when we salt the beef (that we might eat for Easter the next year, perhaps), except not any more, and also about Whitsun coming up in due course: that may be more significant here in Scotland but overall probably only churchgoers will notice. Today also happens to be Lady Day but is our rent thus due? No it isn't. I don't even expect to see any poles with ribbons on May Day.

I like ritual. I could be an eager participant in the symbolic trappings of something, but without being part of organized religion myself, nor even with extended family around, it would probably all seem rather empty. The original reasons for many of these traditions typically have little relevance for modern society and we don't much replace them with new ones. That feels like a loss.

Comments

[gerald_duck]

Anton LaVey recognised the human need for corporate ceremony and ritual when modernising Satanism. So, drawing on his day job as a stage magician, he invented the satanic ritual as it now stands — group ritual for its own sake, shorn of any deeper significance.

Satanism serves as an interesting contrast to Christianity (and it is Christianity, specifically, that LaVeyian Satanism stands against), an indication of where one ends up if every last little bit of Christianity is negated, something that — to me, at least — seems equally as valid if we concentrate solely on rational arguments, but which "feels" wrong. Before I was a Christian, I tried to fool myself I could step away from Satanism through reason alone, but I'm not sure it genuinely worked.

If you recognise a need for ritual, but are happy with neither organised religion nor something entirely artificial and meaningless, maybe you're looking for something based in our heritage? You can try to trick people on April 1st, or chase a cheese down a slope, or whatever. I get the impression that the burning of wicker men is a tradition especially strong in Scotland? And this book lists a great many old customs that are not yet extinct and could do with preserving… provided you can tolerate being labelled an eccentric. (-8