Oct 25, 2023Liked by Kristin Haakenson, Dixie Dillon Lane
Brilliant. Thank you. I’ll add the Sea God Shony. In Ness on the Isle of Lewis, Xians made an offering (ale) to Shony to request a plentiful supply of seaweed. Hebridean crofters use seaweed ( to this day) as a fertiliser I cook with seaweed so I love this ritual. The Presbyterians stopped the event.
How interesting! I'm on the side of the Presbyterians if it's thought of as an offering to a pagan god, but I do find it wonderful how local folk practices can develop a Christian meaning over time, and I could see how this one could be "baptized" into a Christian practice. Doing things that connect us to our own local landscape and resources is so neat and really so grounding and important.
Connecting us to our own local landscape and resources - so beautifully said!! The Ness tradition is so curious, isn't it? It was folded into the local parish liturgy at St. Mulvay, with a candle procession from the shore back to the church - it lasted till the 17th or 18th century, amazingly! The Church's baptism of ancient customs is so fascinating.
Oct 25, 2023Liked by Kristin Haakenson, Dixie Dillon Lane
I love going to the primary sources from the first few centuries. As I shared in my His Sufferings Were Before Your Eyes series of posts, I find them to be so rich in devotional content. They are not just cold history, there is the warmth of the apostolic era still glowing in their words.
Yes, I am a historian and I agree that there is nothing like primary sources (or artifacts) for connecting us with the actual lived humanity of people in the past. You might enjoy this essay that I wrote on using imagination to teach history to young children: https://hearthandfield.com/when-teaching-children-history-embrace-imagination/
Oct 25, 2023Liked by Kristin Haakenson, Dixie Dillon Lane
Great! Yesterday I downloaded Kristin's recipe for soul cakes, and I intend to make it with ale (made by Trappist monks obviously) and sherry. Will post the results in due course.
Oct 25, 2023Liked by Kristin Haakenson, Dixie Dillon Lane
May I also suggest readers 'google' the live at Durham Cathedral video of Sting performing his version of "Soul Cakes," from his album If on a Winter's Night... It is brilliant! Oh...and since I'm old, I still use the term *album* quite confidentially. ♡
Listening to it right now! One of my very very favorite things about traditional/folk music is the many, many versions you end up with. This one is cool!
Oct 25, 2023Liked by Kristin Haakenson, Dixie Dillon Lane
We watch the entire Durham Cathedral performance every year during the holidays...it's well worth it. The whole 'album' is gorgeous, too -- it's on constant Spotify rotation here during the winter months.♡
Same!! There are a lot of Hallowtide/Christmas crossovers.
Spoiler alert...but stay tuned for still more versions of these tunes with Catterning (for St. Catherine's Day) and Clementing (for St. Clement's Day)!
Oct 26, 2023Liked by Kristin Haakenson, Dixie Dillon Lane
This was a great mini-issue! I would love any more suggestions of hallowtide music to add to our playlist. Already added both versions of Soul Cake mentioned here and in the comments, both of which were new to me!
Especially costumes that *the kids make themselves*!! That's what we've done for this year, with the older kids heling the younger, and it's been amazing!
Oct 30, 2023Liked by Kristin Haakenson, Dixie Dillon Lane
That is pretty great!! I try to encourage my fellow church moms toward creativity, even if we don’t see ourselves as ‘crafty’. Foster a culture of it, not being intimidated by Pinterest perfection.
I know the word "deconstruction" gets thrown around a lot these days, but I feel like we're grappling with digital deconstruction...like, removing the curated Pinterest expectations from my head and remembering that I CAN craft a costume and it DOESN'T have to look like a magazine spread! There's so much freedom to be had.
Yes -- I was just thinking further about NotaBot's comment here and was reminded that we should be doing these things for ourselves and our families. When we are comparing ourselves to Pinterest, etc., aren't we just actually doing it...for the people on Pinterest? We can be so silly sometimes! Let the kids make their Pinterest-unworthy costumes -- they'll get better at it every year!
A few quotes have stuck with me that come to mind, one from Stephen King and another from Mary Oliver - about the process of creativity, and not allowing ourselves to be looking over our own shoulders. Giving space for creativity to happen in the quiet darkness before sharing it. This was even from before social media was a thing - it's that notion of allowing time to be experiential rather than analytical.
Wow. Your last line here is powerful for living family life in general. Is what we are doing with our children, for example, about the experience (the goods created, the learning, etc.) or about how it looks to others? Are we making judgements about our parenting and our feasts and our faith practice based on performance?
Oct 30, 2023Liked by Kristin Haakenson, Dixie Dillon Lane
The children are so proud of themselves for making their own costumes, and rightly so, even as ppl around them are yenamoured of ‘off the rack’ synthetic fabric pop culture costumes (looking at you, Sonic, Optimus Prime). Does this make me a snob or just someone who values creation, homespun effort, and unmachining (to borrow a term; ie pushback against the Amazon click reflex).
Brilliant. Thank you. I’ll add the Sea God Shony. In Ness on the Isle of Lewis, Xians made an offering (ale) to Shony to request a plentiful supply of seaweed. Hebridean crofters use seaweed ( to this day) as a fertiliser I cook with seaweed so I love this ritual. The Presbyterians stopped the event.
How interesting! I'm on the side of the Presbyterians if it's thought of as an offering to a pagan god, but I do find it wonderful how local folk practices can develop a Christian meaning over time, and I could see how this one could be "baptized" into a Christian practice. Doing things that connect us to our own local landscape and resources is so neat and really so grounding and important.
Connecting us to our own local landscape and resources - so beautifully said!! The Ness tradition is so curious, isn't it? It was folded into the local parish liturgy at St. Mulvay, with a candle procession from the shore back to the church - it lasted till the 17th or 18th century, amazingly! The Church's baptism of ancient customs is so fascinating.
Thanks for this. And truly appreciate the inclusion of my post
Primary sources from early Christianity are so fascinating!! Thanks for sharing this sermon.
I love going to the primary sources from the first few centuries. As I shared in my His Sufferings Were Before Your Eyes series of posts, I find them to be so rich in devotional content. They are not just cold history, there is the warmth of the apostolic era still glowing in their words.
https://open.substack.com/pub/codyilardo/p/his-sufferings-were-before-your-eyes-b24?r=1q8ur0&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
That's so neat -- I'll take a look at it.
Yes, I am a historian and I agree that there is nothing like primary sources (or artifacts) for connecting us with the actual lived humanity of people in the past. You might enjoy this essay that I wrote on using imagination to teach history to young children: https://hearthandfield.com/when-teaching-children-history-embrace-imagination/
Will check it out!
Agreed! Some of my favorite homilies are the most ancient - I'm grateful for your resources!
Great! Yesterday I downloaded Kristin's recipe for soul cakes, and I intend to make it with ale (made by Trappist monks obviously) and sherry. Will post the results in due course.
Please link to it here! I would love to see your results. Isn't it neat how Kristin has both a traditional recipe and a modern recipe?
Yay! Keep us posted. I went far and wide trying to find the right ale here - not as many monastic offerings on the west coast, apparently?!
Well thank you for your efforts! Will tell you how it goes. I had to translate your measurements into English english so it will be an adventure...
May I also suggest readers 'google' the live at Durham Cathedral video of Sting performing his version of "Soul Cakes," from his album If on a Winter's Night... It is brilliant! Oh...and since I'm old, I still use the term *album* quite confidentially. ♡
Wow, that sounds awesome! Can you drop a link here in the comments?
Here you go: https://youtu.be/xcl6QBIWQK0?feature=shared
(Let me know if it *doesn't* work.)
Listening to it right now! One of my very very favorite things about traditional/folk music is the many, many versions you end up with. This one is cool!
Oooo so looking forward to this! And I'm right there with you - I say album too!
We watch the entire Durham Cathedral performance every year during the holidays...it's well worth it. The whole 'album' is gorgeous, too -- it's on constant Spotify rotation here during the winter months.♡
My kids find the similarities between "A Soalin'" and "Here We Come A-Wassailing" intriguing! The latter is one of our favorite Christmas carols.
Same!! There are a lot of Hallowtide/Christmas crossovers.
Spoiler alert...but stay tuned for still more versions of these tunes with Catterning (for St. Catherine's Day) and Clementing (for St. Clement's Day)!
I can't wait to hear about these!
Oooo gonna save this to read later with a hot cuppa something!
I'm thinking cider??
Come back and tell us what you think of it!
Makes me feel like we need a Signs + Seasons Hallowtide party on zoom (despite my reluctance to use zoom 😅)
I don't love zoom, but I do love cider!
So honored to be included among so many great resources! I hope everyone is looking forward to celebrating (in whatever way you do!) next week.
So glad to have you, Meredith!!
This was a great mini-issue! I would love any more suggestions of hallowtide music to add to our playlist. Already added both versions of Soul Cake mentioned here and in the comments, both of which were new to me!
We're so glad you enjoyed!
A hymn that used to be traditional for All Saints is 'Christe Redemptor omnium conserva':
https://liberhymnarius.org/images/d/d2/460_Christe_redemptor.mp3
Did you check out the links to the Litanies? Both the Latin and English ones make beautiful background music.
There's also the rousing hymn, For All the Saints: https://www.google.com/search?q=for+all+the+saints&oq=for+all+the+saints&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOdIBCDIxNDFqMGoxqAIAsAIA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:1749a787,vid:1OaBgaMcOvM,st:0
Oh! Also, Naomi Hooley's "Hymn for All Souls" - from a Christmas album, but, as is often the case, fitting well at Hallowtide.
Wonderful post! Just loved it!
So glad you enjoyed it, Ivana!
What a beautiful collection! Thank you for this!
I hope some of it inspires you, Krista!
Can someone write an Ode to Homemade Costumes? Or point me to it, if already done, thanks!
Especially costumes that *the kids make themselves*!! That's what we've done for this year, with the older kids heling the younger, and it's been amazing!
That is pretty great!! I try to encourage my fellow church moms toward creativity, even if we don’t see ourselves as ‘crafty’. Foster a culture of it, not being intimidated by Pinterest perfection.
I know the word "deconstruction" gets thrown around a lot these days, but I feel like we're grappling with digital deconstruction...like, removing the curated Pinterest expectations from my head and remembering that I CAN craft a costume and it DOESN'T have to look like a magazine spread! There's so much freedom to be had.
Yes -- I was just thinking further about NotaBot's comment here and was reminded that we should be doing these things for ourselves and our families. When we are comparing ourselves to Pinterest, etc., aren't we just actually doing it...for the people on Pinterest? We can be so silly sometimes! Let the kids make their Pinterest-unworthy costumes -- they'll get better at it every year!
A few quotes have stuck with me that come to mind, one from Stephen King and another from Mary Oliver - about the process of creativity, and not allowing ourselves to be looking over our own shoulders. Giving space for creativity to happen in the quiet darkness before sharing it. This was even from before social media was a thing - it's that notion of allowing time to be experiential rather than analytical.
Wow. Your last line here is powerful for living family life in general. Is what we are doing with our children, for example, about the experience (the goods created, the learning, etc.) or about how it looks to others? Are we making judgements about our parenting and our feasts and our faith practice based on performance?
Yes-‘allow time to be experiential’ for me means un self-conscious growth. Wonder and delight in the simple trying and enjoyment
The children are so proud of themselves for making their own costumes, and rightly so, even as ppl around them are yenamoured of ‘off the rack’ synthetic fabric pop culture costumes (looking at you, Sonic, Optimus Prime). Does this make me a snob or just someone who values creation, homespun effort, and unmachining (to borrow a term; ie pushback against the Amazon click reflex).
Sounds more lovely than snobbish to me!