Ratatosk
12-25-2006, 05:41 PM
This time of year gets a lot of us thinking on "traditions" - whether they be religious, magickal or familial. But I think there is an inherent danger in traditions, that they become devoid of meaning, and therefore of power or utility.
As an example, a familial tradition from my maternal grandfather's side is to eat beans and cornbread (usually black-eyed peas) on New Year's Eve, and then a Steak dinner on New Year's Day. (I remember well, it was the one time that steak was even served at the "kids table!") The dinner would always include plenty of vegetables, mashed potatoes, and bowls of fresh fruit and nuts would be laid throughout the house for snacking. While there is nothing wrong with this tradition, there is nothing really special about it either, in the minds of most of my relatives. I don't believe any of my aunts or uncles (or my own mother for that matter) really understand the significance.
I was curious, though, and somewhere around the age of 10 asked my grandfather what it meant. He said that since at least the time of his grandfather the tradition had been to eat "poor food" on New Year's Eve, and "rich food" on New Year's Day. And here's why, he said: we end the year frugally so that we are appreciative of the bounty of the new year. And in order to show our willingness to receive we begin the year with the first promise of what is to come.
Wow! Talk about powerful and meaningful sympathetic magick! While I'm sure my grandfather's family never called it that, they certainly practiced it. Knowing the meaning and intent makes it useful. Without that it amounts to what most traditions do, an excuse to do a thing a certain way.
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In that vein, here's a little story:
A young man was watching his wife prepare a roast. Before she put the roast in the pan she cut both ends off and laid them in the pan sideways, next to the roast. He asked her "Why did you cut the ends off the roast?"
She replied "Because that's the way we always did it at my mother's house."
So, the young man called her mother and asked "Do you always cut the ends off the roast before you put it in the pan?"
She said "Of course."
"Why?" he asked.
"Because that's the way we always did it at my mother's house."
Now seriously perplexed, the young man called his wife's grandmother and asked her as well. When she said that yes, she did always cut the ends off the roast he asked her why.
"Well why would you think?" she asked. "I don't have a big enough pan for a whole roast."
As an example, a familial tradition from my maternal grandfather's side is to eat beans and cornbread (usually black-eyed peas) on New Year's Eve, and then a Steak dinner on New Year's Day. (I remember well, it was the one time that steak was even served at the "kids table!") The dinner would always include plenty of vegetables, mashed potatoes, and bowls of fresh fruit and nuts would be laid throughout the house for snacking. While there is nothing wrong with this tradition, there is nothing really special about it either, in the minds of most of my relatives. I don't believe any of my aunts or uncles (or my own mother for that matter) really understand the significance.
I was curious, though, and somewhere around the age of 10 asked my grandfather what it meant. He said that since at least the time of his grandfather the tradition had been to eat "poor food" on New Year's Eve, and "rich food" on New Year's Day. And here's why, he said: we end the year frugally so that we are appreciative of the bounty of the new year. And in order to show our willingness to receive we begin the year with the first promise of what is to come.
Wow! Talk about powerful and meaningful sympathetic magick! While I'm sure my grandfather's family never called it that, they certainly practiced it. Knowing the meaning and intent makes it useful. Without that it amounts to what most traditions do, an excuse to do a thing a certain way.
--------------------
In that vein, here's a little story:
A young man was watching his wife prepare a roast. Before she put the roast in the pan she cut both ends off and laid them in the pan sideways, next to the roast. He asked her "Why did you cut the ends off the roast?"
She replied "Because that's the way we always did it at my mother's house."
So, the young man called her mother and asked "Do you always cut the ends off the roast before you put it in the pan?"
She said "Of course."
"Why?" he asked.
"Because that's the way we always did it at my mother's house."
Now seriously perplexed, the young man called his wife's grandmother and asked her as well. When she said that yes, she did always cut the ends off the roast he asked her why.
"Well why would you think?" she asked. "I don't have a big enough pan for a whole roast."