Hallowe'en

Walking to class this morning wearing my cozy Gators hoodie, I was concentrating more on how tired I was than the world around me. But when I stopped and took my usual daily copies of the Alligator and the Gainesville Sun, I noticed several articles about Hallowe'en. Which started me thinking about how our holidays were born.

Think about it - Hallowe'en evolved from a holiday observed by the Catholics: All Hallow's Eve, on October 31st, followed by All Soul's Day on November 1st. These holidays evolved from the Roman festival Anthesteria, which honored the dead. It was originally celebrated in February and lasted three days, but Pope Boniface IV introduced All Souls' in the 7th century to replace it, and moved to May 13. It was changed to November 1st by Pope Gregory III.

Anthesteria was one of the biggest Roman festivals because men, women and children all participated together, which was fairly rare. Held in honor of Bacchus, a dying-and-reviving god, it went something like this:
Day 1: “Opening the Pithoi” (Pithoigia)
pruning of grapevines, opening of new wine
Day 2: “Libations” (Choes): communal drunkenness
hieros gamos (archon basileus)
Day 3: “The Pots” (Chytroi): dead walk the earth
offerings to Hermes (Psychopompos)
closing ritual cry:
“get out, spirits! the Anthesteria has ended!”

Eventually the 'communal drunkenness' was replaced with feasting, and as time passed the customs evolved that on All Souls' Day children would go from door to door begging All Souls' cakes from the housewives. Sound familiar?

Of course all sorts of other traditions and religions have gotten mixed in. I think there's a lot of Druid influence in our current celebrations.

And now it's an excuse for us to dress up as Playboy bunnies and One-Eyed-One-Horned-Flying-Purple-People-Eaters and the Doppler Effect and football players and devils, to get very drunk and eat heaps of high-calorie candy, and party like there's no tomorrow.

There's nothing like social evolution!

R.I.P. Michael "Sunshine" Guilford & Ashley Slonina

I suppose everyone has heard about the UF scout team football player who died in a motorcycle crash last weekend that also killed his passenger.

I didn't know either Michael or Ashley, but I send my condolences to their families, and our football team, both of whom suffered a heavy loss that night.

Michael, Ashley, we'll keep your memories alive and your dreams flying.

prosy sort of day

Some people have been known to describe certain days as "dull, prosy sort of days," but I think there is very little that's dull about a prosy sort of day.
Prosy days are comforting and regular, just like the favorite books of our childhoods, bound in familiar covers with dog-eared pages, smears of chocolate dotted here and there throughout.

Today has been comfortably prosy - the sky is clouded over. The wind is gentle and mildly chill, and I've spent the day inside. My television is broadcasting football games, wins and losses, victories and numbing defeats. (Take that, Chicago.)
My radio is silent, my pen still, my kitchen cool and empty. The living-room curtains are drawn and since Percy the rabbit is in Ft. Myers with his mother, 'his lamp' is off as well.
My other roommates are MIA as well, so I have withdrawn to my room with my curtains only slightly ajar and the lights on.
I love the weekends that I don't have to work. I can write and paint and play as I please, with a single deadline - to be in bed by midnight Sunday.

Five hours and counting!

autumn approaches

Summer is gone and Autumn is settling in slowly; bringing chilly mornings and evenings, the stars becoming brighter in sharper night skies, and small tints of color adorning even Florida's flora. Although, Floridian autumn isn't nearly as gorgeous and flamboyant as the northern autumn.
I remember driving around in the northeast in autumn as a child; New Jersey, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, Connecticut. The hills were rich with golden fire as red leaves mixed with orange, burnished yellows standing out on the topmost branches, and the dark green of evergreens contrasting prettily.

It's give and take though - either you're up north with all the natural beauty you could desire while you're freezing to death, or you're here in Florida where it's warm enough, but not nearly as aesthetically pleasing.

One thing Florida does triumph over the other states in is the SKY! The skies here are as brilliant compared to the northern ones as English skies compared to American ones. There's something exciting about the depth of blue, something alluring and enticing that makes me want to spread my wings and fly as high as I can to get into that silky azure.

There was no real point to this post other than to free my mind of the numbing affect calculus exams always have on it.

Rambling, opinionated, with barely a grain of intelligence for flavor? Welcome to my blog.