The Red Queen (yes, she does quite frequently say "OFF with their heads!") has finished her wreath of choice for the house. Not an easy task, considering the abundance of brush and other essential ornamentation growing around the farm. Usually the wreath is done later in the season with cast offs after making wreaths for everyone else, but being in the 'spirit' early on she decided to get the damn thing done before the mood passed.
The history of the wreath is rich, steeped in ancient practices from Persia (wealth & power), to Greece (champions), to Rome (saturn,soltice). Many Celts decorated the interiors of their homes with wreaths of hollyberrries and evergreens to celebrate the end of the long winter and the strength of life, which today would be a good thing ( I AM going to digress here...) because we are having 24 mph winds with considerable Lake Effect Snow. The color of he sky from now on will be grey, offset with other shades of grey, sort of a tone on tone symphony of grey. No wonder they went for the red berries.....
I should also mention our sun rises here this morning at 8:15AM and sets at 5:04PM(lat/46.55N long/87.40W)....not exactly a great vitamin D day....no wonder the pagans hauled life into their homes...Poodle being a Germanic dog, I can totally get this Winter Solstice, Birth of the Unconquered Sun diatribe....by the time we hit December 21st, many people in our area suffer a form of depression called Seasonal Affected Disorder (SAD). The affected sit in front of light boxes to get their serotonin flowing....
So, Winter Solstice is only 20 days away.....Bonfire anyone? Burn On!
2 comments:
This is a great post. So good I had to concentrate a bit. I really enjoyed it. As probably you have guessed I am one of those SAD people :P specially before solstice arrives. Not only you gave some details about the history of wreaths but you came up with a very clever thought, they did it not to feel depress. You made me feel in their shoes, in an old shack, somewhere, some time, feeling cold and bringing red home. Thank you
You are very welcome :-). It is very interesting for me to see Barcelona through your eyes. I believe the internet is one of the greatest tools to show that we are all in this boat of humanity together. It helps to break down preconceived notions that travel guides proliferate. Fairy Tale brochures as it were.
Post a Comment