A Journey Back in Time

Slowly Introducing Kids

I often like to put on the history channel for the kids to watch and learn about the ancient civilizations as they run around the house making messes and mischief. I feel this is an easy transition into pagan beliefs because its more understood of it being real and other have practiced it before. I also believe that culture plays a pivotal role in any religion practiced and should be studied alongside the older religious views. Their customs, morals, and everyday life will give a greater insight into the why and why nots of how they believed the Gods to act. Even though they're five and two and a half, I know that some of that information is getting to them one way or another because throughout the week my son will randomly ask questions about some of the programs he was not fascinated with. Instilling this learning at your own pace environment has definitely allowed them to pick up on things their own way. My daughter, the youngest, will even stop at times to sit and watch the programs. I usually do this for a couple hours a week depending on what's on the TV and how long were home.

The other way I do this, is by using YouTube and Audible. We'll hook up my phone in the car rides around town and listen to lore or other things. This past month we learned about Stonehenge on YouTube and then watched a series on it on the History Channel. At first he thought it was cool, then they started talking about the ritualistic sacrifice and he got scared that people were going to come up from the ground. (He's really into zombies.) He relaxed after I explained as best as I could to him that these things happened a very long ago, way before even great grandma and grandpa were alive. He was really interested in it, so I suggested a trip.

Stonehenge Reconstructed

Here in our little town we have a full sized reconstructed site at one of the colleges. It's quite a grand thing and when you can't travel to the real site, it's the next best one. After listening to the YouTube video again as a refresher for the course they were going to learn, we got out and they had some fun. We talked about what it must have been like back then and I asked my son what kind of a shop would he open if he lived here. Of course, he said video games or ninjas, and my daughter wanted a pink store with makeup or my candles. (She's very fascinated with what mommy does.) 

My son asked where they buried people and why. That was a little harder to explain since they way is not really known. I told him that this wasn't the real Stonehenge and that the real one is very far away in another country, but that people from all over the world can still go and visit it. I asked him how he thinks people back then lived and we discussed that there used to tribes of people who would wonder the world. That there didn't use to be cities or houses like we have. People couldn't use phones to talk like we do with his grandparents. I think that idea worried him more than intrigued him because he was wondering a lot about how they managed to live then. 

Baby Steps in Understanding

At the end of the trip, I asked him what all he learned and if he'd like to come back another time and listen to more about the actual people who lived here. We really only heard about what Stonehenge was used for and not so much about the people or religion. So we're planning a trip back again to see what else we can find out about this mysterious wonder of the old world. I told him that there many different kinds of people who had once lived in the real Stonehenge. That there were old Britton tribes, Romans, Celts, and even older peoples still. We discussed the type of told used, because he's getting more interested in tools and working like his dad. How they're different from the ones we have today because they were wooden and stone. It was a lot of information to take in at once and I think highlighting the parts he would find more interesting helped. In the end, we walked away with a lot of fun in the desert sun.

I hope you enjoyed our trip. Do you have any questions in regards to how we teach? 

© 2016, Copyright The Dame and The Devil Business Blog - Writer The Dame

Eostre - Myth or Mythology?

There is a lot of controversy surrounding this rather popular holiday, but why?

Bede: 

In his reconstruction of the faith, Bede talks about a possible Old Germanic Goddess, Eostre, from the name ôstarâ and the month ôstarmânoth, not Eosturmanoth in Germany. So the stretch isn't a long one, especially considering that in my own studies I have found that almost every month holds some kind of Blôt. The problem is, this is not backed up in any other known texts, such as Germania by Tacitus, or in any art from the time. In fact, the only other text to mention her was by Jacob Grimm, which was based off of Bede's reconstruction. However, it is plausible she existed in some form given that she was important enough to name a month after. Could it be possible that they were just naming the season though? We trace the root of her name to "East" often referring to dawn or spring time.

Grimm:

While some regard his book on German mythology to be a good reference, you'll find that much of it could be considered as influenced by his time and opinions rather than fact. He made the connection between Bede's shortly mentioned goddess Eostre and Easter then proclaiming her Ôstarâ. In fact, the earliest known story about her and a hare came about from the 19th century in the Ukraine. Now, while the Easter Bunny does trace back to Germany, this still isn't enough evidence to convince me that she was a goddess.

My Personal Conclusion:

I don't think Eostre was a Goddess. I believe that the Proto-Germanic tribes did worship the sun and fertility though, which is seen through their worship of goddessess like Freyja and Nerthus, along with the twins Alcis. I do think that this time was a celebration of the sun itself and the lengthening of days. We see around this time Nerthus being paraded and the Charming of the Plow, so it's very likely that this was just a continuation of that celebration. Or that one holiday was one month and the other this month, like I said they usually have something almost every full moon. There is also no known worship of any Goddess throughout the evolution of the Proto-Germanic Traditions and with something like that being rather important to the Germans, you'd expect her to show up in later forms such as through the Norse. So my conclusion is simple, celebrate spring, the dawn of the year.

©016, Copyright The Dame and The Devil Business Blog - Writer The Dame

Sites:
https://blogs.loc.gov/folklife/category/jacob-grimm/
http://www.koshabq.org/2012/03/09/celebrating-eostre/
https://archive.org/stream/tacitusagricolag00taciiala/tacitusagricolag00taciiala_djvu.txt