We Would Have All Been Burned!
As I learn more and more about homesteading, I am baffled at how much I don’t know. From understanding growth cycles and the moon, the health benefits of plants we collectively call weeds, and how tinctures and extracts are made. I picture myself, sometime in the future, walking my property and harvesting a specific plant I need to create a concoction for headaches.
Not wanting to make the house hot in the late spring, I decide to cook my brew in a large pot over the fire pit. Bringing my water to a boil, I add some bones I saved from a chicken, some basil leaves for extra flavor, a number of other herbs I have gathered from around the property to make the ultimate bone broth. Additionally, I do all of this in the cool of the night and under a full Moon so I don’t need an artificial light source. While the brew cooks, the steam from the pot billows into the air and I find myself singing an old song…and maybe doing a little dance believing there are no prying eyes.
I’m homesteading my butt off!
I then chuckle to myself as I think about this mental picture in the context of history. I then insert a time traveler from the late 1600s with an ardent religious disposition. I plop him on the boundary of my property, hidden behind a tree with a unobstructed view of my activities.
A demonic concoction for harvesting souls!!!!….Nope. Just bone broth…
He watches in complete horror!
Just a week prior, he reported a woman conducting similar actions to the Church for witchcraft, seeking congress with evil spirits! “Another one caught in the act,” he thinks.
As I ponder this scenario, I marvel at what was old, is new again. I also marvel at how perspective and bias can change the perception of what is happening.
In the historical context, the word ‘Pagan’ simply meant “people of the country.” However, I would challenge you to blindly ask someone what a Pagan is today.
Thanks to Hollywood, many people of middle-aged years would describe a character from the movie ‘The Craft’ or from the TV show ‘Charmed’. Not quite. This is not to say that people of antiquity didn’t perform rituals or worship deities other than those recognized by Judaism or Christianity. They certainly did. However, the reality is that most Pagans were #homesteaders before it was a trend, a fad, or popular.
They boasted a knowledge of nature. They knew that a combination of certain herbs and spices could heal specific ailments, help with sleep, and even serve as poisons.
Cooking at night!!!! For evil spirits, no doubt!
Now, here we are in 2020. Many people are seeking to relearn the secrets of nature. Some of us have journals where we are annotating our lessons learned, what combination of herbs and spices are best, and in what season is its best to harvest a certain ingredient.
The overzealous observer from before would understand this to be a Book of Shadows, a compilation of pure evil – a tome of wickedness that represents an affront to the Glory of the Church.
Halloween, formally known as Samhain:
Today, the history and lore of Samhain has been all but lost, except to those who still practice what is considered the “old ways.” Samhain was a celebration where ancient Celtic people believed the vail between the realm of the living and the dead was the thinnest, enabling spirits to enter the realm of the living on October 31st. The celebration even included festive dress, lighting candles, and even decoration harvest vegetables.
Over time, the Church supplanted Samhain, attempting to replace it with ‘All Saints Day’, a festival the religious establishment hoped would provide a holiday for Christians that would compete against the popular celebration of Samhain. All Saints Day eventually went away, failing in its effort serve as a legitimate competitor.
The Church claimed the Celtic people worshiped Satan, specifically during Samhain, despite the fact that Celtic people, or later Wiccans, do not believe in or recognize the Christian character called Satan or the Devil.
Today, Halloween is more a commercial holiday than it is a spiritual one as it use to be Although many of the same ancient practices have survived, Halloween is now about funny or sexual costumes, candy, and parties.
As we all grow in our own individual knowledge, place yourself in the early 1690s on the east coast of America, and ask yourself how my imaginary inquisitor would frame his report about you.
Back to the homestead, my friends!
