Speaking as a sex-positive, bisexual activist, third-wave feminist, Catholic grandmother of Irish/Cuban decent, I think these old-fashioned customs and rituals are lovely [as long as not taken too seriously].
As a tween my family moved to North America (the NE region of the US) from Asia (HK formerly BCC now SAR) and I really, really dislike the drabness of modern western life.
Starting sometime around the dawn of the industrial revolution and finishing with a definitive BANG at WWI, life in Western Europe/North America seemed to be progressively drained of colour. From people lives, way of dress, houses, decorating styles and all, it's like everything went politely and genteelly grey!
Though it is not polite to mention it to the more hidebound theologian, how is all this with Lourdes with it's rituals of sacred water, a healing female deity and all that much different or more harmful than the custom of bathing in the Ganges?
At least in these old folk customs there is pageantry, colour, music, incense, art and all those other pretty things that are usually not included now in daily life. And how is that bad?
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timeasmymeasure
Re: Have we travelled back to 1517 while I wasn't looking?
Date: 2007-12-09 08:47 pm (UTC)As a tween my family moved to North America (the NE region of the US) from Asia (HK formerly BCC now SAR) and I really, really dislike the drabness of modern western life.
Starting sometime around the dawn of the industrial revolution and finishing with a definitive BANG at WWI, life in Western Europe/North America seemed to be progressively drained of colour. From people lives, way of dress, houses, decorating styles and all, it's like everything went politely and genteelly grey!
Though it is not polite to mention it to the more hidebound theologian, how is all this with Lourdes with it's rituals of sacred water, a healing female deity and all that much different or more harmful than the custom of bathing in the Ganges?
At least in these old folk customs there is pageantry, colour, music, incense, art and all those other pretty things that are usually not included now in daily life. And how is that bad?