Haunted Holidays

Holidays were established based on mysterious beliefs throughout history. In order to schedule various holiday activities, a calendar had to be created. The first calendar was developed 10,000 years ago in Scotland, first to be used as an agricultural tool when many of the people transitioned from being hunters and gatherers to farmers. The discovery of the calendar was made possible by the discovery of the equal parts of days and nights four times a year which was determined by the equinox. They needed to know when to plant and harvest. If our ancestors did everything right according to the calendar and they did not have a successful crop yield, they thought the gods must be angry. Weather, the shorter and longer days and phases of the moon led to many of the holiday beliefs. Legends fostered many holiday practices. We still want to abide by some of the beliefs to stay in good graces with our divine forces. We went from celebrating holidays, religious and not religious, to celebrating birthdays, death anniversaries, historic events such as 911 and the day JFK was shot. A little cave in Ireland was where the first inkling of a Halloween holiday was born.

            In town called Rosecommon in Ireland there was a cave referred to as the Rafcrocan cave. A rabbit hole served as the first small veil in which spirits could get through the veil. The holiday was referred to as Samhain. The veil was referred to as the Borwigan and it was very thin. Food offerings were provided for the dead. If they were a begger or spirit, still had to feed them. The Celtic cut up turnips as a symbol of this holiday and in the U.S. pumpkins were used because they were more plentiful. The spirits could not go to heaven or hell so the lighting of a jack-o-lantern would help the spirits to cross over. The veil is the thinnest on the evening of October 31^st and the day of November 1^st. All souls night is November 1st. Things were getting destroyed so trick or treat was developed to prevent the destruction. Our ancestors thought it was better to teach children by using things they feared.

            On a cheerier note, a holiday referred to as “Saturnalia” was created in Rome which was held from December 21-2. All people were considered equal no matter what economic class or position they held. The holiday was celebrated by holding feasts, gift giving and orgies. All the people in Rome were permitted to attend.

            “Dia de Los Muertos” was a Mexican day of the dead. All dead citizens would be honored on this day. Today, it is believed there are more spirits than there were in the past and this is because we are finally looking for them more. This holiday Christianized and changed to honor all former souls. The honoring of the dead made it collectively sacred.

            The fertility goddess “Eustre” was associated with the creation of the first Easter. Christianity introduced Jesus’ resurrection. The belief in the fertility goddess was where our ancestors bought into the belief of associating Easter eggs and candy with the Easter holiday.

            Yuletide celebrations were created for various reasons. The Norse people used candles to keep the darkness away and evergreen leaves were placed over doors to keep bad spirits away. In Scandanavia, everyone was supposed to drank from the same cup. The evergreen was known for its strength to survive harsh winter weather so it was believed to portray special gifts. The upper, middle and lower worlds or realms were honored by specific rituals. When a Yule log was burned the one from last year had to be used to ignite the current year’s log. Different trees were burned such as the pine willow and holly and stood for different beliefs. The nativity was created to honor when Jesus was born. The actual date of Jesus’ birth appeared to be not important. Constantine used Christianity to unify Roman empire in 336 A.D. Soltice was on the 23^rd, Christmas Eve was the 24^th, and Christmas on the 25^th, this gave the Romans more days to party.

            Saint Nicolas was a bishop in Myra, Turkey in 278 A.D.. He came from a wealthy family. Nicolas gave all his wealth away. He decided to help out people with special needs. He decided to celebrate Christmas by giving and sharing. He was honored as a patron saint. The Dutch created Cinder Claus and the U.S. called him Santa Claus. In Germany during the earlier years there was a character named Krampus. December 5^th was the day he appeared. He would snatch bad children and eat them. Krumpus had hooves and horns. In Iceland during the Yuletide season, Gryla wanted to eat children, so she would bring the children to the mountain he lived on and put them in her stew. The story “Twas the Night Before Christmas” was written in 1823. Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. The Coco Cola company a while ago decided to promote a fat santa with a beard. We must not forget the Grinch. Christmas is celebrated in many different ways all over the world.

            The creation of specific holidays and the celebration of harvests and other special events were made possible by the creation of the calendar. We learned about the solstice and equinox from our ancestors. We know when to plant seeds at optimal times. Our Halloween beliefs were fostered from a small opening in a cave in Ireland to the Norsemen and their superstitions. When you prepare to pass out candy at your door on Halloween, think about why this practice started.

           

           

           

You Know You're a Yooper When.....

1.   A trip to the islands means a trip to Mackinac and Bois Blanc.

2.   You use the Yooper Rule of Apostrophes: dinty = didn't he; shounta = shouldn't have; and wounta = wouldn't have. Gotta love the U.P. Language!

3.   The word "Eh" seems to find its way onto the end of every sentence.

4.   You leave you beers outside to get cold.

5.   You break something and then fix it with duct tape.

6.   You drive to Traverse City to tan on the beaches.

7.   You know what they grow in dat dere Garden Peninsula.

8.   You've ever had a snow day after Mother's Day.

9.   Your county spends more time and money on the snowmobile trails than they do the state highways.

10.The back door to your camp is a fridge door. Bonus points if you stock that fridge.

11.The police backup in a high speed chase is the DNR.

12.You only get channels 6 and 13, and you don't mind.

13.Your camp lacks indoor plumbing and electricity because it's not necessary, but has a stockpile of beer and pork rinds.

14.You know the four spots in the UP where you can't get "Da Bear".

15.You run outside barefoot to check the mail - in February - and don't notice the cold.

16.Your first cousins marry, and it doesn't seem out of the ordinary.

17.Your class valedictorian is a logger.

18.You have four or more broken down vehicles in your yard. Bonus points if they're snowmobiles.

19.Your basic vehicle survival kit consists of blankets, pillows, a shovel, and rock salt.

20.You get inspiration from the movie "Escanaba in da Moonlight" by Jeff Daniels.

21.You think fine dining is a pasty and a Pabst.

22.You have a bumper sticker that says "Say Ya To Da UP."

23.Your school has an 8th grade graduation.

24.You pay the taxes on your camp from the proceeds of beer can returns.

25.You check your bank balance to see if you can afford to buy four pasties from the pasty sale this week.

26.You make your own pasties, because who makes them better??? Nobody!!

27.You plan your vacation around deer season.

28.You use venison hamburger to make chili.

29.Going up north means a hunting trip to Canada.

30.Your neighbor plows your driveway and you pay him back with Yooper currency: a frozen lake trout from your freezer.

31.You only own three spices - salt, pepper and ketchup.

32.You design your Halloween costumes to fit over a snowsuit.

33.You have more miles on your snowblower than your car.

34.You have 10 favorite recipes for venison.

35.Your TrueValue Hardware on any Saturday is busier than the toy stores at Christmas.

36.You've taken your kids trick-or-treating in a blizzard.

37.Driving is better in the winter because the potholes get filled with snow.

38.You think everyone from the city has an accent.

39.You think sexy lingerie is tube socks and a flannel nightie with only 8 buttons.

40.You owe more money on your snowmobile than your car... or

41.One of your cars is a Ski-Doo.

42.Your snowblower gets stuck on the roof.

43.You think the start of deer hunting season is a national holiday.

44.Summer takes place the second week of July (and it still rains!!).

45.You know which leaves make good toilet paper.

46.You find -20°F a little chilly.

47.The trunk of your car doubles as a deep freezer.

48.You attended a formal event in your best clothes, your finest jewelry and your snowmobile boots.

49.Shoveling the driveway constitutes a great upper body workout.

50.You know the four seasons: Winter, Still Winter, Almost Winter, and Construction.

51.The municipality buys a Zamboni before a bus.

52.Your vocabulary includes the following: da, dis, dat, dees, dem and deirs. Also included is the number "tree."

53.You have a "camp," not a "cottage."

54.You go "fishing out da camp."

55.Your mosquito repellent doubles as your aftershave.

56.You actually get these jokes, and forward them to all your Yooper friends.

Don't know what a Yooper is, eh? Well, first you have to go back to your 4th grade geography class and recall that Michigan is made up of two pennisulas connected by the Mackinac Bridge: a Lower Peninsula that looks like a mitten and an Upper Peninsula that kinda resembles a hunchback jumping rabbit.

No, the Lower Peninsula is NOT called the L.P. for some reason, which means people who hail from the Lower Peninsula are NOT called "Loopers." Instead, they're called "Trolls." They live under the bridge. (Think about it for a while if you don't get it at first. And if you still don't get it, ask someone nearby, that way they'll get to not only laugh at the joke but also at YOU for not getting it!) I'm also told that occasionally they're called "Flatlanders" because much of the Lower Peninsula is as flat as the Great Plains. But that's much more boring than being a Troll.

Source: http://ryansimmons.net/michifun/yooper.html

Discovering Our Cultural Values and Identity

“The point of the journey is not just healing.

It’s also recovering the truest, most

spontaneous, joyful, and

creative core of ourselves.”

Gloria Steinem

We establish a sense of belonging by learning about our cultural roots leading us down a path of discovery. We can meet others who are on the same paths as we are and they can provide us with positive support and encouragement. Sometimes people can be their own worst enemy and do the opposite of what is needed. For example, many Euro-Americans have lost touch with their cultural origins. A person of European descent once said “What about the white people? We left our families of origin to move to this country and forego our cultural ties to the communities we left behind. We have suffered also.”

            Yes, many Euro-Americans did suffer. All of the people in the world resided in some form of tribal community during the distant past. For the sake of becoming mobile societies, a multitude of people have lost valuable connections to their cultural roots. The results of the Aboriginal Healing Project in Canada demonstrated the importance of returning to our cultural heritage. Cultural intervention has been associated with successful healing practices concerning overcoming the harmful effects of historical trauma. 

            Activities aimed at renewing and reviving Native American cultures have contributed to individual, family, and community healing. These activities include Elders’ teachings, storytelling, language programs, activities involving nature, feasts, Pow Wows, learning traditional art forms, harvesting medicines, drumming, singing, and dan-cing. Culture is connected to the collective values and worldviews of all people. Culture is the shared set of beliefs derived from the group’s practice of a shared lan-guage, behaviors, customs and knowledge and a common understanding of reality, history and future for a specific group. Cultural interventions tend to be collective activities and these activities promote a sense of belonging.

Many of us have merely existed in limbo trying to figure out who we are and what is really important to us. Take note about what is important to you and make a list of your values. Explore where these values came from; for example if you know you are of Indian descent, what is the significance as far as your own personal belief system. We need to place importance on our values and to remind ourselves that those who forsake their values to please others pay a high price. Our cultural values strongly repre-sent who we are. We would be hard pressed to find many people who can say they are 100% Native American or any other ethnic group for that matter in this country. The United States is a melting pot of diverse ethnicity. We need to consider other factors as well when questioning our cul-tural values and making the determination about what is important to us. 

The following exercise is designed to help us en-hance our cultural awareness. We can meet with family members and/or work by ourselves to examine responses to the following questions in our effort to explore our own culture:

·         Who took care of us when our mother or caregiver was away from home? At what age were we left alone? At what age were children in our family given responsibility to care for the other children in the family?

·         What form of discipline or punishment did our family use most often? Did this form of discipline effect how we felt about our parents? How so? Were there any kinds of discipline or punishment our parents wouldn't use because they felt it was harmful to us?

·         What were the family rules about meals? Did everyone sit down at the table together? Who cooked? Did our family cook regular meals every day? Could we eat whatever we wanted, when we chose? What kind of food did we eat most?

·         Did our family have different expectations for specific children in the family? Older or younger children? Boys and girls?

·         Who made what kinds of decisions in our family? Which were made by our mother, our father, or other family members? Any joint decisions? What influence was there from extended family, grand-parents, others living in the home? What decisions were children permitted to make for themselves?

·         Who did our family turn to for help and support in times of need or trouble? Did we help ourselves?  Did we turn to immediate or extended family? Did our family have a wide range of extended family and friends? A church group? A community? Did we turn to professional helpers such as a plumber, electrician, counselors, and/or the bank for exam-ple?

·         Did adults other than our parents care for us for a period of time or have a strong influence on our development? How did we feel about being cared for by people other than our parents? What was our relationship with relatives? What part did aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, non-blood family members play in our lives?

·         What were our family's values and beliefs con-cerning the following:

Respecting our Elders

Formal education

Finances, money, and the importance of money and success

Rites of passage

Religion and spirituality

Codes of Conduct

The role of reciprocity (a mutual interchange of        favors and privileges)

Appreciation for diversity (learning valuable            lessons from other cultures)

The major life goals our families had for us

·         What family values and patterns of behavior do we still adhere to and which have we changed (Institute for Human Services, 2008)?

            The practice of cultural interventions cannot be considered the entire part of our healing, but it will open the door to more intensive healing by creating a sense of identity, pride, and belonging. It can lead to developing a better sense of underlying values such as wholeness and balance. Healing is sacred and there are various forms of cultural practices that may enhance our healing process.

            Ways in which to explore our cultural heritage may include meeting with other family members and ask what ethnic groups our family came from before coming over to this country if we are not only of Native American descent. If you are of Indian descent, again meet with elders, attend cultural events such as Pow Wows and read books about the Indian and other cultures you may be connected. Again, many of us have several lines of descent from European, Native American to Asian.  Explore your heritage by using the internet. Your exploration and discovery of your cul-tural values and identity will prove to be very rewarding.