Month: June 2019

Sprangprocession (Dancing Procession)

The Sprangprocession in Luxembourg has been held on Whit Tuesday, which falls 52 days after Easter, since the eighth century. It honors St. Willibrord (St. Wilfred), the patron saint of Luxembourg. The dance that is performed by thousands of participants in the procession through the narrow streets of Echternach has remained basically unchanged, and local bands play the same melody that was played more than 500 years ago. The procession ends up in the basilica, where the remains of St. Willibrord are buried. Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

“The Walrus and the Carpenter”

“The Walrus and the Carpenter” is a narrative poem that appears in Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There. In the book, the poem is recited to the protagonist, Alice, by Tweedledee and Tweedledum. After hearing the poem, in which the titular characters lull a group of oysters into a false sense of security and then eat them, the good-natured Alice attempts to determine which of the two might be the more sympathetic. In what ways has the poem been interpreted? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Time Observance Day

Emperor Tenchi (or Tenji) of Japan (626-671) is credited with making the first water clock, a device that measured time by the amount of water leaking out of a vessel. The Japanese honor their 38th emperor on June 10, the day on which he first ordered the hour to be announced by sounding temple bells and drums. The Rokoku Festival, or Water Clock Festival, is held on this day at the Omi Jingu Shrine in the city of Otsu, Shiga Prefecture, where the emperor’s water clock is housed. Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Children’s Street Culture

Passed down from one generation to the next, children’s street culture usually develops among urban children who are allowed to play for long periods without supervision. It impacts their value systems, the sorts of games they play, and the way they perceive their environments. Imagination is an important part of children’s street culture, which research shows shares many commonalities across the globe. In what region of the US has a consistent mythology developed among homeless children? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Pentecost

As recorded in the New Testament in Acts 2, it was on the 50th day after Easter that the Apostles were praying together and the Holy Spirit descended on them in the form of tongues of fire, and they received the “gift of tongues”—the ability to speak in other languages. The English call it White Sunday, or Whitsunday, after the white garments worn on Pentecost by the newly baptized. In Germany it is called Pfingsten, and pink and red peonies, called Pfingstrosen, or “Whitsun roses,” are the symbols along with birch trees. Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Taxidermy

Taxidermy is the process of skinning, preserving, and mounting dead vertebrate animals so that they appear lifelike. It began with the ancient custom of keeping skins and hunting trophies. By the 19th century, hunters were having upholsterers sew up animal skins and stuff them with rags and cotton. The term “stuffed animal” evolved from this crude form of taxidermy. Modern taxidermy involves constructing and sculpting anatomically correct manikins of clay and plaster. What is rogue taxidermy? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Luilak

Luilak, or Lazybones Day, is a youth festival celebrated in Zaandam, Haarlem, Amsterdam, and other towns in the western Netherlands. The celebration begins at four o’clock in the morning on the Saturday before Pentecost, when groups of young people awaken their neighbors by whistling, banging on pots and pans, and ringing doorbells. Any boys or girls who refuse to get up and join the noisemaking are referred to as Luilak, or “Lazybones.” In Haarlem, Luilak marks the opening of the celebrated Whitsun flower market in the Grote Markt at midnight. Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary