"Magic, Festivals, Animals and Plants" -
Historical Origins of Some Strange Cultural Traditions"
[English] Monica Maria Starpelbery by
Gao Mingyang Zhou Zhengdong translated
Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences Press
(Pictures are from stills of "Harry Potter")
Have you ever had a magic dream? Are there any owls waiting for Hogwarts to send their admission letters from Hogwarts?
The enthusiasm for "Harry Potter" and the yearning for magic, but now I still feel incredible, the magic setting and a wonderful world view. But in Western society, magic has existed in all cultures as a medium as a defense and guardian function. Belief in magic was once very common.
(Pictures are from Harry Potter stills)
When reading world history works, we often encounter festivals such as Christmas and Holy Branch Sunday. On Halloween, children have to go door to door to ask for candies, and prepare Christmas trees at Christmas. There is a "seven-year itch" between couples or couples. They will wear white wedding dress when they get married, and will see the monarch make strange decisions because of a certain tradition or superstition. They will find that certain specific animals are given divinity and become commonly used totems. These phenomena actually have deep cultural origins behind them.
Why do Westerners -
● Want to baptize new ships and call ships "her"?
●Do not avoid the number thirteen, avoid breaking the mirror or walking under the ladder?
●Want to wear a wedding ring on your ring finger?
●To use the metaphor of "the skeleton in the wardrobe" or "if the eyes can kill people"?
●To wear blue clothes for boys, use "pure blue" to express unswervingness, and use "blue blood" to express noble blood?
●Want to wear black clothes to attend the funeral, and also "knock the wood for good luck"?
●Do you want to decorate the Christmas tree and eat Easter eggs?
● "High-middle finger" means contempt?
●Want to kiss under the mistletoe?
● "Troubleshoot" on Halloween Eve?
When someone sneezes, we will say "bless you".
When we yawn or cough, we will cover our mouths.
It is rude to point fingers at others.
Avoid crossing the knife and fork on the plate after using the meal.
We consider these behaviors to be manifestations of “politeness” without realizing that they are all originally derived from fear brought by superstition.
The specific behaviors, postures and etiquette norms we observe and show in daily life are actually based on ancient beliefs, ritual magic, sacrificial traditions or terrible superstitious ideas that have long been forgotten.
This interesting and easy-to-read "Magic, Festivals, Animals and Flora" will take you to appreciate the historical origins of these strange cultural traditions and show the legends behind many folk beliefs.
If you are interested in Western history and cultural traditions, this book cannot be missed!
Author Profile
Monica-Maria Stapelberg
Monica-Maria Stapelberg
Doctoral in Culture and best-selling author, has been employed in many universities for many years, teaching courses such as literary history, medieval language, medieval history and cultural studies, and is committed to introducing Western culture and folk customs to the public. After retirement, she has published several well-received works, including Old Wives’ Tale, Curious and Curiouser!, and Through the Darkness: Glimpses into the History of Western Medicine. She now lives with her family on the East Coast of Australia.
Monica-Maria Starpelbery takes us to trace the cultural history of Western countries and interpret it from the root:
Why do Western countries pay special attention to certain festivals?
What traditional myths are behind the disputes in the palace?
How did the beliefs and traditions of ancient Greece, Roman and Viking eras profoundly influence modern Western culture?
Why is the name of the Golden Wool Knights?
Why did the monarch transport his heart back to his birthplace after he passed away?
and so on.
Magical and mysterious cat
Although many people regard cats as the most magical animal, does cats symbolize auspiciousness or ominousness?
Different cultural traditions have different conclusions. There are various legends about cats, especially black cats. In the United States and some European countries such as Germany, Spain and Belgium, black cats are ominous, and white cats are popular. But even in a country where black cats symbolize ominousness, people still believe that if a black cat follows you on the road, or a black cat coming towards you, or an uninvited black cat at home, it indicates good luck.
Britain is almost the only nation that believes black cats are auspicious, while white cats may bring ominousness. If the rumors are credible, Charles I (1600-1649) once raised a black cat and sent someone to protect it because he was always worried that he would lose it. It is said that after the Black Cat died, Charles I sighed, "My good luck is gone." This sentence worked the next day. Charles I was arrested and later sentenced to death.
Modern superstitious thinking believes that cats have nine lives, which stems from people's belief that witches can transform into cat shape nine times. Every cat will become a witch seven years later. So people often leave a cross sign on cats to prevent them from becoming witches, or give cats a new name. Only a few family members know this new name. People think that if the witch does not know the cat's name, they cannot transform into this cat.
Funeral Flower, Silence Symbol—Rose
Rose is loved by people all over the world. There are different myths, legends and stories about roses in every country.
There is a Greek legend that when Aphrodite was anxious to visit his injured lover Adonis, he stepped on a white rose bush. The thorns on the rose hurt her feet, and her holy blood dyed the white rose into an eternal red. Aphrodite later gave the red rose to her son Eros.
Eros - the Greek little god of love, which happens to be the same letters of rose in English and French; the Greek wedding god Xu Men also often wears a rose wreath. Therefore, roses become a symbol of love and beauty.
(Pictures are from the Internet)
But from the various superstitious ideas related to roses, roses are one of the most unlucky flowers. The withering of rose petals is a symbol of death, especially when you are wearing or holding roses. Similarly, people will also be worried about roses blooming in the opposite season, which indicates that misfortunes will occur in the coming year. Dreaming of white roses or withered roses represents death.
Rose is a symbol of silence, secrecy and secrecy. Rosette is a rose-shaped ornament. Some old houses still often use it to decorate the ceiling. Roses symbolize secrets, so people will use roses to decorate the ceilings of conference and banquet halls, reminding people that what they say in these places needs to be kept confidential, even if these words are said under the influence of alcohol. Roses also symbolize silence, and carved roses are often placed in the confession rooms in the church. The phrase sub rosa may have originated from Greek mythology, which originated from the little god of love Eros who sent a rose to the silence god Harpocrates, bribing him to keep Aphrodite's affair secret.
The legacy of the past is like a forgotten treasure, buried in our rhetoric. We often use them, but we don't know that many of them are so ancient and profound, carrying profound meanings, either symbolic or precise.
Check out this book "Magic, Festivals, Animals and Flora - The Historical Origins of Some Strange Cultural Traditions" to learn more about the origins of these wonderful cultures.
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