To be serious for a moment, I've always liked milk with Brownies.
Mark
At 08:47 PM 2/15/2005, you wrote:
> >but an awful lot of Western culture stems from the very much
> >unmonotheistic Roman and Hellenistic cultures, and the underbelly of earlier
> >pagan rituals still persist in many parts of Europe. People put out milk
> >for the brownies routinely when my father was a child.
>
>Yes, I've read that brownies were originally associated
>with Dionysius, though now mostly hard-working elf like creatures that live in
>barns who come into the house at night to finish the undone housework though
>sometimes mischevious ones will disarrange the furniture and make a clutter.
>They're all male, and mostly animal in appearance, so it's funny that they're
>associated with housework. They're usually not seen, though they sometimes
>appear to their favorite person in the house, have the power to steal food and
>leave the image of it. Leaving the milk out for them is interesting
>because this
>is a gift that the brownie will accept and which keeps them around, but it
>has to
>be given. The way to get rid of a brownie is to leave clothes out for him
>which is
>simultaneously a gift of freedom and he'll put them on disappear. The
>other way
>to get rid of a brownie is to offer to pay him, even with the milk, crime,
>bread,
>he likes. This seems to go back to some of the Dionysiac elements, the
>emphasis upon being seen and unseen, etc, though perhaps in the diminuitive,
>in the same way the Greek furies became household gods. Anyway, back to the
>sweeping,
>
>best,
>
>Rebecca
>
>
>---- Original message ----
> >Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2005 11:08:18 +1100
> >From: Alison Croggon <[log in to unmask]>
> >Subject: Re: poets and shamans
> >To: [log in to unmask]
> >
> >Dear Liz
> >
> >Malleus Malleficarum was written for persons such as you. Lucky you're
> >nowhere near 16C Dominicans, who were savagely suspicious of women
>having
> >fun.
> >
> >Though re monotheism: not to argue with your point that the
> >Judaeic/Christian/Muslim God might have a lot to do with that dichotomising
> >mindset: but an awful lot of Western culture stems from the very much
> >unmonotheistic Roman and Hellenistic cultures, and the underbelly of earlier
> >pagan rituals still persist in many parts of Europe. People put out milk
> >for the brownies routinely when my father was a child.
> >
> >Best
> >
> >A
> >
> >
> >
> >On 16/2/05 10:19 AM, "Liz Kirby" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> >
> >>
> >> This afternoon I spent some time by a peat bog pool in the winter sun,
> >> travelling through the water to another place entirely..... this is
> part of
> >> how I find strength and meaning. Plus as a heathen working in a shamanic
> >> tradition I have such a fucking great time! (Dancing all night, drinking
> >> lots of cider, performing beautiful rituals and working with the
> capacities
> >> of the mind and spirit in various trance states, making my own drum and
> >> learning to use it, spending time with a lot of lunatic people who I love
> >> very much and share a deep politics and spirituality with .....)
> >>
> >> I have begun to wonder if monotheism isn't at the root of a lot of the
> >> dichotomising mindset of Western culture. In all of our knowledge it is
> >> treated as a self evidently good thing. I question that perspective. A
> >> pantheistic perspective is tolerant of other gods and interested to
> learn. A
> >> monotheistic one seems interested mainly in obliterating other ways of
> >> seeing.....
> >
> >
> >
> >Alison Croggon
> >
> >Blog: http://theatrenotes.blogspot.com
> >Editor, Masthead: http://masthead.net.au
> >Home page: http://alisoncroggon.com
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