I suppose that as arks of intangible culture you could be said to be carrying those ideas with you.
I don't know whether the indigenous cultures of Australia interprets those astronomical facts in different ways.
Hi Jenny, yes, and of course it is questionable whether in Australia we can be said to be having 'Beltane', 'Samhain' or any of the Irish dates - as opposed to the solstice and equinoxes which are astronomical facts. I would say that the 'Cross Quarters' only fit in people's imagination
here... Of course it depends on what one sees as a seasonal marker, whether you're marking seasonal change, or wanting to align with humans and what humans are doing, as in 'having a sabbat'. According to Jo Pearson in an article from "The Pomegranate" called "Wicca, Esotericism and Living Nature" (not sure if its available online, although there are Pom articles online, sorry haven't checked for this one) even in Britain the Wiccan Wheel of the Year looks more like it is *dropped* on to Nature, rather than deriving from observation of Nature.
We Australian Neo-Pagans just tend to 'flip' the Wheel of the Year' for convenience because [in the temparate regions of Australia] it fits reasonably well. It does not fit at all in northern Australia and of course nor does the northern hemisphere version. Northern Australia tends to have "The Wet" and The Dry" rather then four seasons.
Aboriginal people from different areas recognised from four to eight 'seasons' and of course it all depends on what one is marking as a 'season'. I've got a chpater on this in "Practising the Witch's Craft: Real Magic Under a Southern Sky" by Douglas Ezzy (ed). Allen and Unwin. 2003.
From
Caroline Tully.
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Wednesday, October 31, 2007 3:08 PM
Subject: Re: [ACADEMIC-STUDY-MAGIC] CFP Ritual Year and Gender Conference
Caroline,
In the Irish ritual year Bealtaine and Samhain have many similarities, both being times when the 'veil' between the Otherworld and the human realm becomes thin. Bealtaine is more connected with the sidhe (fairies) and Samhain with the dead (but with fairies too). Both are connected with divination and with magic (or the perceived threat of magical interference in people's lives). I've always found the fact that the two festivals are on the same axis on the Wheel of
the Year to be very interesting. I was just talking about this with a class today!
Hope you've had a nice Beltane!
Jenny
On 31/10/2007, Caroline Tully <[log in to unmask] > wrote: Hi Jenny, it was Beltane in the Southern Hemisphere.
~Caroline.
----------------
Hope everyone has a good Samhain/Halloween...
With Best
Wishes,
Jenny