tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5144051388547159240.post3824685895038843951..comments2024-02-19T10:15:55.380+00:00Comments on CAUTE — Making Footprints Not Blueprints: Be afraid, be very afraid - a liberal mediates on HalloweenAndrew James Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02693417061963197121noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5144051388547159240.post-3430371971665933842008-12-28T17:59:00.000+00:002008-12-28T17:59:00.000+00:00I agree that various Pagan festivals had as their ...I agree that various Pagan festivals had as their aim the inversion of the usual hierarchical order of things - this is certainly true of Saturnalia in ancient Rome, where masters served slaves; and it was also true of the medieval Feast of Fools or Lord of Misrule. I think it is also true that these safety valves meant that the usual order was less likely to be overthrown. But the ancient version of <A HREF="http://www.manygods.org.uk/articles/essays/samhain_myths.html" REL="nofollow">Samhain</A> probably was not one of those safety valves (it was about freedom); and the festival as celebrated by modern Pagans isn't either (it's about <A HREF="http://www.matrifocus.com/SAM06/rc-ritual.htm" REL="nofollow">ancestors</A>). Though the medieval Hallowe'en might well have been as described in your opening quote. <BR/><BR/>Your observation that the public/private distinction is the new "safety valve" is interesting, and certainly rings true. It's almost the opposite of "the personal is political". The other day someone said to me (slightly incredulously), "It really matters to you what people believe, doesn't it?" and I said, well yes, insofar as it affects what they DO (e.g. someone who believes homosexuality is anathema will probably treat LGBT people badly, and so on).Yewtreehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02028699564003381058noreply@blogger.com