>>REVIEW
FERTILITY GODDESSES, GROUNDHOG BELLIES AND THE COCA-COLA COMPANY: THE ORIGINS OF MODERN HOLIDAYS
By Gabriella Kalapos
Insomniac Press, 256 pp.
I’ve always had my suspicions about various "holidays" – when and who started them, and to what purpose. I tended towards believing that people invented some holidays in order to make a buck, and that there is little credence in some of the sentiment behind these annual events. Guess what? Turns out I was right. Well, OK, maybe not entirely so.
Gabriella Kalapos has composed a book of each of the major holidays and annual events we celebrate, lending insight into why we care, historically speaking, about groundhogs, Maypoles and horns o’ plenty. It seems there are perfectly good explanations behind the majority of these events – celebration of seasonal change and agricultural calendars.
Doesn’t pique your interest? It should – there’s also some sex thrown in. For instance, who would have thought that May Day (May 1st), which is presently seen as a celebration of the rights of workers throughout the world, started out as a downright orgy, giving couples (and singles!) free license to steal away with their chosen partner into the woods, do what needed to be done, and then come back the next morning, no questions asked. What a hell of a way to mark the arrival of summer and celebrate fertility.
It’s also interesting to note how dates of certain holidays and events, such as New Year’s Day, have changed over the years – before the new calendar had been established, New Year’s Day came in March, at the beginning of spring, again hearkening back to the agricultural calendar. Also worth mentioning is the role of the church in holidays – often, the church would take a popular pagan event and re-create it as a religious holiday, with an alternate meaning in order to draw attention away from its pagan origins. John the Baptist Day, with its notably religious connotations, originally stemmed from bonfire parties celebrating the summer solstice, which glorified femininity and the healing powers of plants and herbs. Halloween began as a much darker holiday – All Souls Day was an attempt by Christianity to replace the ancient Samhain, or Halloween celebrations, which they felt glorified demons and evil. Nice try.
And, of course, there’s Mother’s Day. Yes, it’s true – this special day was conceived by Anna M. Jarvis in an effort to honour her mother. It began with Jarvis and her friends adopting a letter-writing campaign imploring the community to recognize the role of mother. Interestingly enough, while her intentions were honest and admirable, Jarvis denounced the whole idea of Mother’s Day once it became insanely commercial.
An enlightening and entertaining read, Kalapos has done a great service to those of us who really have no clue as to why Lammas Day is important, or why we colour eggs at Easter. |
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