Comments for 1st May - Czech Day of LOVE ! »
Posted By gamahuche 1 year, 8 months ago in StyleForget the International Day of Labour - though it stil is a day off work. Which simply allows more time for the main activity of the day which involves kissing your sweetheart under a flowering cherry tree to keep her young and beautiful. Its also a celebration of Karel Hynek Macha's romantic poem entitled Maj. In Prague lovers visit his statue.
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gamahuche1 year, 8 months ago
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A holday which has been truly "liberated" from Communism and its military parades and suchlike, with compulsory attendance for many, and returned to its historical significance with the added bonus of bringing living love into the picture. Its also a day for poetry and the famous poem "Maj" by the most romantic and famous Czech Romantic poet, Karel Hynek Macha.
Last night was for making a bonfire for burning symbolic witches - I saved that story for propeller for another year because there was no appropriate source to be found. This festivity Its also a good excuse for getting drunk..
Today is about the purity of love and the delights of kissing under a flowering cherry tree - and contrary to modern spin it really SHOULD be a cherry tree!
Now the hitch! This year we had virtually no winter - this is the second year in a row that we are unnable to kiss under our favourite and closest tree, a mere 10 yards from our house because the blossom has already fallen.
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gamahuche1 year, 8 months ago
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So may I fervently encourage all of you who are in range of a cherry tree to take your best beloved to one without delay - if you can surprise them so much the better - and award them a passionate kiss!
I hope that gays and lesbians will not exclude themselves from this celebration just because its written as a male-female script!
Also that feminists will be encouraged to take the initiative as a self-care measure. In both cases you'll also be helping to bury the old Communist dogma.
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gamahuche1 year, 8 months ago
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Here's a translation of the beginning part of "Maj". Apart from the 1st 2 lines I think its pretty good - certainly better than the more well-known version by Edith Pargetier which loses meaning in order to sustain rhymes.
The rest of this [incomplete] translation is here, published by Twisted Spoon Press - a highly recommended publisher of some of the very best Czech writing.
It was late evening â;; first of May â;;
was evening May â;; the time for love.
The turtledove invited love
to where the pine grove's fragrance lay.
The silent moss murmured of love,
the flowering tree belied love's woe.
The nightingale sang rose-filled love,
the rose exhaled a sweet complaint.
The placid lake in shadowed thicket
resounded darkly secret pain,
embracing it within its shores;
the pristine suns of other worlds
were wandering through the sky's blue band,
as fiery as a lover's tears.
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Natureboy1 year, 8 months ago
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"Last night was for making a bonfire for burning symbolic witches"
Witch burning, the sadistic extermination of hundreds of thousands of women by the Catholic Church simply because those women were accused of keeping the pre-christian faith.
How "christian," really.
May 1 I will be celebrating the international Workers Day, and Beltane as well, a celebration of the seasons.
Happy Mayday, all!
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Dionys1 year, 8 months ago
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"Witch burning, the sadistic extermination of hundreds of thousands of women by the Catholic Church simply because those women were accused of keeping the pre-christian faith. "
Sorry. Most pagan crapola is made up modernist romantic interpretation of the very little information we have remaining regarding pre-Christian 'pagan' religion.
They were burned because of zealots and nutjobs within the Church, usualy because of medicinal and folkloric practice that seemed like 'magic' because it worked outside of the established theology of the Catholic church.
It's simply silly to say they were burned because they were "keeping the pre-Christian faith." Not to mention inaccurate.
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Natureboy1 year, 8 months ago
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"usualy because of medicinal and folkloric practice that seemed like 'magic' because it worked outside of the established theology of the Catholic church."
And where do you suppose they got those medicinal and folkloric practices?
Trying to present them as somehow distinct from pre-christian beliefs is simply a false dichotomy.
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gamahuche1 year, 8 months ago
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No spanking required by this tradition, Beau - nor drinking, though we did stop at the pub for a well-earned lunch and one beer..
We went a long way, rejecting trees that were not as flowery as we wanted or as scenically located, finally finding an excellent tree - while also noting that the apple blossoms were much prettier.. [Its very common in the Czech lands for public roads to be planted their whole length with fruit trees]. Then finding the perfect tree we did our ritual and decided that another time would do no harm and finally reaching home decided that we must still do it once more under OUR tree - and were astonished to find a very few flowers left after all. No need to have gone anywhere.. But along the way we also picked some branches to bring home for relatives who couldn't get out and it was a lovely day!
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gamahuche1 year, 8 months ago
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Hezký den taky, Jim!
Pregnant illusion maybe - but even then kissing alone doesn't ALWAYS work, even in the purest fairy tales..
This ritual is essentially about love and that its necessary to renew it to make sure that it lasts for another year.
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tkyrchncs1 year, 8 months ago
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Well, our cherries are done blooming here in the mountains of VA too, but we have glorious redbuds and dogwoods right now, would they serve? (If you "partake" of the rest of the tradition, I suppose the shadow of a cactus would do, huh?)
Thanks, gama, pleasant break from the politics! Happy May 1, maybe we can combine 2 traditions and find a labor of love.
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gamahuche1 year, 8 months ago
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This is a small country so there's not so much seasonal variation, though altitude can certainly make a difference. But our springs have definitely been warmer these last two years and snow was minimal the winter before this last one.
It is indeed nice to escape from the politics! I see a lot of msgs in my inbox that I probably will not pay much heed to today..
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canadianrancher571 year, 8 months ago
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I think that it is a great idea to have a love holiday instead of a labour day holiday, anytime you us certain words like labour it will be politicized, In your country there are feelings against the communist idea but in some places the labour idea also causes people grief. As for kissing a loved one under a flowering tree that is a difficult day to mark on a calendar, some years here on the first of May we have apple trees that are flowering but this year we have been fairly cold and only the prairie crocus has shown any hint that spring is here. I think that I will wait until our apple trees start to flower and suggest this to my wife.
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texangelwings1 year, 8 months ago
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The flowers are beautiful. Nice story, thanks for sharing!
When I was a little girl, May 1st was May Day. I picked flowers, put them into a paper basket that I made and then would hang them on the door knob of my neighbor's houses, ring door bell, then run! If they caught me, I had to return to the house and they had to give me a kiss on my cheek!
Thanks again, gamahuche.
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texangelwings1 year, 8 months ago
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The tradition of picking fresh flowers with the basket and stuff, was when I lived in Raytown, Mo.(1957), a suburb of Kansas City, Missouri. It was easy, because most people had lilacs, peonies and roses. We had four different color lilacs in our yard.
lol, yes, there were some that I ran faster from than others!
Hope you had a great May 1st!
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puffin1 year, 8 months ago
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Happy Birthday, dandt. Hope you have a wonderful day!
Neat stuff, gama! Even as I type this, the wind here is blowing the last of the cherry blossoms off the trees - like pretty petals of snow.
Without delay ... and 'cause he's certainly not my least beloved ... I'm takin' my dog out for a smooch!
; )
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blinkers1 year, 8 months ago
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Good idea to post things of this nature (no pun intended) gama. I like hearing of those ancient traditions which perhaps predate the heavier theological times which were to follow.
There's no Labor Day holiday as such, in Japan, but with the Cherry blossoms gone, we're about to begin the very traditional "Golden Week" vacation -- actually two days off work, when most Japanese travel. (Thereby making it a great time to stay at home!)
Keep up the good work!
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gamahuche1 year, 8 months ago
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Thanks to the propeller person who chose the illustration for the front page for this story!! It was a very thoughtful and excellent choice. This red neon heart, the work of a conceptual artist called Jiri David, was installed during the last few months of Vaclav Havel's Presidency above Prague Castle and was extremely visible from many parts of the city and created considerable attention and comment.
Story and another picture are here: http://www.radio.cz/en/article/34619
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