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The Gypsy Scholar announces his New Year Essay-with-Soundtrack series:
The New Year & Rebirth in Archaic Myth & Ritual 2012
Babylonian New Year ritual (with Ishtar)
In archaic or ancient myth and ritual, the celebration of the New Year meant REBIRTH--for some gods, for nature, for the tribe or society, and for human beings. It still does for traditional societies--and it still can be for modern ones. The concept of "rebirth" is an archetypal motif that applies to various levels of meaning--a common metaphor or literal event in myth and religion, in the "hero’s journey" in mythology, poetry, and romance, and even in the process of human creativity. The New Year ritual is probably one of the oldest of rituals, and it seems to be universal. For our ancient ancestors living in agricultural societies, the "rebirth" of the sun after the Winter Solstice brought in the New Year, which was annually celebrated through elaborate ceremonies. Even today, at this time in the cycle of nature, our contemporary New Year's celebrations still contain, however secularized and profaned, vestiges of the perennial need of humankind to suspend the flow of time and regenerate the mythic "time of beginnings" (in illo tempore ab origine); in other words, to make all things new--"to be born again." (See images of Rebirth below.)
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The Greenman
The GS has traced the transformations of the mythic Green Man through the seasons, from the Spring Equinox to the Winter Solstice (As discussed in the last program, at the Winter Solstice he manifests as the two rival aspects of the Oak King and Holly King. See thematic images for "Winter Solstice/Christmas" program, 12/26/11.) The Green Man symbol or icon has many different faces and variations in many cultures around the world. In Celtic lore, the Green Man is related to the archaic Horned God. The Green Man is often related to natural vegetative deities springing up in different cultures throughout the ages, but historically it has primarily been interpreted as a symbol of rebirth, or renaissance, representing the cycle of growth being reborn anew each spring.
Man only repeats the act of the Creation; his religious calendar commemorates, in the space of a year, all the cosmogonic phases which took place ab origine [from the origin]. In fact, the sacred year ceaselessly repeats the Creation; man is contemporary with the cosmogony and with the anthropogony because ritual projects him into the mythical epoch of the beginning—of the illud tempus, or ‘those days.’”
… this reproduction [in ritual] made him contemporary with the mythical moment of the beginning of the world and he felt the need of returning to that moment as often as possible in order to annul profane time and its burden of memory and guilt; in other words, to regenerate herself or him¬self and the fallen world. . . . . The creation of the world, which took place, in illud tempore, at the beginning of the year, is thus reactualized each year. The hierogamy [the cosmic union of heaven and earth, male and female] is a concrete realization of the “rebirth” of the world and man. –Mircea Eliade (historian of religion and phenomenologist of the sacred)
The New Year is the oldest of all holidays. The New Year was first observed in ancient Babylon about 4000 years ago. Around 2000 BCE, the Babylonian New Year began with the first New Moon (actually the first visible crescent) after the Vernal Equinox (first day of spring). The festival observed the annual rebirth of the god of fertility, who was known as Tammuz in Babylon, the embodiment of rebirth in nature and son/consort of the goddess Ishtar. Their sacred marriage (hierogamy or hieros gamos) symbolized the cosmic union of heaven and earth, male and female, as a concrete realization of the “rebirth” of the world and man. The Early Egyptians also used a baby as a symbol of rebirth.
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A brief definition of the major terms pertaining to the archaic world-view.
Cosmological has to do with the universe, its structure. Cosmogony is a mythic model of the origin and evolution of the universe. Ontological pertains to that which is real, that which exists. Ontology is a mythic model of the nature and relations of being. Anthropogony is the model of the origin and development of man. Eschatology (lit. "study of the last") is a part of theology and philosophy concerned with what are believed to be the final events in history, or the ultimate destiny of humanity; "the end of the world." Eschatological relates to or deals with the ultimate destiny of mankind and the world. Eschato-cosmological refers to the cosmology of the end of time Hierophany (from the Greek roots hieros, meaning “sacred” and phainein, meaning “to reveal” or “to bring to light,” as in our word epiphany) means a manifestation or breakthrough of the sacred into the world. In the hierophanies recorded in archaic and ancient myth, the sacred appears in the form of ideal models, or “archetypes” i.e., the actions of gods, heroes, ancestors, etc. Telluric refers to terrestrial; pertaining to earth. Archetype, as used in this essay, is simply a synonym for “exemplary model” or “paradigm,” because archetypes are models for institutions, norms, and various categories of behavior believed to have been “revealed” at the beginning of time, regarded as having a superhuman and “transcendental” origin.) By manifesting itself as ideal models, the sacred gives the world value, direction, and purpose.
Latin terms ab origine = from the origin. in illo tempore, ab origine = the time of the beginning; the "great time" before history; mythic, transcendent time; "once upon a time." illud tempus = a mythical time before time; (lit. "those days"). incipit vita nova = beginning of new life; rejuvenation of life itself. fons et origio = the source and origin; primary cause.
Playlist 1/2/12
SONGS
Happy Christmas (War Is Over) John Lennon Lennon Legend: The Very Best Of John Lennon Imagine (no religion too) John Lennon Tower of Song 12 Days of X-Mas (feat. Blue Harmony) Mystery Avenue Blazing Christmas White Is In The Winter Night Enya And Winter Came... Astral Weeks/I Believe I've Transcended Van Morrison Astral Weeks: Live At The Hollywood Bowl New Year The Go Find Stars On The Wall Happy New Year Nat King Cole The Christmas Song What Are You Doing New Year's Eve? Rufus Wainwright Stockings By The Fire The Wassail Song / All Through The Night Thile, Meyer, Yo-Yo Ma Songs Of Joy & Peace Auld Lang Syne Mairi Campbell And Dave Francis Sex And The City Here's a Health to the Company The Chieftains Chieftains Celebration Bringing In A Brand New Year BB King A Christmas Celebration Of Hope What Child Is This? (Greensleeves) Sarah McLachlan Wintersong Start All Over Again Van Morrison Enlightenment See Me Through (Before, Before) Van Morrison Hymns To The Silence Take Me Back (When, When) Van Morrison Hymns To The Silence Auld Lang Syne Dougie MacLean Tribute The Beauty Of The Days Gone By Van Morrison Down The Road
BACKGROUND MUSIC from:
George Winston and Windham Hill Artists David Arkenstone Yo-Yo Ma Paul Winter Philip Aaberg Tim Story Brian Dunning Øystein Sevåg William Coulter
"The New Year & Rebirth in Archaic Myth & Ritual, Part 2: The Lunar Mythology of Regeneration
1/9/12
Because the first full moon of the year (the "Wolf Moon" in Cancer) coincides with the program (11:32 pm, PST), the GS will be waxing mythological about the significance of archaic "lunar mythology" and regeneration/rebirth for the New Year. The Essay-with-Soundtrack deals with how the moon and its
phases has determined, since time immemorial, archaic rituals of
rebirth. Ahh-wooooooo!
Moon in Cancer (Jan. 9, 2012)
Wolf Moon (Jan. 9, 2012)
Full Moon in Winter Circle (Jan. 9, 2012)
Playlist 1/9/12
SONGS Full Moon Santana Spirits Dancing In The Flesh The Year Is Born Anew Jaiya Firedance: Songs for Winter Solstice Got To Go Back Van Morrison No Guru, No Method, No Teacher Intro: "Let's Renew Ourselves Now..." Leonard Cohen Leonard Cohen Live At The Isle Of Wight 1970 Start All Over Again Dave Koz (ft. Dana Glover) Hello Tomorrow Here Comes The Moon George Harrison Best Of Dark Horse 1976-1989 Moon Song Norah Jones Feels Like Home [Deluxe Edition] Drawing Down the Moon Gaia Consort Evolve Moon Cradle Loreena McKennitt Parallel Dreams Moon, Turn the Tides Jimi Hendrix Electric Ladyland Feather Moon Vienna Teng Warm Strangers Full Moon Big Circle Tina Lear Full Moon Big Circle Moon She Rises Gaia Consort Evolve I Become The Moon Eliza Gilkyson Through The Looking Glass Before The Deluge Jackson Browne The Very Best of Jackson Browne
"The New Year & Rebirth in Archaic Myth & Ritual, Part 3: Myth & the Phenomenon of Rebirth in Archaic Ritual"
1/16/12
Playlist 1/16/12
SONGS Transcendance Santana Moonflower A Dream Common (feat. Will.I.Am) Freedom Writers A New Life Pet Shop Boys Alternative Start All Over Again Keith Frank & The Soileau Zydeco Band Undisputed Start It All Over Again Battlefied Band Happy Daze Brand New Day Van Morrison Moondance Rebirth Angra Rebirth Morning Has Broken (w/Diana Krall And Art Garfunkel) The Chieftains The Wide World Over A New Kind Of Man Van Morrison A Sense Of Wonder Astral Weeks Glen Hansard KLRU and ACL TV/PBS, 2010
BACKGROUND MUSIC Death and Rebirth Various Artists Midnight Son (Soundtrack) Death and Rebirth Mario Salvucci, Errichetta Underground The Dark Side of the Sun (Original Soundtrack) The Origin: the Point of Return Vindensång Terminus: Rebirth in Eight Parts... Epilogue: At Winter's End / to Infinity Vindensång Terminus: Rebirth in Eight Parts... From Death to Rebirth Terminus Division of Time
"The New Year & Rebirth in Archaic Myth & Ritual, Part 4-6: The Shamanic Journey to the North Pole Star & The Golden-Age Arctic Homeland"
Oh my fair North Star I have held to you dearly I have asked you to steer me Til one cloud scattered night I got lost in my travels I met Leo the Lion Met a king and met a giant, with their errant knight. . . . And the many stars that guide us We have some of them inside us
Playlist 1/23/12
SONGS Auld Lang Syne Eddi Reader Celtic Greatest Dragons Anne Lister Spreading Rings North Afro Celt Sound System Volume 3: Further In Time Visions Of Paradise The Moody Blues In Search Of The Lost Chord Northern Lights Bruce Cockburn Dancing In The Dragon's Jaws North Paul Mounsey NahooToo North Part 2 Afro Celt Sound System Volume 3: Further In Time Northern Sky (Pt. 1) Marino After Forever's Gone Follow The Drinking Gourd Roger McGuinn & Nedra Talley Ross 22 Timeless Tracks From The Folk Den Project Freedom For My People U2 Rattle And Hum The Last Note of Freedom (Days of Thunder Soundtrack) Whitesnake Rarities North Star U2 Turin, Italy
BACKGROUND MUSIC Northstar Mind Over Matter Indian Meditation Northern Sky (Pt. 2) Marino After Forever's Gone Northern Sky (Pt. 3) Marino After Forever's Gone Visions From Ancient Times Narsilion Arcadia Northern Lights William Ackerman The Essential Winter's Solstice Northern Lights Michael Stribling Out of the Darkness, Into the Light Northern Lights Tangerine Dream Live In Brighton, March 25th 1986 The Northern Lights David Arkenstone Citizen of Time Under Northern Lights Keiko Matsui The Very Best of Keiko Matsui
Playlist 1/30/12
SONGS The Darkness Leonard Cohen Other Songs Of Leonard Cohen - Vol 1 North Paul Mounsey NahooToo Astral Weeks Van Morrison Astral Weeks The North Star Grassman And The Ravens Sandy Denny The North Star Grassman And The Ravens New Beginning Tracy Chapman New Beginning Got To Go Back Van Morrison No Guru, No Method, No Teacher Time Incredible String Band ⑧U ('70) North Star Elton John Rare B-Side 2001 Astra Annbjørg Lien Baba Yaga Higher Than The World Van Morrison Inarticulate Speech Of The Heart
BACKGROUND MUSIC
Vangelis, Kitaro, Keiko Matsui, Marino, Afro Celt Sound System, Mind Over Matter
Playlist 2/6/12
SONGS
Going Home Leonard Cohen Old Ideas North Star U2 Turin, Italy Northern Lights Tangerine Dream Live In Brighton, March 25th 1986 Star Cycle Jeff Beck There And Back Straightaway To Orion Kitaro Asia The Voyage The Moody Blues On The Threshold Of A Dream Higher And Higher The Moody Blues To Our Children's Children's Children Tower of Song_ Leonard Cohen I'm Your Man Mercy of the Fallen Dar Williams The Beauty of the Rain
BACKGROUND MUSIC
Vangelis, Kitaro, Keiko Matsui, Marino, Afro Celt Sound System, Mind Over Matter
