As an American, this is very touching. Independence Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas are very important to us. I sincerely hope and wish that Britain will rediscover herself.
Great piece and so necessary to highlight ritual. I hope it inspires some to partake of old ones and create new ones too.
Myself, growing up in suburbia in the 80s in a lapsed Catholic family, I was painfully aware of the missing of meaning. We had some rituals, the basics, but I needed much more as a young man. I felt the culture itself had nothing to teach (I was wrong, I just hadn't come across it yet).
When I found Robert Blye's book 'Iron John,' which emphasizes ritual for boys becoming men, the map of my soul started to become legible. I went out to discover the country and myself all at the same time, like a Beatnik throwback. But I kept a number of rituals close and still have them. They are invaluable. Our country needs new ones, and fast.
One great source of British rituals is sailor's shanties. I myself am part of a men's singing group and often enjoy singing shanties and folk tunes for my friends and girlfriend. I would recommend it to everyone.
An American in the UK would be shocked by the amount of ritual in the political and legal system, the universities and schooling, the CofE, or the pubs and town fairs. Of course there are fewer sporting traditions (though Henley, Ascot, and Wimbledon are cultural traditions too) - but that's because the English mostly venerate old academics rather than young jocks. The fact we don't see these rituals on TV would, I argue, make them *more* traditional. As is the fact that they're so much older they're simply assumed - how can you celebrate Thanksgiving without thinking about your own Christmas celebrations?
English ritual has certainly gone downhill - and I hope we recover it. But that doesn't mean America (of all nations!) has more tradition...
Should we really embrace comforting rituals when we have a ZOG and not a government of the people? We haven't had a United States of America for over 60 years when the Jews were able to sink the USSS Liberty to zero military response from supposedly "our" government.
If you read the article closely, you’ll see that the point of these rituals isn’t to be “comforting”, nor to glorify your country, although some of them may also have this effect. It’s to build continuity, to show your children that there’s enchantment and wonder and community in the family. Even if you discard patriotic rituals for whatever reason (something I, and probably Johann, would highly not recommend), there are still religious or just local or family rituals you can maintain.
As an American, this is very touching. Independence Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas are very important to us. I sincerely hope and wish that Britain will rediscover herself.
Great piece and so necessary to highlight ritual. I hope it inspires some to partake of old ones and create new ones too.
Myself, growing up in suburbia in the 80s in a lapsed Catholic family, I was painfully aware of the missing of meaning. We had some rituals, the basics, but I needed much more as a young man. I felt the culture itself had nothing to teach (I was wrong, I just hadn't come across it yet).
When I found Robert Blye's book 'Iron John,' which emphasizes ritual for boys becoming men, the map of my soul started to become legible. I went out to discover the country and myself all at the same time, like a Beatnik throwback. But I kept a number of rituals close and still have them. They are invaluable. Our country needs new ones, and fast.
One great source of British rituals is sailor's shanties. I myself am part of a men's singing group and often enjoy singing shanties and folk tunes for my friends and girlfriend. I would recommend it to everyone.
Curious: Would it be seen as a political statement to sing "God Save the King" before a UK football match? Or just gauche and old-fashioned?
An American in the UK would be shocked by the amount of ritual in the political and legal system, the universities and schooling, the CofE, or the pubs and town fairs. Of course there are fewer sporting traditions (though Henley, Ascot, and Wimbledon are cultural traditions too) - but that's because the English mostly venerate old academics rather than young jocks. The fact we don't see these rituals on TV would, I argue, make them *more* traditional. As is the fact that they're so much older they're simply assumed - how can you celebrate Thanksgiving without thinking about your own Christmas celebrations?
English ritual has certainly gone downhill - and I hope we recover it. But that doesn't mean America (of all nations!) has more tradition...
"Rituals" here meaning "social trust".
It's no great revelation that "throwing violent criminals in prison" makes society better, but that's one of America's "rituals".
Should we really embrace comforting rituals when we have a ZOG and not a government of the people? We haven't had a United States of America for over 60 years when the Jews were able to sink the USSS Liberty to zero military response from supposedly "our" government.
If you read the article closely, you’ll see that the point of these rituals isn’t to be “comforting”, nor to glorify your country, although some of them may also have this effect. It’s to build continuity, to show your children that there’s enchantment and wonder and community in the family. Even if you discard patriotic rituals for whatever reason (something I, and probably Johann, would highly not recommend), there are still religious or just local or family rituals you can maintain.