[Fictionary] a week of Grounation Days
Jean-Joseph Cote
jjcote at alum.mit.edu
Wed Jun 10 06:59:30 EDT 2015
What and when is Grounation Day? What's the second most likely
possibility? Here are your choices, let me know what you think before
the start of Juneteenth.
Jean-Joseph
______________________________
Grounation Day: A Day of Atonement along the Washita River in OK, where
Custer's troops massacred most of the Southern Cheyennes in 1868, headed
by Chief Black Kettle, but consisting of mostly women, children, and old
people. Today there is a National Monument at the site. Participants
in the event tend to be Native Americans and descendants of the soldiers
or local settlers at the time, plus some reenacters. A somber service
is held sporadically, when the Spirits give a sign, usually about once a
year. Often preceded by sweat lodge cleansing and followed by a healing
dance.
Grounation Day: (Día de Grounación) In 2014, a day of remembrance for
those lost to floods and mudslides in Atoyac de Alvarez, Mexico, on the
anniversary of Hurricane Manuel (September 18th) which devastated the
area near Acapulco in 2013. Participants walked to the beach carrying
garlands and built small fires below the high tide line. Prayers were
said as participants watched the tide come in, extinguishing the fires
and carrying away the flowers.
Grounation Day: (fr Ger. grün, green) In rural, north-central England,
the name of "Greening Day". This holiday is celebrated locally in rural
areas across Europe when the first seedlings break out. The date is
dependent on latitude: in Calabria (S Italy) "Giorno di Giovanazione" is
celebrated in the middle of February; in Yorkshire and the Pennines of
north-central England "Grounation Day" is celebrated near the end of
March; and in Pomerania and parts of Mecklenburg and Brandenburg (N
Germany), "Begrünungtag" is celebrated usually at the beginning of May.
It is usually marked by the appearance of some particular plant
(specific to each locale). Celebrations revolve around rituals involving
hearthfires and spring cleaning.
Grounation Day: (April 21) The second most important Rastafari holy day,
celebrated in honor of the only visit of Emperor Haile Selassie to
Jamaica, in 1966. After Rasta leader Mortimer Planno escorted the
African monarch down the steps, journalists were puzzled by Selassie's
refusal to walk on the red carpet on the way to his limousine. [hence
/grounation/, Iyaric dialect equivalent of /foundation/, "uplifted" with
the sound of the word /ground/ in the sense of "making contact with the
soil"]
Grounation Day: (Cumbrian dial.) A day reserved for pickling food; often
two Sundays before Martinmas.
Grounation Day: [Torres Strait Creole graun, land] The June 3
anniversary of the legal decision that indigenous people have title to
land, celebrated in the Torres Strait Islands by dancing along the
boundary of a lot to the accompaniment of didgeridoos.
Grounation Day: (from GReek Orthodox UNified NATION) Civic holiday
introduced in 1920 by the Greek-American fraternal organization the
Brotherhood of St. Barbaras. Celebrated on the Sunday closest to June 17
(the Greek Orthodox feast day of the Archangel Michael), the holiday is
intended to promote unity and pride in their ethnic heritage among Greek
Americans. Celebrations typically include a picnic featuring traditional
Greek foods, Greek music, and dance performances in traditional costume.
The holiday never gained the traction of St. Patrick's day or even
Kwanzaa, and is not now widely observed.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://www.swarpa.net/pipermail/fictionary/attachments/20150610/47412248/attachment.html
More information about the Fictionary
mailing list