<div style="text-align: center; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">===========================================<br>L O W L A N D S - L - 10 October 2009 - Volume 01<br style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"><a href="mailto:lowlands@lowlands-l.net">lowlands@lowlands-l.net</a> - <a href="http://lowlands-l.net/">http://lowlands-l.net/</a></span><br style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;">From: R. F. Hahn <<a href="mailto:sassisch@yahoo.com" target="_blank">sassisch@yahoo.com</a>></span></p>
<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Subject: Traditions<br><br>Dear Lowlanders,<br><br>This post (to break the silence) straddles the topics "Traditions", "Etymology" and "Projects". If there are any responses to it we will see in which direction they will take us.<br>
<br>You in the temperate zones of the Northern Hemisphere have no doubt noticed that days have grown shorter and the air is decidedly cooler even when there is sunshine. This is a reminder that we are fast approaching Halloween, the </span><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">popularized spin-off of Christian All Hallows Eve (All Saints Day) and various versions of Pre-Christian traditions such as Celtic Samhain (Irish), Samhainn (Scottish) and Samain (Old Irish).</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
<br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">These Celtic, specifically Goidelic (Gaelic), names tend to be popularly translated as "Summer's End." While this may be appropriate considering the seasonal aspect, there appears to be a more literal meaning that points toward traditions of gatherings. These names do apparently not contain the oft-alleged relatives of *</span><i style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">semo</i><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">- 'summer' but those of Proto-Celtic *</span><i style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">samani </i><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">'assembly', 'gathering', related to Gothic </span><i style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">samana</i><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> and Sanskrit सामन (</span><i style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">sámana</i><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">) with the same meanings, apparently related to Indo-European *</span><i style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">somo-</i><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> 'same', 'equal', from which we inherited words like "same", Low Saxon </span><i style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">to<b>sam</b>en</i><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> 'together', and German </span><i style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>sam</b>meln</i><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> 'to gather', also Russian </span><i style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">самый </i><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">(</span><i style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">samyj</i><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">) 'same' and its various Slavic cognates.</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
<br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">These festivals, originally associated with gatherings, have aspects of harvest festival traditions (of which there are many in the Lowlands alone, apart from Jewish <i>Sukot</i> (</span><i style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="Unicode">Sukkōth </span></i><span style="white-space: nowrap; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">סֻכּוֹת</span><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">)) as well as festival of the dead traditions that exist the world over. They mark the transition from harvest plenty to hibernal decay, the time of year when the misty curtain between the world of the living and the world of the departed souls is thinnest. In popular Western cultures this has been (partly commercially) developed into a "scary fun".</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
<br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">And here is a friendly reminder to you that our newest Web presentation still awaits "scary" stories, poems, songs, sound files, pictures, and videos:</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
<br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://lowlands-l.net/crypt/">http://lowlands-l.net/crypt/</a></span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
<br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Please send them to me.</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">If you submit articles </span><b style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">about</b><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> such traditions we will be able to post them there as well as at our Traditions site (<a href="http://lowlands-l.net/traditions/">http://lowlands-l.net/traditions/</a>) and/or History site (<a href="http://lowlands-l.net/history/">http://lowlands-l.net/history/</a>), or, if appropriate, perhaps at our Travels site (<a href="http://lowlands-l.net/travels/">http://lowlands-l.net/travels/</a>). If you already have your own "room" in our Gallery (<a href="http://lowlands-l.net/gallery/">http://lowlands-l.net/gallery/</a>) we can double-post it there. If you want me to give you a room in the Gallery, just ask, and this Halloween contribution will be your first work exhibited there.</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
<br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Please bear in mind that you can use any language you wish. Help can be arranged in case you wish to have an English companion version but need someone to edit your English draft.</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
<br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Best wishes and regards,</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Reinhard/Ron</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Seattle, USA</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
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