LL-L "Traditions" 2008.05.05 (04) [E]

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L O W L A N D S - L - 05 May 2008 - Volume 04
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From: Ed Alexander <edsells at cogeco.ca>
Subject: LL-L "Traditions" 2008.05.05 (03) [E]

At 09:21 PM 05/05/2008, Heather wrote:

 In English we don't find babies in the cabbage patch but "under the
> gooseberry bush"
>

Okay, so what are Cabbage Patch dolls?

Ed Alexander

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From: Jacqueline Bungenberg de Jong <Dutchmatters at comcast.net>
Subject: LL-L "Traditions" 2008.05.05 (03) [E]

Heather, you ask whether the idea of the stork bringing babies is old. I
would bet very old. There are rock drawings from 15.000 year ago that show
birds carrying people. Apparently Thunderbird ( yes, American Indian ),who
is depicted as a schematic look-alike of a cross between a Harpy eagle and a
stork, and his European and Asian siblings have all been shown carrying
adult dead people. Is it then too far fetched to think that a stork would
bring the baby. I am always amazed at how fertile brain human-kind has,
especially in thinking up fairy tales and religions that provide us with a
sense of how we belong in this world.

Of course spring is a wonder. It happens every year (except here in the Pacific
Northwest). It is a renewal, and what is newer than a baby. Have a nice
spring. Jacqueline
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From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
Subject: Traditions

I have a feeling you're on the right track, Jacqueline.

Certain kinds of bird traditions seem to be extremely ancient and
far-spread, being found on all continents (yes, including Australia) and
therefore may well go back to very early migration periods. Of course, you
can always debunk impossible-to-prove hypotheses by claiming that we're
dealing with coincidence, even where traditions are very similar over vast
distances. On the other hand, they can't be disproved either.

Throughout Eurasia there are remnants of spiritual bird "cults" that deal
with fertility and with communication between the worlds. Maypole-type
effigies marking the arrival of spring are found all over the continent. In
most of them there must be a bird (real or manufactured) or a bird symbol
(such as a bunch of feathers) on top of the pole, also on top of similar
poles used in roofing ceremonies (later to be replaced by bunches of
flowers).  Of course, many of us know that this remains to be a strong
tradition in Northern Europe, and in parts of the Swedish-speaking world it
comes with a rooster on top of the maypole. Rooster effigies ended up as
unquestioned gable or steeple decoration, later integrated into weather vane
designs. In parts of North America, bird effigies on poles used to be very
common. For instance, Spanish explorers called Watsonville, a Californian
town in Pájaro Valley near Santa Cruz, Pájaro ('bird') because of a
prominent effigy of that type in the local Ohlone village.

In many parts of Siberia, including in the east, and also in parts of
Central Asia, bird emblems crown poles that support yurts or tents, either
constantly or on special occasions. In early Middle Turkic narratives that
seem to come from Ancient Central Asian Turkic times, there is mention of
such constructions topped by birds. As seen in well-preserved Siberian
traditions, a shaman, whose clothes, and in many cases also crowns or
bonnets, tend to be covered with feathers, reaches a trance state (usually
by whirling, later to be integrated into the Mevlevi Sufi dervish
*Sema`*ceremony), and it is believed that he or she is transported by
special birds
to the land of the spirits in heaven, the pole serving as "launching pad,"
so to speak.

In Chinese tradition, storks are able to take worthy people to a life of
bliss in a type of paradise.

In Ancient Egypt, the stork (*bā*) was the carrier of the human *bā*, a
spirit-like entity determining a person's personality.

Bird symbolism for spirit travel is undoubtedly as ancient as is people's
dream to fly. Oftentimes very similar customs and attire can be found
amongst indigenous Americans from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego. The North
American sacred eagle feather symbol is one in many such traditions (where a
fallen feather may not just be picked up but undergoes a special
rehabilitation ceremony). Again, the eagle is seen as an intermediary
between the worlds, and chieftains and shamans are considered in direct
communication with it. In Australia, there are many indigenous corroborree
traditions in which people stick bird feathers, usually down, on their skin
to perform certain dances dealing with transportation into Dreamtime.
Similar traditions exist in Papua New Guinea where in addition men's bird of
paradise feather crowns are not just for decoration. You find similar dances
and headdresses among the Oceanic-speaking peoples of Southeast Asia, the
Philippines and Taiwan. Bird down costumes are furthermore danced in in
parts of Africa (especially West Africa) and in Amazonia.

Large birds bringing and taking souls is a part of many such traditions. As
I mentioned, in some parts of European traditions the stork does not only
bring young life but also attaches itself and cares for the elderly, the
latter of which may well go back to an earlier belief involving taking their
souls away with death. A remnant of this is found in the Danish tradition
according to which, when a stork nests on a roof, someone in that house will
die that year. In Estonia, a stork is called *toonekurg* originally a *kurg
*(crane) of the *toonela* (land of the dead). In other parts of the world,
such beliefs are often connected with exposure of corpses to carnivorous
birds that carry away souls as well. This is and used to be particularly
strong among many indigenous Americans. Remnants of it can be found in
traditional Zoroastrian customs. It can also be found in Tibetan Buddhism as
"sky burial" (བྱ་གཏོར་ *bya gtor*) where it may well belong to a
pre-Buddhist (Bön) substratum.

Even though the stork is not carnivorous, I can well imagine that it
inherited its "reputation" from other large birds, possibly from vultures.
Note that the Germanic word **sturkaz* (stork) has been connected with *
torgos*, one of the Greek words for "vulture."

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron
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