I was telling Nick that when we have kids we’re going to go on a camping trip every easter and I’ll collect old birds nests and plant them in the areas where the rabbits live (my kids will obviously know what rabbit turds and browse looks like) and then I’ll hide easter eggs in the “bunny nests” and they’ll have to crawl through the brambles to find them. Those kids are going to be so confused!
Ideas for rewilding existing holidays (not so hard since they’re all pagan) and any non-traditional wild holidays you celebrate?
I’m thinking about doing the feast of St. Nicholas, mainly because that’s my boyfriends name, but also because it seems close to the mark, if a little too agricultural:
-There is no doubt that the favorite saint of the russian peasant was Nicholas.
-Nicholas has two feast days each year: December 6 and May 9…beer was brewed and a few reports indicated that at such a feast it was considered shameful not to get drunk.
-The spring Nicholas marked the beginning of the night pasturing of horses in many areas. The young people designated to watch them often celebrated with a bonfire, special meal, and circle dancing on the meadow.
-parton of livestock, especially horses; he was also protector of the grainbearing fields, and according to some commentators,stood in special relationship to the earth…
-Nicholas was considered a potent power against evil spirits, and peasants invoked his name in innumerable healing charms. He was also the patron of merchants, fisherman, and seafarers, and in this capacity was known as “Nicholas the Wet” or “Nicholas of the Sea”.
from Russian Folk Belief by Linda J. Ivanits