Dithyramb

My show was this afternoon and it was a success! Especially for a Mercury storm. On one hand, I would have liked more performances to get everything down to precision timing, on the other hand, the pressure is off, I'm glad it's done and I had a good time doing it. I would never want to go back to it as a full time job, but occasional sojourns into the theatre are wonderful.

I must give my thanks to the Gods who stood by us throughout the process:

For my Patron, Mercury, as thanks for smoothing the roads of travel and communication and technology, I will burn frankincense in His name tomorrow. Before the show I prayed for His help and it was received!

For Dionysus, God of theatre and wine: It has been good to be in your presence once again! Tonight after the show, the cast raised a glass together.

Many of us have connected on facebook as friends and supporters of each other's work. As we gathered around the U shaped table and toasted, the following song came to mind. It's a familiar one for many ren faire folk, which often spills over into te Pagan community, so I offer this song to Mercury, Dionysus, Serendipity and all who were involved in this production, seen or unseen (despite the fact that it's not Italian :P)


Kind friends and companions, come join me in rhyme
Come lift up your voices in chorus with mine
Let us drink and be merry, all grief to refrain
For we may and might never all meet here again

Here's a health to the company and one to my lass
Let us drink and be merry all out of one glass
Let us drink and be merry, all grief to refrain
For we may and might never all meet here again

Here's a health to the dear lass that I love so well
Her style and her beauty, sure none can excel
There's a smile upon her countenance as she sits on my knee
Sure there's no one in in this wide world as happy as we
Our ship lies at harbor, she's ready to dock
I hope she's safe landed without any shock
If ever we should meet again by land or by sea
I will always remember your kindness to me!


Tomorrow we get back to proper blogging business! I've had too many posts simmering, waiting for the time and attention they deserve!

Big Jim

Today is the 14th anniversary of my Grandfather's passing.

My Grandfather taught me how to bake. He taught me how to cook without a recipe. He was a soldier in WWII, like many Italian men of the era. He was there at the Battle of the Bulge. He helped liberate one of the concentration camps. He worked for the VA Hospital and after he retired, volunteered there. He was also a major blood donor. He had a rare blood type and donated as often as possible, something I need to do again. 


I would have liked to go to the cemetery today, but didn't get there, so I lit a special candle for him, said a prayer for him too, and later sorted through my Grandmother's pictures. I found pictures of my Grandfather that I've never come across before, including pictures of the whole family at the feast of Saint Rosalia, the patron Saint of Palermo, where my Grandfather and his family are from. The pictures are from the 1950s and it looks like the entirety of Brooklyn was walking the streets in the procession!

A bit about this saint:

According to legend, Rosalia was born in 1130 of a Norman noble family that claimed descent from Charlemagne. She retired to live as a hermit in a cave on Mount Pellegrino, where she died in 1166. No one knew anything about her demise.

In 1624, a horrible plague haunted Palermo, and during this hardship St. Rosalia appeared first to a sick woman, then to a hunter named Vincenzo Bonello to whom she indicated where her remains were to be found. She ordered him to bring her bones to Palermo and have them carried in procession through the city. He did what she had asked in the apparition, and after the procession the plague ceased. After this St. Rosalia would be venerated as the patron saint of Palermo, and a sanctuary was built in the cave where her remains were discovered.
She has two festival dates, July 15th when her bones are processed around the city of Palermo, and September 4th, the festino.

I know of another Saint whose main sanctuary was a mountain cave and whose fest processed to the sea... Our Lady of Mount Carmel. One and the same? I don't know. I do know that Saint Rosalia has the most interesting iconography: She is typically depicted wearing brown or black, wearing a crown of roses and holding a cross and carrying a skull, book, and scourge. She is also the Saint to pray to when praying for the dead. Skulls are an ancient tool of communicating with the dead. More on that another time, I'm off to toast my Grandfather!

Learn something old every day

Tonight I attended another of Alessandra Belloni's Italian drum and dance classes. She is an amazing artist and a wonderful teacher. I can't gush enough about her, but I will stop it there for now. Tonight we worked on the tarantella drumming rhythm. I used to be able to do it fast, or at least at full tarantella speed, but when I tried to follow along with a dvd a few years ago, I was incredibly rusty. Tonight she broke it down into steps and I was mostly able to put it back together. I could follow her drumming and kept up as she went faster and faster but couldn't rock the speed on my own lol Ah well, I need to practice!

As we were putting our drums away and moving into the dancing part of the class, I was transported back to my Grandparent's kitchen. My Grandfather was sitting at the head of the table and I was sitting to his left. I was maybe 3 years old (and when older, he would show me this a lot...). He would drum out a beat on the table using his fist and his hand, which would flip back and forth to make the rhythm. It was almost the exact same thing we were drumming tonight. When I was little, I thought it was an army thing. he was incredibly proud of having served in WWII. And in all the years I've been doing tarantella, I never put that together. I was just good at that kind of dancing and drumming and never gave it a thought. Then again, I've never taken my study and work with it as seriously before.

This is a perfect example of how it works in my Family: You are taught without realizing it, without having to put together the connections because it's just there, a part of your life, part of the family games and the stories and "the things we do."

Thank you, Grandpa, for teaching me something I didn't know I had learned!


On deck for posting (which doesn't actually mean it will appear here):

Why words are important and when and how they should evolve (pt 2 of  "formed in strength" vs "formed in beauty")
Witches in Turin cause earthquake (on purpose, in protest!)
The difference between "tolerance," "acceptance" and "understanding."
Commedia dell'arte

Gratitude

I interrupt this blog to give a big, gigantic THANK YOU! To My Patrons, My Deities, My Ancestors, My Family and My extended family of Friends. I'm now going to go pass out in my own bed on my own pillow. Tomorrow I hope to comment on recent Lupercalia posts and discuss the difference between ceremonies of State and celebrations within the Household.


"Chi trova un amico, trova un tesoro."
(Whomever finds a friend finds a treasure.)