John E. Palmer, The Netherlands
Susu Jeffrey Coldwater Springs, Minnesota
Charles Miller, Michelle Berditschevsky, David Schooley & Patrick Orozco, Northern California
Lama Tovuu Baldan Baraivan, Mongolia
Visiting The Hopi Mesas with Eugene Sekaquaptewa
Eugene Sekaquaptewa, Hopi, Arizona
Bulu Imam, Hazaribagh, Jarkhand, India
Aunty Pua and Uncle Ned Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii
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Following up on our last post about Chaco Canyon at the Fall Equinox, we would like to recommend "The Greater Chaco Landscape: Ancestors, Scholarship, and Diversity", edited by Ruth M. Van Dyke and Carrie C. Heitman.
Online Resources are many – Be sure to listen to the First Nations' Perspectives: Chapter 7: Acoma Perspectives, Chapter 8: Dine Perspectives, Chapter 9: Hopi Perspectives, and Chapter 10: Zuni Perspectives. read.upcolorado.com/projects/the-greater-chaco-landscape/resources?page=2
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We're sending out Equinoctial Greetings on the Fall Equinox!
The sunrise coming up over the mesa aligning with a wall at the Pueblo Bonito Great House.
A great example of the archaeoastronomy the ancestral Puebloans incorporated into their great houses.
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These are more photos of the Japanese Mitama Matsuri Festival
( みたままつり). Thanks to Mackenzie Zacapa-Lagunas for the photos and the previous post.
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During the summer season Japanese people honor ancestral spirits during the Obon Festival. It is believed that the spirits of the deceased return to the earthly realm during that time. Evolving from Buddhist customs, shrines throughout Japan hold festivals during the months of July – August.
One such festival is the Mitama Matsuri Festival ( みたままつり) at the Yasukuni Shrine to honor ancestors and ensure their peaceful rest. The festival runs for four days. Over 30,000 paper lanterns are strung from towers of metal scaffolding creating a pathway towards the main entrance. The paper lanterns in their yellow hue symbolize light and warmth. The pathway guides spirits of their ancestors back home into the main shrine grounds which are decorated with large lanterns, smaller dedicated lanterns, painted bonbori, and colorful Sendai Tanabata decorations.
Each day of the festival hosts its own unique shrine ceremonies; however, each day consists of communal dancing, brass band performances, and more. The Awa Odori dancing takes place near the Shinmon gate. The community joins from below following each traditional dance in sync with the main stage. Japanese students learn these traditional dances in school to persevere these traditions.
There are also unique performances in the Noh stage which consist of Aomori Nebutan appearances, poetry recitation, martial arts performances, rokyoku storytelling, and concerts. Followed at the end of the night by a brass band parade which showcases mikoshi portable shrines. In this parade, a group of people carry and shake mikoshi shrines as they move through the lantern-lit grounds.
SOURCES:
The Significance of the Mitama Matsuri: Honoring the Spirits – Japanese Mythology
japanese.mythologyworldwide.com
Discover the Mitama Matsuri, Japan’s Festival of the Spirits, honoring ancestors through vibrant rituals. Join the celebration of heritage and community!0 CommentsComment on Facebook
The Tohono O'odham Nation resists the expansion of the Border Wall. You can listen to 5, 8-minute-long radio broadcasts put together by KPFA radio.
Border Wall Resistance: Sovereignty, Sacred Lands, and the Fight in Southern Arizona | KPFA
kpfa.org
Tribal members, environmental activists and local land defenders are resisting the Trump administration’s border wall expansion at several points along the U.S.–Mexico border in Arizona. On the…0 CommentsComment on Facebook