Mumming 2008

On the last day of Saturnalia (aka Christmas Eve) we went mumming as usual in Lacock. N was Bold Slasher and I was Dick the Horse. N has been playing Bold Slasher for 2 years now (he used to be Beelzebub). The Ragged Heroes Mummers have been going for over 25 years to mum in Lacock on Christmas Eve, but some people in Lacock are still confusing us with the Marshfield Mummers (be sure to view the video from 1967), who appear on Boxing Day in Marshfield. Their style of performance is different to ours, their play is different, and their costumes are different.

Mumming is a wonderful folk custom, but for me the most magical bit is the torchlit procession across the bridge over the River Avon. There's something deeply primal about fire in the darkness.

I also enjoyed scaring lots of girly girls (who screamed not once but three times) with the horse's skull. Well, it is green (due to having been cleaned in acid that had been used for acid-etching copper).

Whether or not it is really about the death and rebirth of the sun at the solstice, mumming is powerful and dramatic. There is definitely something archetypal about it.

• Mumming 2008 photos
• Mumming 2007 photos
• Mumming 2006 photos
• Mumming 2005 photos

when food attacks

I enjoyed these macabre but lovely images. Spot the Death of Marat and Whistler's Mother ones (but are they hommage or parody? I'd say they were hommage, because they are both like and unlike the originals, and are saying something different.)

In these images, strangely attractive young ladies are menaced, sometimes actually killed, by food, usually the sort of food that one is likely to binge on. Yet the images are not gross; they have the high colour-depth of 1950s advertising, but instead of smiling winsomely, the protagoniste is prone; yet graceful even in death. The most tragic image is probably Death by Slimfast. My favourite is Death by Oreos. There are film references too: Death by Bananas references Hitchcock's The Birds; and I wonder if there's any connection between Death by Lifesavers and The Virgin Suicides?

Hat-tip to Balador.

Colours of Paganism

I have a guest post up at ColourLovers.com: The Colours of Paganism. It's part of a series on the colours of religion - the symbolism, mythology, and festivals and the colours that go with them.

The photos came from the CreativeCommons licensed photos on flickr.

I think this is my favourite, the one I chose for Beltane:

by yksin

photos and privacy

Owing to concerns about privacy, I have made all the photos on my Flickr account friends and family only. If you want to view them, you'll have to get a Flickr account and add me (yewtree) as a contact. Then, if I know you, I will add you as a contact.

new photos

• Llanthony Priory
• Longtown Castle
• Vowchurch
• Peterchurch
• Arthur's Stone (long barrow)
• Hay-on-Wye
• Twmpa and Hay Bluff
• Nant Honddu
• Llangors
• Peterborough Cathedral
• Norfolk

Photos taken over two successive weekends, one visiting the Black Mountains and the other visiting north Norfolk.