The re-Imagined Village

Subject: RE: The re-Imagined Village
From: Jack Blandiver
Date: 06 Aug 09 - 06:27 AM

If not a horse then maybe one of These?? Either one will do; in terms of Cultural Icons they both have a place in my heart!

Subject: RE: The re-Imagined Village
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 06 Aug 09 - 06:18 AM

Like both those, thanks; and, yes then, the RIV is on chalk land.

Subject: RE: The re-Imagined Village
From: theleveller
Date: 06 Aug 09 - 06:08 AM

On the hill overlooking the RIV, we should cut out a white horse, like the one at Kilburn.

Maybe we can get an Arts Council grant for THAT.

kilburn white horse

Subject: RE: The re-Imagined Village
From: Jack Blandiver
Date: 06 Aug 09 - 06:05 AM

I couldn't find the "Hare and Moon,"

HERE

Subject: RE: The re-Imagined Village
From: Jack Blandiver
Date: 06 Aug 09 - 06:03 AM

Rolf Harris please

Respect!

We went to an exhibition of Rolf's work (also in Manchester) and were most impressed. I've still got the catalogues lying around here someplace - must dig them out. Of course we love his music too - Rachel & I are currently working up a version of Sun Arise for possible inclusion in the Big Sing at Fylde. Interesting that in Aboriginal mythology the sun is a female deity, hence fluttering her skirts. A lovely song with very deep traditional & spiritual roots...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PylJkN9FEoU

Subject: RE: The re-Imagined Village
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 06 Aug 09 - 05:55 AM

"You know what it is yet?!"...no, TL - I couldn't find the "Hare and Moon," but enjoyed the others, thanks.

Subject: RE: The re-Imagined Village
From: Jack Blandiver
Date: 06 Aug 09 - 05:51 AM

My three favourite artists: Paul Klee, Joan Miro and Marc Chagall. Wierdly, this has remained unchanged since I was thirteen. To this list I might add El Greco, Picasso, Waterhouse, Alfred Wallis, and a plethora of Renaissance painters (Titian is a dear delight) and anonymous medieval hands, such as the masters who produced The Luttrell and Macclesfield Psalters which remain joint #1 in my list of English painting. So full facsimiles in both the Church and Library I would imagine!

Loved the recent Holman Hunt exhibition in Manchester which fielded all three versions of Light of the World - my favourite being the one from the amazing brick-built chapel of Keble College in Oxford. Seen in situ the effect is quite unsettling. Nice to see Isabella and the Pot of Basil again; since moving from Tyneside (where she resides in the Laing Gallery in Newcastle) I've been missing her rather! You can almost smell the basil, much less the grisly contents of the pot...      

When it comes to contemporary English painting I regard the work of Vic Reeves as being somewhat quintessential. Better known for his TV comedy, Mr Reeves is a surrealist visionary in the great tradition. I think his Flight o' the Retard should be hanging on the chimney breast of the village pub, along with a complete set of his waterfowl, such as The Curlew.

Subject: RE: The re-Imagined Village
From: s&r
Date: 06 Aug 09 - 05:38 AM

Rolf Harris please

Stu

Subject: RE: The re-Imagined Village
From: theleveller
Date: 06 Aug 09 - 05:24 AM

I love the work of Andrew Waddington - especially his woodcuts. I've a print of his Hare and Moon on my wall.

andrew waddington

Subject: RE: The re-Imagined Village
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 06 Aug 09 - 05:08 AM

...some Constables and Leightons, please.

Subject: RE: The re-Imagined Village
From: Sailor Ron
Date: 06 Aug 09 - 04:51 AM

Framed prints of A. Beardsly's 'Lisistrata', and a full size copy of Holman Hunt's 'Light of the world' in the church, you couldn't get more differnt works of art, but both in their own way superb. Ron

Subject: RE: The re-Imagined Village
From: Jack Blandiver
Date: 06 Aug 09 - 03:48 AM

Ever seen Arrested Development SO'P? Finest US sitcom ever in my (admittedly worthless) opinion.

Never heard of it, though I was a fan of the band and their curiously bucolic brad of hip-hop. Will check it out.

with signed copies of their old albums framed on the walls...

Next time we'll go to Cafe Marina just round the corner from us where the walls are floor to ceiling with signed photos of celebrities both major and minor who, it would seem, do B&B with Mine Hosts at the Cafe Marina during their Blackpool Season...

"Lady Arabella was dancing in a fantastic sort of way"

A favourite of mine occurs in Puck of Pook's Hill, with one of H R Millar's iconic illustrations captioned 'I know what sort o' man you be,' old Hobden grunted, groping for the potatoes. I'm sure this sort of thing inspired Edward Gorey, who wasn't English, nor even visited England (the nearest he got was the Hebrides!) and yet his work is infused with an Englishness that becomes typical, however so surreal his narratives.

So - Edward Gorey. Another name to check out.

Subject: RE: The re-Imagined Village
From: theleveller
Date: 05 Aug 09 - 03:57 PM

"I'll donate my collection of early Rupert Bear annuals."

I'll also add my Teddy Tail Annuals and my huge collection of Blackie novels, mostly bought for 1d each from a TocH bookstall back in the early 70s (where, incidentally, I also found a slightly tatty first edition of Sketches by Boz, Second Series, illustrated by George Cruikshank, and a first edition of Bram Stoker's Lair of the White Worm with fantastic illustrations by an unnamed artist, with titles such as "Lady Arabella was dancing in a fantastic sort of way").

Subject: RE: The re-Imagined Village
From: Spleen Cringe
Date: 05 Aug 09 - 02:35 PM

I didn't wish to regurgitate the pie, chips, peas, gravy, bread (followed by treacle pudding & custard) I enjoyed with Spleen earlier.

I take this opportunity that to inform you that Suibhne didn't have a side order of random offal with his pie, but my august company. Grand pie and a grand day out. Cheers!

What I learned in Fleetwood #1: The re-imagined village caff definitely needs to be run by an ex-member of a show band, with signed copies of their old albums framed on the walls...

Subject: RE: The re-Imagined Village
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 05 Aug 09 - 12:10 PM

"residents being employed in the *least* suitable role imaginable." (CS)...NOT the village you-know-what for me, thanks, S. - but, frankly, your ditty did raise a smile.

Subject: RE: The re-Imagined Village
From: Stu
Date: 05 Aug 09 - 11:52 AM

Quentin Blake delightful illustrations are a must, as are Mervyn Peakes's intense, dark scrawlings. I would also suggest Kit Williams too, for beyond Masquerade are a wealth of his treasures to be discovered. Finally, don't forget Chris Foss, whose epic imaginings give a hint of the wonders the future could hold . . .

Ever seen Arrested Development SO'P? Finest US sitcom ever in my (admittedly worthless) opinion.

Forget mead, I'll have me cod roe and chips after night out on Luton's finest beer - the mighty Stella Artois.

Subject: RE: The re-Imagined Village
From: Jack Blandiver
Date: 05 Aug 09 - 11:31 AM

Joseph Crawhall II (1821–1896) : Woodcuts.

Subject: RE: The re-Imagined Village
From: Jack Blandiver
Date: 05 Aug 09 - 11:24 AM

PS - Both those links work just fine, CS. We watched the shite remake & were much depressed. We live in an era of top comedy from both sides of the pond (Ideal, Mighty Boosh, The IT Crowd, Flight of the Concords, Curb Your Enthiasm etc etc) so why fly in face of so resplendent a classic with this degrading shite? What they should do is go back and re-do the sit-coms that weren't funny; imagine Johnny Vegas et al breathing new life into On the Buses.

Oh, and the best English sit-com ever? Nightingales. No contest.

Subject: RE: The re-Imagined Village
From: Jack Blandiver
Date: 05 Aug 09 - 11:16 AM

Now you've call on me to sing I'll see what I can do,
First I'll chant you a Walkabout then an E. Trad I'll give to you
I'll sing them unaccompanied, and I'll hold you all in thrawl,
And when I'm done I'll stuff my face,
With Stottie and Mead and Chips and All -
Stottie and Mead and Chips and All.

When first I came to England, I'll tell you the reason why,
It was to repatriate myself and my Aussie heritage to deny;
But the England I left as a babe is not there any more!
So I'll go and console myself
With Stottie and Mead and Chips and All -
Stottie and Mead and Chips and All.

Subject: RE: The re-Imagined Village
From: Phil Edwards
Date: 05 Aug 09 - 10:32 AM

I'm waiting for someone to record Stottie and Mead and Chips and All...

Subject: RE: The re-Imagined Village
From: Crow Sister (off with the fairies)
Date: 05 Aug 09 - 09:19 AM

Weird... I wonder if this'll work:

model of residents being employed in the *least* suitable role imaginable. For myself then, I should run the village Neighbourhood Watch, which I loathe with a passion. Though indisputably the creation of an EVIL intelligence, the leaflets are nevertheless often a good excuse for a laugh: "suspicious (read 'swarthy') looking man, seen by bushes."

Subject: RE: The re-Imagined Village
From: Crow Sister (off with the fairies)
Date: 05 Aug 09 - 09:17 AM

Try again..
As for nominating roles in the re-I village, I rather like Reggie Perrins (another must see for re-patriots: The Fall and Rise

Subject: RE: The re-Imagined Village
From: Crow Sister (off with the fairies)
Date: 05 Aug 09 - 09:15 AM

As for nominating roles in the re-I village, I rather like Reggie Perrins (another must see for re-patriots: The Fall and Rise

Subject: RE: The re-Imagined Village
From: theleveller
Date: 05 Aug 09 - 09:15 AM

BTW, although not a Batchelor, I am, until the next village fete, the Keeper of the Peas.

Subject: RE: The re-Imagined Village
From: theleveller
Date: 05 Aug 09 - 09:13 AM

Ha, ha. It'll be like the Smash aliens (remember them) when they pick up a potato and say "they must truly be a very primitive race".

Subject: RE: The re-Imagined Village
From: Crow Sister (off with the fairies)
Date: 05 Aug 09 - 09:03 AM

"we must have the obligatory tin of processed peas that finds its way into every jumble sale and onto every tombola stall and has, at one time or another, been through the hands of every person in the village. Woe betide anyone who dare open it."

I reckon *that's* your village memory stone right there. Probably got the genetic fingerprints of every resident of the village going way back to err the dawn of villages. After the apocalyse, millenia will pass, then alien races far advanced of us lot (and via amazing future science methods) will find said can of peas and unlock the entire history of our wee village... They'll probably get it about as botched as WaV's own idea/ls. So when they clone us all and pop us in their re-imagined aliens cultures history zoo, it'll be just like it. Mead & chips and all.

Subject: RE: The re-Imagined Village
From: theleveller
Date: 05 Aug 09 - 08:51 AM

On the subject of the jumble sale, we must have the obligatory tin of processed peas that finds its way into every jumble sale and onto every tombola stall and has, at one time or another, been through the hands of every person in the village. Woe betide anyone who dare open it.

Subject: RE: The re-Imagined Village
From: Jack Blandiver
Date: 05 Aug 09 - 08:51 AM

early Rupert Bear annuals.

Alfred Bestall! One of the greats, though Mary Tourtell's earlier efforts are not without a certain charm. In this respect we must go back to Kate Greenaway, Randolph Caldecott (whose original books I collect avidly) and, of course, the great Arthur Rackham.

It occurs to me that our Hapless Rapatriate might not be familiar with any of these names; if not, WAV I urge you, seriously, take some time out and get yourself acquainted. To get you started, here's my re-uniting of Peter Bellamy's Fox Jumps Over the Parson's Gate (1970) with the Randolph Caldecott illustrations (1883) that inspired it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhQMsONIwng

Seeing theleveller's been so kind with his Rupert annuals, I'll donate my collection of Dudley D. Watkins - Oor Wullie, The Broons, Desperate Dan, Lord Snooty, random religious tracts et al! I will also donate my collection of books by Newcastle wood engraver & publisher Joseph Crawhall; a name but few seem to be aware of, though his work crops up in folkie contexts from time to time.

More names to look up, WAV! This is Life Education you're getting here; open your heart to it and you'll be as English as chips & curry sauce.

Frankly, TL, overall, I spend a lot more time with TV documentaries than books

For shame! Hardly the wonder you know so little of the country that gave you birth. See above! See above! Such wonders & enrichments await you - such as you would not believe...

Subject: RE: The re-Imagined Village
From: Crow Sister (off with the fairies)
Date: 05 Aug 09 - 08:42 AM

I used to be a bit of a random dabbler with books, I liked to read 'findings' - oddments found at jumble sales or junk shops. In doing so I stumbled on all sorts of things I'd never have gone out of my way to read or indeed imagined enjoying. WaV would no doubt appreciate my donations of C.S. Lewis Christian but far more amusing than I would have guessed Screwtape Letters, and Churchills 6 volume WWII memoirs. Read so long ago I hardly recall reading now. These along with lots of other boxed up and now redundant stuff I fell into during my teens including Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky & Gorky - and various writings by Marx & Engels, Nieztsche, Hume & Descarte. Steiner, Swedenborg and Blavatsky, inter alia. All really tatty and dusty. Probably more suitable for the village jumble than the village library though..
So to the village jumble they go. We haven't mentioned the village jumble yet I think? At our annual jumble the Scouts put on homemade greasy burgers and tea. It's a proper day out!

Subject: RE: The re-Imagined Village
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 05 Aug 09 - 08:09 AM

Frankly, TL, overall, I spend a lot more time with TV documentaries than books, these days, but I think I'll borrow that one on the Levellers sometime.

Subject: RE: The re-Imagined Village
From: Phil Edwards
Date: 05 Aug 09 - 08:04 AM

I tend to linger on the threshold of Michell, but Eccentric Lives, Peculiar Notions is a fine book.

One erratum in the Graun obit: the magazine he founded in 1990 was the Cereologist. It changed its name to the Cerealogist some time later. It had a less high-flown rival, a mag called Cropwatcher; people said at the time that it ought to change its name in the same way.

Subject: RE: The re-Imagined Village
From: Phil Edwards
Date: 05 Aug 09 - 07:58 AM

The novels of Rex Warner (all of 'em, but especially The Aerodrome) and the early poetry of W.H. Auden (before he went to America and started writing stuff he already understood). At least one edition of Tom Phillips' A Humument, and plenty of Arthur Machen. E.P. Thompson, The making of the English working class (even WAV can't object to that title), plus Whigs and Hunters, the Heavy Dancers and especially Writing by candlelight. John Berger, from when he used to write about art. Patrick Wright is a must, especially this one. Robert Aickman and Joan Aiken. Roger Deakin, but probably not Roger Deacon.

Subject: RE: The re-Imagined Village
From: theleveller
Date: 05 Aug 09 - 07:12 AM

Or rather A E Housman.

Subject: RE: The re-Imagined Village
From: theleveller
Date: 05 Aug 09 - 07:03 AM

Oh, and for WAV's edification, I'll lend my precious first edition of A E Houseman's 1933 Cambridge lecture, 'The Name and Nature of Poetry'.

Subject: RE: The re-Imagined Village
From: theleveller
Date: 05 Aug 09 - 06:57 AM

"Can I - er - nominate myself in this respect"

Yes, of course - didn't realise we already had a resident stroyteller.

"So lets have a few more suggestions"

OK. I reckon there should be a copy of 'The History of The Levellers' by H L Brailsford, the complete works of John Cowper Powys, John Clare's poems, and I'll donate my collection of early Rupert Bear annuals.

Subject: RE: The re-Imagined Village
From: Jack Blandiver
Date: 05 Aug 09 - 06:43 AM

I nominate Bob Pegg, ex of Mr Fox

Can I - er - nominate myself in this respect? Hell, it's worth a try... If not then I'd employ our very own Sailor Ron as full time local historian, ballad monger and storyteller.

Of course we'd have Bob's books in the library - Rites and Riots especially.

and, of course, donate one to the good RIV Library!

In which case it will be severely edited for the sake of the common good. If you will persist in your wholly erroneous conclusions and promoting such species lies (England culture is taking a hammering etc.) then so be it, but it strikes me that your time would be better spent reading some real books than reading your own stuff, much less promoting it.

Subject: RE: The re-Imagined Village
From: WalkaboutsVerse
Date: 05 Aug 09 - 06:01 AM

As it happens, S., I'm actually in the process of making another batch of "Walkabouts: travels and conclusions in verse" (second edition - with simple letter-notation tunes included) paperbacks now. For what it's worth, the most difficult shoe-string task is trying to print my "shoe" onto 220/240 gram A4 card - for the cover. I shall then replace the one in my bag, the one in my lounge room (read annually), and, of course, donate one to the good RIV Library! (as I've done to about 50 other libraries). Otherwise, it's all free on the web as a kind of e-book and an e-scroll.

Subject: RE: The re-Imagined Village
From: theleveller
Date: 05 Aug 09 - 05:48 AM

I hadn't realised John Michell had died – what a sad loss of another wonderful eccentric (in the best possible sense of the word). He and Janet and Colin Bord were early influences on me.

Anyway, how about a resident village storyteller to keep us amused on long winter evenings with "tales that keep children from play and old men from the chimney corner"? I nominate Bob Pegg, ex of Mr Fox

bob pegg - storyteller

Subject: RE: The re-Imagined Village
From: Jack Blandiver
Date: 05 Aug 09 - 05:16 AM

RIP John Michel : Guardian Obit, 6th May 2009.

The re-Imagined Village library anyone? I mentioned elsewhere (Here) the book Earth Rites (1982) by Janet and Colin Board, who gave us a whole host of classic volumes on the topic of Earth Mysteries & Alt-Folklore - Mysterious Britain being the most well known. Whatever I might think of their wayward speculations, they have pride of place on my bookshelves alongside equally wayward volumes accumulated over the years, many more being lost along the way...

So lets have a few more suggestions. And what would we do with the inevitable donation of WAVs Life's Work???

Subject: RE: The re-Imagined Village
From: theleveller
Date: 05 Aug 09 - 03:37 AM

Yeah, CS, I'm all for that. I think I've got a couple of Paul Devereux's books somewhere (Places of Power?) and wasn't John Michell involved in the Dragon Project? (Don't you just love the wears he wears his scarf – cool!)

How about this for a project – we erect a "memory stone" where all the folk memories in the village are stored. People (probably under the influence of hallucinogenic substances) seek to imbue their memories into the stone purely through their mental (!!!!!) processes and others try to retrieve them. Sort of a cross between Reich's orgone accumulator and Sheldrake's morphic resonance. At the very least it would be a great opportunity for everyone to get stoned :0

We may even be able to get an Arts Council grant!

Subject: RE: The re-Imagined Village
From: Crow Sister (off with the fairies)
Date: 04 Aug 09 - 12:33 PM

Further to our local ancient sites thought I'd propose the village curious odd-bods indulge in some dreaming experiments. Anyone know the Dragon Project? I love home-spun para-normal investigations like that. Particularly as I must confess a somewhat willful disinterest in what meagre and supposedly objective historical facts about these places science can reveal, when compared to the abundance of creative possibilities provided by what can be dreamed and imagined through more subjective and personal engagement.

Subject: RE: The re-Imagined Village
From: theleveller
Date: 04 Aug 09 - 11:21 AM

I'm also a fan of Aubrey Burl - got a couple of his books whose titles for the moment escape me (Circles of Stone?) and I've been a Friend of Thornborough for some time. My interest isn't especially in the mystical stuff, more in why so much time and effort were expounded in their construction. More especially, for the last 30 years or so I've been fascinated by the power of human consciousness and it's origins and development.

Anyway, onto the Jew's Harp. I don't actually 'play' one - I just had a go on Dave's and haven't yet got around to buying one of my own, but thanks for reminding me. I like "thought scatterer" - bit like the reverse of a dream catcher!


Can't get on youtube to look at your films at work, but if you get the chance, go to Rudston - it's a wonderful place (but don't go past Willy Howe at midnight or the fairies might get you).

Subject: RE: The re-Imagined Village
From: Jack Blandiver
Date: 04 Aug 09 - 09:11 AM

Just finished reading 'Inside the Neolithic Mind' by David Lewis-Williams and David Pearce

Never read it, but it sounds fascinating. I'm still a fan of Aubrey Burl in respect of such matters; he always manages to convey the essential humanity of the megaliths, not least in his rather luridly titled Rites of the Gods which maybe I ought to read again. It was reading Burl that got me out of Paganism actually, although his books still sit alongside less less considered volumes!

I like the notion of a culture creating monuments that were not only bigger than they were, but which formed order and pattern midst the malevolent chaos of the natural world. Another manifestation of Nature vs Nurture I suppose. I remember visiting Thornborough with an archaeologist friend and standing in the middle of the henge and having this impression of an artificial horizon, which in its day, of course, would have been completely level & regular. Awesome stuff. Nothing mystical either, just a fundamental human resonance.

I did a couple of films once by way of a backwards tribute to No-Budget / No-Age / New-Age Psychedelic megalithomania. Here's one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cym55hthWd4      

I love the Jew's Harp - had a couple of lessons from Dave Goulder recently.

More fundamental human resonance! What sort do you play? I've often thought of doing a Jew's Harp thread on Mudcat to discuss makers, types, and, of course the IoNAJHA!

In the re-Imagined Village (which, like Avebury, has been constructed within a massive henge and stone circle) every child would be schooled in Jew's Harp playing, and every adult too; we would have daily sessions in meditation, healing, counselling, marriage guidance, and general life-therapy all focussed on the cathartic qualities of the Jew's Harp, or Scacciapensieri as they call it in Italy - which literally translates as thought scatterer, or more properly care scatterer, for all cares are banished with a single twang!

Subject: RE: The re-Imagined Village
From: theleveller
Date: 04 Aug 09 - 07:47 AM

"I've always been of the opinion that whatever it was that the megalith & henge builders were up to is a good deal more pragmatic than New Age sensibilities might allow for... "

I reckon that's true. Just finished reading 'Inside the Neolithic Mind' by David Lewis-Williams and David Pearce, which I found extremely interesting - although I didn't entirely agree about some of their conclusions on the nature of consciousness.

I love the Jew's Harp - had a couple of lessons from Dave Goulder recently.

Subject: RE: The re-Imagined Village
From: Jack Blandiver
Date: 04 Aug 09 - 07:33 AM

singing appropriate songs.

Last time we were passing Boroughbridge we stopped off to pay our respects at The Devil's Arrows (2nd tallest??) and I couldn't stop singing The Trashmen's Surfin' Bird, which felt oddly appropriate, in my mind anyway. I did play some Jew's Harp there by way of a Sundoggy Style Vagabondian Vibrational Thang but I've always been of the opinion that whatever it was that the megalith & henge builders were up to is a good deal more pragmatic than New Age sensibilities might allow for...

A mate of mine is involved with the nwly created Sentry Circle which seems an interesting project...

Subject: RE: The re-Imagined Village
From: theleveller
Date: 04 Aug 09 - 07:18 AM

"I might raise a standing stone at one end of the garden; a gritstone monolith to link earth and sky, a conduit for the spirit of the land, a beacon of wisdom and knowing."

Yes, definitely. I wrote a song called Stone about the tallest standing stone in England, which stands in the nearby village of Rudston on the Yorkshire Wolds. It's a place I visit regularly. The church has been built next to it and the graveyard surrounds it.

If we have a standing stone, we should have a cursus to walk around, as well, singing appropriate songs.

Subject: RE: The re-Imagined Village
From: Sailor Ron
Date: 04 Aug 09 - 06:58 AM

Sorry WAV but you've as much chance of being elected President of England [you may have notriced there's no such job] as I have ofwinning the best folk singer of the year award.
Name of the pub, how about "The Shantyman" with a painted sign of Johnnie Collins.

Subject: RE: The re-Imagined Village
From: Stu
Date: 04 Aug 09 - 06:56 AM

Well dressing would be a must. We could have near the spring next to the rag tree; all this within sight of the hill-figure of a dodman on the outskirts of the village (er, the surveryor rather than the snail. Mind you, on the other hand . . .).

Subject: RE: The re-Imagined Village
From: Crow Sister (off with the fairies)
Date: 04 Aug 09 - 06:49 AM

In which case Sugarfoot, I reckon we aught to set about err 'liberating' the local sacred grove/holy spring/well/devils stone and the poor old White Lady from both, impersonation by and servitude to, such imported desert Gods and their usurping pantheons of demi-gods. WaV can have the local tennis clubhouse with its upright piano for services and preachings of immigrant deities in exchange for an ideally peaceful relinquishment of the local Church grounds (WaV, unlike us rowdy heathen lot, is not going to put up much of a fight). So that they may be returned to such honourings of their local rightful owners as villagers deem fitting. So mainly piss ups, dancing like nutters, smashing up the ancestors bones and similar such semi-shamanicy stuff. Hurrah, what larks!

Subject: RE: The re-Imagined Village
From: Stu
Date: 04 Aug 09 - 06:22 AM

"A "green pagan realm" (SJ) would entail close ties with native flora and fauna, yes?"

Almost certainly, but the whole garden will be dedicated as an act of worship to the ancient, unknowable gods and goddesses of our ancient ancestors. These are the gods of the wildwood and hedgerow, moor and fell, clough and beck and they are, like all people of the world, of the land and part of the land. The deep verdant green divinity of the native genius loci will be invoked in my small patch of earth and it will belong to no nation and no state; it will transcend the amoebic, myopic, materialistic mindsets of the ruling classes (no offence to the mighty amoeba!) and their lackey's; the beer will be good!

I might raise a standing stone at one end of the garden; a gritstone monolith to link earth and sky, a conduit for the spirit of the land, a beacon of wisdom and knowing. It will be a place of music and laughter (if it ever stops raining) and as we clear up the dog shit as it's laid no-one will step in anything nasty.

Not for me the imported desert gods of a far-off people, although I would welcome their presence of course as all would be welcome - the only requirement would be to come in a spirit of peace and tolerance. Diversity would be celebrated!

Failing that, I would probably repair to the village pub for a pint and a read of A Wonderful Life by Stephen J Gould, or perhaps Cosmos by Carl Sagan.

Did we decide on a name for the pub, or who the landlord might be?