Never had a word for evil

Here in the West, we take the holidays seriously

 

 By Rob Carrigan, robcarrigan1@gmail.com
Holiday celebrations such as Christmas, Hanukkah and Yule have a deeply personal bent.
Yule or Yuletide is a festival observed by the historical Germanic peoples. The word might be traced back ancient Arabic and scholars have connected the celebration to the Wild Hunt, the god Odin, and the pagan Anglo-Saxon Mōdraniht. It later underwent Christianized reformulation resulting in the term Christmastide.
There is a long-standing Irish tradition that, just before Christmas, you start cleaning out everything. Give everything a good scrubbing. Clear the clutter. Sweep out the carriage house and the front walks. Clean the barn. Paint or whitewash the outbuildings. Mop the floors. Change the curtains. Wash all the linens. Make sure the windows are spotless.
Some say it is to make ready for the Christ child, the new-born king. Some pass it off as preparing for Father Christmas.
"For centuries before any European contact, Native Americans held in high regard the winter solstice, which occurs on December 21-22, and they held celebrations around that time of year.
After European contact, many Native American tribes blended Christian beliefs with their traditional cultures and began celebrating a hybrid of Christian and Native beliefs. In fact, about three quarters of the Indian population identifies with a secular faith, the most common being Native American Catholics. So, their celebration of Christmas should not be a surprise," says Murray Lee of the Partnership of Native Americans, a nonprofit organization committed to championing hope for a brighter future for Native Americans living on remote, isolated and impoverished reservations.
Floyd Looks for Buffalo Hand is a self-described Oglala Sioux spiritual interpreter from Pine Ridge, South Dakota. The full-blooded grandson of Chief Red Cloud and a direct descendant of the Crazy Horse Band, he has spent the last 28 years teaching Indian spirituality and spreading the messages of the White Buffalo Calf Lady to all four directions of the world.
"Before European contact, the Indian tribes of North America did not celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, since they hadn't heard of him. However, many of the American Indian people of North America have been Christianized for several hundred years. Over this time, customs which were introduced to them by the missionaries, have become adapted to the native cultures, and are an integral part of their Christmas traditions today, just as they are in most American homes.
Many Native American people found that the story of Christmas and Christ's birth fulfilled tribal prophecies and found the message of Jesus to be consistent with the truth that was handed down by their ancestors," writes Floyd Looks for Buffalo Hand.
Of the Native Americans perhaps most connected to Colorado, the Utes have a somewhat unique religious understanding, according to historian Jan Pettit, and her sources in the local tribes.
"Shamans and medicine people play an important role in Ute religious life. The position of shaman was confined to men that gained that power at an early age through visionary encounters, in which a animal, bird, or small dwarf called a Pitukupi would reveal the methods for cures, song and dance patterns, and social rules. The knowledge needed to carry out the calling of a shaman or medicine person was gained through a combination of natural ability and interest followed by a life-long learning process."
According to Ute elder Annabelle Eagle, "Indians never had a word for evil. That force was not acknowledged, only disharmony. Living in harmony with our fellow man, with nature and with our Creator is the ultimate goal of life on earth. The word evil and its connotation came with the white man and his religion. People only concentrated on bringing forth a force of goodness to overcome a deficiency in one's life ... To know is to understand."

Other traditions to follow ...

Photo Information:
Unidentified Ute Medicine Man, about 1872

In an invisible world that coexists with the world of humans

  The Good Neighbors, the fair folk, or simply the folk

 By Rob Carrigan, robcarrigan1@gmail.com

The aos sí, or the older form aes sídhe is the Irish for a supernatural race in Irish and Scottish mythology, comparable to the fairies or elves. They are said to live underground in fairy mounds, across the western sea, or in an invisible world that coexists with the world of humans. This world is described in the Lebor Gabála Érenn as a parallel universe in which the aos sí walk among the living. In the Irish language, aos sí means "people of the mounds" (the mounds are known in Irish as "the sídhe"). In modern Irish the people of the mounds are also called daoine sídhe in Scottish mythology they are daoine sìth. They are variously said to be the ancestors, the spirits of nature, or goddesses and gods. The aos sí are often appeased with offerings, and care is taken to avoid angering or insulting them. Often they are not named directly, but rather spoken of as 'The Good Neighbors, The Fair Folk,' or simply 'The Folk.'

***

Perhaps I should have seen it coming? I have lost a lot of good friends over the years, but still it is always a surprise. Lynn, Edena, Lisa, Michael, my dad, on and on ....
Mark Twain (Sam Clemons), understood it pretty well.
“I do not fear death. I had been dead for billions and billions of years before I was born, and had not suffered the slightest inconvenience from it,” he said.
And as usual, Hunter Thompson also had an interesting take.
“Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming "Wow! What a Ride!,” he wrote in "The Proud Highway: Saga of a Desperate Southern Gentleman, 1955-1967."
A few days ago, my wife looked at me funny, as I sat in swivel rocker, knowing with that extra sense she has, that something was BAD wrong. She tried to help.
I was almost crying. I told her I was going to try and write something, but I started considering quotes from Wilson Rawls, and "Where the Red Fern Grows," and it gave me that tremble.
Unsteadiness. The shake of intense discomfort from wrestling with my grief.
A rawness, that is beyond talking about.
I had lost another one of my hound dogs to ravages of time a few days prior.
Jenny, the Treeing Walker/Blue Tick coon hound mix, and one of a pair of the best dogs a person could ask for, and very real part of my family's life for the past ten years, left us in characteristic dignity, a few days prior.
Jenny herself, knew loss. Ella, her sister from the same litter passed on Memorial Day this year.
They were naturally as close two sisters from the same litter could be, and had spent there entire life together and it showed. But they also had shared thousands of hours of photo excursions, and twilight sojourns in early morning, and around sundown, with me in the woods.
I had tried to to help in her last struggles to go out side. She died, I think as I struggled to get her back inside after she fell.
Jenny and Ella were family members, of course. But we were closer than that. Not sure any of my other family members know what its like to share a frosted-over, beaver meadow in sub zero weather, all in the early morning winter hours.
I am reminded in the excellent work of Rawls, a favorite book for obvious reasons.
“Looking to the mountains around us, I saw that the mysterious artist who comes at night had paid us a visit. I wondered how he could paint so many different colors in one night; red, wine, yellow, and rust,” he wrote in "Where the Red Fern Grows."

***

The banshee or bean sídhe (from Old Irish: ban síde), which means "woman of the sídhe", has come to indicate any supernatural woman of Ireland who heralds a coming death by wailing and keening. Her counterpart in Scottish mythology is the bean sìth (sometimes spelled bean-sìdh). Other varieties of aos sí and daoine sìth include the Scottish bean nighe: the washerwoman who is seen washing the bloody clothing or armor of the person who is doomed to die; the leanan sídhe who takes a human, and holds it close to her heart. Those who love the leannán sídhe are said to live brief, though highly inspired, lives. The name comes from the Gaelic words for a sweatheart and the term for inhabitants of fairy mounds (fairy). The leannán sídhe is generally depicted as a beautiful muse who offers inspiration to an artist in exchange for their love and devotion; however, this frequently results in madness for the artist, and a short life. 

***

Today, I notice Jenny's and Ella's collars, carefully arranged on the book shelf, in an out of the way place, in the house with their name tags out.
"Jenny Carrigan," and "Ella Carrigan," and our phone number, the metal tag says on the purple and red smooth nylon. "Microchipped," it says.
You never really get used to it, I guess. An image, or a moment, or even a sound or scent, brings back your attention to the hole in your heart, for a time. Dogs don't live long.
"Lifespan in general is determined by trade-offs between survival and reproduction. Wolves, the ancestors of dogs, can live 15-20 years, roughly twice as long as comparable-sized dogs. They start breeding in the wild no younger than 2-years-old. They need to form pairs and establish a territory before breeding. Older wolves will often have help raising their pups from older juveniles who have not managed to mate or find territories. In contrast, most dogs can breed from six months to 12 months of age, and they don’t benefit from having territories, pair bonds, or packs. Whereas wolves breed until they die, dog breeders will usually retire older females. So the whole life history of dogs is shifted to more of a “live fast, die young” style compared to wolves. On top of that, artificial selection and inbreeding have created huge problems for dogs," says Suzanne Sadedin, Ph.D. in zoology from Monash University.
In the words of Wilson Rawls, I remember.
"I knew the pups were mine, all mine, yet I couldn't move. My heart started aching like a drunk grasshopper. I tried to swallow and couldn't. My Adam's apple wouldn't work. One pup started my way. I held my breath. One came until I felt a scratchy little foot on mine. The other pup followed. A warm puppy tongue caressed my sore foot. I heard the stationmaster say, 'They already know you.' I knelt down and gathered them in my arms. I buried my face between their wiggling bodies and cried,” Rawls wrote.

***

A variant is Cù Sìth or the fairy dog. The Cù-Sìth was feared as a harbinger of death and would appear to bear away the soul of a person to the afterlife. In this role the Cù-Sìth holds in Scottish folklore a function similar to that of the Bean Sidhe, or banshee, in Irish folklore. According to legend, the creature was capable of hunting silently, but would occasionally let out three mournful and sometimes terrifying barks or howls.


***

And only three howls, that could be heard for miles by those listening for it, even far out at sea.

May love and laughter light your days

 

Christmas and Irish go way back in time

By Rob Carrigan


“Tis the season. There is a long-standing Irish tradition that, just before Christmas, you start cleaning out everything. Give everything a good scrubbing. Clear the clutter. Sweep out the carriage house and the front walks. Clean the barn. Paint or whitewash the outbuildings. Mop the floors. Change the curtains. Wash all the linens. Make sure the windows are spotless.

Some say it is to make ready for the Christ child, the new-born king. Some pass it off as preparing for Father Christmas.

The Sioux tribe has a custom, though not necessarily exclusive to this time of year, of calling over all their friends and perhaps a few enemies, and giving away most of their belongings. Just start handing stuff out, the more valued the possessions, the better the person holding the giveaway is reported to feel.

Nothing says it is Irish Christmas time more effectively than a Bing Crosby carol.

“One of the more surreal moments in pop music history took place Sept. 11, 1977, when the leading American pop star of the first half of the Twentieth Century met and performed with one of the more innovative rock 'n’rollers of the last half of the century,” writes Steven Lewis of the Bing Crosby Museum.

According to Lewis, it was Crosby’s idea that he and rocker David Bowie would perform “The Little Drummer Boy” as a duet but Bowie felt the song did not showcase his voice very well. As a compromise they added “Peace on Earth,” which suited Bowie’s talent very well.

“The two musical spokesman of different generations met for the first time on the morning of the taping, rehearsed for an hour and finished off their duet in only three takes,” writes Lewis.

Crosby died a month later and the public did not get to see the performance until after his death.

But of course, a lot of things Irish have roots in Christmas history.

The Celtic festival of Alban Arthuan celebrated the Winter Solstice on December 21 in ancient times. It is, according to lore, the ancient Druidic fire festival and apparently translates as “The Light of Arthur, in honor of legends that hold King Arthur was born on the Winter Solstice. It is also called Yule, derived from “Yula,” or “Wheel of the Year’ that marks the both the shortest day and the beginning of the return of the sun, according to Clans of Ireland, Registered Charity No. 11585. The custom of burning the Yule Log is perhaps the most familiar surviving Yule tradition.

But the Irish offer us other traditions that warm the heart and tickle the imagination. Among my favorites is the candle in the window.

A lighted candle is placed in the window of a house on Christmas Eve to welcome Mary and Joseph as they travel looking for shelter and to indicate a safe place for priests to perform mass as, during Penal Times this was a major concern. Another element of that custom was that the youngest in the house was to light it and only a girl named ‘Mary’ could extinguish the flame.

Also the placing of Holly on doors is directly connected to Irish history as it flourished during the Holiday season and gives the poor ample means with which to decorate their dwellings. According to Ireland Information.com, “All decorations are traditionally taken down on Little Christmas (January 6) and it is considered to be bad luck to take them down beforehand.

In the interest of cleaning things out and giving things away, may peace and plenty be the first to lift the latch on your door, and happiness be guided to your home by the candle of Christmas.

Finally, I recall my Grandfather’s Gaelic greeting shared in the pubs with cowboys and Irish miners on the Western Slope during the season, signifying ‘Merry Christmas,’ in the Celtic fashion. Though he did so in Sioux and German, and English, as well.

‘Nolliag Shanoa Duit’ which is pronounced as ‘null-ig hun-a dit.’

Hibernphobia, Great Hunger, self improvement all drive Irish to Colorado mines

Just because we are paranoid, doesn't mean they weren't out to get us.

 By Rob Carrigan, robcarrigan1@gmail.com
 
 There is a strong tradition of anti-Irish sentiment, known as Hibernphobia, that predates the "an Gorta Mor" or "The Great Hunger." It has led to fighting and sectarianism and cultural discrimination of Irish emigrants and their descendants for about 1,000 years now.  The "Troubles," "Bloody Sunday," and "No Irish Need Apply," are some of its manifestations. 
But just because we are paranoid, doesn't mean they weren't out to get us.
"At the extremes of the debate, the famine has been described as an unavoidable tragedy caused by the destruction of the Irish Potato crop by a sudden infestation of late blight, a disease of potatoes that had spread from continental Europe, or, alternatively, as an attempt by the British government to use the crisis as means of destroying the Catholic culture of the west of Ireland in what amounts to a case of genocide," writes Bill Price in his popular book, "Fifty Foods that Changed the Course of History."
Irish immigrants arrived in Colorado with the discovery of gold in the late 1850’s. Many, fleeing the potato famine on the "old sod,"  they came to Colorado as miners or railroad workers calling themselves "terriers." They settled in the mining camps seeking a better life and freedom from the discrimination they experienced in eastern cities. 
By the early 1860s, the Irish comprised one of the state’s largest and most visible immigrant groups. In the mining camp of Leadville, for example, they represented nearly 20 percent of the population.
"In the 1870 Census for Denver, 60 percent of Irish men are listed as common laborers, while 70 percent of the single Irish women are listed as domestic servants. Hibernians in early Colorado lifted, hauled, dug, fought, cleaned fed and scrubbed. They were the sweat, blood and muscle of an expanding American empire, extracting precious metals, laying new roads of iron and steel, and tending to the needs of the privileged," writes Dennis Gallagher, Tom Noel, and Jim Walsh in the introduction of their book "Irish Denver."
"Most of early Colorado's Irish miners migrated though other mining communities such as the copper mines of the Beara Peninsula in western County Cork, the Pennsylvania anthracite coal region, and copper country of Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Others mined regions in Scotland and England before moving to Colorado. Many of Colorado's Celts came via Canada," says Irish Denver.
"By 1880, Leadville boasted nearly 3,000 Irish-born residents and a sizable number of Irish Americans who had migrated from North American mining areas," wrote James Walsh in a recent History Colorado piece for Colorado Heritage magazine. 
"Leadville became the most Irish place in Colorado and one of the most Irish places in the United States," according to Walsh.
The miners' union, led by twenty-eight-year-old, Dublin-born Michael Mooney, quickly shut down Leadville's silver mining operations when they walked off the job in May 1880, to protest low pay, unsafe conditions and a new rule that banned miners from talking while they worked.
The backlash was severe and immediate.
"Nearly all of Colorado's newspapers declared the strikers were members of the legendary "Molly Maguires," a secret society of Irish tenant farmers that was said to have been responsible for the murders of several mining executives and other professionals in the Pennsylvania's anthracite coal region during the 1860s and 1870s," Walsh says.
The strike and the resultant hysteria led Governor Frederick Walker Pitkin to declare martial law less than two weeks later in Leadville, even though no violence preceded the declaration. More than 250 miners were arrested by Colorado National Guard troops and others. They were then forced at gunpoint to build roads on chain gangs. Similar tactics were used again in Leadville in 1896 and 1897 to break up another strike of the Western Federation of Miners. The incident ultimately led to resisting Irish miners being killed and buried in secret graves.
"Hibernian miners led two major Western Federation of Miners strikes in Cripple Creek. Irish American John C. Sullivan led the Denver-based Colorado Federation of Labor during the 1903-1904 Cripple Creek Strike. Mother Mary Jones was jailed in Trinidad, Colorado, when she became active in support of the striking coal miners and families during the time of the Ludlow Massacre," notes "Irish Denver."
Irish miner Vincent St. John is memorialized in Telluride Miner Memorial. The young man who, as president of Telluride's WFM Local 63, led the miners to victory in 1901, gaining the everlasting enmity of the mining corporations, was the son of an Irish immigrant, Marian "Mary" Cecilia Magee, and New York native, Silas St. John. 
In other example of anti Catholic, and anti-Irish sentiment, when a fire broke out in Cripple Creek on April 25, 1896; it had apparently started in a brothel in the Myers Avenue red light district during a dispute regarding customer service. That fire was extinguished, but another, more devastating fire broke out four days later and burned most of Cripple Creek.

A member of the American Protective Association took advantage of that second fire by attempting to dynamite St. Nicholas Hospital and rid Cripple Creek of its Roman Catholic institution. He did some damage to the hospital kitchen, but he also blew off his own leg.
Sister Mary Veronica Sinnott and the other Sisters of Mercy moved him and their other patients to Dr. Whiting's hospital, where they nursed the bomber back to health, for which he was reported to have been grateful.
Many Irish women were among the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth, the Sisters of Mercy, and the Sisters of Loretto, who served the needy and built hospitals (many of them in mining camps) around the state.
"Like other major American cities, Denver had a strong Irish political presence. Families like the Carrigans, Currigans, and McNichols have served the state and the city in many capacities, as have renowned early politicians such as John A. Carroll, Edward Costigan, Edward Keating, Robert Morris, and Thomas Patterson. More recently, such figures as Joan Fitzgerald, Dennis Gallagher, Cary Kennedy, Mitch Morrissey, Mary Mullarkey, and Bill Owens have continued this long tradition of Irish political involvement." 
More than three million people in Ireland were entirely dependent on the potato, and the failure of the crop left them destitute. About a million Irish perished in the famine, and another million emigrated during a five year period then. About 72 percent of the Irish population is Catholic.
May is generally the driest month of the year in Ireland. 

Photo Information: 

First photo: A large crowd watches the armed Colorado National Guard escort striking members of the Western Federation of Miners from the depot to the court house, Cripple Creek, Colorado. Sept. 6, 1903.

		Second photo: Black members of Company K of the Deputy Army, sent to suppress the Cripple Creek Strike of 1894, pose outdoors and aim rifles at Camp Boynton, Beaver Park, Teller County, Colorado. The men stand in front of pitched tents. Two men hold U. S. flags. The men wear ammunition belts, hats, and metal canteens. Another group of men stands nearby and looks on. Photo by H.S. Poley