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Favorite Trivia – RITUALS & OCCASIONS
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In many Native American cultures it is a common practice to put a baby’s umbilical cord in an amulet. Either the mother wears it or she hangs it on the baby’s cradle for good luck. |
| “Visits always give pleasure, if not the arrival, the departure.”
David Baird – A Thousand Paths to Enlightenment |
| “There is an old saying that the guest who folds up his napkin after his first meal in any house, will never be a guest there again. Thus has grown up a nice bit of etiquette: that a one-meal guest leaves his napkin unfolded, while a long-staying guest folds his up like a member of the family.”
Maria Leach – The Soup Stone: The Magic of Familiar Things |
Easter Greetings |
| “In the Middle Ages in England, and for a long time after, ‘above the salt’ or ‘below the salt’ meant at the upper part of the table (among the honored guests) or at the lower end of the table (among those less honored). This referred to the old custom of setting a huge salt cellar in the middle of the table. There are stories about nobles placing guests below the salt on purpose to insult them.”
Maria Leach – The Soup Stone: The Magic of Familiar Things |
| “My bath is a daily baptism. I revel in the pleasure of the pain of the cold water. I whistle gleefully because I am clean and cool and nude early in the morning with the sun still low, before the day has been stained by clothes, dirt, pain, exasperation, death . . . How I love myself as I rub myself down!—the cool, pink skin—I could eat it! I want to be all day in a cold bath to enjoy the pain of mortifying the flesh—it is so beautiful, so soft, so inscrutable . . .” [October 30, 1913]
W. N. P. Barbellion – The Journal of a Disappointed Man |
| “Shaving: Some men have such long faces, their barbers ought to charge them double for shaving.”
Evan Esar – Esar’s Comic Dictionary |
| “Their town clock [Basel, Switzerland] always strikes the hour one hour ahead of time. If it strikes ten o’clock, that means it is only nine; because once, they say, just such an accidental error of their clock saved their town from an attack that had been planned against it.”
The Complete Works of Montaigne: Essays, Travel Journal, Letters |
Happy Thanksgiving! |
| “The voideur, which looks like a gravy boat, was held by a female servant positioned behind a screen, and Mary would have had to learn to slip quietly behind such a screen, hike her skirts, and micturate right into it.”
Molly Peacock – The Paper Garden: Mrs. Delany [Begins Her Life’s Work] at 72 |
| “For Christmas I gave him a cane with an ivory wolf head on top, and he developed a limp without further ado.”
Eve Babitz – Eve’s Hollywood |
Ho Ho Ho |
| “Thinking further about circumcision, or bris as it is called in Hebrew: along with trepanning the skull, it must be the oldest surgical operation . . . The uncircumcised, such as the Philistines, were referred to with contempt. There have been centuries of Talmudic argument about it, such as: Why hadn’t God made man as he wanted him in the first place? Answer: It is up to man to perfect himself at the divine command.
“Circumcision is not a sacrament the way baptism is. It is a duty that must be performed on the eighth day of a boy’s life. A metal bell-shaped shield is placed over the glans to protect it. The prepuce is drawn up over the bell and a sleeve lowered to fit tightly around the foreskin exterior to the shield. The skin is then cut circumferentially . . . I have circumcised some dozens of babies, but of all the operations that I would now shrink to perform, circumcision stands high, not because of any complexity or risk to the patient, but because of my own displaced castration anxiety.” Richard Selzer – Diary |
| “He too serves a certain purpose who only stands and cheers.
Henry Brooks Adams – The Education of Henry Adams |
| “Today is your bris. Am I doing the right thing? My innocent Isaac: Why do Jewish men need to do this, before accepting a male child into their protective custody? . . .
“Today, blood will flow from the sweetest and tiniest of penises—yours. And I, your mother, will stand by and do nothing to prevent it. I have agreed to it. Your father’s desire to do this is so strong, I dare not deny him. Baby: Forgive me . . . “Today, thirteen women gather in your honor to bless you. “8:30 AM: We’ve laid out the honey cakes, the fresh bagels. There’s sweet wine and harsh, golden whiskey. There’s soft white cheese. A mound of bright green olives. Oranges, chocolates, hot coffee. “9:30 AM: The women come in, cheeks glowing, eyes filled with love . . . “The rabbi holds the wine aloft, recites the ritual blessing. The men turn white. Frances is poised to spring at the rabbi. Miriam moves to hold my hand. Your father’s fists are clenched. My face is turned away. “It’s over! The rabbi makes a speech in English. My mother weeps and smiles. Your uncles hold you. “Time for the Women’s Ceremony. We go into my study. We sit in a circle on the floor, on large pillows: godmothers, all. “The women will bless you, each in her own voice, each with her own wish. The room is filled with flowers: roses, anemones. I’ve laid out candles and matches. Miriam holds you. The men watch. Some stop, voluntarily, at the door. Your father joins us. “Miriam begins. She lights one of the candles. “’Women. Let us each, in turn, light a candle for Ariel. Let us bless him with a wish. Let us each give him something of ourselves—a strand of hair, a nail, growing. I’ll paste it down for you in this little Book of Life. To seal the wish . . .’ “’May you never know any more pain than you’ve known today.’ “’May you never be as lonely as I’ve been. May you have strong friendships.’ “’May your parents have the courage to allow you to be yourself. May they love you for it.’ “’Good health.’ “’Long life.’ “’May you be blessed by women all your life, as you are today.’ “’I wish you playfulness. And laughter.’ “’I bless you with musical talent.’ “’Never turn away from your mother. May you know her as we do. I bless you—and her—in lifelong friendship together.’ “’May you love and be loved by your father. May you be blessed by his sensitivity and his gentleness.’ “’I hope you have the courage to be the child of feminists. The strength to be ‘different.’ I bless you with trusting your own instincts.’ “’I bless you with luck. May you be lucky.’ “’May you honor women in your life, as we honor you today.’ Ariel: Are you listening? You’re so quiet in Miriam’s arms, on Frances’s lap. You know, we should be naked, garlanded. We should each kiss you on every part, every limb. We should spend the day reclining, eating. Telling stories. But it’s perfect this way too. Just as it is.” [January 13, 1978] Phyllis Chester – With Child: A Diary of Motherhood |