A Need for Belief The Victorians and Fairies🧚♂️
It was during the Romantic Period that there was a rebirth in fairy culture. Due to people’s desire to avert to a simpler and more natural life, they turned to the country folk as an example of how to live. At the same time, the Brothers Grimm were collecting German folk stories, compiling them into their book of fairy tales. The book was a huge success in the Britain, with people turning to their own culture to seek out the same sense of mysticism and wonder the German tales held.
There were roots of Celtic folklore still present in places like Cornwall, the Isle of Man and the Scottish Highlands, and the redesigned fairies of Shakespeare were considered part of Britain’s fairy past. People needed something like fairies, a reference to a simpler and more traditional time, in order to manifest their fears for the consequences of a rapidly industrialising Britain.
Explanations for the fairies varied across those who researched them. Significantly, Sir Walter Scott, Robert Southey, Anna Eliza Bray and Thomas Crofton Croker all began primary research on them in the 1790s.
Each came up with different hypotheses. Scott was unable to deny the existence of fairies because he thought that people who believed in any sort of deity could not deny the possible existence of others. Southey linked their existence to that of the druids, who went into hiding from invaders in ancient times, and since had been living in the forests and stealing women and children in order to continue their existence. Bray suggested the beings were linked to the souls of children who died before they were baptised, so they were trapped on earth.
And Croker concluded that before Christianity dominated Europe, fairy lore did.
It was due to these people’s research that the search for fairies became more scientific. The Victorians were meticulous in grounding their beliefs in facts, but their curiosity was also unquenchable, hence their fascination with the concept of other worlds, like that of the dead. Artefacts like arrowheads or small smoking pipes were now attributed to the existence of fairies, and there were high-profile cases of this, like the Fairy Flag at Dunvegan Castle.
The story behind this was that while out hunting one day, Iain Cair, the king of the castle, spotted a fairy princess and they both fell in love instantly. However, when they wished to marry, the king of the fairies wouldn’t allow it, as fairies are immortal beings, and the king would eventually grow old and die. Eventually he gave in, on the condition that she could only stay for a year, and then she had to leave and return to the world of the fairies. During this year, the king and the fairy princess wedded and had a son, but when she had to leave, she gave the flag as a gift to her husband. She said that he could use it three times to call for help, and armed men would appear. Theories explaining the existence of fairies produced during the Victorian era can be categorised into those believing in Christianity and those not.
People struggled to believe in fairies, as it went against Christian teachings, but by basing an explanation for them in Christianity, the guilt lessened. Some believed that they were angels stuck between heaven and hell, or people whose souls were trapped on Earth. Others believed the roots in the belief of fairies were based on pre-Christian ways of life – where Britain was divided into tribes and stories were made up about rivals, in order to justify their fear of them.
Considering the British fascination with fairies and the idea of another world, it can be understood why people wanted to believe in stunts such as the Cotingley Fairies. The nation was desperate to believe in something outside the realms of the dismal, smoggy and grey reality that was facing them during the industrial revolution.
Written by Megan Crutchely
Source ~ https://retrospectjournal.com/2021/11/08/a-need-for-belief-the-victorians-and-fairies/
In celebration of today's Boston Marathon, we're sharing the dramatic story of the first woman to officially run in the world's oldest annual marathon. Kathrine Switzer’s experience is a revealing illustration of the barriers that trailblazing women athletes had to overcome and of how far girls and women in sports have come in only a few decades. Switzer was a 20-year-old college student at Syracuse University in 1967 when she registered for the race using her initials, K.V. Switzer. Not realizing that she was a woman, who were barred from participating in the Boston Marathon for over 70 years, race officials issued her an entry number.
During the race, marathon official Jock Semple attempted to physically remove Switzer from the marathon after discovering she was female. Other runners, including Switzer’s boyfriend Tom Miller, blocked Semple and she was able to complete the marathon. Photographs of the incident and the story of Switzer’s participation in the marathon made global headlines. Switzer's record-setting run as the Boston Marathon’s first registered female runner came one year after the historic run of Bobbi Gibb, who disguised herself and snuck in to run the marathon in 1966.
After the marathon, Switzer became deeply engaged in efforts to increase girls’ and women’s access to sports and she and other women runners finally convinced the Boston Athletic Association to drop their discriminatory policies and allow women to participate in 1972. Today, nearly half of Boston Marathon entrants are female. Switzer also helped lead the drive for the inclusion of a women’s marathon in the Olympic Games -- a victory which was achieved at long last with the first women's marathon at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
As for the individuals captured in this dramatic moment, Semple later publicly apologized to Switzer and the two reconciled. After the rule was changed to allow women in the marathon, he became a staunch supporter of women racers. Looking back at what she called the “great shoving incident," Switzer reflected, "these moments change your life and change the sport. Everybody’s belief in their own capability changed in that one moment, and a negative incident turned into one of the most positive.”
To share this inspiring story with children, there's a fantastic picture book "Her Fearless Run: Kathrine Switzer's Historic Boston Marathon" for ages 6 to 10 at https://www.amightygirl.com/her-fearless-run
For adults who would like to read more about Kathrine Switzer's inspiring story, we recommend her autobiography, "Marathon Woman: Running the Race to Revolutionize Women's Sports," at https://www.amightygirl.com/marathon-woman
Girls and women fought for decades for access to sports programs and won a huge victory in 1972 with the passage of Title IX which prohibited sex discrimination in school sports or other educations programs receiving federal support.
Photo Credit: Harry Trask, Boston Herald via Kathrine Switzer
Someone can be madly in love with you and still not be ready. They can love you in a way you have never been loved and still not join you on the bridge. And whatever their reasons you must leave. Because you never ever have to inspire anyone to meet you on the bridge. You never ever have to convince someone to do the work to be ready. There is more extraordinary love, more love that you have never seen, out here in this wide and wild universe. And there is the love that will be ready.
~ Nayyirah Waheed
[Art: Emile Friant]
Hope This Makes You Smile Will Rogers, who died in a 1935 plane crash in Alaska with bush pilot Wiley Post, was one of the greatest political country/cowboy sages this country has ever known. Some of his sayings: 1. Never slap a man who's chewing tobacco. 2. Never kick a cow chip on a hot day. 3. There are two theories to arguing with a woman. Neither works. 4. Never miss a good chance to shut up. 5. Always drink upstream from the herd. 6. If you find yourself in a hole, stop digging. 7. The quickest way to double your money is to fold it and put it back into your pocket. 8. There are three kinds of men: The ones that learn by reading. The few who learn by observation. The rest of them have to pee on the electric fence and find out for themselves. 9. Good judgment comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment. 10. If you're riding' ahead of the herd, take a look back every now and then to make sure it's still there. 11. Lettin' the cat outta the bag is a whole lot easier'n puttin' it back. 12. After eating an entire bull, a mountain lion felt so good he started roaring. He kept it up until a hunter came along and shot him. The moral: When you're full of bull, keep your mouth shut.
ABOUT GROWING OLDER... First ~ Eventually you will reach a point when you stop lying about your age and start bragging about it. Second ~ The older we get, the fewer things seem worth waiting in line for. Third ~ Some people try to turn back their odometers. Not me; I want people to know 'why' I look this way. I've traveled a long way, and some of the roads weren't paved. Fourth ~ When you are dissatisfied and would like to go back to youth, think of Algebra. Fifth ~ You know you are getting old when everything either dries up or leaks. Sixth ~ I don't know how I got over the hill without getting to the top. Seventh ~ One of the many things no one tells you about aging is that it's such a nice change from being young. Eighth ~ One must wait until evening to see how splendid the day has been. Ninth ~ Being young is beautiful, but being old is comfortable and relaxed. Tenth ~ Long ago, when men cursed and beat the ground with sticks, it was called witchcraft. Today it's called golf.
And, finally ~ If you don't learn to laugh at trouble, you won't have anything to laugh at when you're old. 🤣🤣😂
🌼💛 “Hello, I'm a dandelion. A lot of people call me a weed but I'm a friend and come to help you!
My flowers are the first food for insects after hibernation and unlike most other plants, I have pollen AND nectar, not merely one OR the other! And I am generous with them! 🤪😉 . When you see me, remember that I'm the ONLY one who wants and can grow in that particular spot. Because: . Either the soil is too compact / hard / stomped and I want to loosen it for you with my roots. . Or there is too little calcium in the soil - don't worry, I will replenish that for you with the dying of my leaves. . Or the soil is too acidic. But I will also improve that for you if you give me the chance. Or a mixture of the above reasons, of course. 😊 . I'm here because your soil needs my help so best you let me grow without disturbing me! When everything is fixed, I will disappear again, I promise! . Are you trying to remove me prematurely with my root? However meticulous you are, I will return 2x as strong! Just until your soil is improved. . You can even tell by my growth at which stage my help is at. If my leaves are flat on the ground then I'm far from ready but if they all reach up then I'm already a long way on my way. . Something completely different is that I am 1 of the first bloomers in spring so I will announce spring / summer for you. . During the day when it's hot, I open my flowers but in the evening when it cools off I close them again quickly. In fact, if it's not hot enough during the day I won't open them at all! . My flowers are even delicious for you people by the way, did you know? I used to be called ′′honey (or gold) of the poor′′ because my flowers are so sweet in e.g. jam, sauce or salad! The internet is full of recipes - check them out.
But wait until the end of May or later before you start picking and even then, don't pick everything yet! The biodiversity and bees will be very grateful!”
@MissAdventurous , I just started my cucumbers, pole beans, summer squash, and Seattle sour kush!
Same here indoor currently though in my grow tent in basement 😺😺