Recent content on Godsip Club
Death. One of the most discussed, and taboo , subjects ever. In recent times, it has been personified with countless characters in media entertainment, some of whom I appreciate a lot . But… How was the question treated, in the past? Of course, this is an enormously vast topic, and there are many things to say — and as many that I ignore. Besides, as years go by, we keep learning something new. In…
TL;DR: Probably Easter has a very little to do with bunnies. That is just a consequence of capitalism. Or traditions of just a few centuries ago. Even for non-religious people, this part of the year is often welcome because of the coming of Spring. But… Where does Easter come from? Is its origin linked with Christianity? Short answer: definitely not. The name, as Wikipedia explains , comes from…
Since several millennia, February, or these weeks of the year, has always been special. Among Romans, there were many festivities which took part in these days, and were deeply linked with the concept of rebirth or purification . It’s always fascinating, for me at least, to imagine how Winter and Spring could be seen from people from thousands of years ago. Let’s try digging into some…
Last month, as a short vacation, we went to the Dolomite Alps, more specifically to Val Pusterìa . Among several hikes, we visited the lovely village of Bruneck . With great surprise, there was a huge exhibit underground with fossils and a few displays about local legends. My girlfriend went on, while I stopped to write down some notes. Unluckily, I forgot of the nice miniatures exposed, but the…
During my last vacation in France , we came across one of the dozens of medieval castles open to visitors: the Château de Puymartin . The structure itself was amazing to visit, but with great surprise I found a couple of floors of the ancient tower full of mythological paintings and related panels. Needless to say, we spent at least thirty minutes over there. Then, walking up to the next level, my…
These summer weeks have been amazing for stargazing. I’ve moved to the country and I’ve been able to stay in a darker place than in the past, so I could enjoy a much better vault of the sky. While sitting there, I recalled some of the Norse creation myths I had read in a very interesting book 1 , which introduced me to a stunning and complex mythology. I want to make a quick recap here…
TL;DR: in Europe, not all the Midsummer rites are like in the movie . Or that other one . Or the TV series strangely full of weird homicides. In general: Is there fire? Yup. Are animals involved? Often. Is there sacrifice? Sometimes. Wait… Darn. It is common knowledge that the solstices are very special days: the time when the day or the night are the longest in the whole year. It always…
This December, my girlfriend and I took a brief holiday and went to southern Germany. We wanted to visit weihnachtsmärkte , the famous Christmas markets, and go snow hiking. While walking some trails around Oberreute , more than once, we noticed two intertwined trees, already quite tall and grown up. It is a shame we did not take a picture, but it was interesting to see these two thin trunks, born…
In Autumn, as days get shorter and colder, men have always tended to be more… sensitive. And long nights are the perfect time for (spooky) storytelling! Many myths and traditions, in fact, take place during the first of November and in the Winter solstice. Today, we can mostly feel the reminiscence of the past Halloween lore. But where does it come from? This is a complicated question and…
Ok. First of all, I should apologize with anyone subscribed to this newsletter because I didn’t publish anything for almost nine months . No, I did not have any child, but I’ve been through quite harsh times. I think it’s time to start again publishing some articles. Maybe –but just maybe – in the next few weeks I’ll have some spare time, so, as Rage Against the Machine…
Get Lucky # Either I’m very lucky, or I keep finding evidence that everything is connected. After Rites of Passage , I’ve been reading one of my Christmas presents: the very recent Woodruff’s Guide to Slavic Deities . I confess that when I discovered it was printed by Amazon , after flipping through the pages, at first I had some prejudices. I thought it was mainly a sort of list, maybe a…
Flea Markets = Source of Treasures # A few weeks ago, at the local flea market, I was very lucky to find a copy of The Rites of Passage by Arnold Van Gennep. It is an Italian edition from 1960s and it belonged to the library of a nearby village. It shows the signs of time, but for the price (about 1€) I couldn’t really complain! I immediately started studying it and I was glad to find, since the…
First: Avoid Being Chased Down # I live in Italy and, when I was a child, I didn’t really believe in Santa – I was already asking too many questions. I didn’t mind too much being a good child to receive nice gifts, but a few hundreds of kilometers from me, things were (are!) quite different. In the Eastern Alps, in Austria, Slovenia and other Slavic countries, naughty children are not gifted with…
It Came from The North # More than one thousand years ago, Vikings ruled the North Sea. They weren’t mainly sailors, but they had a great knowledge about building ships and taking long journeys. Legend says that, while travelling to colonise the new Icelandic land, wooden pillars were brought aboard the long ships. When the coast was on sight, the great poles were thrown overboard; wherever they…
A Tiny White Mouse # Vampires are not the only popular myths from Transylvania: there are other peculiar beliefs, often broaden to other countries – or maybe borrowed from them, who knows. One is about the soul and it is told by mothers to their children: if you sleep with your mouth open, your soul will escape your body in the form of a tiny white mouse. That’s a powerful image and it’s hard to…
An Unexpected Journey # First of all, thank you if you are reading this. It will be different from the other blog articles I have in mind: as an introduction, I want to let you know how the idea about this website was born and what it is meant to be – in my mind, at least. Now, I’d like to point out that I usually didn’t like talking about religion — or generally, that I didnt’ like religions .…