Imagine Caligula in the vestibule of his palace waiting for his presents. Or Queen Elizabeth I jumping for joy at receiving silk stockings and garters from her lords. Citing anecdotes, renowned French anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss tells us how the gift idea started and how the gift-giving tradition spread around the world, while his Swiss fellow Alfred Métraux depicts a strange procession of horsemen, accompanied by musicians, wearing hats and waistcoats made of pastry and rings of bread round their necks and arms. "The New Year expresses man's deep-rooted longing for regeneration by regenerating Time and the Universe as a whole to begin a new life in a new Creation, in other words, to be purged of one's sins and forget one's failures," explains the author of the famous Myth of the Eternal Return, Mircea Eliade.
"If we could travel around the world on a magic carpet and peep at the celebrations in the various countries, what a wonderful variety of customs we should find" said the Courier's editors in December 1955. Let's make this travel now! | |
No comments:
Post a Comment