Wednesday Writing Wisdom (32) James Baldwin

“Unless a writer is extremely old when he dies, in which case he has probably become a neglected institution, his death must always be seen as untimely. This is because a real writer is always shifting and changing and searching. The world has many labels for him, of which the most treacherous is the label of Success.

James Baldwin
(1924 - 1987)
Curious facts about 

 

Throughout his distinguished career Baldwin called himself a “disturber of the peace”—one who revealed uncomfortable truths to a society mired in complacency.

James Arthur Baldwin was born and raised in Harlem under extremely trying circumstances. The oldest of nine children, he grew up in an environment of rigorous religious observance and dire poverty. His stepfather, an evangelical preacher, was a strict disciplinarian who showed James little love.

Baldwin’s fiction and plays also explored the burdens a callous society can impose on a sensitive individual. Two of his best-known works, the novel Go Tell It on the Mountain and the play The Amen Corner were inspired by his years with the Pentecostal church in Harlem.

Mysterious Romania (XVIII) Stima Apelor aka Waters' Fae

 

 

Romanian mythological lore is fascinating, rich,  magic and,  at the same time,  intriguing.  Yes, intriguing because of the people’s inconsequential attitude toward the fantasy creatures they worshiped along the centuries.  Are Dragaicele to be considered Iele – wicked, cruel faes, or are they good fairies who protect crops, peoples’ prosperity?  Is the Sambata river(Saturday’s river) flowing from the human world or from hell?

Water in Romanian mythology. Together with air, fire and earth, water was and still is one of the basic elements that formed the world. Water is a permanent element in all fairy tales, legends in Romania.

The importance of water dates back to ancient times. Our ancestors, the Dacians had solemn rituals before leaving to battle. They bathed and drank from the waters of Istru river( present day Danube). Later, after  the Romans conquered Dacia even the Romans worshiped Danubius waters bringing offers to it to gain the benevolence of the God of the river.

There’s also a hidden tradition of the Romanians linked to water – hydromancy or water divination. It was a secret that came down from generation to generation and only well selected people mastered it.

A careful study of our ancestors’ mythology  will allow us to discover the Living Water. Many legends and tales speak about the Living Water that will heal the main hero who is slyly killed by his enemy. The Living water is found in inaccessible places , "where the mountains clash their heads”, and getting it is a hard task as the mountains will stop only once a day.

Waters' Fae. Today I will present an interesting mythological creature Stima Apelor – the Waters’fairy/Fae/Pond’s Woman, a kind of  Romanian siren.  She  presides over fountains, wells, springs, streams, brooks and other bodies of fresh water.

The etymology of the word  STIMA seems to come from the Greek  - Hiero Stoma – the sacred mouth that refers to the main flowing mouth of the Danube - RO STOMA – Stima. In the Greek and Roman mythology there’s an equivalent for the Romanian Water Faes – the Naiads, nymphs.

She is the one who, depending on her mood, can lead to great drought or  flooding.  Described as a beautiful,  wild, woman with long,  green-blue hair and alluring eyes, half woman half fish, she attracts young men to drown them.

From time to time an angered Water  fae comes out of the river or lake flooding everything on her way – people and animals alike. After she calms down, she returns to her home.

During drought time the water fae hides deep under water. She comes out at midnight and  asks in wild cries for a man’s head. The person who is destined to die, goes straight to the water. Even if other people try to stop him, he struggles and shakes them off.  If people manage to stop him, he  begs them to allow him to  wet his feet, at least.  As soon as the water touches him, he dies. 

 

People say that there’s a Water Fae in the famous St. Ana Lake, in the image above, the only volcanic lake in Romania. I will have a post on it, and the legends around its waters another time.

 

 

Guest Promo(CXIII) E Ayers on Halloween

I am delighted to welcome today E  Ayers with a guest post on Halloween and a book that perfectly fits the topic.

Thanks for inviting me to your blog. It’s October and I always think of it as the death month. Morbid? Maybe. But it’s sort of the natural cycle of life. Just as so many annual plants have succumbed to a frosty death, and the leaves fallen from the trees, that cycle is repeated with humans. Over the years, many friends have buried their aged parents in the month of October, and my own parents and in-laws, many years apart, were buried in October.

Is it something leftover from when we first walked the Earth? Before the winter cold struck and froze the ground to the point when burial was impossible? I’ve asked a few doctors about it. They get that deer-in-the-headlamps stare as they ponder the question. Most have responded with an affirmative about death striking the elderly more frequently in September, October, and November. Then others give that politically correct answer that there is no such thing, and it’s an old wives tale.

So here’s my question to those in the southern hemisphere, do you have more deaths of the elderly in your autumn months?

Somewhere back in time, my ancestors celebrated All Hallows’ Eve, and before that, Samhain. (Commonly pronounced sow-win or sah-when depending on dialect - I've detected a dozen pronunciations of the time frame but none are pronounced sam-hane, which is what is commonly heard today.) Samhain marked the end of harvest. Only two seasons were recognized back then, summer and winter. People believed that the spirits were active after the harvest, possibly concerned that their families had enough to survive the winter. It was also believed that the spirits created a little mischief for those who didn't measure up. A chair was brought to the table for those past relatives as a way of showing off the bountiful harvest, hoping to appease the spirits of those who once lived. No one wanted to be harassed by the spirits of the past.

Over the years, the tradition evolved. Samhain was replaced with All Hallows’ Eve, which Christianity pushed to the side, and the evening became the Eve of All Saints’ Day and a time to pray for past relatives, martyrs, saints, etc. (Was that a surprise?)

Come forward to modern times and we have Halloween and it has become a holiday for children, no matter how young or old! Here in the United States, some families go all out to decorate their porches and yards. Children Trick or Treat or go to Halloween parties. Dressed as their favorite princess, TV or movie star, cartoon character, or superhero, the children roam their neighborhood looking for houses giving out candy and catching up with their friends.

Even the idea of dressing in costume for Trick or Treating has its roots in pagan times. During Samhain, they called it guising or mumming. And the people who did it went door to door reciting poems and asking for food while they carried a turnip that was hallowed out and made into a lantern. Slowly that tradition moved to the English Boxing Day when people were visiting with family and neighbors.

Early American immigrants brought the traditions with them. It didn’t take long for the good-natured fun to spread from small pockets in the cities to the outlying areas, small towns, etc.

It was in the late 1700's and early 1800’s that the mumming in the USA got a little rowdy with lots of gunshots, etc. There were several attempts to outlaw it. A compromise was finally struck, and the adults who embraced mumming were forced to become organized groups with permits to “parade.” That’s really when Halloween became a child’s holiday.

In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the adults who carried on the tradition of mumming became known as "Mummers" and paraded on New Year’s Day, known as the Philadelphia Mummers Parade. It is a joyful event filled with music and dance. Those mummers spend an entire year creating costumes and practicing while playing instruments or dancing in those elaborate costumes that often weigh several hundred pounds.

It's been hundreds of years from the pagan harvest festivals to today’s Halloween and the Mummer’s Parade; things have evolved but not that much. We just don't worry about appeasing our ancestors. But the cycles in nature have remained. We decorate our homes with fall harvests of pumpkins, squash, apples, and the colorful leaves of the season. Our children dress in disguises and go door-to-door looking for treats. The culmination of autumn and harvest is celebrated with Thanksgiving. And we refer to our elderly as being in the autumn of their lives.

When my time comes to leave this world, I hope it is in the autumn. I don't want to go in the cold, bleak winter, or during the spring, which is always filled with hope of a new season. Nor do I want to go with fireworks in the blasted heat of summer. Let me go surrounded with nature's last hurrah of my favorite colors, as we settle down to face the winter. Let the Mother Nature's natural cycle be mine.

I love the autumn months, and they are filled with personal highs and lows. A few years back, I jumped at the chance to write a fall romance. And considering I met my husband in October and married him in November, I happen to think autumn is a very romantic time. A Skeleton at Her Door is that fall romance. It's filled with some Halloween fun, a dash of sexy, some serious moments, the joy of family for Thanksgiving, and a whole lot of love!

Buy link  Amazon
About the author
 E. Ayers is a multi-published and Amazon best-selling author of western and contemporary romances. Her books are never too sweet or too hot. She writes down the middle. She is proud to be part of the Authors of Main Street, an elite group of award-winning and best-selling contemporary authors.
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