Saturday 4 November 2017

The Wild Hunt - With Health and Safety

Fascinated by this Saturday's Samhain Wild Hunt with the Somerset Dragons at Glastonbury. With Halloween transferred to the nearest Saturday. Presumably in an ecumenical gesture to all the churches transferring All Saints to Sunday.

The Wild Hunt appears to be more of a tourist attraction than a neopagan ritual. With a Town Crier, for extra authenticity. It offers prizes for best Fancy Dress, apart from anything else. And it finishes at twilight - I presume they mean dusk, not dawn. Well you wouldn't want to go Wild Hunting in the dark. It'd be dangerous. And there might be ghosts. If it were actually Halloween.

The leader of the Glastonbury Wild Hunt seems to be the Welsh wizard/king/ruler of the underworld. A Welsh figure? In Somerset? As a Saxon said to me, "we won - get over it." And to hear the Wild Hunt - also Gabriel's Hounds in England (where Glastonbury is) means death in the community - not a jolly stroll round a town in the hope of selling extra dream catchers.

So I wonder. Retailing ancient wisdom and legends as modern day entertainment? Where will it all end?



4 comments :

  1. That there wild Hunt did overrun our thicketty hedge last Michaelmas eve without so much as a by your leave. It being Monday, I just been putting out the laundry to dry and my second-best under gown has ne'er been seen since. Tis a good job they been taken off to Glastonburr and leave us good folk in peace.

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  2. Joy! Judith Starkadder is back!

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    Replies
    1. I like to think Judith never went away. Wish she'd reactivate her blog though.

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  3. Good Lord? We'll have Druids, Arch Druids and Methodists next!

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