Late Fall 3 of 7

Posted by Illuci (Hurdegaryp, Netherlands) on 11 November 2007 in Lifestyle & Culture and Portfolio.

On the 11th of November (St. Martin's day) children in the Northern part of the Netherlands go from door to door in the dark of the evening (it's dark at 6 AM) with lampions preferably carved in pumpkins. At each door they sing (a couple of) special songs about St. Martin. This one has been made by my 10 year old son before he left to come back with a bag full of candies and fruits which they get as a reward for their singing. This year St. Martin's Day is on a Sunday, so the journey along the doors was done on Saturday the 10th.
Unforunately I've no pictures of children because we didn't want to disturbe the childrens' spontaneity (they were under tension anyway) with a camera pointing at them during their songs at our door. For next year I figure out how we can avoid this and have some pictures.

This picture is my first one on a tripod without using flash with an extended exposure time on a digital camera, I'm glad it succeeded in an acceptable way, although it's not perfect.

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Comments (9)

e. from Washington DC, United States

Great shot! I think you did a good job. :)

11 Nov 2007 9:34am

Xuan from Why would u care?!!, Singapore

Cool!

11 Nov 2007 11:36am

Soodabeh from Yazd, Iran

Great warm colors. Nice story of today! You may know we, Persians, celebrate our new year on 20th of March(first day of Farvardin month on Jalali Calendar), which calls Nowrooz. There is the same ceremony as like you described, on the last wednesday of the year! It names as Chahārshanbe Sūrī. The night before the last Wednesday of the year is celebrated by the Iranian people as Chahârshanbe Sûrî Persian: چهارشنبه سوری), the Iranian festival of fire. This festival is the celebration of the light (the good) winning over the darkness (the bad); the symbolism behind the rituals are all rooted back to Zoroastrianism.

The tradition includes people going into the streets and alleys to make fires, and jump over them while singing the traditional song Zardî-ye man az to, sorkhî-ye to az man (literally: "My yellowness for you, your redness for me; ", but figuratively: My paleness (pain, sickness) for you, your strength (health) for me.

Serving different kinds of pastry and nuts known as Ajīl-e Moshkel-Goshā (lit. The problem-solving nuts) is the Chahārshanbe Sūrī way of giving thanks for the previous year's health and happiness, while exchanging any remaining paleness and evil for the warmth and vibrancy of the fire.

According to tradition, the living are visited by the spirit of their ancestors on the last days of the year, and many children wrap themselves in shrouds, symbolically re-enacting the visits. They also run through the streets banging on pots and pans with spoons and knocking on doors to ask for treats. The ritual is called qashogh-zany (spoon beating) and symbolizes the beating out of the last unlucky Wednesday of the year.

I love our traditional ceremonies, as I feel I am a child!! :)

By the way thanks for your kind email. I will update tomorrow.

11 Nov 2007 3:12pm

@Soodabeh: Thanks Soodabeh. Also St. Marten is of pre=Christian origin. In German times, before Europe was christened, around this time young men went from door to door in the villages at Wodans Day , wrapped in big mantles of straw, thus representing and honoring Wodan, the German chief god. They had the right to knock on doors and demand food and delicacies, and did so making much noise. The mantle was one of Wodan's symbols (Wednesday is named after him). The Roman Catholic Church transformed the meaning of this pagan feast into a holy one: they told the people, instead of forbidding this non-christian feast, that once upon a time there was a holy knight, a saint, who cut off half of his mantle and gave it to a beggar who was half-naked and sat along the road where he passed. This was Christian, better than honoring Wodan and so Wodan's mantle turned into a saint's mantle. The only thing remaining are the children going from door to door. The resemblance between the fesitivities you describe and ours is striking, I think it has to do with the Indo-European roots of our cultures and languages, it is a very interesting area for study.