In the year 664, King Oswy, the king of Northumbria in northern England, was facing a crisis. How could he and his Queen Eanfleda feast together to celebrate Easter? The difficulty was that his far-flung Celtic church adhered to a slightly different practice than that of her church of the Roman tradition in how to place the date of Easter. The result was that in the year of crisis, King Oswy would be ready to have his Easter feast while his queen would still be in the period of Lenten fast. Not only their marriage but the relationship between northern and southern parts of England would be injured....
It can be tempting to dismiss Oswy’s and Eanfleda’s dilemma as quaint religiosity or just a medieval Roman Catholic problem—until we recognize one fundamental fact about human societies: Namely, that both eating together and celebrating regular festivals bind people together. Think of even our secular celebrations of today. Such as how getting together to blow out birthday candles and eat cake binds families and groups of friends together.
As to the matter of periodic festivals, one historian writes:
The rhythm is created by means of a structure that differentiates work days from holidays and festivals..., thus forming a symbolic link among the members of a community.
Creating such a rhythm requires some sort of calendar having cycles.
1 Jacqueline de Bourgoing. The Calendar: History, Lore, and Legend. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 2000. p. 14.
• Click to: Read more excerpts from book
© Bruce Yaeger at https://spiritedbodies.blogspot.com
