"The great need for Discovering Origins and Buliding Traditions."
By Kari Tauring - 2006

Discovering Origins - Peeling away the layers:

In studying cultural traditions as an undergraduate at Luther College, Decorah, Iowa in 1984, I began to understand the concept of "Cultural Layering". As humans moved, migrated, went to war, and colonized one another, they brought new traditions into existing traditional systems. Sometimes these systems overlapped and sometimes they were in conflict with one another. The Romans made an art form of layering their cultural religion, values, social structure, monetary and language bases on top of existing cultures. Guided professors in Latin, Archeology, Religion, and Philosophy I produced papers, songs, and artwork on the theme of "cultural layering".

This new understanding of myself as a product of many generations of traditional and cultural layering awoke in me a need to seek an absolute truth that would connect all of these layers of myself. One absolute that was common to all of these different layers, indeed one commonality among all beings of Earth are the astronomical events that guide our planet. Winter Solstice happens to everyone and has many significant cultural layers of traditions overlapping the longest night of the year. What's more, Winter Solstice came before there were humans to acknowlege it!

I began to study and observe the holidays that are intentionally set on the turning points of the Seasons and their relationship to the agricultural calender, the school calender, the tax calender, the church calender, and the astrological calender. Learning about Vedic astrology and biodynamic gardening I began to realize the huge affect of choosing an arbitrary date for, well, anything.

I studied the physical affects of these seasonal changes and date alignments. See my article "The Problem with Easter" Llewellyn 2007 Almanac.

The physical affects of seasonal change:

While length of sunlight, moon phases, and weather are at the roots of many ancient these traditions, they are hardly acknowleged or recognized in modern culture. Our detachment from the natural process of going from dark days to light and back again and the affect it has on our bodies is the root of much disease and disorder (such as Seasonal Affective Disorder, Spring Indulgences, anxiety).

As I studied and began to practice more intentional ritual at these seasonal times I began to recognize the affects of seasonal change on my emotional and physical life. The more I learned and became mindful of the cycles of seasons, the moon, and the weather, the more the alligned I became, resulting in better health and well being.

During my studies at the University of St. Thomas in both undergraduate and graduate work, I expanded my knowlege and practice of the traditions based on the Wheel of the Year and did field study in England in 1992 during my teaching practicum.

Building Traditons:

As a mother of two toddlers in 1999, I looked at the latest layer upon the holy days of seasonal change as my responsibility. What do I wish to pass on to the next generation?

What do we have now? The latest layer of Western culture transforms holidays into opportunities for commercialism, consumerism and marketing. This has left so many in our culture detached and isolated from the origins and meanings of these time of year. The rituals become shopping and seasonal dysfunctions are medicated rather than explored and remedied.

There is no remedy given for the emptiness of a holiday marked by shopping but to purchase better next year.

How do I build? The astronomical date. Then a discovery of mythologies and global traditions. The brain and body affects of seasonal change. An opportunity to perform an intentional prayer or ritual for the season. Finally, opportunities to share in community and make meaning for our future.

Creating art that is inspired by the cycles of change has helped me raise children who are aware of the seasonal changes in their own physical bodies. They have participated in nearly every show along with the children of other Friends. These children have a vocabulary to talk about the spiritual significance of these astronomical events. They have songs to sing for encouragement in the dark days and dances to help ground their energy in the Spring. They have seen adults model the behaviors of grief and joy at the harvest season. They have had hennas to mark their own transitional times. They have experienced how many different cultures manage these changes.

This is what our children will use to build the next layer of our culture.

The Nordic Roots Project Deep Cultural Healing through understanding.

Kari's Scholastic Autobiography