Every time I observe the Indo-European pagan tradition, I am amazed at how the same concept has evolved differently in various regions over time. It is truly fascinating to witness the diverse interpretations and adaptations that have emerged within this rich cultural tapestry.
I discern several interesting human tendencies. People appreciate their ancestors and want to perpetuate traditions to honor them. There is a sense of humor in doing so. A feeling of community and a legacy of many generations simply feels good. I believe that they enjoy the collective awareness of matters which empowered their ancestors. Lastly, Globalism is actually driving them closer, which naturally would include the exploration of heritage
@@pygmy. as someone growing up in the old world - it’s just that you feel a closer connection to your own as compared to neighbors/foreigners/etc. Globalism waters it down - you get clueless Americans who have no idea where tradition stems from pitch in random nonsense which has no place in the culture the tradition was founded by - confusing what the tradition is about. Just look at Christmas and the abomination of a festivity they made of it. It has nothing to do with the tradition and before long it will be “trend-over” and it will be gone. Globalism is literal poison to regional cultures and tradition.
The festival seems to be thematically different from the ones discussed in this video though. I wish Tom would do a video on Basque traditions and mythology as it's so unique and would be interesting to learn about the extent to which it survived or was absorbed into later, Indo-European cultures. It's a shame it was eroded so much by the Inquisition and Catholicism.
The ritual sacrifice and ressurection of the Earl of Rone reminded me very much of the folk character John Barleycorn and his eponymous folk song of which there are many renditions throughout the british isles. I've heard he has potential anglo-saxon origins. You should do a video about him!
@@twilightmoongames The song John Barleycorn does not have Anglo-Saxon origins. It was written in the early 1600's and radically re-written in the 1700's. As the Penguin Book of English Folk Songs notes - it is simply a very clever allegory.
My father's folk are from Tyrone 😮 . . . 😊Brilliant to see a strong community preserve their ancestral customs! I have been collecting all the ancient Greek and Roman accounts of North European sacrifice customs...
In an age where we are separated from our roots and traditional cultures I love your videos that seek to keep them alive and inform us. It's also so cool to see people still participating in many of our traditional rituals. Would love to someday travel to the mother land (Europe) and participate myself
Your roots are Christianity, our ancestors saw the light of the Lord Jesus Christ over a thousand years ago, Britain was Christian before Germany was, Ango-Saxons returned to Germany to convert their brothers
Let the tradition survive this time of crisis, it will be the base for the building of a better future for our wounded and tired but still alive Europe. I visited London once and I barely saw some British people, while look at those folk festivals... it's where real England is.
“Barely saw British people.” Y’know just because someone wasn’t born in Britain or doesn’t have a British passport or isn’t white, doesn’t mean they’re not British…? Britain has nothing to do with that stuff. Get lost with your racism and xenophobia
@@L333gok Continue with your delusions but the truth is another: they are not British or European in any way, they will never be and their descendants will never be.
Hey Tom, Tommy Hartmann here! Just wanted to say thank you for your outstanding work and for keeping our traditions alive through your journalism!!!! I have deep roots here in New York where I live and my family has lived since they left Germany and England in the 1700s. I long for the day I get to lay mine own eyes on some of these traditions in England and Germany. Thank you for allowing me to experience without having to make the trip! Be well and keep surviving the jive, no matter how much they try to keep us quiet
@@L333gokbecause Phoenicians were Jews and Greeks started as a Phoenician Colony, ergo Thebes and Athens. This is known in Academia. Pagan is a non sequitur No true Scotsman fallacy
I'm so happy to see what looks like pretty much a whole community striving to keep their tradition alive! A real white pill, thanks Tom! The closest thing to this in my parts that I'm aware of is St Wilfrid's Procession in Ripon which is still going strong today and is a great excuse for a summer piss-up! I used to love watching it as a kid.
It's kinda interesting that in Iran, 13 days after Norouz(Persian new year with some rituals similar to Easter in the west), young men and women tie knots in their Sabzeh(green sprouts grown in a dish) and single ones pray for a husband/wife and married couples for a child, then throw the Sabzeh into a river or a spring like some sort of offering. Kinda similar to the Slavic ritual you mentioned. Anyways, amazing documentary. Thank you Tom for showing us this beautiful event.
@@extemporaneous4545 Not necessarily. Practicing Muslims believe these rituals to be superstitious nonsense from pre-Islamic Iran so they refuse to do these thing entirely. Those who actually practice it(which are the majority of people) are not practicing Muslims. By the way the same could he said about Jesus worshipers in the West.
@@extemporaneous4545 I understand your point but this Christianity we see is not what it used to be. I wasn't as flexible as it is nowadays(which is too flexible and this unbounded flexibility is driving many people away). Yes you can't officially change your religion in Iran but that's a legal matter and it can't be said about Iranian culture necessarily. Many patriotic Iranians resent Islam because of the Muslim Invasion in 7th century. Islam isn't flexible but human spirit is.
Big fan of the shorter documentary. I can be daunting to sit down for an hour, but these shorter episodes are much easier to fit in with my busy schedule. Fantastic as always, Tom!
I’ve been needing more STJ. I need to get buried in my cultural heritage again, I absolutely love it so much, so satisfying, it’s the closest I ever get to feeling at home. The politics and erosion of modern day existence is killing me inside. I have to step away and just get lost. Thanks Tom. Hope all is well, hope you and the wife are enjoying that new baby.
I was raised in Minehead. Hobby Horse is very important to the town, they go round the town streets and bash drums at sunrise - i remember being woken up by it as a child on summer solstice. There are now several different Hobby Horses who claim to be the "authentic" one!
@@YorkyOne the church suppresses the carnal nature of man too much so that when he's given an excuse, he becomes rabid. No surprise that when people can engage with their primal side in healthy ways, violence goes down in such cultures.
Very awesome video. Perhaps among my favorite you have done. Makes me excited to backpack through Europe next year. While I am in England, I may just have to visit this village and witness this celebration for myself.
I adore this! Thank you Tom for bringing this to our attention. We need to keep these traditions alive wherever they are still practiced. I shall certainly visit one day and see it in person.
Man, people have rich cultures we can't even imagine. Yet online all you see are the superficial stereotypes. And these are just a few villages. Imagine the amount of tradition that dies out every decade because people simply don't know.
Очень интересно смотреть ваши ролики. Особенно приятно видеть параллели с нашими праздниками. Только я немного не понял. Насколько я знаю Ярило это скорее наименование чучела (олицетворение зимы), которое сжигается зимой. А на праздник Ивана Купала празднуется торжество сил света, поскольку это самый длинный день в году. Я скорее всего просто не разбираюсь до конца в теме. Спасибо за познавательные ролики!
Great documentary as usual. I love to see all the examples of paganism alive and well in the modern day. One thing that really struck me in your Padstow may day video was how eager the young 20 something girls were to become pregnant as a result of the festival - The fertility ritual seemingly banishing modern reticence to have children.
I’m sorry, but what you said in the last sentence is really stupid there is no banishing of not having children there’s just so many faxes that I can’t even answer that within this paragraph and the fact that you’re just shoving all of this down to all the modern world doesn’t want you to have kids is fucking stupid…
When you do videos like this, one has to wonder how many active folk traditions we have on this island, going on the next town over. It really is a blessed plot!
Slight aside but related, my cousin was in the original "Wickerman" (they used school children as extras) Towards the end, a young girl opens an upstairs window & speaks a line... Big up Janet! Another insightful & inspiring video
Great video! I really liked the add in of the Ukrainian/Slavic paganism. There is not many videos about their Paganism even though interesting practices survived. Hopak ritual dance and Vyshyvanka are examples that does not get much attention.
Thank you for creating this video. We must absolutely keep these traditions regardless of them being a pastiche. The roots are very deep in time and distance.
My maternal Grandfather was from Devon and he was related to William Frise whose wife was not allowed to be buried in the church yard because the Minister did not respect his marriage. The Minister said they were not married in the church. Bill Frise of old told the Minister that he had married her properly according to the common law. He paid a fair price for his bride determined at auction in the market, I think a shilling and a mule. He put a bridle loosely around her neck and was able to walk her all the way home without her running off. Then he carried her over the threshold. The problem for me is that his wife was not buried in the churchyard because it is likely holy ground that predates christianity. They were made outsiders in their own land. I'm glad so many other traditions survive. Divorce by auction has never been discussed by anyone in recent times as far as I know. I don't know if I can find that old book that tells the story of pagan devon and Bill and his wife.
My memory has butchered the story a fair bit -Henry rather than Bill was quoted as saying; "Henry Frise maintained that Anne was his legitimate wife, for "he had not only bought her in the market, but had led her home, with the halter in his hand, and he'd take his Bible oath that he never took the halter off her till she had crossed his doorstep and he had shut the door."
@@drakedorosh9332Sorry, I am confused. Is this story a humorous tale about a man marrying an animal from an auction…? Are you saying there once was some tradition of putting halters on women?? My apologies, I don’t quite follow what is going on here…
@@solank7620 As far as the story. it comes from chapter on "wife-sales". Sometimes I think livestock was traded as payment for wives. My great aunt was sold for half a crown and made a loyal and patient wife. I'm not saying women were or are animals or should be slaves. I truly believe that marriage is an institution based in slavery and that the words "bridle" and "bride" are related to the wedding vow "to have and to hold". Women in the past were regarded as property. The past is filled with these surprising tales. I still feel warmly toward my ancestors who struggled with these things and I am grateful to live in the age of oil where cheap energy frees us from slavery.
The one-volume edition of Frazer's _Golden Bough_ pictured in this video is an abridgement. The first edition was two volumes; the second, three; the third, twelve.
Thanks for making this mini documentary I am funnily enough from Combe Martin and my mother is the one near the donkey in the footage as she is one of the only people in the Village trusted with helping out with the Donkey each year. I also want to add that it was banned in Combe Martin due to the son of a local earl getting drunk and falling and breaking his neck it's one of the reasons that this got banned in the rest of the country and my grandmother was one of the people to get it restarted again in the 1970s. It is nice to see this now as I'm at uni so I missed it this year so it was nice to see footage of it from a different perspective.
Sir, I just also wanted to add, thankyou for what you do ! I am a pagan, and an aspiring academic interested in Pagan cultural survivals in Europe.Your videos are always super well researched and inspiring, and represent ACTUAL pagan traditions ,unlike so much of the fluffy Pomo Neopagan fluff that is out there, and I am hugely grateful for everything that you do. Never doubt that your work is having a good effect on people One of my friends, a Secular Humanist/ Atheist, who is interested in Welsh traditional culture and linguistic survival, saw a video of yours, where you are speaking at a Traditional Pagan conference. My otherwise Atheist friend was so moved by your words, he HAD to show me your video, and ask me a bunch of questions about this thing he always thought was silly. This turned into a long conversation about Perennialism and Traditionalism , and its place in the modern world, and why we Pagans still do this "weird superstitious stuff"today .All of this, because your speech showed him what it means to hold a torch against Modernity to preserve our Ancestral indigenous cultural traditions.
I’m sorry, but I’m also secular and somewhat of a humanist, and if your friend fell for that again, I’m not gonna lie Tom did have some good points in his essay, but if he fell for all of that and thought that whole thing was gold, I’m sorry, but your friend is really stupid and fell for a trap…..
Liking the documentaries, very professional they could go on TV. though we have different religious beliefs im more interested in the culture and history aspects but I still find the folklore a bit interesting also.
Cheers, Mr. Rowsell. It's always crazy to find these traditions scattered across the Indo-European world and realize that they must descend from a common Neolithic - Bronze Age source. It seems like this custom would go right back at least to Corded Ware, then, given the Indian evidence. I am doing some research on Armenian folklore, so I'll look into if there are any seeming cognates tucked away in the attestations of their folk practice. My brother's girlfriend is Greek, so I can also inquire if her relatives know of anything surviving into the modern day. Won't hurt! If there are attestations from, especially more than one, Yamnaya-descended culture, that'd be great evidence it could go right back to Sredny Stog or Repin. Moreover, my Lithuanian uncle is coming to visit soon, so I will ask him if he happens to know of anything similar.
Your research and interpretations are as always ever welcome! Polytheism and »Paganism« never really went away, I think; I believe that from the evidence and Atavism there is, we could rebuild everything and guarantee a future for our peoples and cultures! When I gather a little more money from my own work, I will surely support you, Thomas! Thank you!
I've watched some wrestling videos recently for the first time in a while. It's made the algorithm go into overdrive and now every fourth or fifth video suggested to me is a wrestling video. Every time I glance at the thumbnail for this video I automatically register it as a wrestling video, probably exploring some classic hardcore match at a 90s PPV where the babyface got locked in some bizarre cage contraption by the heel he was feuding with who was a dude with some kind of tribal gimmick.
Gald to see this is still a thing, i get frightened we are loosing our culture in England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland so when I watch these videos it keeps it alive for me.
I really liked the interview with those two cute chav girls. They really don't know what they're doing, but they're doing it anyway because ... tradition says so. That is true paganism: not necessarily knowing the significance of the rituals you are performing, but performing them anyway, because not doing so would just feel wrong.
A guy I used to work with would travel there every year! He doesn’t live even in the same county but he and his family went there so much for the event that they were invited to join in and have every year since I believe. He would March with his drum. He had the masked character tattoo’d on his calf. I won’t mention his name because he used to get teased for taking part but I always found it super interesting.
STJ always has a way of making his videos very atmospheric. It feels like I'm watching an old documentary in elementary school. Though I do have a question, and not just for STJ. What do you think of the Norroena Society? Are they and their books reliable sources?
The Padstow 'Obby 'Osses have a resurrection scene/song- the 'oss sinks down and 'dies', (the music changes) and then the drumming restarts and it leaps up again.
It must be due to Portuguese heritage because several of these traditions can also be seen during the June festivals here in Brazil in a sightly different form. From young women drowning effigies (normally of saints) in hope of finding a husband, straw-man sacrifices, couples jumping over or dancing around bonfires, processions accompanied by people in colorful bull costume (instead of a horse), etc. It varies somewhat from region to region but it's always the same motifs.
Every time I observe the Indo-European pagan tradition, I am amazed at how the same concept has evolved differently in various regions over time. It is truly fascinating to witness the diverse interpretations and adaptations that have emerged within this rich cultural tapestry.
Excellent. It is fantastic to see a community coming together and actually still having traditions.
Couldn't agree more!
I discern several interesting human tendencies. People appreciate their ancestors and want to perpetuate traditions to honor them. There is a sense of humor in doing so. A feeling of community and a legacy of many generations simply feels good. I believe that they enjoy the collective awareness of matters which empowered their ancestors. Lastly, Globalism is actually driving them closer, which naturally would include the exploration of heritage
@@clintonreisigwtf does globalism have to do with this
@@Thomas-xd4cx Literally everything
@@pygmy. as someone growing up in the old world - it’s just that you feel a closer connection to your own as compared to neighbors/foreigners/etc. Globalism waters it down - you get clueless Americans who have no idea where tradition stems from pitch in random nonsense which has no place in the culture the tradition was founded by - confusing what the tradition is about. Just look at Christmas and the abomination of a festivity they made of it. It has nothing to do with the tradition and before long it will be “trend-over” and it will be gone. Globalism is literal poison to regional cultures and tradition.
Folklore gang rise up!
It’s rare to see genuine western culture nowadays. But God is it good for the soul. Wonderful landscape as well. Well done.
Here in the Basque Country we also have the fat guy (Ziripot) and the horse guy (Zaldiko). They are prominent carnival characters.
The festival seems to be thematically different from the ones discussed in this video though. I wish Tom would do a video on Basque traditions and mythology as it's so unique and would be interesting to learn about the extent to which it survived or was absorbed into later, Indo-European cultures. It's a shame it was eroded so much by the Inquisition and Catholicism.
Please stand up against the WEF who is pushing the replacement on us.
Iberian Celts, aka Phrygians aka Jews
The ritual sacrifice and ressurection of the Earl of Rone reminded me very much of the folk character John Barleycorn and his eponymous folk song of which there are many renditions throughout the british isles. I've heard he has potential anglo-saxon origins. You should do a video about him!
That was my first thought too, but this sounds more disturbing..
@@twilightmoongames
The song John Barleycorn does not have Anglo-Saxon origins.
It was written in the early 1600's and radically re-written in the 1700's.
As the Penguin Book of English Folk Songs notes - it is simply a very clever allegory.
Keeping the old traditions alive, very important. Love to see it.
My father's folk are from Tyrone 😮 . . . 😊Brilliant to see a strong community preserve their ancestral customs! I have been collecting all the ancient Greek and Roman accounts of North European sacrifice customs...
A fascinating endeavor, no doubt!
I hope you will present them in a video?
I had no idea there were traditions like this in England, really cool. Very much enjoyed this video, thank you Tom!
Yes and there are many others. Please see the playlist of British folk traditions to learn more
We have a VAST amount of these traditions all over the country.
@@Butchbuchsnan
None of them 'pagan'.
In an age where we are separated from our roots and traditional cultures I love your videos that seek to keep them alive and inform us. It's also so cool to see people still participating in many of our traditional rituals. Would love to someday travel to the mother land (Europe) and participate myself
Your roots are Christianity, our ancestors saw the light of the Lord Jesus Christ over a thousand years ago, Britain was Christian before Germany was, Ango-Saxons returned to Germany to convert their brothers
@denverrsouthers5531 no they didn't. Charlemagne is the reason for Germany becoming Christian.
@@denverrsouthers5531 Not true. Pagan roots are much much older than Abrahamic ideas in religion.
@@tboy80z I pity anyone who puts mythology above the love and sacrifice of Jesus
@denverrsouthers5531 Mythology? Why do you call much more older and ancient religions that? Christianity could be seen as that too. 🤔
Let the tradition survive this time of crisis, it will be the base for the building of a better future for our wounded and tired but still alive Europe.
I visited London once and I barely saw some British people, while look at those folk festivals... it's where real England is.
“Barely saw British people.” Y’know just because someone wasn’t born in Britain or doesn’t have a British passport or isn’t white, doesn’t mean they’re not British…? Britain has nothing to do with that stuff. Get lost with your racism and xenophobia
@@L333gok Continue with your delusions but the truth is another: they are not British or European in any way, they will never be and their descendants will never be.
Hey Tom, Tommy Hartmann here! Just wanted to say thank you for your outstanding work and for keeping our traditions alive through your journalism!!!! I have deep roots here in New York where I live and my family has lived since they left Germany and England in the 1700s. I long for the day I get to lay mine own eyes on some of these traditions in England and Germany. Thank you for allowing me to experience without having to make the trip! Be well and keep surviving the jive, no matter how much they try to keep us quiet
Combe Martin has got to be one of the most beautiful villages I’ve ever seen!
there are many more pretty villages nearby
@@Survivethejive I am planning my first trip to England and Wales for next year, gods be praised!
@@Seofolwulf have a wonderful time
Thank you Tom. Your efforts are greatly appreciated by so many.
I’m Minehead born and raised. Very interesting to get some background on these old traditions.
Very interesting tradition. It's so important to keep these alive. Thanks for your work on this as always!
You gotta get out to the countryside away from the big McBox Cities
Another consistent reminder of the importance of culture.
Lmfao
It's Greek and Phoenician in Origin
@@Uncanny_Mountain Are you implying that Paganism originated from the Phoenicians…? Lol. How is it Greek in origin.
@@L333gokbecause Phoenicians were Jews and Greeks started as a Phoenician Colony, ergo Thebes and Athens. This is known in Academia.
Pagan is a non sequitur
No true Scotsman fallacy
@@L333gok because guess who wrote your Pagan Byblos Baal Einstein
Beautiful tradition and very encouraging to see so many young people participating.
I'm so happy to see what looks like pretty much a whole community striving to keep their tradition alive! A real white pill, thanks Tom!
The closest thing to this in my parts that I'm aware of is St Wilfrid's Procession in Ripon which is still going strong today and is a great excuse for a summer piss-up! I used to love watching it as a kid.
It's kinda interesting that in Iran, 13 days after Norouz(Persian new year with some rituals similar to Easter in the west), young men and women tie knots in their Sabzeh(green sprouts grown in a dish) and single ones pray for a husband/wife and married couples for a child, then throw the Sabzeh into a river or a spring like some sort of offering. Kinda similar to the Slavic ritual you mentioned. Anyways, amazing documentary. Thank you Tom for showing us this beautiful event.
@@extemporaneous4545 Not necessarily. Practicing Muslims believe these rituals to be superstitious nonsense from pre-Islamic Iran so they refuse to do these thing entirely. Those who actually practice it(which are the majority of people) are not practicing Muslims. By the way the same could he said about Jesus worshipers in the West.
@@extemporaneous4545 I understand your point but this Christianity we see is not what it used to be. I wasn't as flexible as it is nowadays(which is too flexible and this unbounded flexibility is driving many people away). Yes you can't officially change your religion in Iran but that's a legal matter and it can't be said about Iranian culture necessarily. Many patriotic Iranians resent Islam because of the Muslim Invasion in 7th century. Islam isn't flexible but human spirit is.
Big fan of the shorter documentary. I can be daunting to sit down for an hour, but these shorter episodes are much easier to fit in with my busy schedule. Fantastic as always, Tom!
thank you for another banger Tom
I’ve been needing more STJ.
I need to get buried in my cultural heritage again, I absolutely love it so much, so satisfying, it’s the closest I ever get to feeling at home.
The politics and erosion of modern day existence is killing me inside. I have to step away and just get lost. Thanks Tom. Hope all is well, hope you and the wife are enjoying that new baby.
Yes we love both of our children, thank you
Excellent vid - Some heroic live coverage of the event ! Thank you Tom .
I was raised in Minehead. Hobby Horse is very important to the town, they go round the town streets and bash drums at sunrise - i remember being woken up by it as a child on summer solstice. There are now several different Hobby Horses who claim to be the "authentic" one!
Earliest reference to the Minehead hobby horse - 1830.
Love it, a great piece of English pagan anarchy. No wonder the authorities were worried about it in the 1800s
There's nothing pagan about it.
The authorities were concerned about the drunken riotous behaviour.
@@YorkyOne the church suppresses the carnal nature of man too much so that when he's given an excuse, he becomes rabid. No surprise that when people can engage with their primal side in healthy ways, violence goes down in such cultures.
How wonderful. Thank you for documenting this custom, absolutely fascinating stuff.
Very awesome video. Perhaps among my favorite you have done. Makes me excited to backpack through Europe next year. While I am in England, I may just have to visit this village and witness this celebration for myself.
Amazing that people don’t know what pagan is… it’s their roots!
Thank you for sharing the traditions that are part of the fabric of humanity
Thank you so much for the effort you put in these videos!
Glad you like them!
And then he ends it while casually walking in the woods. xD
Such authenticity.
Valuable guy right here.
kind of you to say so
Osiris floating in his coffin to sprout a tree also comes to mind.
I adore this! Thank you Tom for bringing this to our attention. We need to keep these traditions alive wherever they are still practiced. I shall certainly visit one day and see it in person.
I really enjoyed this one. Great work again as always. Cheers From Canada! Thank you for all you do. Your work is very admired and appreciated, Sir.
Amazing work, Tom. Thank you.
Wow!, everyone from that little town has a very charming personality. Just pleasant people!
This was great! I sat watching this thinking I should quit my pointless job and spend my time touring the country going to events like this.
This is awesome man, love the on the ground reporting!
Absolutely brilliant work Tom, thank you for all you do to keep these customs of our blessed folk alive.
So damn amazing. Thank you for sharing
What a marvelous lil video. Heartwarming to see folks still keeping the ancient traditions alive and having fun in the doing.
Man, people have rich cultures we can't even imagine. Yet online all you see are the superficial stereotypes. And these are just a few villages. Imagine the amount of tradition that dies out every decade because people simply don't know.
This channel has been instrumental in my switch to paganism. Thank you
Очень интересно смотреть ваши ролики. Особенно приятно видеть параллели с нашими праздниками. Только я немного не понял. Насколько я знаю Ярило это скорее наименование чучела (олицетворение зимы), которое сжигается зимой. А на праздник Ивана Купала празднуется торжество сил света, поскольку это самый длинный день в году. Я скорее всего просто не разбираюсь до конца в теме. Спасибо за познавательные ролики!
Девон, Российская Область??? 😃
Great documentary as usual. I love to see all the examples of paganism alive and well in the modern day. One thing that really struck me in your Padstow may day video was how eager the young 20 something girls were to become pregnant as a result of the festival - The fertility ritual seemingly banishing modern reticence to have children.
They were the most wholesome group of cackling drunk girls I ever met
Yeah I loved their enthusiasm and embracing of the whole thing - awesome that the youth got so involved and I didn't see any phones!
I’m sorry, but what you said in the last sentence is really stupid there is no banishing of not having children there’s just so many faxes that I can’t even answer that within this paragraph and the fact that you’re just shoving all of this down to all the modern world doesn’t want you to have kids is fucking stupid…
When I hear people trying to deny the existence of the English ethnicity and say we have no culture of our own I think of traditions like this.
England needs such traditions becoming more popular.
When you do videos like this, one has to wonder how many active folk traditions we have on this island, going on the next town over. It really is a blessed plot!
Amazing job on this documentary!
Brilliant, absolutely brilliant!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Amazing work.
Slight aside but related, my cousin was in the original "Wickerman" (they used school children as extras)
Towards the end, a young girl opens an upstairs window & speaks a line...
Big up Janet!
Another insightful & inspiring video
Great video! I really liked the add in of the Ukrainian/Slavic paganism. There is not many videos about their Paganism even though interesting practices survived. Hopak ritual dance and Vyshyvanka are examples that does not get much attention.
Hopak doesn’t have any pagan roots, as I understand this dance
Thank you for creating this video. We must absolutely keep these traditions regardless of them being a pastiche. The roots are very deep in time and distance.
Suberp minidoc! I would love a series on the localities and their versions of shared festivals, or their own unique festivals, all around England!
This is part of a series. Its British folk traditions playlist
Magnificent work!
Great episode!
My maternal Grandfather was from Devon and he was related to William Frise whose wife was not allowed to be buried in the church yard because the Minister did not respect his marriage. The Minister said they were not married in the church. Bill Frise of old told the Minister that he had married her properly according to the common law. He paid a fair price for his bride determined at auction in the market, I think a shilling and a mule. He put a bridle loosely around her neck and was able to walk her all the way home without her running off. Then he carried her over the threshold.
The problem for me is that his wife was not buried in the churchyard because it is likely holy ground that predates christianity. They were made outsiders in their own land. I'm glad so many other traditions survive. Divorce by auction has never been discussed by anyone in recent times as far as I know. I don't know if I can find that old book that tells the story of pagan devon and Bill and his wife.
What a fascinating custom. I have never heard of it
My memory has butchered the story a fair bit -Henry rather than Bill was quoted as saying; "Henry Frise maintained that Anne was his legitimate wife, for "he had not only bought her in the market, but had led her home, with the halter in his hand, and he'd take his Bible oath that he never took the halter off her till she had crossed his doorstep and he had shut the door."
@@drakedorosh9332Sorry, I am confused.
Is this story a humorous tale about a man marrying an animal from an auction…?
Are you saying there once was some tradition of putting halters on women??
My apologies, I don’t quite follow what is going on here…
@@solank7620 As far as the story. it comes from chapter on "wife-sales". Sometimes I think livestock was traded as payment for wives. My great aunt was sold for half a crown and made a loyal and patient wife. I'm not saying women were or are animals or should be slaves. I truly believe that marriage is an institution based in slavery and that the words "bridle" and "bride" are related to the wedding vow "to have and to hold". Women in the past were regarded as property. The past is filled with these surprising tales. I still feel warmly toward my ancestors who struggled with these things and I am grateful to live in the age of oil where cheap energy frees us from slavery.
@@drakedorosh9332 How were they treated as property? Just because they were given in exchange for something else?
Very crisp photography and editing!
2:32 the earl of Tyrone is buried in Italy today, his name is Hugh O’Neill.
Right
Makes my hair stand on end. So atmospheric.
As usual, another truly fascinating film from Tom and always really well produced. Great stuff.
Great content as usual! I love the traditions of our Island.
The one-volume edition of Frazer's _Golden Bough_ pictured in this video is an abridgement. The first edition was two volumes; the second, three; the third, twelve.
wew lad
UA-cam didn't notify me of this video, and I have the notifications switched on.
Yup. That's how it is
Beautiful work, brother!
Thanks for making this mini documentary I am funnily enough from Combe Martin and my mother is the one near the donkey in the footage as she is one of the only people in the Village trusted with helping out with the Donkey each year. I also want to add that it was banned in Combe Martin due to the son of a local earl getting drunk and falling and breaking his neck it's one of the reasons that this got banned in the rest of the country and my grandmother was one of the people to get it restarted again in the 1970s. It is nice to see this now as I'm at uni so I missed it this year so it was nice to see footage of it from a different perspective.
well done to your granny!
Sir, I just also wanted to add, thankyou for what you do !
I am a pagan, and an aspiring academic interested in Pagan cultural survivals in Europe.Your videos are always super well researched and inspiring, and represent ACTUAL pagan traditions ,unlike so much of the fluffy Pomo Neopagan fluff that is out there, and I am hugely grateful for everything that you do.
Never doubt that your work is having a good effect on people
One of my friends, a Secular Humanist/ Atheist, who is interested in Welsh traditional culture and linguistic survival, saw a video of yours, where you are speaking at a Traditional Pagan conference.
My otherwise Atheist friend was so moved by your words, he HAD to show me your video, and ask me a bunch of questions about this thing he always thought was silly. This turned into a long conversation about Perennialism and Traditionalism , and its place in the modern world, and why we Pagans still do this "weird superstitious stuff"today
.All of this, because your speech showed him what it means to hold a torch against Modernity to preserve our Ancestral indigenous cultural traditions.
I’m sorry, but I’m also secular and somewhat of a humanist, and if your friend fell for that again, I’m not gonna lie Tom did have some good points in his essay, but if he fell for all of that and thought that whole thing was gold, I’m sorry, but your friend is really stupid and fell for a trap…..
More woodland jive walks!
Great film man. Keep up the interesting videos.
Southerners have some very odd customs, ha. Excellent work Tom, thoroughly enjoyed it!
Liking the documentaries, very professional they could go on TV. though we have different religious beliefs im more interested in the culture and history aspects but I still find the folklore a bit interesting also.
I'm always excited to see a new vid!! This came just in time.
Really interesting video, another thing to add to the bucket list.
Fascinating.
Love to see it last so long, Gives us hope
yes despite the hiatus
Cheers, Mr. Rowsell. It's always crazy to find these traditions scattered across the Indo-European world and realize that they must descend from a common Neolithic - Bronze Age source. It seems like this custom would go right back at least to Corded Ware, then, given the Indian evidence. I am doing some research on Armenian folklore, so I'll look into if there are any seeming cognates tucked away in the attestations of their folk practice. My brother's girlfriend is Greek, so I can also inquire if her relatives know of anything surviving into the modern day. Won't hurt! If there are attestations from, especially more than one, Yamnaya-descended culture, that'd be great evidence it could go right back to Sredny Stog or Repin. Moreover, my Lithuanian uncle is coming to visit soon, so I will ask him if he happens to know of anything similar.
Phrygians were yamnaya descended probably
Tom- amazing- you should be making programs and presenting on the BBC.
Wonderful.
Your research and interpretations are as always ever welcome! Polytheism and »Paganism« never really went away, I think; I believe that from the evidence and Atavism there is, we could rebuild everything and guarantee a future for our peoples and cultures!
When I gather a little more money from my own work, I will surely support you, Thomas!
Thank you!
"There's no sacrifice" yet the Rone is shot, just as an act. it's a symbolic sacrifice. cetainly still a sacrifice I'd say.
That looks like a hell of fun party.
I bloody love these videos.
I've watched some wrestling videos recently for the first time in a while. It's made the algorithm go into overdrive and now every fourth or fifth video suggested to me is a wrestling video. Every time I glance at the thumbnail for this video I automatically register it as a wrestling video, probably exploring some classic hardcore match at a 90s PPV where the babyface got locked in some bizarre cage contraption by the heel he was feuding with who was a dude with some kind of tribal gimmick.
Been many times in Combe Martin to see the old Oss. Hope to go back ons dat 😊❤
Superb video, thanks!
British culture is so beautiful
Gald to see this is still a thing, i get frightened we are loosing our culture in England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland so when I watch these videos it keeps it alive for me.
Very well made thanks
I really liked the interview with those two cute chav girls. They really don't know what they're doing, but they're doing it anyway because ... tradition says so. That is true paganism: not necessarily knowing the significance of the rituals you are performing, but performing them anyway, because not doing so would just feel wrong.
How would it feel wrong? If you don’t wanna do it you don’t have to if those girls went there is because they didn’t mind doing it…
Dussehra & Vijay Dashami are two different events & festivals. Just for your information.
Apart from it, superb work & video. Excellent!!
Awesome. Quality content. Not surprising coming from you! Ha!
4:01 when you ask if there will be human sacrifices....
Amazing. Thanks Tom.
A guy I used to work with would travel there every year! He doesn’t live even in the same county but he and his family went there so much for the event that they were invited to join in and have every year since I believe. He would March with his drum. He had the masked character tattoo’d on his calf. I won’t mention his name because he used to get teased for taking part but I always found it super interesting.
STJ always has a way of making his videos very atmospheric. It feels like I'm watching an old documentary in elementary school.
Though I do have a question, and not just for STJ. What do you think of the Norroena Society? Are they and their books reliable sources?
Amazing video!
Glad you think so!
3:32 I think I bought some stuff off her in Dark Souls
The earl looks like a character out of the Mighty Boosh
He didn't perform a song at the end
@@Survivethejive True, but I can't imagine he'd have it in him after being shot half a dozen times and drowned in the Bristol Channel
It is weird seeing my own village on youtube😂
The Padstow 'Obby 'Osses have a resurrection scene/song- the 'oss sinks down and 'dies', (the music changes) and then the drumming restarts and it leaps up again.
See my video of it
Very interesting, thank you!
It must be due to Portuguese heritage because several of these traditions can also be seen during the June festivals here in Brazil in a sightly different form. From young women drowning effigies (normally of saints) in hope of finding a husband, straw-man sacrifices, couples jumping over or dancing around bonfires, processions accompanied by people in colorful bull costume (instead of a horse), etc. It varies somewhat from region to region but it's always the same motifs.
Try Elysian mysteries of Mithras in Tyre Lebanon
Aka Jerusalem