nochd - Tumblr blog

nochd · 6 hours

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Morris dancing is real, and ancient. The Dark Morris is Terry Pratchett's invention -- a silent Morris dance done just before sunset to send the Sun away for the winter.

The Discworld's calendar is different from Earth's, but the Dark Morris would be done at six month's remove from May Day, that is to say on Halloween. If you're in the Northern Hemisphere, that is.

Here in the Southern Hemisphere, we dance the Dark Morris on May Day, and in fact I was playing fiddle for the southernmost Morris side in the world just a few hours ago. (Since the Dark Morris is silent, the bow doesn't touch the strings.)

Around the world today, the penumbra of the rising of the first sun of May is lined with onlookers and wellwishers, eyes on the eastern horizon to catch the first glimpse of a new season.

Because in our hearts, this is how summer returns to the northern hemisphere; this sun a baton passed in the annual relay as the south prepares for what winter may bring.

Among our number, where the hilltops flatten enough for people to trust their feet in the gloom, for over a century now morris dancers have set out in the fading dark to dance in the dawn, for the same reason we do anything: because it's what we do. That's all tradition is, after all.

And every year, alongside the bells, a passage from Terry Pratchett's Hogfather rings in my mind.

"The sun would have risen just the same, yes?"

NO.

"Oh, come on. You can't expect me to believe that. It's an astronomical fact."

THE SUN WOULD NOT HAVE RISEN.

...

"Really? Then what would have happened, pray?"

A MERE BALL OF FLAMING GAS WOULD HAVE ILLUMINATED THE WORLD.

And so, every year, follow the sound of bells and sticks, the chorus of voices singing Hal And Tow, and you'll find a bunch of knackered weirdos in the middle of nowhere in daft hats and a chill breeze, but proud of what they've done.

After all, we just made the sun rise.

#morris dance #dark morris #discworld #terry pratchett #tradition

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nochd · 13 hours

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#naturism #nude photo #topless #topfreedom #free the nipple #public nudity #normalize nudity #body positivity

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nochd · 14 hours

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There's variation. Our church was Pentecostal, or at least on the Pentecostal-wards edge of Evangelical, but we accepted Catholics and Anglicans as our brothers in Christ, and I was brought up on Lewis and Tolkien while at the same time being discouraged from Dungeons & Dragons because of its demonic influences.

Though when I say we accepted Catholics... that was our church's official position but some of the congregation felt strongly otherwise. Our pastor had to tell people from the pulpit not to put Jack Chick anti-Catholic propaganda out with the brochures in the foyer.

So regarding the media that was contemporary to your youth, was it ever explained why you shouldn't get involved with anything that features the occult or supernatural?

it's not christian, which is the good kind of magic

#religion #religious trauma #evangelical #pentecostal #occult-phobia

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nochd · 14 hours

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#naturism #nude photo #social nudity #normalize nudity #body positivity

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nochd · 16 hours

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#naturism #nude photo #public nudity #normalize nudity #body positivity

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nochd · 16 hours

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Did you know

That the GOVERNMENT

Is just a bunch of humans.

#there is no conspiracy #politicians are people #politics

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nochd · 17 hours

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May

#nude art #normalize nudity #digital painting #cartoon #topless #topfreedom #public nudity #social nudity #minotaur #nochd original #calendar #may #free the nipple #artists on tumblr

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nochd · 18 hours

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#naturism #nude photo #social nudity #normalize nudity #body positivity #lesbian #lgbt

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nochd · 2 days

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#naturism #nude photo #social nudity #nude art #normalize nudity #body positivity

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nochd · 2 days

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#naturism #nude photo #public nudity #normalize nudity #body positivity

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nochd · 2 days

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#naturism #nude photo #social nudity #normalize nudity #body positivity

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nochd · 2 days

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Steven Caldwell had an unusual style of fiction writing; his books read like nonfiction, usually history or natural history, but they're illustrated with the pre-existing science fiction paintings he was evidently drawing inspiration from.