Ostara

I like this Holyday. This time the Xians didn’t even bother to hide the old pagan symbols, as they have attempted for xmas for example.

We have the rabbit, a symbol of fertility, and good luck. I used to eat rabbit when I lived in Hungary.

We have the many colored eggs! Eggs are the symbols of new beginnings, and are the rich source of protein. Coloring them however puzzled me. Why make them colored? Or painted? Decorated with magic symbols?

Ah, I get it. We write on eggs like a spell. We want love, we dip them in red paint, green for money etc. The magical symbols that almost every European country is famous for, are all about prayers, via eggs.

But in Hungary there is the no longer appreciated Locsolkodas. This is a custom imitating the act of fertilization, a boy comes to the door, you have never laid eyes on him before, he holds a small bottle of cheap perfume and insists to spray the stuff on you. Women often hate this. You smell like the sewers after a few of these visitors.

The girls give them an egg, and alcohol to drink. The boys get snookered. No wonder this custom still lives. They also get money.
Then they move on and “fertilize” other girls.

The 34th National Women’s Music Festival

July 2, 2009 – July 5, 2009 (I will be there!)
Marriott Madison West Hotel & Conference Center, Middleton, Wisconsin

This is the oldest National Women’s Music Festival, where it all started. If you live nearby or want to enjoy a wonderfully hosted event … make plans to attend The 34th National Women’s Music Festival.

http://www.wiaonline.org

WHAT IS THE NATIONAL WOMEN’S MUSIC FESTIVAL?
The National Women’s Music Festival, otherwise known as NWMF, will be held indoors at the Marriott Madison West  just outside Madison, WI. There are no rained-out concerts,  no cold showers, and no “porta-janes” at this Festival.

The Festival is a four-day musical and cultural extravaganza that incorporates all facets of women’s lives. It’s a jam-packed long weekend where choices for things to do range from workshops, concerts, comedy, theatre presentations, a marketplace, newly released films and videos, a live auction, spirituality series, writer’s series, animal lovers series, and much, much more!

Most Festival attendees are women, although men can and do attend.  Attendees come from all walks of life and cultures, cutting across ethnic, racial, sexual, age, and ability boundaries. Likewise, festival programming reflects many points of view; a diversity of ideas and topics are explored and discussed in a safe environment.  Festival is an environment in which philosophies and politics are open for discussion, not mandated or judged.

Services available include a wide range of accessibility services with almost all concerts interpreted for the deaf.  Volunteer opportunities and work-exchange of 4-hour workshifts is available for reduced-price registration. This is limited and arrangements must be made prior to the festival.

Past performers include Betty, Cris Williamson, Kate Clinton, Karen Williams, Sweet Honey in the Rock, Linda Tillery, Jamie Anderson, Holly Near, the Dance Brigade, Melissa Ferrick, Sawagi Taiko, Ferron, Ellis, Ember Swift and Margie Adam to just mention a few. Guest speakers have included Geraldine Ferraro, Rita Mae Brown, Col. Margarethe Cammermeyer, NPR reporter and writer Margot Adler, Katherine V. Forrest, artist Judy Chicago, Surgeon General Jocelyn Elders, Pat Califia, Betty DeGeneres, Anita Hill and Judy Goldsmith.

National Women’s Music Festival is produced by Women In the Arts, Inc. a 501-c-3 nonprofit corporation. The 2009 festival will be the 34th festival which was first produced in 1974 in Champaign, Illinois.