The Stations of the Sun: A History of the Ritual Year in Britain
by:
Ronald Hutton (author)
From the twelve days of Christmas to the Spring traditions of Valentine, Shrovetide, and Easter eggs, through May Day revels and Midsummer fires, and on to the waning of the year, Harvest Home, and Hallowe'en; Ronald Hutton takes us on a fascinating journey through the ritual year in Britain. His...
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From the twelve days of Christmas to the Spring traditions of Valentine, Shrovetide, and Easter eggs, through May Day revels and Midsummer fires, and on to the waning of the year, Harvest Home, and Hallowe'en; Ronald Hutton takes us on a fascinating journey through the ritual year in Britain. His comprehensive study covers all the British Isles and the whole sweep of history from the earliest written records to the present day. Great and lesser, ancient and modern, Christian and pagan, all rituals are treated with the same attention. The result is a colorful and absorbing history in which Ronald Hutton challenges many common assumptions about the customs of the past and the festivals of the present debunking many myths and illuminates the history of the calendar we live by. Stations of the Sun is the first complete scholarly work to cover the full span of British rituals, challenging the work of specialists from the late Victorian period onwards, reworking our picture of the field thoroughly, and raising issues for historians of every period.
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Format: hardcover
ISBN:
9780198205708 (0198205708)
ASIN: 198205708
Publish date: August 22nd 1996
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Pages no: 562
Edition language: English
Category:
Fantasy,
Non Fiction,
History,
Reference,
European Literature,
British Literature,
Religion,
Spirituality,
Research,
Mythology,
Esoterica,
Astrology,
Paganism
Didn't really finish this one but its exactly what you would need to investigate the historic roots of festivals in Great Britain, IIRC there is a gap in the market for a similar work on Irish festivals.