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Subscribe to this list via RSS Blog posts tagged in germany

Posted by on in Culture Blogs

 

Running red lights a deadly practice that's becoming more common

 

I'm standing on a street corner, waiting for the light to change.

There's not a car moving for blocks in either direction. Back home in the US, I'd just cross the street, light or no light.

But I'm not at home; I'm in Germany, standing with a bunch of local people, waiting for the light to change.

Complicating the matter is the fact that, though I'm not a local, I look like one. Anglo-German on one side, Anglo-Austrian on the other: whatever it means to look German, I do. Here, people on the street automatically address me in German.

I stand and wait with the others.

Growing up as a little gay witch kid in a place where it wasn't safe to be either, I learned about inner freedom early on. Beneath your cloak of invisibility, you can be whoever you want to be.

Still, it's a disconcerting moment. If the SS had come to the door and started asking about the neighbors, what would I have told them?

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Recent Comments - Show all comments
  • Steven Posch
    Steven Posch says #
    This was B.C.: Before Cell.
  • Anthony Gresham
    Anthony Gresham says #
    Nobody was walking along bent over a cell phone mindlessly texting without looking where they where going?
Kitchen Witch Dolls: Modern Household Icons

My great-grandmother, whose father immigrated from Norway when he was around nine years old and whose mother was a third-generation German American, had a kitchen witch that was passed down to my mom, her granddaughter. Unfortunately, it was lost over time, but my mom remembers that it wore a long, red dress and perched on a straw broom. This is the traditional form of the kitchen witch: a long dress, usually a kerchief tied around its head rather than a witch hat, often a characteristic long nose on a friendly face, riding upon a miniature broom (or a wooden spoon!)

Over time, craftspeople have branched away from this traditional form, creating kitchen witches that reflect the various interests and needs of contemporary cooks. This is typical for folk traditions: to remain relevant, they transform over time, taking on new elements and meanings. One thing has remained the same, however: they are always friendly, always helpful, always good luck.

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Recent comment in this post - Show all comments
  • Anthony Gresham
    Anthony Gresham says #
    I remember a little kitchen witch over the sink in my parents house. I think one of my sisters got it after my mother died, but I
Viewing The World Through Pagan Eyes V:  The First Pagan Reconstruction

 This piece builds on these previous articles:  part I , part II , part II , part IV

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Pagan News Beagle: Fiery Tuesday, November 7 2017

Indigenous peoples fight for their rights. In Indonesia, a festival is celebrated with elaborate masks and costumes. In Germany, the country's defiant Chancellor seeks to rebuild her government after a tough election. It's Fiery Tuesday, our selection of societal and political news from across the globe! All this and more for the Pagan News Beagle!

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Pagan News Beagle: Fiery Tuesday, January 19

Hong Kong celebrates its religious pluralism and fights for LGBT rights. Indigenous activists in the Amazon fight for the environment and feminism. And the Japanese city of Hiroshima celebrates Martin Luther King, Jr.'s legacy. It's Fiery Tuesday, our weekly segment on political and societal news from around the globe! All this and more for the Pagan News Beagle!

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Pagan News Beagle: Faithful Friday, January 15

A group of Icelanders turns to a particularly ancient religion for apparently mundane reasons. The religiosity of religious leaders in Germany and Britain are compared. And the pantheon of deities in Chinese folk religion (also called Shenism or Shenjiao) is examined. It's Faithful Friday, our weekly segment on news about faiths and religious communities from around the world! All this and more for the Pagan News Beagle!

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