Tag Archives: Thanksgiving

The Turkey

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The Turkey-By Angelique Duncan

When one thinks of Thanksgiving images of the proud, plump turkey is immediately to follow. The nostalgic symbolism of this magnificent bird at Thanksgiving is so synonymous with the celebration that the holiday is often referenced as “Turkey Day”. How did the turkey become our national symbol of Thanksgiving? The bird has a rich and noble history worthy of acknowledgment as one enjoys their harvest feast.

The turkey was once revered by Mexican and South American tribes as a sacred bird and in some tribes like the Aztecs, Toltecs and Myans was appreciated as a God. The mythologies and symbolisms varied from tribe and region based on observations of the turkeys’ traits and behaviors.

In some Native North American cultures the turkey symbolized fertility, virility as well as pride. The male turkey will show it’s decorative plumes and strut in an elaborate mating dance to attract the female of the species. The dance of the turkey is seen as prideful and arrogant with grand confidence. This mannerism was often imitated by tribes before battle with the wearing of full turkey feather robes and headdresses.

The turkey was also known for being a bird of great wisdom and a messenger of warnings. The turkey has been said to have a sixth sense for awareness of its environment and can warn of danger and predators. They will fluff their plumes and take an aggressive stance if they feel threatened; well before the danger presents its self. The fowl will become intensely protective and never holds back in attack or when confronted with battle.

Turkeys will roost in trees and elevated spaces away from predators and to have a vantage point to oversee their territory. In the sleeping flock one turkey will be “appointed” look out to give warning of danger. Turkeys have very specific calls, gobbles and screams that have meaning for communication among the flock, creating a fairly sophisticated bird language of signals.

To many tribes the turkey was considered a rain spirit for their ability to predict the change in weather. When rain is eminent turkeys will puff their ornate plumes and fluff their feathers and give calls and dance. The rain dances of many North American tribes are an emulation of the turkey’s rain dance.

Tribes attributed the turkey with the symbolism of bounty, sacrifice and generosity. The turkey was given between tribes as a gift of bounty and goodwill. Being one of the hardest of the large fowl to successfully hunt and its ability to feed many when caught, the wild turkey was often the game of choice for ritual and celebratory meals of the Native Americans. Unlike the modern domestic turkeys raised for quantity of meat who are sluggish and cannot fly, wild turkeys can run at speeds up to 25 miles per hour and can fly short distances at 55miles per hour. Making them quite the challenge to catch for a predator or hunter. The turkey was present for harvest meals as a special bounty, well before the arrival of the pilgrims to American soil.

The turkey arrived at its namesake as a matter of mistaken identity from Spanish explorers who discovered the bird thinking they were returning to Europe with Guinea fowl from Turkey. Given the bird was acquired unknowingly from the wrong continent; it was named for its origin of discovery. And so the name was given to the North American fowl after a country the bird had never traveled from.

It is widely accepted that turkey was served at the first documented Thanksgiving meal, although there is no concrete evidence of this. It has been documented that beef and fowl were served at the first Thanksgiving feast, but no bird is specified. Turkeys are natural to the southeast and southwestern states and would not have been prevalent on the eastern seaboard at that time. Some historians say that the intent was to find and hunt a turkey, but the pilgrims were unsuccessful and stories tell that humble crows and fish were eaten instead. There is a historical letter that was written during the era of the pilgrims that mentions a turkey being served as part of a feast, however the document is not in reference to the legendary supper of Myles Standish fame that is romanticized in the Thanksgiving tradition.

Although turkey may have been served at some feasts, it has been accepted by modern historians, that the turkey did not become the traditional meal of the holiday until much later. Many Americans would serve goose, chicken or quail in lieu of the turkey as the centerpiece of the traditional meal. Turkeys may have become popular due to the aforementioned letter written by a pilgrim, Edward Winslow, which referenced a turkey hunt before a Thanksgiving meal. Some equate the popularity of Turkey at Thanksgiving from a proclamation by Alexander Hamilton that “no citizen of the United States should refrain from turkey on Thanksgiving day”. The turkey was a symbolic bird in the nations beginnings and was advocated by Benjamin Franklin to become the national emblem instead of the bald eagle. The historical quote follows:

“For my own part I wish the Bald Eagle had not been chosen the representative of our country. He is a bird of bad moral character. He does not get his living honestly. You may have seen him perched on some dead tree near the river, where, too lazy to fish for himself, he watches the labour of the fishing hawk; and when that diligent bird has at length taken a fish, and is bearing it to his nest for the support of his mate and young ones, the Bald Eagle pursues him and takes it from him.

With all this injustice, he is never in good case but like those among men who live by sharping & robbing he is generally poor and often very lousy. Besides he is a rank coward: The little King Bird not bigger than a Sparrow attacks him boldly and drives him out of the district. He is therefore by no means a proper emblem for the brave and honest Cincinnati of America who have driven all the King birds from our country…

I am on this account not displeased that the figure is not known as a Bald Eagle, but looks more like a Turkey. For the truth the Turkey is in comparison a much more respectable bird, and withal a true original native of America… He is besides, though a little vain & silly, a bird of courage, and would not hesitate to attack a grenadier of the British guards who should presume to invade his farm yard with a red coat on.”

How the turkey became the official sacrificial meat for the modern Thanksgiving meal is truly unknown. However it is now a mainstay of the holiday and one could not imagine Thanksgiving with out turkey. When celebrating all you are thankful for this year and counting your blessings, remember to give thanks to the turkey, a bird of noble and rich history worthy of its own American holiday.

Angelique Duncan is proprietor of Twilight Faerie Nostalgic and Capricious Objects. Check out her artist page to find links to her shops and vintage inspired traditional holiday art. Visit again next month for more traditions and folklore.

Black Friday Cyber Monday Savings!

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The week of November 25th through December 2nd visit the shops of Halloween Artist Bazaar members for special holiday sales and offers. Look for participating HAB members shops using the coupon code HAB2013! Some shops hosting sales through the holiday season!

Participating Halloween Artist Bazaar Artists:
 
Twilight Faerie 15% off Etsy shop and Zibbet shop.
 
Lttle Shop Of Horrors 20% off, plus a free item to first 5 customers! Etsy shop
 
Jan’s Beads 10% with coupon code Etsy Shop and Zibbet Shop
Jan’s Supplies
 
twistedpixelstudio 20% sale during the week of Thanksgiving. Zibbet shop
 
Gothbunny 20% off sale. Etsy Shop and Zibbet Shop
 
Sauvage Raven Creations Etsy Shop and Zibbet Shop
 
Wicked Alterations Sale through Christmas Etsy Shop and Zibbet Shop
 
Cards For A Gloomy Day Etsy shop and Zibbet shop
 
Twinkleberry Cottage Etsy Shop
 
Rockerchic Boutique 20% discount with coupons. Etsy Shop
 
Jynxx Designs Eclectic Arm Candy 20% discount with coupons. Etsy Shop

Art By Sarada HAB2013 will get you 20% off. Etsy Shop

Set An Extra Plate at the Thanksgiving Table. Company May be Coming.

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Set An Extra Plate at the Thanksgiving Table. Company May be Coming.-By Debbi Decker

Halloween has come and gone, and for many it is a time to put away the decorations, and begin thinking about the next big celebration, that of Thanksgiving. No more spooks, no more worries of black cats, hobgoblins, witches and monsters. The door to the other side has closed.

But has it really? While there are two times of the year where the other side bleeds more readily into our everyday world (Halloween and Walpurgisnacht), the fact is that spirits can visit us readily at any time of the year. Especially when it’s a big family event such as Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving as we celebrate it today is a far cry from what it originally was. In far older times, it was a harvest festival celebrated by many cultures during all times of the year, depending on the growing season. A “last meal” was created using what was left over from the harvest, and everyone gathered to eat and share memories and stories from days past. In some regions, it was believed that the spirit of life remained in the last ear of corn harvested. Corn dollys or corn mothers were created using the husks from the last of the harvest, put in a place of honor at the table and kept until the next year’s harvest. Because so much depended upon nature, weather, and the will of the gods involved, harvest celebrations were a way to thank the forces for a good harvest, or in the case of a bad harvest, to propitiate the spirits in the hopes that they would look favorably on the next growing cycle and therefore bring about a good harvest.

Many of these celebrations were also a time to honor the ancestors. Food was given to effigies or placed on altars as a tribute to the ancestor or spirit. As western man and western civilizations grew, and different religious groups came together, other celebrations and rituals would spin off the harvest festival, giving birth to what we now know as Halloween, Day of the Dead, and All Saint’s Day, just to name a few. If you think about it, the holidays just mentioned are in reality a celebration of the dead and the harvest is simply the end or death of the growing season.

Honoring the dead is not uncommon in our culture today and Thanksgiving is another time where we can do so. Because we gather together and talk of times past, or events of the prior year, we bring an energy to the table that is easily tapped into by the spirit world. Simply telling our stories and the stories of our ancestors calls out to the dead and invites them in. How many of us have felt the presence of a long gone family member when sitting around the table and sharing memories?

So, set an extra plate that the table at this year’s Thanksgiving feast. Put a picture of a loved one on the plate and honor them by telling their stories. You never know. They might just stop in for a visit.

Debbi Decker is proprietor of twistedpixelstudio Art & Assemblage Emporium. Check out her artist page to find links to her shop and blog to read more of her writings. Visit again next month for the telling of hauntings and ghostly tales by Debbi Decker.

The Giving of Thanks

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The Giving of Thanks-By Angelique Duncan

Most of us have been told since elementary school the Thanksgiving story. That in November 1631 the early migrants from Europe to North America celebrated the “first” Thanksgiving feast after surviving the perils of arriving to their new home on the Mayflower. The story is told that the pilgrims were grateful for their first successful corn crop and for the help of the Wampanoag Indians for their generosity. William Bradford called for a grand feast of celebration and thanks. This story stuck and was passed on for generations and is the commonly held legend today.

However this story although some what based in factual events is highly disputed by historians for it’s complete accuracy of how we have arrived at the annual November holiday feast. A commonly accepted theory among historians is that the story of Thanksgiving is an amalgamation of many first feast that celebrated migrations to North America combined with varied religious and cultural influences.

Fasting followed by feast days had long been a practice of Puritans in Europe as part of Reformation that eliminated many more elaborate festive church holidays that had Pagan roots. The legend of the Thanksgiving feasts celebrated in North America of the 1600’s combined elements of the religious observances of the church to give gratitude to God for deliverance while incorporating the elements of ancient harvest festivals celebrating bountiful crops. Through out the colonies there had been many First feasts or Thanksgiving celebrations in honor of a multitude of hardships over come. giving debate to the accuracy that Mayflower pilgrims were indeed the first to hold a Thanksgiving feast in North America. Given the similarities of Thanksgiving feast and that of Harvest festivals many historians believe that these feasts were most likely held in the months of August and September. Thus, coinciding traditional celebration dates of Lammas and the Autumn Equinox, a more likely time to finish reaping crops for the season in New England.

George Washington declaring November 26, 1789 as a public day of gratitude issued the first official proclamation of a unified national holiday for Thanksgiving. However for decades after each state celebrated Thanksgivings on different dates with out unified celebration. Later President Lincoln issued a proclamation that a national day of Thanksgiving would be recognized on the last Thursday of November in an effort to foster the union of North and South during the civil war. It would not be until 1941 that Franklin D Roosevelt would declare the fourth Thursday in November to be the official national holiday of Thanksgiving that we celebrate today. The measure was an effort to bolster the economy and give an earlier start to what we now recognize as the winter holiday season proceeding the Christmas Holiday.

The traditional meal and foods associated with our modern celebration are closer to the Victorians Thanksgiving celebrations with interpretations of what the Pilgrims meal might have been. Our current Thanksgiving practice with emphasis on family, neighbors and unity surrounding a traditional family meal arose from a 30-year letter writing campaign by Mrs. Sarah Josepha Hale. It is widely believed that her pleas for a national day observing family and unity is what encouraged Abraham Lincoln to proclaim the national holiday on a uniform day for the country. It is from the writings of Victorian women to periodicals and newspapers of the their time that the recipes we now know became a mainstay to the celebratory meal. As well, the traditional potted mums, brightly colored centerpieces and horn o plenty marking the Thanksgiving season were the creation of the Victorians rather than the décor of pilgrims. What had once been a day celebrating the harvest that transformed to a somber day of deliverance and prayer, had become a festive day to unify family and celebrate home.

The Thanksgiving holiday as a day to celebrate family was further reinforced in importance in American culture after World War Two ended and soldiers returned home from war. The holiday took greater importance to emphasize family and a unified feast after so many had been separated from family shipped over seas, and was welcomed after the rationing of goods encouraged by the war effort. The nation collectively celebrated the greatness of the nation in gratitude of winning the noble cause of a World War.

Whether you are celebrating the bountiful harvest, acknowledging hardships over come or celebrating the gathering of family and friends, be grateful. During the day-to-day monotony and frustrations of life it is easy to forget how much we have to be grateful for. Count your blessings and all that you have to be thankful for.

Angelique Duncan is proprietor of Twilight Faerie Nostalgic and Capricious Objects. Check out her artist page to find links to her shops and vintage inspired traditional holiday art. Visit again next month for more traditions and folklore.