Canada Blessing Open Post

[kevintaylorburgess]

Since the topic of blessing Canada came up in the comments on John Michael Greer's blog, ecosophia.net, and it has generated a decent amount of discussion, I think it's worth having a spot set aside for it. Thus, this post. Comments will be welcome for at least the next few months, and having them focused in one place will be helpful.

Please note: profanity and unrelated comments will be deleted, but otherwise, have at it!

Comments

Tragically Hip

[hearthspirit]

Well, I've been thinking; there already was a massive country wide ceremony for Canada as it really is. In 2016, when Gord Downie was dying, over 30% of the country listened to their last concert of their Man Machine Tour simultaneously. And all of the proceeds of their (yuge) last tour went to his Chanie Wenjack Foundation.

Everyone loved the Hip - every province, every generation, every class, urban, rural - everyone thought of the Hip as theirs. The amount of love that poured out during that concert, and your in general...

Downie's lyrics are love/grief songs to Canadian history, and so layered.

This might look like a weird choice, but stick with me... I present you: Wheat Kings: http://www.hipmuseum.com/wheat.html

And see: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man_Machine_Poem_Tour

Dig that Olympic coverage...

Read or play with a maple leaf emblem to focus on?

Very interested in your thoughts!

Re: Tragically Hip

[kevintaylorburgess]

I think picking something from The Tragically Hip, given the impact they had on Canadian culture, and the fact that the sheer amount of love that went out to Gord Downie, it would seem like it has a good egregor already. Wheat Kings is an interesting choice; I'm not sure how I feel about it as a blessing!

As for the maple leaf emblem, I'm currently thinking of suggesting we use the flag: every other symbol I've seen suggested is problematic for one part of the country or another!

Re: Tragically Hip

[hearthspirit]

Well, first divination: bird augery. After I wrote that comment, I went out to work in the garden, and a Downey woodpecker hung around, drumming first in the (dying of old age) birch on the street outside my west fence, then back to the healthy young one in my yard.

Re: Tragically Hip

[kevintaylorburgess]

Fascinating! This does seem to suggest it would work. Hmm; I'd like to do my own divination, but this does seem to be promising then. Wheat Kings seems like an odd choice, but the more I think about it the more I the idea.

Oh, and loon

[hearthspirit]

And how could I have missed the loon call. Loonie.

Makes me think of a book I have "How the Loon Lost Her Voice" by Anne Cameron (speaking of Canada's national treasures)

Re: Oh, and loon

[kevintaylorburgess]

Huh. In a synchronicity, I stumbled on How the Loon Lost her Voice in a bookstore a few days ago. It looked pretty good, but I didn't get a copy. Next time I see it I'll have to fix that.