The Wild Hunt (https://wildhunt.org/tag/memory)
What does Ásatrú theology have to tell us about end-of-life issues? How does it help us to understand our experiences as we care for those with growing cognitive issues and as we develop those issues ourselves?
Siobhan Ball explores the folklore and science behind rosemary’s ties to memory, and also offers a recipe for garlic and rosemary lamb.
Some of us have gone numb and non-functional; others are deep in the season and lighting candles, decorating trees, celebrating the return of the Sun, and practicing so many other traditions and acts of faith and love that this writer cannot name them all. I, myself, am holding space in the in-between this year.
My father began asking me to go home sometime in August. He started with subtle hints – the aroma of freshly brewed coffee, random old music, and snapshots of shared memories. But I should mention that no embodied being in my home drinks coffee, and my dad left this realm 16 years ago.
Three things mark this season of death and remembrance for me: the severe drop in temperatures; the death anniversaries of many in my family, most specifically my parents; and the perceived closeness of the ancestors as the veils thin.