(Again...here I am...just catching up!) As I was reading this essay I wondered if my own baptismal church (built in 1752!) practiced something similar to rushbearing or haystrewing? I really do wonder b/c when I attended -- in childhood (in the mid/late 1980s) -- the church was still rather archaic.
It wasn't the original log church (which was the first Lutheran church in the county!)...but, it had no A/C, it was quite drafty, etc.. A real, old-timey affair...
I wonder if the church office might grant me research privileges? I will have to look into that sometime this autumn (I usually pick up my genealogy research again this time of year!). ♡
1752!!! Be still, my heart. What an absolute gem that church must be.
Keep me posted on any research you can glean through their office - I would be over the moon to find any evidence of rushbearing/haystrewing in the US!
I've heard of bringing rushes for the floors of the churches, but I didn't realize it was a ritual or festival in any way. This post is so lovely and rich! Thank you for sharing!
Oh I love this! I have never heard of this ritual yet in my imagining I could smell the scent of plant spirits beneath the feet of devotional beings, casting their medicine into the holy spaces, braiding into the symphony of God. Beautiful.
So beautifully-said, Rhiannon! Isn't it such a remarkable tradition? I love when chores or necessities, like insulating the floor with rushes, turn into beautiful rituals and the sanctity in that seemingly-mundane work is recognized.
In a visit to Paisley Abbey in September I think, they had a bale of hay and some autumn flowers, I wonder if that was a version of this. I love this post! Thank you!
(Again...here I am...just catching up!) As I was reading this essay I wondered if my own baptismal church (built in 1752!) practiced something similar to rushbearing or haystrewing? I really do wonder b/c when I attended -- in childhood (in the mid/late 1980s) -- the church was still rather archaic.
It wasn't the original log church (which was the first Lutheran church in the county!)...but, it had no A/C, it was quite drafty, etc.. A real, old-timey affair...
I wonder if the church office might grant me research privileges? I will have to look into that sometime this autumn (I usually pick up my genealogy research again this time of year!). ♡
1752!!! Be still, my heart. What an absolute gem that church must be.
Keep me posted on any research you can glean through their office - I would be over the moon to find any evidence of rushbearing/haystrewing in the US!
I've heard of bringing rushes for the floors of the churches, but I didn't realize it was a ritual or festival in any way. This post is so lovely and rich! Thank you for sharing!
Isn't it such a beautiful tradition?! I'm so glad you enjoyed reading.
Oh I love this! I have never heard of this ritual yet in my imagining I could smell the scent of plant spirits beneath the feet of devotional beings, casting their medicine into the holy spaces, braiding into the symphony of God. Beautiful.
So beautifully-said, Rhiannon! Isn't it such a remarkable tradition? I love when chores or necessities, like insulating the floor with rushes, turn into beautiful rituals and the sanctity in that seemingly-mundane work is recognized.
Right!? The simple truth of magic alive in everyday moments. I love that too 💞
In a visit to Paisley Abbey in September I think, they had a bale of hay and some autumn flowers, I wonder if that was a version of this. I love this post! Thank you!
Love this so much! Any time I think of rushes, I think of you!