eurovisie
a publication of the study association for european studies
Crimean Cavalry | Genesis of Woe Media Monolith | Nursing of Goodwill Pagan Prophetics | Dissident Dialectic
UNCONQUERED LIGHT PATRON OF COMPASSION
November 2020 / www.eurovisemag.com /eurovisie@ses-uva.nl
IN THIS EDITION... 3 - CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE ARIANNE ZAJAC 6 - CREATION IN THE MYSTICAL DARKNESS LARA KRISTJANSDOTTIR 9 - THE LIGHT OF THE TOWER GEORGE BANDY 12 - THE BLINDING LIGHT OF THE OIL LAMP FREDERIQUE DE RIDDER 14 - THE CERTAINTY OF A SUNRISE ÓRLAITH ROE 19 - INSULA HUMANITAS NICOLAE ODAGIU
eurovisie Volume 16 Issue 1 Nov 2020
Editorial Jyry Pasanen Dear reader – Eurovisie is back! With new Rweejoice editors, fresh ideas, and ambitious plans, have embarked on a quest for renewal
and experimentation. It is in this spirit that we publish our first-ever fully online edition of Eurovisie magazine. Gathered around the theme of light, we bring to you a selection of articles as varied as the spectrum of colour itself. I need not go over the topics chosen by our brilliant writers as these can be found in the index. Simply know that I am very excited about this issue and our future plans – a feeling shared by the rest of the editorial board I am sure. Whether you find your day embrightened by these illuminating and insightful articles or merely by the shining screen you read them on, I simply ask you to bask in the light, in all of its glory. And, well, if you want to get involved that would be nice too: send us feedback, article pitches, poems – whatever – and we promise to continue feeding you, dear reader, with the very same content. In this collaborative and interactive mood, I conclude by introducing some of our new features and future plans.
Imprint Editorial office: Kloveniersburgwal 48, room E2.04/2.05, 1012 CX Amsterdam Editor-in-chief: Jyry Pasanen Editors: George Bandy, Arianne Zajac, Lara Kristjansdottir, Nicolae Odagiu, Órlaith Roe, Sterre Schrijver, Frederique de Ridder, Design: Julius Sieburgh
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The first among these is the newsletter. Sent out a week or so before the publication of a new issue of Eurovisie, the newsletter works as a sort of introduction, where we highlight upcoming articles and suggest interesting events, books, or approaches to the great mysteries of life itself. See for yourself! As for the rest, there is nothing concrete yet. If the stars align, however, you will be seeing and hearing a lot more from us. Perhaps in the form of an online symposium, a lecture or even a podcast, we aim, in the words of the Wu-Tang Clan, to diversify our portfolio. Shining salutations
Charge of the Light Brigade Equestrian Nationalism ARIANNE ZAJAC
he Charge of the Light BrigaTin the de was a failed military action Battle of Balaclava, during
the Crimean war in 1854. Of the 670, around 110 were killed and 160 were wounded. Most significantly, it was immortalised by Alfred Lord Tennyson in a poem under the same name. The poem of six stanzas documents the suicidal military action and seeks to memorialise the fallen soldiers. Tennyson was the United Kingdom’s Poet Laureate, an honorary title, which assumes the poet will capture the public mood and will write verse for significant national events. The Charge of the Light Brigade is a narrative poem in ballad form, its purpose is to tell the story of the attack. It uses a falling rhythm as well heavy repetition, as to communicate the restlessness and devastating nature of the attack. Every aspect is designed to capture the essence of the crusade. Although it was written just over 150 years ago, the feelings and themes captured in the poem are not alien to society today. In fact, they can be seen across contemporary British politics. The poem itself is intrinsically linked to British nationalism. The poem glorifies dying for one’s country, suggesting it is the highest moral duty of a citizen to their nation. This is iterated through stanza V, in which Tennyson suggests that despite the error, not a single soldier was disconcerted and proceeded with the Charge:
“Forward, the Light Brigade!” Was there a man dismayed? Not though the soldier knew Someone had blundered. Theirs not to make reply, Theirs not to reason why, Theirs but to do and die. Into the valley of Death Rode the six hundred. Sacrificing oneself for one’s country is almost desirable under nationalism. As a central tenet to its ideology, it incurs loyalty, chauvinism, and bravery. This has typically existed throughout British history, as the majority of men would serve in the army across the empire, while these ideas of mortality were indoctrinated to children through the linking of sports clubs and militaristic ideas.
“The time of the Charge saw a notable change in British military history and convention.” Today the British public has little appetite for sending troops abroad in murky military operations. But it does seem that politicians and public alike are willing to sacrifice themselves for other political causes, as the nation is currently publicly destroying itself over the nationalist misadventure of Brexit. The nationalisms at play within Brexit are much more complex than the type of nationalism presented in the Charge of the Light Brigade. Significantly, since 2010 there has been an increasing politicisation of, most specifically, English nationalism. Historically, it has been used to legitimise larger polities, such as the Empire, the UK, and even the EU. But this has ultimately been inverted with Brexit, as the UK Independence party (UKIP) successfully tied English grievances to the need
to secede from the EU. Interestingly, English nationalism often seeks to merge itself with British nationalism as a whole. This has been achieved through invoking memories of the 1940s, in which Britain’s ‘finest hour’ as well as the founding of the National Health Service (NHS) took place, thus allowing Brexiteers to take English grievances and ally them to a ‘Global Britain’ project. Furthermore, the poem seeks to create national heroes that can be honoured. The time of the Charge saw a notable change in British military history and convention. Previously, military heroes were typically gentlemen from the upper classes, however after the Charge of the Light Brigade, common men were recognised as fighting for their country, and in 1857 were awarded the Victoria Cross for the first time, regardless of their class or rank. A common theme that has emerged throughout the Brexit debate is the ordinary people vs. the elites. It is possible that we are witnessing an attempt, through nationalist discourse, to create English heroes. There has been a notably increasing democratic deficit in the UK - primarily affecting England, fuelled through the declining role and influence of local councils and regional government. As a result, the need to create national heroes has developed; especially amongst the working class, as a means for them to see themselves represented. This is especially true after the post-nationalist government rhetoric of the Blair years, which was also devoid of class-based distinctions. Politicians, such as Nigel Farage, have been particularly successful in manipulating this gap. He has effectively championed himself as one of the people - despite his background in finance.
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The language utilised in the poem evokes religious connotations; references are made to the biblical poem the Valley of the Death. This not only elevates the Charge to an event of great importance but also gives credence to some of Tennyson’s personal beliefs. A common theme in many of his poems is the challenging of traditional religion by science, something which carries through in limited effect to this poem, but is significant nonetheless. The Victorian era saw incredible scientific progress and shook European Christianity. This was a feeling that Tennyson could not escape, thus he often wrestled with the tension between the two sources in his poem.
“...English nationalism is increasingly politicised and its racist rhetoric is continuously legitimised,...” This tension between tradition and new ideas and values is not something that is lost on the present day. The emergence of populist right-wing political events, such as Brexit, can be interpreted as a backlash to increasing globalisation and the neoliberal hegemony of the 2000s. Traditional symbols, in the name of ‘anti-migrant cultural nationalism’, have seen a reemergence, such as the St. George’s flag and its corresponding religious day. This has been followed with the rhetoric of asserting parliamentary sovereignty and ‘taking back control’.
Howard, while Roger Fenton’s photography was one of the first photographic documentaries of a conflict. As a result, it was one of the first times the public felt they were experiencing an international conflict. Public opinion, in the case of Brexit, played a significant role from the start to whenever it is finished. Although the referendum was intended to quash internal party conflicts in the Conservative party, Prime Minister David Cameron severely underestimated the impact of British public opinion. Significantly, a new arena of political war emerged during the campaigning. While the tabloids took on their traditional role of giving contentious opinions, the role of social media was not yet known but had lasting influence. Within the online sphere, much of the British public was able to air grievances, converse with like-minded people, and rage against those who didn’t hold the same opinions. It was these interactions that truly set the tone of the referendum, which was nasty, vulgar, and hateful in many cases. As English nationalism is increasingly politicised and its racist rhetoric is continuously legitimised, the gravity of Brexit in British politics will be felt for generations to come. Brexit is the culmination of long-declining British influence and politicians’ inability to wrest the feelings of inferiority and loss of identity from the British public. As Tennyson asks the pertinent question ‘When can their glory fade?’ It seems that it already has.
Interestingly, the context of the Charge of the Light Brigade also bears reference to today. The Crimean War was considered the first media war. It saw the rise of the first war correspondent, The Times’s William
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Creation in the Mystical Darkness A decent Beyond the Self LARA KRISTJANSDOTTIR
is a small town Spointeyðisfjörður located at the innermost of a narrow fjord in the
East of Iceland, about as far away from the capital of Reykjavik as you can get while staying on the island. Covered by mountains and solely accessible by a road over a mountain pass, when driving into the fjord and looking over the colourful houses surrounding the still lake, the town of 680 inhabitants seems a world away from anywhere else. However, once you settle in this town that far away feeling is accompanied by a sense that still you are close to just about everything. Amid this sense of distance yet closeness, Seyðisfjörður has a distinct, spiritual essence which is accompanied by an ever-evolving, international cultural- and arts scene. In contrast to Icelandic summers which are marked by endless light, loss of any sense of time and unbounded energy, the winters are another story by far. With their unique qualities, the long winter nights are beautiful, cold, dark, filled with a certain weariness. Darkness cloaks the land for all but a few solitary hours during the hardest part of these months. Despite the additional layer of gloom as the sun disappears behind the mountains, as well as its geographical isolation, Seyðisfjörður’s uniqueness attracts even the young and international to dream of settling there, and yes, during winter as well. The town’s distinct artistic atmosphere leads you to wonder how the absence of natural light can influence the creative thinking processes, and creation in general. How can such a remote town of dour winters draw the attention of artists which would usually be considered more probable to reside, develop and create in the atmospheric and inspiring cities of Europe? The fact that Seyðisfjörður was constructed not by Icelanders
but by ‘foreigners’ (Norwegian fishermen had settled the town in the mid-19th century, and the Danes largely contributed to its economic upheaval) is considered to have contributed to the multi-cultural element characterising it to this day. Despite the town’s remoteness within the island - intensified during the winter as isolation becomes increasingly felt with difficult weather- and road conditions - the Smiryl Line ferry arriving once a week from Denmark through the Faroe Islands has served as the town’s lifeline for decades. It can be seen as a reflection of the unique notion the town has always held, of not looking towards Reykjavik but directly over the fjord towards Europe. This awareness has moreover fed into the uniqueness of Seyðisfjörður, its cosmopolitan ambiance, the high threshold the town has for foreigners, and for freaks, for untypical people coming to do untypical things.
“The young and the international come to share an experience of studying art; develop an interest in everything that surrounds oneself; and live the process of constantly conversing, collecting, and experimenting.” One of these distinct individuals was a conceptual artist known for always doing the opposite of the conventional, world-renowned Swiss-German Dieter Roth who first came to Seyðisfjörður in his search to get as far away from the capital as possible. Turns out the town brought him happiness and ease, nobody paid any particular
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attention to him, he was just like all the other freaks, those who had arrived as young hippies from Reykjavik to work in the fishing industry and live cheaply. A few decades later, around 2000, a particular ‘rural romance’ atmosphere had swept over a generation of Icelandic artists who came to find charm in moving from cities like Berlin and settling into affordable Seyðisfjörður - probably noticing a certain allure in both its electric summers and mystic winters. One of the most interesting elements of the cultural life of Seyðisfjörður is LungA, which for twenty years has been a yearly celebration of creativity and culture in the form of an art festival during the summer, and the LungA School, an independent and experimental art school with its main studio space in an old fishnet factory. An institution, a commune, a ‘situation’ in which artistic practices are experimented with as a way of doing and thinking. It is built around a sense of community rather than obedience to a certain authority and specific policies and hosts 12-week programmes and an artist residency in Seyðisfjörður, mostly stretching over the winter months. The young and the international come to share an experience of studying art; develop an interest in everything that surrounds oneself; and live the process of constantly conversing, collecting, and experimenting. The school is continuously developing - intending to never stay constant or the same. Since its establishment in 2014, every year two groups of twenty new ‘Lungis’ are welcomed and invited to take part in shaping the community and the environment. Persistently generating new understandings of the circumstances while learning to understand themselves – LungA focuses on self-reflection and the nature of the creative process itself instead of on particular outcomes, making it different from ‘traditional’ art schools.
During the summer, with timelessness and endless wild energy, there is harvest, celebration, and of course light. The LungA festival, having been held for two decades, brings thousands of people together to appreciate art, music, and nature. During the winter, there is creation. In contrast to the summer months, the winter in Seyðisfjörður brings a focused spirit, a specific state of concentration, and consequently a fitting atmosphere for experimentation. When speaking to one of LungA’s founders it becomes clear to me that in fact, in the absence of light, space is opened up for the generation of your own ideas of the world. As you are not able to constantly see your surroundings, you become able to make infinite space for different ways of imagining everything around you - rather than relying simply on what you otherwise perceive with your eyes. Boundaries fade away and creation is stimulated with a reimagination of what had otherwise been taken for granted or thought to be known. “It’s a place of unlearning”. The LungA school as a commune – an embodiment of the entire notion of community facilitating and enabling creation – a notion which comes to characterise the life of Seyðisfjörður. As the winter and darkness loom over the fjord and daylight passes from sight, what endures is the continuous; the mountains, nature, and above all the people. Living together every hour of every day - eating together, tidying up, and creating together - allows for a different sense of closeness, heightened by the darkness, enabling people to break down walls and be themselves. Further reflecting on shaping bonds between people: Along with Seyðisfjörður’s respected centre for visual art, art residencies, ongoing workshops, exhibitions and experiments, the winter sees smaller-scale, local festivals which aim to bring light into the community of the town during short days. Inhabitants’ windows are decorated, poems, music, films, and arts are shared.
One of the light festivals, List í ljósi (Art in light), inspired by the darkness, started as a way for the two founders from Iceland and New Zealand to get through the winter and celebrate the return of the sun in February. For them, as for most artists in Seyðisfjörður (if artists are even distinguishable from other inhabitants?) being surrounded by so many other creators throughout the wintertime is what inspires, keeps one active and occupied. “Energy begets energy”. Being able to view the wintertime as a phase of opportunities and togetherness instead of difficulties becomes a quality which makes societal life all the more beautiful. Perhaps it can be said that the mystical darkness of Seyðisfjörður provides the raw space to go within, explore the self and begin the process of creation, and as the long nights transient into longer days and the curtain of darkness is lifted by light, creation comes to be celebrated by all.
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The Light of the Tower A voyage into the Russian Media Matrix GEORGE BANDY
country that comprises nine Ild’sntimealand zones and 11% of the wormass, it can sometimes
be difficult to feel akin to your fellow countrymen. How can one connect with another that is over 5,600 miles away? Russian television has been used as one solution, though maybe not for the best cause. Introducing - Vladislav Surkov. A multi-functioning civil servant whose portfolio included “ideology, media, political parties, religion, modernisation, innovation, foreign affairs and modern art.” Until recently, he was Vladimir Putin’s personal advisor. Surkov is credited as being the “author” of modern Kremlin. From curating the new press, fostering pro-governing youth groups (notably the Nashi), to overseeing Russian foreign policy, Surkov has been the silver thread piecing through each layer of the developing Russian ethos. His ideological baby, self-entitled ‘Sovereign Democracy’, has been one of the leading political doctrines of modern Russia since 2006. Ever flirtatious with democratic values, yet remaining only a tease for true liberals, Surkov appears as devious as he is theatrical. Or perhaps those terms go hand in hand. “Lights, Camera...” On 20 February 2014, the Russian Armed Forces seized the Crimea Peninsula. This date is no longer disputed by the Russians (the Russian Ministry of Defence even commissioned a medal entitled “For the return of Crimea” to commemorate the date.) What has still not so whole-heartedly been declared are the months of so-called “hybrid warfare” that the Russians had undertaken to succeed on this day. The use of proxy fighters, undisclosed funding of rebel groups, the spread of disinformation, and ranks on ranks of unmarked uniforms. As soldiers
came to occupy government buildings and surround Ukrainian military bases at the beginning of March, Putin held a news conference to say, in brief, they are not our guys. To add insult to injury, he further noted that anything Russia might have done in Ukraine was part of a “humanitarian mission” to protect ethnic Russians in Crimea. “…And cut” A smoke screen played out on the global stage, so that Ukrainian forces, and other world powers, were left, figuratively speaking caught in their dressing gowns when Putin’s force came knocking. In the director’s chair steering the production was of course, Surkov. The way the annexation of Crimea has played out is a subtle yet compelling analogy for the world of Russian television.
“... they would discuss what the people of Russia should see, and how they should feel seeing it.” In the northern district of Moscow stands the Ostankino, a 540-metre-tall relic of 1960s Russia. Over its 120 floors it houses the country’s largest television and radio stations. From here, the decisions are made on what the majority of Russia will watch this week. Browsing the listing for the news? Try Russia 1 (Floor 96). Football fan? Well, Match TV of course (Floor 80) or maybe catch up on the latest reality TV, then there’s no better than the ever-so-colourful TNT (Floor 63). At the summit, floor 120, you will find the executive board gathered around in the conference room. One journalist, Peter Pomerantsev, who was starting a career in this world, recalled a
smoke-filled room, a deep humming in the air from the heavy breath of an all-male cohort of ad executives and politicos - all slowly sweating together. In this all-together unappealing work environment, they would discuss what the people of Russia should see, and how they should feel seeing it. This gargantuan building is nothing but perfectly apt as a secret lair for the country’s propaganda agents and - even more fitting their style – it is visible for all to see. Television was one of the first things to be seized when Putin came to power in 2000. It was Surkov’s philosophy that through television, the new Russian persona could be carefully sculpted and disseminated into each corner and crevice of the country. Surkov would invite TV execs on a weekly basis to confer with him in his Kremlin office. The upcoming program themes would be discussed and planned out. The TV schedule reflects a well-balanced, diversified, and holistic approach (all sounds nice so far) to create the perfect mirage. Political debates are broadcast, there are liberal channels popping up, investigative journalism is given something of a go ahead, and an abundance of reports are commissioned. It looks like the balance of powers is in place. “If it looks like a dog, and barks like a dog…”. It calls for a Turning Test tuned for democratic and liberal states. The new breed of authoritarian rule. Out with the outdated trend of simple censorship and ousting the rebels. The new style is to get entwined with the opposition, to climb inside each movement and ideology and feed it just enough so that it stays visible but not enough that it can rise up.
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The aforementioned Journalist, Peter Pomerantsev, ended up at recently new media channel (interestingly) named SNOB. Its goal is to foster a new type of “global Russian”, one that advocates liberal, notably Western, values. As may be expected, he questions whether his role there really does further the liberal causes, or if it’s all playing into those all-encompassing hands of the Kremlin. Its owner and financier is Mikhail Prokhorov, one of Russia’s richest oligarchs. Interestingly Prokhorov founded the Russian political group Civil Platform in 2012. This is after his first venture into politics in 2011 with the group Right Cause, which ended sourly. Prokhorov later condemned the party as a ‘puppet Kremlin party micromanaged by the “puppet master”, […] Vladislav Y. Surkov’. Civil Platform appeared to be an attempt at redemption. It preached the rights to democratic determination and freedom of the press. At some point it appears that the powers that be saw it crossing a line and stepped in to pull some strings. Prokhorov promptly quit his own party when tensions arose after multiple members of his party were found at a pro-Putin rally in Moscow in 2015. In the 2018 election, the new leader of Civil Platform stated that the party will continue to support President Putin. It is hard to work out where someone like Prokhorov stands in all this. Whether he is simply a front man who ducks out before any lasting reputable damage is made, or really the shiny knight of the democratic values he preaches. Whatever side he is on, in the end, in this game of smoke screens and crooked rules, you’re never really sure who is getting played.
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The Blinding Light of the Oil Lamp Sanitised Sympathy FREDERIQUE DE RIDDER
he chattering from the warm Tstreets cafes echoing through the have been replaced
by the dull sound of the wind emptying the trees. Kicking through the autumn leaves has become the highlight of the day. During times in which we find ourselves in dark isolation, is there redemption to be found in the legacy of the lady with the lamp? Florence Nightingale is remembered as the Victorian heroine who rejected the predestined path of becoming a mother and wife, and followed her career ambition of working in hospital instead. Driven by her devotion for healthcare, Nightingale arrived in early November 1854 at Semlimiye Barracks in Scutari to serve as a nurse during the Crimean war. During times in which healthcare for the poor was hardly accessible, Nightingale advocated for equal care for all patients. The lack of supplies and neglected hygiene in the hospital led her to the discovery that the deaths of the wounded were majorly caused by infections. Her findings inspired Charles Dickens to invent a washing machine solely for bandages to disinfect them, before Pasteur even published the germ theory of disease. A more relevant detail entailed that washing hands was a crucial part of the adopted pled policy of Nightingale. As a consequence of her recommendations on hygiene and ventilation, the mortality rate of the patients in hospital during the Crimean war dropped from 42% to 2%. Discovering that her influence has been rewarded in retrospect does not require much energy. Nightingale was internationally praised through initiatives such as the foundation of museums, erected statues and International Nurses Day the 12th of May, the day of tributing Nightingale’s legacy. Indisputably, many of the hospital reforms in Europe
after Nightingale’s research came from her direction. Praise was however never received by the sanitary or the supply committees of the hospitals, the hospital workers who were in charge of the implementation of Nightingale’s recommendations. Let alone all the ordinary nurses, nuns and volunteers. As well other protagonists concerning nursing who served for the soldiers’ well-being such as Mary Seacole, have been deprived from such a prominent platform. Mary Seacole, who originally came from Jamaica provided sustenance and care for the British soldiers at the battlefront. This however did not take place in a war hospital, but in a ‘British Hotel’ near Balaclava which Seacole founded herself. She had attempted to join the second contingent of British nurses during the Crimean war, but was met with disappointment. Even though Seacole claimed to have the right testimonials to serve as a nurse in hospital, she was rejected by the war and government offices. Twice. The fight for recognition could be interpreted as a battlefield in itself. Put differently, the stages for praise have been disproportionately distributed. It is fair to say that the illumination of Florence Nightingale in the history of nursing school overshadowed the influence of others.
“The light of Nightingale’s lamp does not need to extinguish when it is shed onto reality.” Whoever attempts to find material concerning Florence Nightingale, is met with a questionably large range of publications. Literature and the film industry about the Victorian heroine seemingly diverted the focus from Florence Nightingale herself, but anticipated the function her name was willing
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to serve. Objectification of the individual however, paved the way to mythification. Despite the fact that Nightingale openly voiced her disapproval of nurses maintaining individual bonds with patients, she gained the nickname ‘the lady with the lamp’. In a biography of Florence Nightingale written by Cecil Blanche Woodham-Smith in 1950 is indicated how Nightingale’s praise was being channeled through her portrayal: ‘She would speak to one and nod and smile to as many more, but she could not do it to all you know. We lay there in our hundreds, but we could kiss her shadow as it fell’. Even though Florence Nightingale voiced the emancipation advocating for women’s participation in doing ‘real work’, nursing became standardized in history to become ‘women’s work’ exclusively. This norm for nursing was subsequently accompanied by Florence Nightingale as the personification of caring. Hence, the historical narrative shaped the practice of the profession. Romanticisation went at the expense of truthfulness, which has inevitably affected the respect all nurses deserved to receive. In comparison to the weight, we bear mentally captivated in our homes, the hospital workers are currently carrying a more observable burden, namely the workload. The light of Nightingale’s lamp does not need to extinguish when it is shed onto reality. More than ever we experience the importance of washing our hands regularly, especially when we need our hands to applause for everyone who sacrifices most of their time and energy for everyone’s health. The oil lamp has been replaced by LED light, which possibly affects the warmth of a long-upheld dream, but at least allows all heroes to be seen.
The Certainty of a Sunrise Rage against the Dying of the Light ÓRLAITH ROE
after noon on a dull Southortly October weekend, I reach to Raymond of the Pagan
Federation of Ireland (PFI). The Atlantic rain comes in from the coast, as it often does, spraying the already battered front windows. Just before I head back to Amsterdam, I confer with a friend who recommends I take a look at the PFI. “You haven’t heard of them?” she asks slightly surprised. I have not. “I mean everyone is a Pagan around here these days” she continues, “It’s having a moment.” 1500 years, give or take, after its mainstream death, Paganism is having a moment. From his home in Kildare, a county just west of Dublin on the east coast of the island, Raymond responds via email. Our back and forth correspondence over four days crafts a clearer picture of Neo-Paganism in Ireland, and why exactly the organisation has attracted so many new members over the course of the past decade. This pre-Christian belief system is having a revival amongst Celtic countries and beyond; the disconnect with modern religion and churches has been rampant for years, so why now are people turning to Neo-Paganism? As Raymond puts it, “a very common feeling in discovering Paganism, is the feeling of coming home.” This sense of “home” finds itself at the very core of Paganism’s rebirth. Today we can accept that the Irish Pagan calendar is comprised of, as author and co-founder of the Irish Pagan School Lora O’Brien puts it, two ‘wheel-like’ calendars that run simultaneously to one another; one represents the Four Fire festivals, the other the four Cross Quarters. O’Brien breaks down both wheels like this: the former maintaining a focus on “Hearth, Home and the Otherworld”, and the latter with a focus on “the Land & Sovereignty, and this World.” It is often difficult to
assemble a timeline and understanding of pre-Christian Celtic religion; the Celts wrote little to nothing down about their pagan beliefs during this time. There are of course discrepancies about whether certain festivals were linked to Paganism, or to separate cultural or spiritual beliefs before Christianity. To pinpoint exactly the makeup of Paganism before the 19th century is beyond our current reach, but there is little doubt about a broader grouping of Celtic Paganism that has outlasted the arrival of Christianity in order to remain present in the modern world. When I ask Raymond, what drew him to Paganism, his answer is warmly succinct, homely even, “The lack of dogma, and a gradual dawning of my place in relation to the Earth,” he explained, “many Pagans say that they were always Pagan, and that Paganism is the spirituality that they were born with, with it taking them time and life experience to realise it.” This is the same sentiment that echoes throughout the revival of Pagan festivities every spring and late autumn and the re-birth of ceremony around the winter and summer solstices. It is not difficult nowadays to find a Samhain festival of fire and light (particularly in Ireland and Scotland), of people wrapped in warm knits and cloaks on a damp and crisp October 31st, feeding the names of their ancestors to the bonfire around which they gather. Halloween’s original predecessor is steadily returning; after the ceremony and festivity, people head for food and drinks, traditional music, the swapping of stories. The night’s celebrations are rooted in community and the steadfast belief that all who gather belong. There has been a clear resurgence in Neo-Paganism over the past decade, namely in Celtic countries, but also in Nordic
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regions. I wonder, was there a precise turning point, a shift in cultural opinion that can explain this rebirth? Raymond cannot pinpoint an exact moment in time, but views it instead as a gradual sea change, “As societies have become more secular, exploring alternative spiritual paths has led many to Paganism,” he says, “Paganism offers a deep and personal connection to one’s land and ancestors, and a feeling of being rooted and permanently in connection with one’s surroundings, supporting one’s emotional growth; a feeling that can frequently be absent in a seemingly disposable and transient world.” The sense of ‘community’ present in modern Paganism has been a huge part in its new lease of life. In a world of increasing pressures on one’s wellbeing, a growing detachment from any form of faith, and a soaring sense of impending doom, the idea of being part of a community bound by understanding and appreciation for nature does not seem all that bad. The grounding character of Paganism seems to attract both lost souls and found beings; there is nothing that captures this essence more than the Fire Festivals. As a child I grew up fascinated by the Seán na Gealaí turnip heads, by tales of the opened burial mounds, and of our ancestors preparing to warn off the wandering dead souls who returned to roam the earth, marking the arrival of the Gaelic winter. However, the true meaning of the Fire Festivals like Samhain and Bealtaine go far beyond tales and stories. As is frequently quoted as an authentic explainer, the fires of these festivals were, “a kind of imitative or sympathetic magic – they mimicked the Sun, helping the “powers of growth” and holding back the decay and darkness of winter”. They are the constant reminder that light returns and will continue to do so as long as the earth revolves.
There are many personal meanings to the festivals for individual Pagans; I ask Raymond what they mean to him. “For myself, the fires represent an externalised form of the life force that dwells within everyone,” he explains, “Samhain and Bealtaine were traditionally a time of cattle relocation from summer to winter feeding grounds for Irish pastoral peoples. The livestock were driven between two fires to remove parasites from their hides, so they are also seen as a purification, and a remembrance of ancestors who have passed.” Like many people across the world, the sense of suffocation and loneliness stemming from the pandemic began to grow on me over the past few weeks and months. For many, the looming seasonal depression approaching does not help in the bolstering of spirits. Raymond seems to possess a balanced mindset heading into the darkness of the oncoming winter, and with younger generations increasingly losing faith in churches and organised religion, I wonder how a Pagan faces up to the isolation and fear of the coronavirus. “Every winter is dark,” Raymond offers, “and many feel closed in by the darkness, and are unable or unwilling to venture into it. But social isolation is a constant thing, not restricted to winter.” In the past, as is common in many regions, a society lacking in capital wealth and ‘power’ in the traditional sense forges their own path in everyday life; community becomes the focal point of people, not colonisation or war, expansion or conquering. Storytelling surfaces as the survival of a clan, of a nation. The same goes for Pagan Celts. “The culture of storytelling from Samhain to Bealtaine was a way of people gathering to share their experiences in the dark months,” Raymond says, “and to prevent any one person from feeling isolated, even if they lived alone.” How does this apply to the cur-
rent global situation then? Raymond draws a parallel to modern communication methods, “[they] make this connection to others easier to maintain, but many feel embarrassed to reach out for help, and so a reason to gather, even online, is a good thing for mental health and wellbeing.” For years now there has been talk about turning the Samhain weekend in Ireland into a concrete cultural event by the government, attracting tourists from all over the world, similar to St. Patrick’s Day (but with a notably less tacky and careless feel, and a greater emphasis on mythology and folklore). The original Halloween festival has long been a source of mystic pride and wonder, and with the dwindling power of the Catholic church in the country, this may finally be possible. To solidify the officiality and celebration of Samhain, both nationally and internationally, would mark a momentous shift in cultural norms. In Ireland at least, it would cement the growing embrace of Paganism as a spirituality welcoming to all. The coronavirus pandemic has led to humans reflecting on life more than ever before. We have all reached new conclusions, unearthed fresh revelations and thought deeply about our futures. It has been the little comforts and delights that has let many of us survive thus far. The absence of light in the winter ahead presents a challenge for all. With this in mind, how then, did the importance placed on light by Pagans establish the festivals and rituals that came to be? In my quest to seek renewed hope, I ask Raymond what these Pagan festivals can offer us today. “The amount of light marked the changing of the seasons, and were important markers for those who, of necessity, lived in close harmony with the land.” he says, “The idea of observing a seasonal cycle has largely disap-
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peared from industrialised nations, as most people do not farm for a living … By connecting to one’s own land, one can help it to overcome the challenges that modern life imposes on it.” One can take it that the connection to the land here implies that we are all creatures of the earth, and to disregard our nature is to disregard our home; this in itself is a spirituality . As my correspondence with Raymond neared its conclusion, nature seemed to present itself differently to me. As October turned into November, my final walks at home were filled with a renewed sense of connection and relief. The fields surrounding my house were damp and shining, sparkling raindrops jumped out at me amidst the darkening days; as if preparing for battle, nature seemed to side with me, pulling me close to its promise of a better future. Is this the key to our survival? The siding with, and protection of our environment? Raymond seems to think so, “If we all take personal responsibility for creating a better environment locally, we will all benefit.” It is true that the Pagans of Pre-Christian times depended on the return of light, and the certain arrival of brighter days in spring. There are a multitude of reasons that explain the rebirth of Paganism in Ireland and beyond, but one key factor is more prominent than any – it offers hope. Raymond understands why many will struggle to cope with the oncoming winter, but he urges people to remember one thing, “Every sunrise brings hope,” he says, “and the more we listen to the needs of the land on which we depend for our own survival, the more sunrises each one of us will get to witness.”
Insula Humanitas The Pen is Mightier NICOLAE ODAGIU
1989 – hilst the other Communist satellite states are passing through a pacifist Velvet Revolution, Romania is facing a bloody Revolution which culminates with the trial and execution of the Ceausescu family on Christmas day. These events layered the base of what Romania is today. Shortly after, the entire state had to be reformed in order to permit the liberal ideas and concepts of democracy and capitalism to pass through. Along with this, the political and economic apparatus of the state had to be reformed, an ambiguous process which was slowed down due to power struggles and political crises along the way to design Romania as we know it today. Besides the steps that had to be taken into consolidating the new state, the first Prime Minister, Petre Roman, was interested in reconstructing Romania culturally due to the consequences of decades worth of communist propaganda, Ceausescu’s personality cult, and ideology. As a result, in the first cabinet of ministers, Walter Roman proposed Andrei Plesu for the candidacy of the Minister of Culture. Plesu, who until the Revolution spent his time in exile in Tescani, due to his implications in the Transcendental Movement, (for which he was excluded from the Communist Party in 1983), found himself in front of a significant task that required a subtle and professional approach. The main accomplishments of his office were the conversion of the Museum of Romanian’s Communist Party to the Peasant Museum, marking a return and an awakening of the national consciousness, as well as the metamorphosis of the main propaganda organ to a publishing house known as Humanitas.
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“Once Liiceanu took charge of the entire process of reviving the arts, a genuinely luminous kindle appeared.” Andrei Plesu, writer, philosopher and anthropologist, proposed Gabriel Liiceanu, another influential and fundamental philosopher that Romania has to offer, and one of Plesu’s closest friends, the candidacy for this new publishing house. Interestingly enough, the office of this ideological institution, which resembles the imposing Stalinist architecture of the Lomonosov University, was called Scanteia (Kindle) from the name of the main Newspaper of the Communist Party. The chosen name for the publishing house, Humanitas, was not aleatory. Liiceanu, who translated Heidegger’s Sein und Zeit in Romanian found the name for the publishing house in Heidegger’s Letter on Humanism, where he discusses the translation of paideia through humanitas for homo romanus, which means eruditio et institutio in bonas artes or cultivation and formation of virtues. Once Liiceanu took charge of the entire process of reviving the arts, a genuinely luminous kindle appeared. Liiceanu, in one of his latest interviews, talks about the difficulties of resetting such an institution with all of its employees who only had experience with editing politicized texts in favour of the Communist Party.
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The main objective of the publishing house, Humanitas, was to publish authors that were censored, banned and exiled during Ceausescu’s regime. Authors like Emil Cioran, Constantin Noica, Eugene Ionescu, Monica Lovinescu, Andrei Plesu, Mircea Cartarescu and many more were published in Romania for the first time. “The Pitesti Phenomenon” by Virgil Ierunca caused an astonishing stir, being a book centred on the victims of the re-education and brainwashing torture that the enemies of the regime had to pass through in the Pitesti prison. Humanitas gave value and projected, as through a prism, waves of lights upon everything that had been classified as abjection crimes, lies, duplicity, and betrayal for decades. It became the emblem of a collective moral recovery, said Liiceanu. Furthermore, he emphasized the never-ending lines of people looking for these books once they were published in the early 90s. As he expressed himself, the drought in the fields of literature and arts made itself felt as the thirst for knowledge was observed. Insula (The Island) Humanitas – this is how Liiceanu presents 30 years’ worth of hard work in his latest book with the same title, which presents a nostalgic retrospective in the steps that had to be taken for Humanitas to stand with pride on the position that it has today. Insula as in island or also as in the small part deeply located within our brains with cognitive functions? In the daily functioning of our brains, the insula is responsible for our self-awareness, perception of pain, love, emotions, enjoyment, and everything else that is connected to our perceptions. Perhaps Humanitas is responsible for such neurotic synapses and sparks on a higher level. Today envy arises from multiple publishing houses which are striving to achieve such a considerable weight and significance – all of this at the benefit of the reader.
“Humanitas gave value and projected, as through a prism, waves of lights upon everything that had been classified as abjection crimes,...” In 2020, thirty years later after the privatisation of this political publishing house and its magnificent reorientation, it is wrong to talk about Humanitas as just an ordinary publishing house. Today one of its main bookshops, Libraria Humanitas Cismigiu represents a veritable book salon, a launching ramp for new authors and a room for discussion. It is a cultural institution, an island of light which actively promotes good literature. Until today, almost 3000 titles and more than 30 million books have been published and lately it aims to publishing even more and in other languages too. It is widely called an alternative pillar to the Ministry of Education due to its significant importance in the cultural life.
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