![\"flandersfield\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/482\/2014\/11\/flandersfield.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\nReposted from November 12, 2014<\/a>:<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Remembrance Day<\/a>\u00a0is how Canadians acknowledge November 11th. \u00a0In the US it is\u00a0Veterans Day<\/a>. \u00a0These observances evolved out of\u00a0Armistice Day<\/a>, which continues to be observed in some countries (or simultaneously.) \u00a0There are commonalities but the focus is different. \u00a0Our identity of ourselves as a nation came from fighting together in World War I. \u00a0At that time, Canada was still a British colony, and most of us thought of ourselves as British (or French, under British occupation). \u00a0We became Canadians together at\u00a0Vimy Ridge<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Passchendaele<\/a>.<\/p>\n Certain things have become custom on Remembrance Day. \u00a0We observe two minutes of silence to honour the dead at exactly eleven o\u2019clock. \u00a0We wear poppies pinned to our coats or hats \u2013 hearkening back to\u00a0Flanders\u2019 Fields<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 that represent the blood that was spilled. \u00a0We have a cenotaph in almost every town to acknowledge our local war dead, and we gather at the cenotaph and have a parade of our surviving veterans and our emergency service personnel, and then we lay wreaths for the dead (usually donated by some organization or another) and say a prayer (usually a Christian one; but let\u2019s face it, most of the WWI and WWII soldiers were Christians); and then we observe the silence and we go on our way.<\/p>\n We tend to take it pretty seriously and for us, it\u2019s a solemn occasion. \u00a0It\u2019s a funeral for a generation. \u00a0No one would tolerate Remembrance Day sales (as a matter of fact, that\u2019s been tried) or things like what I saw on the most recent episode of\u00a0the Voice<\/a>, in which Starbucks used the occasion of Veterans Day as an opportunity for self-promotion.<\/p>\n Another odd phenomenon that I think my American readers might have difficulty understanding is that our most recent war veterans don\u2019t think of themselves as \u201creal vets.\u201d \u00a0I have a friend who is a Heathen named Graeme. \u00a0He\u2019s done two tours in Afghanistan. He drove a tank through landmines and had mortars shot at him; a combat vet by anyone\u2019s definition. \u00a0But he believes in his heart that his experience was nothing compared to the experience of the survivors of the World Wars, so he doesn\u2019t have the veteran\u2019s license plate he\u2019s entitled to, doesn\u2019t use any of the discounts, and \u201cstands cenotaph\u201d every year so that he doesn\u2019t have to march because he feels ridiculous.<\/p>\n For the past several years my city has been doing their Remembrance Day ceremony at the local big arena, only laying the wreaths at the cenotaph when the ceremony is done. \u00a0And we (we being myself and my partners) don\u2019t think that\u2019s right. \u00a0If there are ghosts of the dead to respect, they are at the cenotaph, not the arena. \u00a0I\u2019m not sure why the city decided to do this; my guess is that either there were too many people to fit in the cenotaph\u2019s small park coming to the ceremony, or that the aging veterans had difficulty marching in the rain.<\/p>\n Whatever the reason, my family and I go to the cenotaph on November 11th to honour the two minutes of silence at eleven o\u2019clock. \u00a0And we are not alone. \u00a0Last year when we went, we found people trickling in from all over town as eleven o\u2019clock neared. \u00a0Someone announced that it was eleven when they saw the time on their cell phone; we all took our hats off and stood silently for two minutes. \u00a0When it was done, we removed our poppies from our clothing and, one by one, left them at the base of the cenotaph where the wreaths would later appear, and left as quietly as we had come.<\/p>\n Being Pagans, my family and I\u00a0also bring an offering for\u00a0the dead of rum, bully beef, and various tobacco products; which would have been a great day for a fighting soldier. \u00a0We leave this at the base of the cenotaph where the poppies go.<\/p>\n What we are watching here is the birth of a cultural ritual. \u00a0First of all, it meets a cultural need to acknowledge a significant event. \u00a0Rituals develop for that reason; to acknowledge significant events, whether they are personal, familial, tribal or cultural.<\/p>\n Secondly, it is entirely motivated by a sense of what should be done; by what feels like\u00a0the right thing.<\/p>\n Third, it draws upon the existing cultural symbolism. \u00a0As Canadians \u2013 indeed, as members of the Commonwealth \u2013 we collectively recognize that a red poppy symbolizes the blood and sacrifice of a soldier; and that our soldiers are\u00a0us<\/em>. \u00a0We\u2019re taught about this as very young schoolchildren; I remember being six years old and listening to\u00a0In Flanders Fields<\/a>\u00a0being read over the PA before the two minutes of silence were observed. \u00a0So it has a real sense of gravitas and of continuity.<\/p>\n Fourth, it does exactly what it needs to do; no more and no less.<\/p>\n This year, the ritual gained something else that made it even more powerful. \u00a0Just before eleven, a thin, elderly veteran in his dress greens walked up to the base of the cenotaph and quietly began to speak. \u00a0The people gathered as if drawn by a magnet to listen. \u00a0Even the city busses pulled up and emptied of their drivers and their passengers, who came to join us:<\/p>\n \u00a0