Lost Traditions

I find it amazing how many things have been lost from my families culture and our history.  I wish I could have understood how important it was to have written down all the things I saw and heard from my mother or other relatives so that I could have them to pass down to my own children.  It is always frustrating to know that there are so many things that have not been documented and therefore lost to me because documentation was not a staple within our history.

This realization has become even more profound for me since the passing of my mother, the keeper of all the information that connected me to my relatives and our history.  My mother knew all that I needed to know and I figured I would continue to learn it from her as time passed.  I did not think about the fact that one day she would also be gone and with her would be all the history, recipes and even stories that I wanted to know and learn.

While I remember some of the things I was taught in my childhood, there are so many things I did not think to ask about.  I was reminded of this when another fellow blogger wrote about black eye peas on New Years day for prosperity.  I have such memories of my mother making black eye peas and talking about things like soaking them.  Being from the south, she was full of traditions and was a believer of symbolism.

I imagine this is very common in our culture and find it quite frustrating and sad to have years of tradition being replaced by current pop culture.  There have been so many aspects already lost to us and the fact that we continue to neglect our ability to make note of our customs is something I feel we need to really take a look at.  This is especially important for families like mine where I am integrating my birth culture with my Pagan culture and teaching that to my children.  In passing  down tangible concepts to the kids, along with history and family culture, I have the chance to instill pride and a connection that leads to a better understanding of who they are.  I want this for my children and I want to see the traditions of my family and my spiritual family preserved.  It is my job to see that through.

In my path to record traditions old and new for the future generations of my family, I plan to work in 2012 on a project to develop a method of recording our experiences and cataloging traditions.  Recording my mother’s recipes for snickerdoodles can be a resource for ritual cakes and the history of our ancestors could be a vital part of the Samhain ritual.

This adventure could lead to a deeper understanding of my own family history and for this I am grateful.  It brings me closer to my own family make up and to the roots of my mother; reminding me of the connection that will always be present with my mother and with my ancestors.