Intention Announcement From Lesorciercanadien - Writing A Book For Acadian And Quebecois Folk Practitioners

Let there be light!

The first woodland walk of autumn 2023

Folk Ways for an Acadian or French Canadian folk practitioner -The Heavens

Here are some Acadian folk beliefs tied to the skies and its celestial bodies. It is to note that Acadians lived by the tides of the ocean, and that these would create all kinds of folk sayings. The high times of the universe "les temps forts" were when powerful things could happen, such as when the moon was at its fullest and the tide at its highest (a child born at that time would be destined to become physically strong), or the night would be at its absolute darkest (when "revenants" or deadwalkers/ghosts were known to visit their family homes.)

*My painting of the Virgin Mary is in progress meanwhile.*

The Moon

When the moon is full, it's an opportune time to cut hair (it will grow back thicker), to slaughter pork (it will sell at a profit), and to split firewood (it will give off more heat), and to prune onion shoots (they will grow more full).

When the moon wanes, especially in the month of March, wood cut to make fences will not rot. It is also the best phase to sow root vegetable seeds, such as carrots. Wood cut to make sled runners need to be cut during this phase.

When the moon waxes, you must sow the other vegetables (tomatoes, peas, beans) and grain crops (wheat, barley). This phase is reputedly so strong, it can turn a post into a tree.

When the moon is new, if the horns of the moon point upwards, it won't rain, since you can hang a bucket on its horns. If the horns are pointing down, it's a sign of bad weather ahead. This is an awful rime to cut your hair, as the hair will grow too quickly.

The Stars

It is optimal to plant your garden the day after a particularly starry night.

When the stars are "creuses", or not many in the sky, it announces cold weather for the next day.

source: Dupont, Jean-Claude. Héritage d'Acadie. Collection Connaissance, editions Leméac, 1977.

"Totentanz/Danse Macabre" Probably one of my most well known & and most fitting for the season piece is once again available as a tapestry print!

Google Docs

Werewolves Tapestry Pre-Order 2024

Pre-order for the following selection of tapestries: "Shapeshifter" "Totentanz" "Transmutation" "Nachtschwärmer" "13 - Death" "Perchta" "Bi

Celebrations in Acadian Culture - Mardi-Gras, Ash Wednesday and Lent

For Christians the world over, Lent has begun! It is a movable time of the year, not always landing on the same day. It begins however, with Ash Wednesday. It falls 47 days before Easter. Ash Wednesday begins the Lenten season, where its objective is to practice moderation, repentance, fasting, and reflections on our spiritual lives. In the Scriptures, it reflects the period of time where Jesus, after being baptized by John the Baptist, wandered in the desert for 40 days to meditate and be at one with God to prepare himself for his mission on Earth.

The eve before Ash Wednesday (known as Shrove Tuesday in the English-speaking world, and Mardi-Gras to the Francophones) families make pancake suppers to indulge in one last sweet treat before the 40 days of sweet privation. In Acadian communities, on that Tuesday, sometimes the Monday prior, classes would be let off early so that the children could prepare themselves for a masquerade in town. It was tradition to go door to door, with masks and costumes and request treats and candy. Some festive seekers would ask for potatoes and lard to make poutines râpées (a potato dumpling) to enjoy later. They would sing: "C'est monsieur Marier, qui n'a pas encore dîné. Va dans tons baril de lard, Nous chercher du lard." and the hosts would sing back: "Mardi Gras, va-t-en pas, On fera des crêpes, Et p'is t'en auras." (It's Mr. Marier that hasn't supped yet. Go to your lard barrel, and give us some lard!" "Shrove Tuesday, don't go away, we'll make crêpes, and you shall have some!") These dumplings would be prepared in two big cauldrons or pots, one for the girls, one for the boys. Some would hide names of each person in the dumplings, and upon discovering the name, the person has to give a kiss on the cheek to the lucky recipient. Another tradition was to hide a black and white buttons in the dumplings. Whoever discovers a black button would be single for the year, and a white button would foretell a happy wedding on the way. It was also known that folks would pull molasses into golden strands to lay in the snow, and roll onto a stick to enjoy! It was also superstition to not go into the woods for firewood on Shrove Tuesday, for fear of being maimed by your own axe. (Dupont 287-290)

Ash Wednesday, a solemn day of fasting among traditional Christians, is meant to remind practitioners that they are made of dust, and to dust one day they will return. "Souviens-toi que tu es poussière et que retourneras en poussière." the priest would say as he would draw a cross from the cinders of last years' palm fronds or cedar twigs. It is a ceremony in which to reflect on our own mortality, and that we are not above anything in this world, but a part of it.

For the Lenten period of 40 days many Acadian families of the past would fast according to the Church's rules of the time, quite severe. It would include 2 ounces of bread for breakfast, a full meal at lunch time and a little snack for supper. Since the 1940s, the Church relaxed its restrictions a smidge, allowing most families who still practice to just avoid eating meat and fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. Many people nowadays also take the time to avoid sweets, or defeat a particular vice, such as smoking. Some pious families would even do a family rosary prayer every morning, attend mass more often, and participate in the Way of the Cross on Fridays and sing hymns and songs for this time. It was encouraged by the local churches that parishioners take the Way of the Cross to and from Mass on every Wednesday and Friday night during Lent.

One of them, a classic of oral tradition of French Canada, would be "La Passion de Jésus-Christ" (The Passion of Jesus Christ). One edition was picked up by Carmen Roy, from a resident of Port-Daniel, Mme. Zéphirin Dorion (born Philomène Roy) in the 1950s. This edition can be found online, or on the album "Songs of French Canada, Folkways", or on the vinyl Acadie et Québec, produced by the Folklore Archives of the University of Laval in 1959. Answering to St. John, Christ predicts his own death on the cross in this song.

(Lyrics taken from Le Parnasse des coeurs d'amour épris, released October 10th 2013). The French grammar in this song shows the French Canadian accent in its speaking, with emphasis on the 'Z' sound accompanying plural words, and a rolling of the Rs. This song, constantly evolving with time, has its roots in medieval France, from the regions where Acadian and Québecois settlers came from. An example of the song track can be listened to below:

This link provides different versions from varying regions in France, Acadie and Québec:

https://books.openedition.org/editionsbnf/471?lang=en

The Lenten Season for Acadian communities was a time of quiet. No weddings could be celebrated and no kitchen parties and dance nights. Young men could not visit their beloved girlfriends and many folks stopped playing card games.

The Mi-Carême is on the horizon though, so hold fast! Another post will come for this day of revelry and feasting! Just so you can also hold your breath while you wait!

Ways to participate in Lent

listen to the song in this post, and savour its melody. If you can understand French and appreciate the words, all the more to you!

take last year's Palm Sunday cedar twigs or palm fronds hung on your doorway and burn them to ash. Mark your forehead with the ashes, repeating the words used in the rites to remind ourselves that we are dust and to dust we will return. It is tradition to wear this mark for the entire day. Yes, even if you have errands to run or have to go to work.

take up a religious or spiritual activity you would like to get better at. For example, I'm sitting with myself every day for Lent to read the New Testament, taking time to understand and contextualize the words I'm reading. I'm reading the First Nations Version this year.

what do you feel like you could abandon for 40 days? Do you have a shopping addiction that needs curtailing? A vice you'd rather not have? Time to reflect on it and try to do better. The point is not to be amazing at it from the start. If you slip up, forgive yourself and start again.

pray a morning rosary if you feel so inclined! Being mindful in the mornings instead of scrolling through your social feed can do wonders for your mental health.

Almsgiving is also an encouraged practice this time of year. I like to use Lent to promise myself I will serve all my customers at my job the way that any human being deserves to be served, and take time to get outside of myself and empathize with their needs (I work in banking, St. Matthew help me)

References

Georges Arsenault. La Mi-Carême en Acadie. Editions La Grande Marée. 2007.

Jean-Claude Dupont. Héritage d'Acadie. Editions Leméac. 1977.

https://books.openedition.org/editionsbnf/471?lang=en

Bibliography of Scholarly Articles and Books

Abbott, Frank, "The Devil Made Me Do It." Popular Spirituality in a Rural Quebec Parish, 1736-1901." Journal of the Canadian Historical Association/Revue de la Société historique du Canada, vol 27, no. 1 (2016): 1-30.

Abbott, Francis A. "The Body or the Soul? Religion and Culture in a Rural Quebec Paris, St-Joseph-de-Beauce, 1736-1901," Simon Fraser University Thesis, Fall 2012.

Anselme Chiasson. Les légendes des Iles de la Madeleine. Éditions des Aboitaux, 1969.

Anselme Chiasson. Le diable Frigolet et 24 autres contes des Iles de la Madeleine. Éditions de l'Acadie. 1991.

Arseneau, Danielle, "Growing Acadian Medicine: From the Acadian Homeland to Nova Scotia Gardens," Dalhousie University. 8 pages.

Arsenault, Georges. La Chandeleur en Acadie. Éditions La Grande Marée Ltée. 2011.

Arsenault, Georges. Contes, légendes et chansons de l'Ile-du-Prince-Édouard. Éditions La Grande Marée Ltée. 2018.

Arsenault, Georges. Noel en Acadie. Éditions La Grande Marée Ltée. 2005.

Arsenault, Georges. La Mi-Carême en Acadie. Éditions La Grande Marée Ltée. 2007.

Benoit Lacroix. Folklore de la mer et religion. Leméac. 1980.

Bergeron, Bertrand. Contes, legendes et recits du Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean. Trois Pistoles, 2004.

Bergeron, Florence. A force d'amour: biographie de Florida Gilbert. Société d'histoire du Lac-Saint-Jean. 2008.

Bouchard, Russel. L'exploration du Saguenay par J.-L. Normandin en 1732: Au coeur du Domaine du Roi. Journal original retranscrit, commente et annote. Septentrion, 2002.

Dawson, Nelson-Martin. Fourrures et forets metisserent les Montagnais: Regard sur les sang-meles au Royaume du Saguenay. Septentrion, 2011. 322 pages.

E.I. Robson. A Guide to French Fetes. Methuen & Co. Ltd. 1930.

Gaudet, Colby. "Women and Acadian Popular Religious Culture in Southwestern Nova Scotia, 1795-1820," Vancouver School of Theology, thesis submission, March 2018.

Gaudet, Rose-Delima. “La place de l’Église catholique aux Îles-de-la-Madeleine” Sessions d’études: Société canadienne d’histoire de l’Église catholique 46 (1979): 99-106.

Karst, Amanda. 2010. Conservation Value of the North Ameriacn Boreal Forest from an Ethnobotanical Perspective. Canadian Boreal Initiative, David Suzuki Foundation and Boreal Songbird Initiative; Ottawa, ON; Vancouver, BC; Seattle, WA.

Labelle, Ronald. “Native Witchcraft Beliefs in Acadian, Maritime and Newfoundland Folklore” Ethnologies 30, no. 2 (2008): 137-152.

Lapierre-Otis, Rita. Angèle des Iles: Pour la suite de son monde. Jonquière (Impression à Cap-Saint-Ignace), à compte d’auteur, 1997.

Laurendeau, Geraldine. Inventaire des savoirs et des connaissances des Pekuakamiulnuatsh sur les plantes médicinales, rapport final. Ressources naturelles Canada. Mars 2011.

Lavoie, Kathia, Julie Mollen, Agathe Napess, Georgette Mestokosho et Priscilla Mestokosho. "Innu-Natukuna: La cueillette de plantes médicinales par des membres de la communauté d'Ekuanitshit" Recherches Amérindiennes au Quebec, vol. 45, no. 2-3. (2015).

Madeleine Doyon-Ferland. "Folk Dances in Beauce County," Journal of American Folklore vol. 67 no. 264 (April-June 1954): 137-47; "Carnavals et deguisements traditionnels en Beauce." and "Rites et voisinage chez trois populations rurales canadiennes (Beauce, Dorchester et Charlevoix)" in Coutumes populaires du Canada francais (Quebec: Les Presses de l'Universite Laval, 1972). Found at Library Archives Canada, General Collection F5419 F4 1972.

Maison Saint-Gabriel: Musee et site historique. "Capsule Historique: Croyances populaires et superstitions au Quebec ou côtoyer le merveilleux."

Marius Barbeau. The Tree of Dreams. Oxford University Press. 1955.

Marius Barbeau. Le Saguenay légendaire. Librairie Beauchemin Limitée. 1967.

Nicole Belmont. Mythes et croyances dans l'ancienne France. Flammarion. 1973.

Niemeyer, Mark. "Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's Evangeline: A Tale of Acadie and the Ambiguous Afterlife of the History of the Acadians." Canadian Review of American Studies/Revue canadienne d'etudes americaines vol. 48, no.2, (2018).

Pearl, Jonathan L. "Witchcraft in New France in the Seventeenth Century: The Social Aspect." Historical Reflections/ Reflexions Historiques, vol. 4, no. 2. (Winter 1977): 41-55.

Pierre DesRuisseaux. Dictionnaire des croyances et superstitions. Éditions Triptyche, 1990.

Podruchny, Carolyn. Making the Voyageur World: Travelers and Traders in the North American Fur Trade. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2006.

Podruchny, Carolyn, "Werewolves and Windigos: Narratives of Cannibal Monsters in French Canadian Voyageur Oral Tradition," Ethnohistory vol 51 no.4, 2004.

Ransom, Amy J. "The Changing Shape of a Shape-Shifter: The French Canadian "Loup-garou"." Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts, vol. 26, no. 2 (2015): 251-275.

Robinson, James M. The Nag Hammadi Library: The Definitive Translation of the Gnostic Scriptures Complete in One Volume.

Smallman, Shawn. "Spirit Beings, Mental Illness, and Murder: Fur Traders and the Windigo in Canada's Boreal Forest, 1774 to 1935" Ethnohistory vol 57, no. 4 (Fall 2010): 571-596.

Smith, Isobel. "Man into Animal: Lycanthropy in French and French-Canadian Folklore and Literature." Thesis presented to the University of Alberta, Spring 1985.

Tremblay, Marc. "Le cycle de la chasse-galerie: Etude des variantes significatives, de la diffusion et de la structure d'un conte folklorique canadien-francais." These soumise a l'universite Carleton, Janvier 1996.

Victor-Lévy Beaulieu. Les contes québécois du grand-pere Forgeron a son petit-fils Bouscotte. Éditions Trois-Pistoles. 1998.

W. Branch Johnson. Folktales of Brittany. Methuen & Co. 1927.

Wintemberg, W. J. “French Canadian Folk-Tales”, The Journal of American Folklore 17 no. 67 Published by American Folklore Society (Oct.-Dec. 1904): 265-267.

The home country has some good Easter candle lore! In the maritimes, fishermen would keep fragments of the easter candle on their boats! Guess I’ll do a post soon!

The protective magic of Easter candles. [French Folks Traditions.]

The fragments of Easter candles and other wax seals distributed by the priest constitute powerful protective amulets, whose power seems superior to that of Candlemas candles. In the Vosges, they attract money, and a person who suddenly makes a fortune is said to have "robbed a church on Easter Day." Elsewhere, on Easter Monday, a fragment of a candle is hung behind the front door of the house for protection; this Easter wax is also used to ward off lightning. In the Alps, a few drops of wax are dripped into water, which take on the appearance of flowers, then thrown into the fireplace during a storm.

The Easter candle also has a particularly effective effect against witches. It is slipped into the sockets of cows' horns so that they cannot be milked from a distance ; or into a child's shoe or cradle to protect them from evil spells. It also happens that several buttons of Easter candle wax are glued onto or into the butt of a rifle, so as to be effective against werewolves.

[Excerpt from M.C. Delmas, in the Dictionary of Mysterious France.]

Happy Easter to all my family and friends! I’m back home and finally got to wash my altar surface with holy water and chrism oil, and decorate it again! I’ve placed the Host back in the tabernacle lantern with a red votive electric candle, He has returned! 🕊️✝️🌷

honestly.. dream witch's cabin right there. "La maison acadienne" in the Annapolis Royal Historic Gardens.

Nativity Scene progress

I'm painting my Nativity scene figurines and scenery for Advent this year. It'll be a quiet Christmas season here, on account of my top surgery. Here are the Three Magi for now :) the figures are from Dollarama, and they needed some serious personality and color!