xeno@austen.u.washington.edu (Xeno Whitenack) wrote:
> in microcosms, prejudice is used to engender hatred and thereby
>extract economic gains from groups that are slightly different, like,
>for instance, between the English and the surrounding Celtic descended
>cultures like the Welsh, Irish, Scottish,...
Just a light and slight clarification here. What we call "English"
is really a mongrel blend of several cultural & genetic groups who, in
recent history (the last 2000 years), were engaged on warfare and
conquest against each other. Welsh (undoubtedly the "natives" of
Britain), Celts, Romans, Angles, Saxons, Danes, Vikings, Normans - even,
to some extent, Irish, Scots and Picts - invaded the British island and
settled. After initial periods of bloody war, peace would come and
enemies of one generation would be grudgingly accepted by the next and
neighbors, and eventually, even kith and kin.
One of English society's remarkable features is its ability
to absorb and unify all these groups. But then, it's a small island.
Perhaps the principal factor bringing about this unity has been
religion in the form of Christianity. It was conversion to Christian
faith which fostered a common cultural and ethical respect. In this
regard, I estimate, in my very limited knowledge, that the presence of
Glastonbury was the center around which these changes pivoted.
And Glastonbury - the Isle of Glass, or Avalon - is a modest 500 foot
earth mound shrouded in myth and mystery extending back centuries even
before the arrival of the Romans and Christianity. It is the burial
place for many English legends, including (supposedly) Joseph of
Arimathea, St. Patrick, Arthur, St. David, and many others. Even today
it remains a center of myth and mystery as it is around Glastonbury that
"crop circles" have appeared for over a decade.
It's enlightening to reflect on the deeper, hidden role this little
earth mound played to quietly shape and meld English peoples & culture.
Glastonbury is like an ancient root continually accepting grafts of all
sorts, nurturing a common, united identity. I suspect in every land
there is such a hallowed place which for endless centuries drew peoples
and cultures, and nourished the emergence of a higher form of society.
Beneath the drama of history, always lies the living Earth.
It's, of course, tragic the English then became such terrible racists
upon their invasion of North America, Africa, India, and other lands.
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