National Story Telling Week

National Storytelling Week is a yearly celebration of the power of storytelling. It's a time to encourage the sharing of stories across generations.

What's the purpose of National Storytelling Week? 

• To celebrate the art of storytelling
• To encourage people to tell their own stories
• To foster a love for literature and the spoken word
• To help develop essential literacy skills
• To help people's imaginations grow
• To teach people lessons

Alex Fox

Setsubun (Bean Throwing) Ceremony

On Sunday 2nd February, there was Setsubun, the Bean Throwing Ceremony at the Buddhist Temple in Willen.
Setsubun is the day before the beginning of spring in Japan. The name means ‘seasonal’ division, but usually the term refers to the spring Setsubun, properly called ‘Risshun’ celebrated on February 3^rd as part of the Spring.
There were prayers for about an hour then there was a special ritual to cleanse away all the evil of the last year and drive away disease-bringing evil spirits for the year to come. We performed this ritual by throwing lots of beans into the air in a darkened room (also saying loudly 'Bad spirits out, Good spirits in 'to rid us of any evil spirits) and then picking them up afterwards and putting them into paper bags with some sweets that had also been thrown into the air.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/mkbuddhism

Alex Fox

Football

Football is a team sport where two teams compete to score goals by kicking a ball into the other team's net. It's also known as association football or soccer. 

How it's played

• Two teams of 11 players compete on a rectangular field 
• Players try to score by kicking the ball into the other team's goal without using their hands or arms
• Players tackle and battle to get the ball from the opposing team
• The team with the most goals at the end of the game wins

https://www.mkdons.com/

Alex Fox

Wassailing

The tradition of wassailing (also spelled wasselling) falls into two distinct categories: the house-visiting wassail and the orchard-visiting wassail. The house-visiting wassail, which traditionally occurs on the twelfth day of Christmastide known as Twelfth Night or Epiphany Eve (January 5), is the practice of people going door-to-door, singing and offering a drink from the wassail bowl in exchange for gifts; this practice still exists, but has largely been displaced by carol singing. The orchard-visiting wassail refers to the custom of visiting orchards in cider-producing regions of England and singing to the trees to promote a good harvest for the coming year. Notable traditional wassailing songs include "Here We Come a-Wassailing", "Gloucestershire Wassail", and "Gower Wassail".

Alex Fox