Saturday 11 April 2009

Rahoroi




Saturday, again - time for some cleaning up?
Satur is the Roman God for agriculture, and the only day of the week in the English language that are from the Roman mythology. In the Scandinavian languages this day and the name of it follows Viking rituals - namely "bath day" (lördag). When taking a quick survey into other cultures I find that modern Maori calls it "washing day" (rahoroi).

I wonder is it also a myth that my ancestors, the Vikings, did bath, at all? Or, did both Maori and Vikings refer to a "mental cleaning", a refreshing start for the new week to come? Is there actually a connection between the Roman God for Agriculture and the mental preparation for the next weeks hard work on the fields?


Wonderings by

Anna-Lys


23 comments:

boneman said...

well, I like the idea of a 'mental bath' but then, maybe a trip in a closed tight viking ship below deck wouldn't always smell 'glade fresh', eh?

Rune Eide said...

It is well documented that our ancestors bathed (Snorre was killed in his bath etc.), but I have never heard that Saturn & al. did as gods (though the upper class Romans did). Maybe they just cleaned their thoughts from time to time. From what I have read they might have needed it.

Maybe they were just metamorphosed into clean ones.

Cynthia said...

I like the idea of mental cleansing,
to start the new week off on an almost pure note.

Hannele på Hisingen said...

tja, idag blir det vila i trädgårdsstolen.

Jag och mej själv said...

Mental uppstädning Ja det behöver jag Skulle behöva defragmentera hela min hjärna så den blir pigg och alert igen
Önskar jag dej en Glad Påsk

darkfoam said...

well, saturday was bath day in germany as well ..
but i like the idea of a weekly mental cleansing.

Leigh Russell said...

I could do with some mental cleaning. I'm feeling very low. Amazon.uk have a glitch on their system. They insist my book's displayed on their system, but it isn't. It's available on amazon.com and other amazon sites around the works, as far away as New Zealand, but not on my 'local' uk site. It can be preordered online from many uk sites - Waterstones, Borders, WH Smiths etc - but as far as amazon.uk is concerned, Cut Short doesn't exist. Unless people outside the uk order through amazon.com, my amazon sales will be zero. Great start for a first book!

laughingwolf said...

i rarely bathe, just shower! :P lol

what i really enjoy is a good sauna, but know of no one here who has one :(

Bella Nått said...

I love the design of this shower!
It looks like it will take care of both kind of cleansing :-)
Must be Swedish design of first class.

Unknown said...

Only saturday is from roman mythology. The other days are from norse, or whatever. Sun and moon may be regarded as gods. Lögardagher was the day, that does not have its name from a god. Our ancestors surely took a bath now and then. However it is not documented that it was ritual, or exclusively on the seventh day. So my guess is, they vikings were out worthy gods, that could give name to the day. In Eesti keel it is "laupäev". Obviously it is from nordic, too. The british had the guts naming a day after a roman god! The romans had stolen saturn from the greek Kronos, a nice chap, who swallowed all the children, he gave birth to through his head. One day his wife made him swallow a stone instead of Zeus, who is the ruler of this world. The romans call him Jupitar, which means "God Father"in sanskrit. He has no day named after him, but a nice planet.

Charles Gramlich said...

Hum, Saturday is a non-bath day for me. It's just for laying around the house.

Stacey said...

Good evening Anna-ys,
Mental cleansing sounds sooooo good to me, but I think it would take a whole year to cleanse me {:)

And whenever I am cleansing in the bath, I always wear a hat, #;D

HAPPY EASTER ((((((((hugs))))))))))

Stacey said...

oh, and I do hope you wear a hat when cleansing {;)

Miss Pidgin said...

Hahahaa...I did clean myself up around christmas...is it time now...again...iiiiii....soap in my eyes. ;)

puerileuwaite said...

To heck with the mental cleaning. That's what Internet porn is for. At least once a week there should be physical cleansing. Let's get in the tub.

Lord of Erewhon said...

The only civilized day in the «English week»... LOL!!

... And maybe the Vikings also sail into New Zeland... (some native americans still have nordic genes, and traces of nordic culture). They were brave seaman.

Kiss, kiss, kiss.

Lord of Erewhon said...

P. P. S. They didn't clean their thoughts... LOL!! They were no buddhist hippies!
Their iniciatic war rituals were to ignit the mind - «they burn» -, when they become «bears» in the rage of battle!

Lord of Erewhon said...

... After all this centuries, you sons and daughters of Vikings, have become so so civilized... what a pity! :)

Middle Ditch said...

In Holland:

Sunday .... Sun - Zondag
Monday .... Moon - Maandag
Tuesday .... Mars - Dinsdag
Wednesday .... Wodan - Woensdag
Thursday .... Thor - Donderdag
Friday .... Freya - Vrijdag
Saturday .... Saturn - Zaterdag

Happy Easter Anna-Lys

Unknown said...

How about "launderday" instead of saturday. The European Union may change the name. Nobody believes in Saturn nowadays. There is another aspect: my watch shows the days in abbreviated form: "M T W T F S S". (it also glows in the dark, if you want to see). The swiss watch shows: "L M M J V S D" . Once I had a german watch, but it was no good: "Mo Di Mi Do Fr Sa So" (and it stopped glowing in the dark after only few months). Btw, why do not weeks have names? 52 potential new names. Or 53 in odd cultures outside the EU.

imac said...

Mental or phyical cleansing, its good to do it.
Love your prev post too, poor Girl, expected too much + Perfect, no such thing I'm afraid we all have flaws, we have to live and love the good and bad.
What for another erotic shot coming soon?

imac said...

The Erotic shot is now here
http://imac-photosfromthemindseye.blogspot.com/

Steve Malley said...

Now I want to take a *really* hot bath! :-D