A discussion over at r/skeptic recently hinged around someone trying to find evidence to refute "spirits and demons" although they seemed less interested in hearing skeptical viewpoints and more interested in arguing in favor of angels and the like. Throughout the discussion the poster determinedly clung to the claim that demons, an evil adversary, and exorcisms where pretty much identical across the known world and this suggested that there was some truth to these beliefs. While I urged the poster to come here to this wonderful subreddit in order to learn more about the subject they didn't seem interested. So instead I decided to ask the question a few days later for my own education, and for future conversations of course.
So what are the actual origins of the christian exorcism, what rituals in other cultures have connections to those european rituals and what is a good way to categorize the broad class of rituals that deal with cleansing in such a way that does NOT lump them all under the category of exorcism. Finally when did Europeans start referring to rituals in other cultures as an exorcism, is this a very modern thing (20th century) or did this start much earlier.
Growing up I was always taught that it wasn't until the brothers Grimm that anyone had made a particularly big effort to collect regional folk tales, or put much effort into analyzing or studying those tales. But looking back I'm not sure that makes much sense. Humans are social creatures who likes stories. It seems like something they might have always done. So whats the story of these stories historians?
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Howdy everyone! So I've been doing some thinking about what else could be added to the game in terms of a new role. I've come up with something, and I'd be interested to hear people's opinions. I've put quite a bit of thought into this, and it might be a fairly long post, so proceed at your own peril! I've seen talk on here about the idea of having different musicians available to play in the moonshine shack (i.e. Bluewater John) and this was partly sparked by that - so if you were one of the people who contributed to that conversation, thanks for the inspiration! This was also partly inspired by the quest given by Theodore Levin in the campaign, but let's keep it spoiler free please, for those who haven't yet played through it.
The role would be called "Folklorist", and it would involve travelling across the Old West, meeting colourful figures, and documenting their stories for future generations. I find the history of the Old West absolutely fascinating, and over the last few months I've been working my way through Black Barrel Media's podcast series "Legends of the Old West", which I would highly recommend to anybody with a similar interest.
The colonisation of the Americas in the 18th and 19th centuries brought people from all over the Old World together, creating a fascinating melting pot of cultures, backgrounds, and customs. From this melting pot, a rich tapestry of oral history was woven, giving us some of the most well-known and infamous characters in American history that persist into the modern consciousness today - Billy the Kid, Pat Garrett, Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, Jesse James and the James-Younger gang, Wild Bill Hickock, Calamity Jane, Annie Oakley, Bat Masterson, Luke Short, Red Cloud, Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, and many more. Additionally, by the end of the 19th century, the foundations of many modern genres of American music had also been laid - the blues developed in the Southern States in the aftermath of the American Civil War, the seeds of country and bluegrass had been sown in the mountains of Appalachia, and jazz music was in its infancy in the speakeasies of New Orleans.
In my mind, the role would begin with the player meeting an academic or archivist of some kind, someone who is looking to document and record some of the rich history in which they are i
... keep reading on reddit β‘I am not familiar with his work, but his propensity for falsifications concerns me a little. Did he approach research in the same way that Campbell did? Or is his legacy much more mixed?
