Jump Up
Good Times Throughout
the Seasons with Celebrations
from Around the World
Luisah Teish
Foreword by Angeles Arrien, Ph. D.
CONARI
PRESS
Copyright © 2000 by Conari Press
All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any
manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief
quotations in critical articles or reviews. For information, contact:
Conari Press, 2550 Ninth Street, Suite 101, Berkeley, California 94710-2551.
Conari Press books are distributed by Publishers Group West.
Excerpts from GUMBOYA-YA by Lyle Saxon. Copyright 1945, © renewed
1973 by the Louisiana State Library. Reprinted by permission
of Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Excerpt from Wheel of the Year by Pauline Campanelli. Copyright © 1989 by
Pauline Campanelli. Reprinted by pernission of Pauline Campanelli.
Some of the material in this book is reprinted from
Carnival of the Spirit, by Luisah Teish.
ISBN: 1-57324-551-8
Cover Illustrations: Kathleen Edwards
Author Photo: Gay Block
Cover Design: Ame Beanland
Interior Illustrations: Luisah Teish
Interior chapter opening shells: Kathleen Edwards
Book Design: Suzanne Albertson
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Teish, Luisah.
Jump up : seasonal celebrations from the world's deep traditions /Luisah Teish.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 1–57324–551–8
1. Festivals. 2. Festival—Africa. I. Title.
GT3930 .T43 2000
394.26—dc21 00–010168
Printed in the United States of America on recycled paper.
00 01 02 BIS 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To Damballah Hwedo, the Rainbow Serpent
To the Ancestors: My elder the Iyalode of Oshogbo, Nigeria
My sister, Ms.Joyce M. E. L. Robinson
To my longtime friend, Rev. Norma Tringali
And to kindred spirits everywhere!
JUMP UP
Foreword by Angeles Arrien, Ph. D.
Introduction My Own Path Toward Celebration
FOREWORD
by Angeles Arrien, Ph.D., cultural anthropologist, author of The Four-Fold Way and Signs of Life
To many people, the ideals of the Industrial Revolution—the never-ending desire for more progress, more development, and greater wealth—no longer seem relevant to our modern lives, yet we have trouble letting them go. If we are to survive in the world of the twenty-first century, however, we must reconsider our priorities.
The great historian Arnold Toynbee, through his analysis of the rise and fall of twenty civilizations, offers a larger perspective on the current shifts in values and lifestyles. Summarizing the principles of civilization's growth, Toynbee formulated the Law of Progressive Simplification, which reminds us that the measure of a civilization's growth and sustainable vitality lies in its ability to transfer increasing amounts of energy and attention away from the material side of life toward the educational, psychological, cultural, aesthetic, and spiritual sides.
Luisah Teish's lifelong commitment has been to foster growth and sustainable vitality within the human spirit. Jump Up is not only an invitation to practice and celebrate Toynbee's Law of Progressive Simplification, it offers us as well a wealth of worldwide seasonal holidays, rituals, ceremonies, stories, and ancient practices that amplify and honor the transformational opportunities available to us each season.
Educator
