The Importance Of Traditions

And some ways we can safeguard them for generations to come.

In the Czech Republic witch effigies are burned on 30th April and 1st May. This is a pre-Christian tradition where large bonfires are lit to ward off evil spirits. The ritual is called Pálení čarodějnic (the burning of witches).

“A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots.”- Marcus Garvey 

The British Isles were once inhabited by close knit communities that shared the same values, traditions and worldview. Their stories, art, music and traditions were lovingly held in their hands because safeguarding their culture was crucial for the legacy of the tribe. By accepting the role of guardian, these communities forged an infinite line of ancestors that rooted their descendants to a place of origin. Our ancestors of old knew who they were and where they came from and they were immensely proud of that.  

The quickening tempo of progress, however, brought with it the agricultural, industrial and religious revolutions. Little by little the roots of these communities began disintegrating along with their folk memories. The young began moving away to towns and cities because they saw no future in the old ways. What relevance did tradition have in a world of factories, materialism and profit margins? Work was easy to find in the city with the manufacturing of soulless items that were cheap to buy and easy to replace. Without apprentices to learn traditional crafts, master artisans took their skills to the grave.

Over the past one hundred years, mainstream narratives, film and popular music have all contributed to the erosion of traditions. Travelling to exotic lands filled with colourful cultures while not realising that we have our very own beautiful cultures right here in Europe has also been normalised. A prime example is young people today know more about Japanese culture than they do their own due to the popularity of anime, manga and Kawaii. Many of these cultures have no bearing on our own European worldview, history or traditions. Without culture we have no identity. Without identity we do not know who we are and that is when we latch onto someone else's. 

British school children are now led to believe that the history of the British Isles begins with the arrival of the Normans, as apparently, Britain was a vacuum until 1066. I remember quite clearly learning about prehistoric Britain when I was at school in the seventies. Even back then we were barely holding on to our incredibly deep past. A school trip to the Iron Age fort of Maiden Castle was such an awe inspiring experience for me that it has stayed with me to this very day. But now those roots have been severed.

Clava Cairns, Inverness, Scotland are a four thousand year old Bronze Age cemetery complex of passage graves, ring cairns, kerb cairns and standing stones. Who would have thought that our ancestral roots go further back in time than the Norman Invasion!

If only young people could turn their gaze away from the mesmerising light of their screens and look a little closer to the world on their doorstep. They would hear their ancestors’ voices coming from the old stones covered in moss in the corner of a field or from a gnarly rag tree signposting a sacred pilgrimage site. If we do not show a deep reverence to our heritage then how can we expect our children to care? Being torn away from our folkways has made us strangers to our own culture. 

I also believe that the rise in poor mental health, lack of spiritual fulfilment and the yearning to be part of a community to be partly rooted in our severed folkways. We all have our own ancestral blueprint which is inherently ours and in this day and age it is more crucial than ever to reweave the broken threads that connect us to our ancestral roots. 

Psychologists have proven that having an intimate knowledge of our cultural roots, traditions and history is vital if we are to be well adjusted and confident individuals. Understanding our past and knowing that we are part of something much larger than ourselves fills us with pride and purpose. Traditions and the wisdom that comes with them are part of our human story and provide us with an identity and a sense of place in the world. By sharing these with others who hold the same values and vision, we create a collective identity which in turn shapes our work ethic, our sense of community, our personal responsibility, our morals, empathy and our respect for other people’s cultures. Traditional living therefore, has a powerful way of replacing unhealthy views of being in the world that many people possess today. 

An experiment involving fifty families was conducted by Emory University psychologists Marshall Duke PH.D. and Robyn Fivush PH.D. The experiment included a measure called the ‘Do you Know?’ scale which contained twenty questions that were meant to test children’s ability to understand their roots including the location of their grandparents' childhood, their parents’ schools and family medical history. The results found that the children who knew more about their family history had a stronger sense of self, had higher self esteem and dealt better with stress. 

Grandparents play a pivotal role in the lives of their grandchildren.

Traditions support a healthy understanding of who we are from a young age and strengthen family relationships. Research carried out by Professor Ann Buchanan from the Department of Social Policy and Social Work at Oxford University showed that the more grandparents were involved in the lives of their grandchildren the less emotional and behavioural problems the children had. 

‘When an old man dies a library burns down.’ - Amadou Hampaté Bâ

We live in a world that does not see value in our elders, someone that we can turn to for guidance, someone who has seen it all, experienced it all and has the battle scars to prove it. The above quote highlights the importance of oral traditions and the knowledge held by our elders. When an elder dies their wisdom, stories and cultural heritage are lost, much like a library burning down. Who do we have today to guide the young and pass on their stories and wisdom? Sadly the role models of today are social media celebrities.

Families have suffered and are no longer the cornerstone of society as they once were like the Celtic and Germanic peoples whose concept of family was much wider than our own. The names and deeds of their ancestors were known as far back as nine generations. They were able to recite their genealogies, recount tales of their epic forebears and practised ancestral traditions that instilled a sense of being part of something greater than themselves. They were never asked what they did, but who they belonged to; their clan of origin. There was no concept of the individual and it would have never crossed their mind because the wellbeing of the tribe was important to them. As the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius once wrote, ‘What’s bad for the hive is bad for the bee.’ Fast forward to today and we have scores of people who do not even know the names of their grandparents. Even family heirlooms are a thing of the past as photos and other personal belongings are consigned to flea markets and garage sales.

Traditions, be they practised by a single family or a wider community, are a comforting presence in an ever confusing world. They foster values such as integrity, respect and personal responsibility as well as help us to nurture connections with others who hold the same worldview and values. They also build a bridge between generations.

We are the next foundational stone that will strengthen that bridge. It is our responsibility to preserve our customs, folklore, languages, natural medicine, traditional crafts and music as well as life skills to pass onto our children so that they can grow up healthy in mind, body and spirit; grounded in the knowledge of where they come from and who they are. By coaxing these ancestral memories back to life we are giving them a renewed sense of purpose, safeguarding them for future generations. It is such a beautiful thing to live a life inspired by our ancestors' traditional way of living, a way that is naturally suited to our own human biology, instead of watching a documentary or reading about it from the pages of a book.  

A snapshot of Daniel Fazio’s father and uncle as they share memories of their childhood in the ancient fishing port of Cefalu in Italy. His family were on a trip here uncovering their ancestral roots.

A huge component of reconnecting with our heritage has to be language. Language reflects life as we experience it and is how we communicate our traditions to others. Without language it would be impossible for a culture to survive. 

Linguistic diversity has been on the decline for hundreds of years and of the seven thousand languages spoken around the world today, half of them are endangered. Language is the greatest defining aspect of cultural identity and the country of Wales is an example of a nation fighting to preserve its cultural identity due to English being more widely spoken nowadays. Cornish and Manx are another two examples of dozens of European languages that are being saved from extinction.

Ancient languages are being thrown a lifeline with many groups pushing revitalising efforts. Scotland now has Gaelic Medium Education (GME) as an option within Scottish education that provides young people with the opportunity to become fluent in Gaelic. As of 2024, GME is available in 14 out of 32 Scottish local authorities. In Sweden the ancient forest language of Elfdalian is being fought for with the help of schools and other language projects too. Learning an ancestral language can be a wonderful way to meet like minded people and a fun project to do as a family. Learning the language of your ancestors makes it so much easier to understand their beliefs, values and worldview. This way nothing can be lost in translation.

The Netherlands Open Air Museum in Arnhem showcases the culture and everyday lives of ordinary people in the Netherlands.

In 2015, the Heritage Crafts Association published ‘The Red List Of Endangered Crafts’ which highlights the plight of traditional craftsmanship. There are currently over two hundred crafts on this list from broom making to arrow smithing and oak bark tanning to slating. Every year sees more crafts being added or becoming extinct altogether.

The reasons for this are many fold. Firstly, the education system puts a greater emphasis on intellectual subjects rather than life skills such as learning a traditional craft. Secondly, an interest in learning a craft is falling due to young people spending much of their down time online or trying to keep up with their heavy study workloads. Thirdly, families no longer have several generations living together anymore so older generations are just not passing their knowledge on to their children and grandchildren. Even if parents have hands-on skills they are just too busy or too tired to even think about teaching their children. Traditional crafts were at one time deeply embedded in our culture due to these generational connections. 

In a day and age where most people want convenience over quality and uniqueness, artisans are fighting against the globalist beast. Every piece they create has a little part of themselves crafted into it; their love, their passion and their determination to keep their craft alive. Each and every one of them is promoting a set of values that corporations will never have. Traditional crafts are another thread that connect us to our heritage and by not only buying from these artisans, but also learning a traditional craft ourselves, we can preserve a little corner of our heritage for future generations to enjoy. If you have a skill, pass it on. Let us be creators not consumers. 

Morris dancing is a traditional English folk dance that has a rich history and cultural significance. The earliest recorded mention of Morris dancing dates back to 1448.

Other ideas to rediscover your ancestral folkways might be with traditional songs, dances, folklore and folk charms. Even nursery rhymes and fairy tales, as well as regional cuisine, art, literature and festivals are all ways to find that connection. Here in the UK we are blessed to still have some very old traditions such as the Burryman, the Whittlesea Straw Bear, the Up Helly Aa and the Abbots Bromley Horn Dance. If you are able to, visit and explore the regions or countries where your ancestors come from. You could also decorate your home with objects from that region or with family heirlooms, as well as visits to museums, art galleries and libraries. You will learn so much about yourself along the way as this whole new world opens up to you. 

I have found pre-Christian worldviews and spiritual practices of my ancestors to be a compelling aspect of my research and with so many passionate revivalists of the old ways starting up groups in real life, as well as online, it has never been easier to learn about your ancestral folkways and to find your tribe. If you have French ancestry, for example, you could find other people who practise Celtic Spirituality, Gaulish Polytheism or Frankish Heathenry. You could go back even further than that and research the shamanic practices of the bear cult represented in the prehistoric art of France’s infamous caves. 

Reach out to older family members if possible and while spending quality time with them don’t just ask about old photos, dates and names. Ask them about your ancestors’ life stories, their triumphs and heartaches too. 

‘If a tradition no longer served our ancestors it was tweaked or even replaced with something that did. They were not nostalgic, they were practical. Also keep in mind that every tradition was an invention at one point in time’.

One last thought I would like to share is that before you begin practising a tradition ask yourself why you want to integrate it into your life. The reason needs to be more than just preservation because it must bring an element of joy and meaningfulness to your day to day; something to support you to be a better person in the world. We live in such a different time compared to our ancestors so it is important that we do not just pick a random ancient custom, plonk it a thousand years into the future and expect it to make sense to us. If a tradition no longer served our ancestors it was tweaked or even replaced with something that did. Our ancestors were not nostalgic, they were practical. North America is a prime example of this with the arrival in the 19th century of Italian and Irish immigrants who did their best to maintain their families’ customs while assimilating into American society. Also keep in mind that every tradition was an invention at one point in time.

The path back to our roots is not a straight one. Our roots are a complex gordian knot that requires patience to unravel. Take your time and enjoy the journey all the way back to your beginning. If you have children or nieces and nephews, involve them as much as you can with the traditions you are practising or the old tales that you are reading (there are many life lessons to be learnt in so-called fairy tales, especially the original ones!). Bushcraft, bake, sew, sing them nursery rhymes, tell them about your life and the life of your parents and grandparents if you can, for it is our responsibility as ancestors in training to pass on this knowledge. I hope that what I have shared has given you some food for thought and has inspired you to find out more about your heritage and what you can do to preserve it. 

Of course this is not an exhaustive list of ways to reconnect and preserve our heritage so please share in the comments if you have any more ideas. It will be helpful for all of us.

Take care of yourself and brightest blessings,

Elissa

St Michael’s feast day, known as Michaelmas, falls on 29th September and marks the end of the old farming year. If you would like to learn about the traditions and charms associated with this time of year then you can read my Substack post here.