|
|
Post by Noriko on Dec 11, 2005 18:31:52 GMT -5
I'm planning my outfit for an event in January (Birka, to be exact) and I want to at least have correct colors, though I'm going to be short on layers (and thus, a few colors).
Anyway, the websites I'm looking at (Segoku Daimyo and Kass McGann) use the date "go-sekku" as a marker somewhere in the winter. When Googling "go-sekku", I get the dates for five festivals spread througout the year.
So is go-sekku in this case, the first festival in January or am I on the wrong track? I mean, it's not like anyone is going to notice my color choices but still... I want to at least try... (:
Thanks in advance.
|
|
Saionji Shonagon
New Member
One dreamed of becoming somebody. Another remained awake and became. (Found in a fortune cookie.)
Posts: 7,240
|
Post by Saionji Shonagon on Dec 12, 2005 0:43:59 GMT -5
OK, I have my copy of Morris' The World of The Shining Prince out.
If I understand correctly, the New Year correlates to the Chinese New Year, falling on the second new moon following the winter solstice - it will begin on February 9, 2006. Birka is the last week of January, so that would correspond to the middle of the Twelfth Month.
The Gosechi Dances are performed in the Eleventh Month in celebration of the harvest. This may have something to do with go-sekku. I hope? The timing seems about right, since the modern go-sekku is in early January by the Gregorian calendar.
Effingham? Solveig-hime? Ii-dono? Hopefully someone can elaborate who knows more.
Morris mentions Twelfth Month observances: the "General Confession" - sort of a Heian Yom Kippur in which a statue of Kannon, Goddess of Mercy, is displayed in the Imperial Dais and painted screens showing the horrors of Hell are set up to remind people of the need for penitence, with services held by priests to expunge the past year's sins. On the last day of the Twelfth Month, a Devil Chaser and his assistants work their way through the Imperial complex twanging bowstrings, shooting arrows into the air and so forth, in an effort to expell all evil spirits before the New Year begins.
Now, all that having been said, our Western friends at Birka have already celebrated their New Year. My best guess is that you'd probably be OK if you chose a post go-sekku kasane.
My extremely informal court outfit uses a kuchiba (dead leaf) uchiki, good for either "Yamabuki no nioi" or "Hana yamabuki" and that was keyed to Twelfth Night wear.....
Two sen worth,
Saionji no still figuring a lot of this out myself!
|
|
|
|
Post by Noriko on Dec 12, 2005 23:57:33 GMT -5
Thank you for the information. (:
I was thinking of wearing my aoi hitoe, well, my only hitoe and an "I ordered the fabric for it" single yellow uchigi in an attempt to at least have the colors that are present for ura yamabuki. If I'm lucky, the fabric will be wide enough to maybe maybe squeeze a second uchigi out of it.
I'm planning on saving iro iro (sans scarlet hitoe) for May Day.
When it will probably be too warm to wear it...
|
|
