DER GEISCHDERSCHTRUTZ - PARADE OF SPIRITS: PHILADELPHIA

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Parade of Spirits Official Post: Remarks, "Rules," and Expectations for 2023. Please Read!

PARADE OF SPIRITS OFFICIAL POST REMARKS ON 2023 (Including a few "rules" and expectations): This will be posted in multiple places. Please do read. Our event is shaping up to be off the hook this year! Our new blog provides the back story that has been the functional basis of the Parade and much of the mythology that is depicted emerges from Pennsylvania Dutch folklore and tradition. Similar "shadow side" concepts exist in cultures around the world, and we invite people to share their depictions of their liminal beings. This is an inclusive event. No racist or bigoted expressions will be tolerated. Although, in the past, the Pennsylvania Dutch traditions were to color the face of certain characters in coal or black makeup to represent entry to homes through chimneys, this is not acceptable given the history of blackface in other, racism-based contexts as an oppressive or mocking tool. This event is about celebrating our diversity in our shared space, so Gedreier Ec

Devotions to the Goddess Saaga

Stacey Lynne Stewart and Robert L. Schreiwer are looking to increase the presence of devotional items to more deities within the Urglaawe context. This year (2023), we are encouraging people to write poems or stories, draw/paint pictures, create images, sing songs, and more to the goddess Saaga. Saaga is a goddess associated with creativity, art, music, and history, so it is appropriate that we begin this annual project in Her honor. Works submitted to us prior to December 5, 2023, will be set on the stage, read, or otherwise utilized at Philadelphia’s Parade of Spirits on Saturday, December 9, 2023. Those who are able to attend the Parade are invited to read their work or sing their song during the entertainment portion of the Parade. Who Is Saaga? Allow us to introduce Her to you through a poem Stacey wrote last year: She is the story She is the song She is the poem She is the laughter She is the tear She is the memory She is the grand painting of the master, and the humble cr

12th Annual PARADE OF SPIRITS - DER GEISCHDERSCHTRUTZ

12th Annual PARADE OF SPIRITS ( DER GEISCHDERSCHTRUTZ ) Liberty Lands Park 913 N. 3rd Street Philadelphia, PA Saturday, December 10, 2022 16:00/4:00 PM PARTICIPATORY PARADE: The Parade of Spirits is a family-friendly, grassroots, community-led event rooted originally in Alpine Germanic and Pennsylvania Dutch, but we encourage participants to share expressions from all cultures and backgrounds. Participants are to dress up in costumes reflecting the shady, shadowy, or downright dark-side characters from lore around the world. Costumes may be as simple as donning ghoulish makeup to appear as a spirit on the Wild Hunt to as elaborate as a full-on Krampus costume. Hand-made or hand-assembled costuming is preferred, though commercial Krampus costumes are welcomed. BRING NOISEMAKERS! This is most certainly -not- a quiet event! Assemble in Liberty Lands Park (913 N. 3rd Street, Philadelphia, PA) anytime around 16:00/4:00 PM. Opening remarks begin just prior to sunset, and the Parade steps ont

Parade of Spirits: Post-Parade Commentary

The Parade of Spirits this year was easily our largest. The estimate, by consensus, is that over 600 people attended! Many thanks to my fellow organizers, Janet Finegar and Linda Soffer, for helping to make this event a success! Thanks also to Lorenda and to Aly for the excellent entertainment following the Parade! Neil Kohl, as always, we owe you a debt of gratitude for donating your photography skills and your images! My personal gratitude goes out to Stacey Stewart for the official poster and other artwork, to Michael Stewart for the logistics of the buggy and for playing Belsnickel, and to Paul Mercurio and Gabriel Diaz for being the dead horses ahead of the buggy. If Stephen King's "Christine" were a buggy... Photo by Neil Kohl And to Sadie, the skeleton in the buggy, for her patience. Parade of Spirits 2022: Saturday, December 10, 2022! Mark your calendars!

Post-Parade Entertainment in Liberty Lands!

Sneak Peek to whet your appetites for the entertainment that follows the Parade of Spirits! Fire Queen of Swords from FireBellydance by Lorenda on Vimeo . Please join us after the Parade to enjoy the performance by Lorenda and Aly ! Parade of Spirits -2021- Der Geischderschtrutz Liberty Lands Park 913 N. 3rd Street Philadelphia, PA Saturday, December 11, 2021 Gather at 4:00 PM EST Parade steps off at 4:36 PM Entertainment to Follow Rain, Shine, or Snow Weather may affect start time of entertainment

Der Holzhacker - The Woodchopper

Late-Coming Idea: Der Holzhacker For a generally cheery, agricultural people, we Urglaawer sure do like our shadowy entities. One whom we have talked about in the past has yet to make an appearance at the Parade of Spirits because this entity is so shifty that we barely know where to start. Vorsicht! Der Holzhacker Deep in the Dunkelgegend, at the base of the World Tree, in the darkest of the realms, there is a forest. The forest is dense, and there is a sense of enchantment combined with an eeriness that simultaneous calls to and pushes away the souls that are making their journey to The Mill. Somewhere among the trees and the thickets is a strange entity. No one knows what the true nature or appearance of this being is. We only know that two people could be looking at this entity and seeing a completely different facade. This being is known by a few names in Pennsylvania Dutch: der Holzhacker, der Holzmann, der Miessler, and in English, this being is most dramatically called The W