The Quiet Mysticism of Almanacs | Hacker News Reader

The Quiet Mysticism of Almanacs

lareviewofbooks.org

44 pointspleaser11 comments

If, after reading this essay, you decide you might want to peruse some almanac(k)s yourself, the Internet Archive has many:

https://archive.org/search.php?query=title%3Aalmanac+OR+titl...

The article waxes poetic about nostalgia but never comes out and says that. I too enjoy older editions of The Old Farmers Almanac. I liked them growing up too. The information relevant to farming and animals husbandry is good AND quaint.

My fathers family grew up as very poor farmers. Folk wisdom such as "Plant your corn on the full moon after the last frost of March"; (example possibly made up, My Great-Grandmother told me that one 40+ years ago) also had a similar quality and feeling.

Like the author said, the weather "reporting" was never any good, but everything else was wonderful.

I picked up a nostalgia not for the Almanac specifically but for a slower way of life where you allow things to come to you, you observe the world around you, not just an actor upon this earth but a partner with it.

And in that regard, we can still all regain it.

The foxfire books are full of this kind of folk wisdom. Much of it practical but with the occasional detour into the magical; there's one bit about how to cure a sure throat if you have never met your father that took my by such surprise that I laughed out loud while reading.

For a second, I thought I might have another thing to collect, until I saw the price of an original Davy Crockett’s almanack of wild sports of the West, and life in the backwoods.

I'm glad it was high priced. I don't need something else to collect.

(I collect books--mainly first editions, obscure industrial advertising, and books on Watchmaking.)

Sounds like you need a meta-hobby; Collecting collections...

Personally, my meta-hobby is collecting hobbies.

Hmm, how many meta hobbies are there? I might need to pick up a few. \s

I wish the article was more about the mysticism angle. E.g. the alchemy combining intention, attention, and aspiration, into prediction, then tempering it in the clear fluid of dominionist faith and a benevolent g-d.

Old dusty almanacs in the back of Reference on a warm summer day, Like you are reading Ray Bradbury. Know the future,

Just Way,

Way.

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