Lindsay - Dust Under the Rug - Keeping the Public in Public Domain

I sometimes say I have more than one religion as I'm also the Chief High Prophetess of the Church of the Unholy Mess. This month is loaded with special days. This past Wednesday was Ash Wednesday, the start of the season of Lent. A cross is marked with ashes on a forehead with the words "Remember that thou art dust and unto dust thou shalt return." 

Of course I decided to hunt for an appropriate story. It's not actually religious, but certainly fits the Church of the Unholy Mess.

After the story I'll give a look at the rest of March. The story is from Mother Stories by Maud Lindsay.

<SIGH!> I'm pleased for Minnie, but as Chief High Prophetess of the Church of the Unholy Mess I know I never would have earned that gold! As for being "dust thou art and unto dust thou shalt return", I would hate to disturb my fellow dust!

 

I promised I would talk about other special days in March. I've already opened the month with talking about Women's History Month. Next week I plan to give one of the many delightful stories from Irish folklore. It will be for Saint Patrick's Day, but is always good to share. This month is also the month of Ramadan, the month of prayer, fasting, charity-giving and self-accountability for Muslims. I don't yet know what story I plan to select, but it will be from Islamic tradition or from an Islamic country. I'm not positive about the final week, but the Hindu festival of Holi celebrates colors and the triumph of good over evil, good harvest, and fertility. I will be a bit late on that as this year it falls on March 13 and 14, but next week I plan an Irish story. The ideas of Holi are still worth mentioning and this summer's Collaborative Summer Library Program theme is Color Our World, so it still seems worth mentioning as March is wrapped up.

 

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WOOPS! Almost forgot to add:

This is part of a series of postings of stories under the category, “Keeping the Public in Public Domain.” The idea behind Public Domain was to preserve our cultural heritage after the authors and their immediate heirs were compensated. I feel strongly current copyright law delays this intent on works of the 20^th century. My own library of folklore includes so many books within the Public Domain I decided to share stories from them. I hope you enjoy discovering them.

At the same time, my own involvement in storytelling regularly creates projects requiring research as part of my sharing stories with an audience.  Whenever that research needs to be shown here, the publishing of Public Domain stories will not occur that week.  This is a return to my regular posting of a research project here.  (Don't worry, this isn't dry research, my research is always geared towards future storytelling to an audience.)  Response has convinced me that "Keeping the Public in Public Domain" should continue along with my other postings as often as I can manage it.

See the sidebar for other Public Domain story resources I recommend on the page “Public Domain Story Resources."