[HN Gopher] The Quiet Mysticism of Almanacs
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       The Quiet Mysticism of Almanacs
        
       Author : pleaser
       Score  : 42 points
       Date   : 2021-07-14 22:20 UTC (2 days ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (lareviewofbooks.org)
 (TXT) w3m dump (lareviewofbooks.org)
        
       | aaroninsf wrote:
       | 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.
        
       | Little_John wrote:
       | Old dusty almanacs in the back of Reference on a warm summer day,
       | Like you are reading Ray Bradbury. Know the future,
        
       | hellbannedguy wrote:
       | 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.)
        
         | robotguy wrote:
         | Sounds like you need a meta-hobby; Collecting collections...
         | 
         | Personally, my meta-hobby is collecting hobbies.
        
           | enchiridion wrote:
           | Hmm, how many meta hobbies are there? I might need to pick up
           | a few. \s
        
       | UI_at_80x24 wrote:
       | 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.
        
         | xsmasher wrote:
         | 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.
        
         | JKCalhoun wrote:
         | 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.
        
       | tkgally wrote:
       | 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...
        
       | Little_John wrote:
       | Way.
        
       | Little_John wrote:
       | Just Way,
        
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