Running of the bulls, running of the cows
[ by Charles Cameron — until we understand suffering as devotion, where are we? ]
.
The running of the bulls in Pamplona, Spain, celebrates the martyrdom of San Fermin:
Ernest Hemingway on the San Fermin fiesta:
The fiesta was really started. It kept up day and night for seven days. The dancing kept up, the drinking kept up, the noise went on. The things that happened could only have happened during a fiesta. Everything became quite unreal finally and it seemed as though nothing could have any consequences. It seemed out of place to think of consequences during the fiesta. All during the fiesta you had the feeling even when it was quiet, that you had to shout any remark to make it heard. It was the same feeling about any action. It was a fiesta and it went on for seven days.
[ .. ]
The fiesta and its requisite state of constant drunkenness is a time of “unreal” events and chaos—a time in which our characters let go of any sober sense of right and wrong they might still possess.
**
India: Watch men get TRAMPLED by herd of cows for Diwali:
Dozens of men in the central Indian village of Ujjain Taluk allowed themselves to be trampled by stampeding cows Friday as part of Govardhan Puja, the fourth day of Diwali.
Locals pray for their wishes to be granted by ‘Lord of Animals’ Lord Pashupatinath and in return perform the cow-trampling ritual as a mark of gratitude.
Despite the ritual having being performed for hundreds of years, allegedly not one man has been seriously injured as of yet.
**
in the running of the bulls, the idea is to avoid being gored: in the running of the cows, the idea is to be trampled.
Religion.
