A ‘breaking ground’ thread got me thinking about this topic.
What is the best/most elegant groundbreaking ceremony you have seen? Forget the slick politicos of either party with their silver plated shovels or oversized sissors, etc, etc.
The best for me was a church in central Illinois in 1953 where an old horse drawn plow was hitched with a 2″ rope* to all the men and boys (me one of ’em) of the congregation (near 400 strong on the rope). A 50 foot long furrow so deep the Pastor could hardly hold onto the plow any longer was ploughed in a matter of seconds!
*have reflected in later years that the guy who did the planning knew the forces involved!
Replies
That's pretty good - I like that ! When we broke ground for a new sanctuary at church " Building for Future Generations " , I had the notion to let the children do the ground-breaking, rather than all the usual committees and deacons. It went over real well - the kids really felt a part of the whole process, from planning to the finished building.
Greg
That's good.
My favorite isn't exactly groundbreaking. A good friend built a retirement house for himself and wife. I spent a lot of hours helping. When it was time to move in he called the local Methodist minister who dug around and came up with an approved "house blessing". I thought it was just a house-warming and came rather underdressed for a religious ceremony. Great party, if dry, followed.
Never seen one here but in S. Europe there are blessings for just about anything. Always loved seeing a shiny new car outside a medieval cathedral getting a sprinkle of holy water. Far as I could tell it didn't completely protect against accidents.
PAHS Designer/Builder- Bury it!
Your European comment is probably what an old joke about 3 members of the clergy getting new cars is based on: Methodist blessed his new car, Priest sprinkled it with Holy water, and the Rabbi cut 2 inches off the tailpipe.
We had a hole party after excavation for our house. Bunch of folks with food and drink. We got them all in the hole and posed for a picture with shovels and picks. Looks almost like that mother /father painting with the pitchfork.
Hadn't rained for a couple months. You guessed it, started raining just b/4 dark. No one left, just frollicked in the shower. What a blast. Damn rained for the next couple weeks. Mortar bag sidewalk.
ah, the memories. Thanks for reminding me.Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
Quittin' Time
When we are getting ready to pour footings in a new build we always put some silver coins and holy water to the four directions i.e. north . south. east.west.
I've always liked Jimmy Stewart's blessing the Italian couple's house in "It's a Wonderful Life". My wife and I watch that movie - now on DVD - every Christmas. The blessing is bread (may you always have plenty of food) - salt - and wine to the new homeowner's he financed a home for.
remodeler
And now for something completely different . . .
The Shinto ground-breaking ceremonies (jichin-sai) here in Japan would probably seem exotic to most Westerners, although they're pretty commonplace here, and content-wise they're pretty much alike, differing mostly in degree (how fancy you want to be, how much money you want to spend).
View Image
If you go to This Site and click on the thumbnails you can see enlarged photos of all the steps of a Japanese groundbreaking ceremony.
The traditional roof-raising ceremony (johtoh-shiki is also kinda neat. Some are performed by priests, although those for homes are usually done by the carpenters themselves. I attended my first one this past Sunday, for a neighbor. Lots of traditional everyday ritual still goes on here.
In the two links below you can see some photos of a roof-raising ceremony performed during restoration of a large Shinto shrine. Since it's for the shrine itself, it's performed by priests, and much more elaborate than those done for any ordinary home: photos1 and photos2
Green Gables: A Contemplative Companion to Fujino Township