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Festival organized and magazine published by Los Cantos de Maldoror
- an international cultural assotiation born in August 1997 in Madrid.
The ARCANA EUROPA project, developed by Los Cantos de Maldoror, is based
on the idea of reinforcing links between the countries comprising the European
Union. Beyond this meeting and the festival (July 14-16th, 2000 in Tarancon,
Spain), where eyes turn back to past and where we can find a share unity
background between different civilizations, our main intention is the
development and organization of a "producing engine" between the different
participant associations for the making of the multilingual european magazine,
written o n every language and translated into english so it can be understanded
in every shore of the continent. We thpught our first issue as a goal of several
cooperative meetings as well as a ludic event of this characteristics it can be
a good way of collaboration between the present associations. Centered in the
beautiful idea of making a magazine and a festival-meeting under banners of
required search for a new european identity and the recovering of a newborn
spirituality, in times of existencial inactivity, globalized consumism and
worldwide capitalism.
It is the first time the European Union aproves a project of this
characteristics in our country, a very particular project modality in which must
be involved at least 6 associations; in our case, Arcana Europa counts with 9
associations from different european countries: Spain, France, Portugal,
Ireland, Lithuania, Norway, Sweden, Germany and Switzerland.
[From the Introduction]:
"The idea that underlies this project is quite simple: Europe. A concept of
Europe which is quite far from the monetary union, from the elimination of
frontiers, from the common legislation; all those things are an empty matter in
our opinion, the true sense of an united Europe is the one given by its history,
by its culture. We only could call ourselves European if we recognize ourselves
as European people and if we are able to look back to our history to recognize
ourselves and so be able to give a sense to our present and so forge our future.
We almost do not know why, it was a sort of intuition, it came to our mind the
idea of creating a magazine written in many languages, spoken in thousands of
languages that show the diverse origins, the different changes that our
civilizations have walked.
Language is the mirror of our history, it is a canvas that has been painted from
the most ancient times, is our living history. Every language has prints of our
past, of our history, not only in the etymology of the words, but also in the
set phrases, in the oral expressions, verbs in the metaphors, in the same
accent, that even inside a concrete language defines a particular character, an
origin…"
[From the texts of the magazine]:
"From man to man"
More than ever , faith, covered in a mistic feeling close to destiny, whisper in
our ears that something is changing , or rather , that something must change.
In fact , we are going to change it. So we have noticed it from inside Los
Cantos de Maldoror , in a practically irrational way, almost blinded by future,
ready to rise a tragic balaustrade of legends, rituals and alchemy that may give
shape to a new Europe built on new cultural values of our own and identifying of
an Ancient Europe. Ancient Europe is already tired of so many wars and rivalries
, still with the burden of the Second World War's ghosts and that needs to be
saved from injustice. Similar scents arrive to our smell from other European
places, isolated, strong and thoughtful places. It is time to get together. It
is time to learn from our history and to built a new present, our present...
By Alberto Monreal, Spain (Maldoror)
"The pagans of Northern Europe and their belief"
Upon hearing the word "Viking" or "heathen" many will immediately think about
terrible plunderers and vicious savages that practised dark and bloody
rituals…But it must be said that a whole bunch of lies has been created about
the heatens. The many positive aspects of the ancient cultures have deliberately
been ignored by their Christian enemy , who wrote much of the history as we know
it. It is rather obvious that the Christians were not capable or wiling to be
objective towards other cultures and their beliefs, since they themselves claim
to sit on the "one and only truth". Fact is that the heathens, or pagans, across
Europe lived in very civilised and cultured societies. For example, the Germanic
pagans practised democracy in their own society and treated both men and women
with equal respect...
By Andrea Haugen, Norway
(Hagalaz' Runedance)
"Lithuania Goddesses and Romuva"
When the world enters a critical situation, it is time to look, where our roots
lie. There were no great cultural changes in Lithuania, no great invasions. That
data, safeguarded by us, will one day prove to be useful in reconstructing a
healthy world. We are the most European people (the science agrees). Let us look
to our selves, to our sacredness. Many things are sacred among us - lakes,
rivers, days, etc. Not even serfdom could brake us...
By E.Simkunaite and J.Trinkunas,
Lithuania (Romuva)
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