What November 2024 Means To Me

This November I was acutely aware that my fellow Brits are becoming ignorant of their own culture and customs. It is something  we should be worried about in my view. Perhaps one day people will say we don't have a culture or customs that are unique to us. Some Brits even think the Christmas tree is an ancient pagan custom; they don't know that Queen victoria started putting trees in her palace to remind her of summer and the country copied her in the 1800s. Not ancient and not pagan. 

Every 5th of November at the nearest weekend, we celebrate Guy Fawkes. A lot of people in my country don't know it is a celebration of a cancelled civil war. In 1605 some Catholic activists tried to blow up King James, if they were successful, the whole country would have been dragged into a sectarian civil war. King James translated the Christian Bible from latin to English, they called it the King James Bible. I prefer the New King James Version, they changed the medieval pronouns to modern ones, it's a bit easier to read. On guy Fawkes we make a fire and set off fireworks, we eat snacks and drinks. Sometimes we throw a mannequin of Guy Fawkes into the fire. Other times we go to a professional fireworks display. 

Roughly in the middle of the month I had a very painful leg injury. I strained my Fibula bone, a bone I never knew existed. I thought the shin was one bone but it is actually two bones, tibula and fibula; the fibula is the smaller of the two bones and is used as and anchor to stabilise the ankle and lower leg. One fall can change your life so one should be careful and never take the working legs for granted. Take care of your feet and legs. It is very depressing to sit at home all day and wait for your leg to get better. 

Guy Fawkes, English Thanksgiving

On the 5th of November every year, the English nation in Britain celebrate Guy Fawkes, some of the Welsh also celebrate Guy Fawkes also but mostly it is the English. We light fireworks and fires and feast on snacks. 

Guy Fawkes is a celebration of the failed assassination attempt of king James in 1605. A man called 'Guy Fawkes' had placed many barrels of gun powder in a basement under parliament to blow up king James when he was opening parliament. King James was the curator of the king James Bible, the first Bible that was properly translated from Latin to English. The reason we celebrate Bonfire night or  Guy Fawkes is because we know it would have caused a huge civil war if it was successful. It's also an excuse to have a party in the darker part of autumn. You could say it is similar to the American thanks giving. 

King James had a son called Charles, Charles became Charles king of England. It was during the 16th century that king Charles named the main river that flowed through Boston in the American state of Massachusetts after himself. I think that Massachusetts is one of the 13 British Colonies of America at the time. Charles was very greedy and wanted to increase his powers but that caused a civil war, he lost the war and his head because he was sentenced to death for treason by parliament. 

Brother's guy Fawkes party

Today I'm so happy and grateful for wealth health and Joy.

I'm also grateful in advance for the solution to all the worlds storm problems because when people come together and put their minds to something they can do anything, the question is not if but when.

The first Wednesday of November my younger brother Paul will host a Guy Fawkes party. Guy Fawkes is a celebration of a failed assassination attempt of a protestant king in England. Somehow I feel that the Youth in my country don't know their own history and that breaks my heart because it is important to know your roots and to understand why things are the way they are. I'm sure they will just say it is just bomb fire night. To celebrate the event English people light fire works and a fire and put a guy doll representing Guy on top of the fire. I hope to add a twist to the celebration by buying a cheap but nice laser light show device. Laser shows work well when there is lots of smoke present. If it works well then I can keep the laser show for new year and the following years. There is no waste that way and it is safer than fireworks. The beauty of having a laser light show system is that you get very pretty patterns projected onto the surroundings and still have fireworks going off at the same time, the smoke from the fireworks will get hit by the laser rays and surely add to the effect.

Well, lets see what happens. It will be interesting to see how the party unfolds.

Alan Booth Author of "unanswered questions of Alan John Booth" on all kindle platforms.