Holiday: A horn of plenty with much to be thankful for.

 A horn of plenty with much to be thankful for.

Cornucopia: Literally meaning horn of plenty, cornucopia symbolize prosperity and wealth. Two stories explaining the origins of the first cornucopia both involve a male god hero, either Zues or Heracles, breaking a horn from the head of a mythical creature associated with food and prosperity, a goat or a river god respectively. Once broken off, the horns overflowed with an endless supply of food which would truly be a magnificent gift in a world where one bad season meant years of starvation.

According to local legend, this wicker basket was made by the poorest woman in the villages to carry the alms given to her as charity. No matter how much she was given, the woman always asked for more, causing many in high town to think her greedy and false. Only after her death did the haughty citizens of high town find out the woman gave every home in poor-side enough to put at least a little in every mouth, taking only the smallest share if any was leftover. Now, this ceremonial horn of plenty overflows all year with enough food so that everyone in the village has forgotten the fear and pain of going hungry.

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American Thanksgiving is a complicated holiday. I grew up understanding that it was THE thanksgiving, Canadian thanksgiving didn’t exist nor did any other thanksgivings, and that it was the tale of caring and cooperation that opened up relations between Indigenous Peoples and hardworking pilgrims. I learned of it as an indulgent feast day with thankfulness tacked on the side and any discussion of the plight of indigenous people was tokenized at best.

American thanksgiving doesn’t mean the same thing to everyone. Not everyone is happy that pilgrims were able to survive their first few years here because it was the beginning of the colonial take over that was brutal and continues to be extremely harmful to this day.

More and more it also marks the hardest time where families have to scrape together what they have and make not enough stretch too far.

If you have enough of anything, I implore you to be thankful for what you have enough of as there are many who don’t have enough of anything. If you have more than enough, please consider giving to a local charity organization to ensure that everyone has a real chance to have something to be thankful for.

This year I am thankful for the fact that I have enough of a lot. I have a home, a wife, an education, an important job, free time to draw, and so much more.

Give what you can to those that have needs.

Be excellent to everyone.

-Ceph