ABSTRACT
Most primal or indigenous societies around the world had three common characteristics: they had an intimate, conscious relationship with their place; they were stable "sustainable" cultures, often lasting for thousands of years; and they had a rich ceremonial and ritual life culminating in seasonal festivals. The Industrial Growth Society has caused people to forget so much in the last 200 years that they hardly know where to begin. It helps to begin by remembering. All traditional cultures, even people's own Western European ancestors, had seasonal festivals and rituals. The true origins of most of people's modern holidays date back to these seasonal festivals. Seasonal festivals make use of myths, art, dance and games. Each of these aspects of ritual serves to keep open the essential connections within ourselves. Festivals connect the conscious with the unconscious, the right hemisphere with the left hemisphere of the brain, and the cortex with the older three brain.
