Secular
History of Auld Lang Syne: What Does It Mean?
HISTORY OF AULD LANG SYNE: WHAT DOES IT MEAN Why is it that each New Year’s Eve, we sing “Auld Lang Syne,” but do we know what it means? The song contains words from a language that few are familiar with, in a syntax that is confusing to most, and is from a poem about…
Read MoreHistory of the 12 Days of Christmas: They’re after Christmas?
THE HISTORY OF THE 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS The 12 Days of Christmas are the dozen days in the liturgical or ecclesiastical calendar of the Western Church between the celebration of the birth of the Christ Child (Christmas Day, December 25) and the coming of the Wise Men, or Magi, to visit at his house in Bethlehem…
Read MoreHistory of Christmas Traditions: Some pre-Christian?
HISTORY OF CHRISTMAS TRADITIONS Many of the customs that we commonly associate with Christmas come from previous pagan or pre-Christian European backgrounds. Let’s take a look at some of these familiar traditions and some connections to other folklore elements with which we may be unfamiliar. Traditions The word Yule comes from the Germanic jōl or…
Read MoreHistory of Christmas: Advent
THE HISTORY OF CHRISTMAS: ADVENT Here begins our series of articles on the History of Christmas. The traditional season of Advent, leading up to Christmas, begins today. It is celebrated in the church calendar as one of the most festive seasons of the year. Meaning “Advent” from the Latin adventus means the “coming” or “arrival”…
Read MoreHistory of Black Friday: One Day Only?
What is the origin of Black Friday, and the modern practice around it.
Read MoreHistory of Thanksgiving Indian: Why Squanto already knew English
HISTORY OF THANKSGIVING: FRIENDLY INDIAN SQUANTO We’ve all heard the story of how the Pilgrims, landing in Massachusetts four hundred years ago on the Mayflower in 1620, were ill-equipped to survive the harsh winters of the New World. We’ve also heard how they met a Native American Indian of the Pawtuxet tribe named Squanto, who befriended…
Read MoreHistory of Thanksgiving: the Secular and the Sacred
HISTORY OF THANKSGIVING The origin of Thanksgiving Day in America has been attributed to a harvest feast held by the Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts. In 1621, Governor William Bradford of the Plymouth Colony proclaimed a day of “thanksgiving” and prayer to celebrate the Pilgrims’ first harvest in America the year after their arrival on the…
Read MoreHistory of Veterans Day: Lest We Forget
HISTORY OF VETERANS DAY A professor once commented, “We write things down so we can forget them.” Now, of course, this is true in the sense of writing down appointments so we don’t have to worry about missing meetings. But that’s just it; we do forget things. As individuals, we forget things that are important…
Read MoreHistory of Guy Fawkes Night: How gunpowder mixed with Parliament
HISTORY OF GUY FAWKES NIGHT For our friends across the Pond November 5th is known as “Bonfire Night” or “Guy Fawkes Night,” and all over Britain people fire off fireworks, light bonfires, and burn effigies of Guy Fawkes. Guido Fawkes was an Englishman who, in popular legend, tried to blow up the Houses of Parliament…
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