Category: Christian
A Common Word
Muslim religious leaders and scholars have sent an open letter to the Pope and other Christian leaders urging greater understanding of the commonalities between the two faiths. The letter, titled “ A Common Word Between Us and You,” marks the Eid al-Fitr al-Mubarak, the festival that is the end of Ramadan, and the one [...] Read More »
Easter Monday: Angel’s Monday, Wet Monday, Dyngus Day
Easter Monday is the day after Easter Sunday. It is an official holiday in many largely Christian cultures in Europe, Africa and Central and South America. It is sometimes called Angel’s Monday, because it is the day that, according to Christian traditions, the angels gave the message of Christ’s resurrection to the women [...] Read More »
Make Easter Eggs with Natural Colors
Many cultures color eggs to celebrate Easter and other holidays. It’s easy to experiment with natural dyes to color your eggs – you probably already have many of these in the kitchen. You can use these techniques on either hard-boiled eggs, or on empty eggshells that have been blown out and rinsed. [...] Read More »
The Easter Egg
Easter celebrations are filled with many traditions, but nothing has come to symbolize the Easter holiday as much as the colored or painted Easter egg. Many children spend their Easter Sunday hunting for Easter eggs, rolling them, or running races while carrying their eggs in spoons.
Across Eastern and Western cultures, eggs have long symbolized [...] Read More »
Culture News Apr. 3 ’07
Lonely Planet
Learn how to travel to other cultures with the new LonelyPlanetTV.
Lent 2.0
Many Christians have been abstaining from rich foods or giving up luxuries during lent, the 40 days before Easter. Some young people have decided to abstain from Facebook and other social networking sites. Read more about their sacrifices on CNN.
Executive Planet
Learn [...] Read More »
Twelfth Night, Epiphany, or Three Kings Day
Don’t Forget to Leave Out Some Food for the Camels!
January 6th is the twelfth day after Christmas, celebrated as Epiphany or the Feast of the Three Kings in many countries with strong Christian traditions, such as Germany, Austria, Poland, France, Belgium, Italy, Spain, Argentina. It commemorates the visit of the Three Wise Men, or [...] Read More »
The Christmas Tree or Tannenbaum
During the Christmas season, families bring home small evergreen trees and decorate them with ornaments and lights. Presents are placed under the tree, and, on Christmas, the families gather around the tree to open presents. The origins of the Christmas tree tradition are another example of the intermingling of pagan traditions with religious holidays.
One of [...] Read More »
The Yule Log and La Bûche de Noël
At Christmas time, people all over France and Belgium serve the “Bûche de Noël” – a cake shaped and decorated to look like a tree trunk. In Anglo-Saxon cultures, many people still burn a “yule log” in their fireplace at Christmas. There is even a television station in New York that shows a [...] Read More »
A Meeting of World Cultures: Aya Sofya and the Blue Mosque
Few places can rival Istanbul as the cross-roads of multiple cultures and traditions. Geographically, the city literally spans Europe and Asia, with the Bosphorous Bridge and numerous ferries connecting the Asian and European sides. Its architecture, history, craftsmen and artists, churches and museums weave an intricate mosaic of ancient and modern cultures.
Aya Sofya, also [...] Read More »
Make a Matchbox Advent Calendar
Advent Calendars are used to count down the days in December leading up to Christmas. This matchbox version is easy to make if you have the materials, and can be re-used year after year.
Materials: Christmas fabric or paper, cardboard, 25 matchboxes, foil or other decorated paper to wrap the matchboxes, string to hang [...] Read More »
