Category: Winter
Groundhog Day
February 2 is Groundhog Day in the United States and in Canada. The groundhog, also known as a woodchuck (Marmota monax), is a member of the squirrel family. According to American legend, the local television news and Hollywood, he is also a weatherman.
If he sees his shadow when he emerges from his [...] Read More »
Up-Helly-Aa
Scene from a video posted on YouTube by Gary13579, showing the burning galley at the 2006 Up-Helly-Aa festival:
If you’d like to dress as a Viking, carry a burning torch in a procession through villages and towns, and then throw the torch into a replica of a Viking longship to set it alight before sending it [...] 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 »
Eid Celebrations: Shopping for Sacrificial Animals
For Eid-Ul-Adha, the Muslim Feast of Sacrifice, families purchase a sacrificial goat or other animal, if they can afford to do so, and then share the feast with their family and friends, and with those who are less fortunate. This photo is part of a post from an Islamabad blogger, who describes her trip [...] Read More »
Eid-Ul-Adha, The Festival of Sacrifice
Eid-Ul-Adha is a three-day Muslim holiday and celebration. It begins on the 10th day of the month of Dhul Hijjah, the last month of the Islamic calendar, and falls at the end of the Hajj, the annual pilgrimage to Mecca.
The Eid-Ul-Adha celebrations start with attendance at the Eid Prayer and sermon in the morning. [...] 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 »
Chanukah (Hanukkah or Hanukah), the Jewish Festival of Lights
Chanukah, the eight-day Jewish festival of lights, begins on the evening of Kislev 25, in the 9th month of the Jewish calendar. Similar to other festivals centered around lanterns, candles or lights, the holiday celebrates the triumph of light over darkness and of spirituality over materialism.
At the heart of the festival is the nightly [...] Read More »
Lucyfest: Santa Lucia’s Festival
On December 13th, one of the shortest, darkest days of winter, Sweden celebrates Lucyfest, in honor of Saint Lucia, the Queen of Lights, in a festival that also has roots in Italy, Germany and Norway. Traditionally, each village had its own Santa Lucia: a young woman, dressed in a white gown, wearing a red [...] Read More »
