Holidays Around The Globe
I realize that we have many new members from all over the globe and looking at the calendar I notice that there are a number of holidays this winter season. Anyone care to give us a little bit of cultural information and tell us about the meanings of many of the holidays and any customs you follow? We have been taught about Diwali, now let's hear about Boxing Day, St. Stephens Day, Chanukha, Kwanza, Christmas abroad and anything else that I am missing.
Here...
Christmas Eve: most go to a late night service at the local church.
Christmas Day: We Have dinner:D :D :D
St. Stephens Day: Young Kids go out on the Wren Boys, where they go from house to house,signing, dancing and playing Trad. Music. The annual hunt is also on, about a hundred horses go down our road, they are led by packs of hunting Dogs.
New Years: the Usual
Womens Christmas 6th January: this is when womentionaly relax and enjoy themselves in the Chistmas spirit
Women's Christmas???????????
Actually, I've always known January 6 as Twelfth Night or Little Christmas. My folks always had a party that night and then took down the Christmas Tree. It was supposed to be bad luck to take it down any earlier. When we were stationed in Puerto Rico, January 6 was "Reyes" or Three Kings Day, every bit as important a holiday as Christmas, in fact schools were closed from Christmas through Reyes.
Ian,
What is(are) "the Wren Boys?"
Every year in our house we celebtare the birthday of the patron saint of butterfat, St Cholestera.
The house is fully decorated with dairy cows, empty cartons of butter etc. A
Butter sculpture of the saint is solemnly marched through the house. Butter
cookies are the only food item.
Each year we compose a hymn for Cholestera. Here is one of
the winners as best I remember:
God bless cholestera
spread that i love
stand beside her and glide her
on the toast and the pancakes ( forgetting words here)
in my chocolate
in my cupcakes, rich with fat
God bless cholestera,
my scone sweet scone
Well, I guess you have to have something to help get that good old Christmas fruitcake down. ;)
Night Train seems to have too much free time. Ain't it wunnerful?
Don
The Wren boys are not an organisation like the Boy Scouts. They maybe youth groups who would go out and sing and raise money for Charity, or they maybe kids on their own who go out for a bit of craic and get a bit of pocket money for themselves. If they cant sing or dance or play music they say,Originally posted by Jo
Ian,
What is(are) "the Wren Boys?"
The Wren, The Wren the king of the birds, da-da-dee-deda....(after that I go searching for money to give to them so I cant tell you exactly what they say.
Judy, The 6th is little Christmas, the feast of the Epiphiany
It is known here as Womens christmas
I just have visions of the poor Oirish mammys, spending 12 days cooking and cleaning up after the hordes of sons (for of course, there are hordes of sons in a Catholic household), and then they finally get a sit down for 'Women's Christmas', but it's the day all the decorations need taking down. ;)
OK Ian,
Now you are going to have to tell me what "a bit of craic" is.
craic in this meaning is not a drug:D Craic is having a good time and enjoying oneself
Thank you very much for your explanations!
While living in Nairbi, (which is South of the Equator and therefore Summer) I had the occasion of going grocery shopping a few days before the holidays, and there he was a very slender, very dark, very young African young man in a santa suit, bopping back and forth in front of the grocery store wishing everybody a Merry Christmas.
What a sight. How out of place! Is this the "Christmas" that Christianity exported to Africa?
Homer
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