January 2010
why do we celebrate new years when we do...
In countries which use the Gregorian calendar, New Year is usually celebrated on January 1. Traditionally, the Roman calendar began the first day of March. However, it was in January (the eleventh month) when the consuls of ancient Rome assumed the government. Julius Caesar, in 47 BC, changed the system, creating the Julian calendar. It was modified in the time of Mark Antony consul in 44 BC,...
December 2009
“The thought manifests as the word;
The word manifests as the deed;
The deed...”
– The Dhammapada
why do we celebrate boxing day...
Boxing Day is a bank and public holiday in the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Ghana, Switzerland, Germany,Greenland, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Nigeria, Trinidad & Tobago, Jamaica and countries in theCommonwealth of Nations with a mainly Christian population. Though it is not an official holiday in the United States, the name “Boxing Day” for the day after...
why a yule log...
The first mention of the Yule log in Britain is a written account by the clergyman Robert Herrick, from the 1620s or 1630s. Herrick called the tradition a “Christmas log” and said that it was brought into the farmhouse by a group of males, who were then rewarded with free beer from the farmer’s wife. Herrick claimed that the fire used to burn the log was always started with a...
why do we celebrate chrismas the way we do
The hearth was held sacred in primitive belief as a source of beneficence, and popular belief had elves and fairies bringing gifts to the house through this portal. Santa’s entrance into homes on Christmas Eve via the chimney was made part of American tradition through Moore’s A Visit from Saint Nicholas where the author described him as an elf.
Numerous parallels have been drawn...
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