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| Традиции и праздники в СШАТрадиции и праздники в СШАAmerican Holidays and Traditions It's Another New Year... (January 1) ...but for what reason? ANCIENT NEW YEARS The beginning of spring is a logical time to start a new year. After all,
it is the season of rebirth, of planting new crops, and of blossoming. The Babylonian new year celebration lasted for eleven days. Each day had
its own particular mode of celebration, but it is safe to say that modern The Romans continued to observe the new year in late March, but their calendar was continually tampered with by various emperors so that the calendar soon became out of synchronization with the sun. In order to set the calendar right, the Roman senate, in 153 BC, declared THE CHURCH'S VIEW OF NEW YEAR CELEBRATIONS During the Middle Ages, the Church remained opposed to celebrating New NEW YEAR TRADITIONS Other traditions of the season include the making of New Year's
resolutions. That tradition also dates back to the early Babylonians. The Tournament of Roses Parade dates back to 1886. In that year, members of the Valley Hunt Club decorated their carriages with flowers. It celebrated the ripening of the orange crop in California. Although the Rose Bowl football game was first played as a part of the The tradition of using a baby to signify the new year was begun in Greece around 600 BC. It was their tradition at that time to celebrate their god of wine, Dionysus, by parading a baby in a basket, representing the annual rebirth of that god as the spirit of fertility. Early Egyptians also used a baby as a symbol of rebirth. Although the early Christians denounced the practice as pagan, the popularity of the baby as a symbol of rebirth forced the Church to reevaluate its position. The Church finally allowed its members to celebrate the new year with a baby, which was to symbolize the birth of the baby Jesus. The use of an image of a baby with a New Years banner as a symbolic
representation of the new year was brought to early America by the Germans. FOR LUCK IN THE NEW YEAR Traditionally, it was thought that one could affect the luck they would
have throughout the coming year by what they did or ate on the first day of
the year. For that reason, it has become common for folks to celebrate the
first few minutes of a brand new year in the company of family and friends. Traditional New Year foods are also thought to bring luck. Many cultures believe that anything in the shape of a ring is good luck, because it symbolizes "coming full circle," completing a year's cycle. For that reason, the Dutch believe that eating donuts on New Year's Day will bring good fortune. Many parts of the U.S. celebrate the new year by consuming black-eyed peas. AULD LANG SYNE Valentine's Day! (February 14) Not Like it Used To Be February 14 is Valentine's Day. Although it is celebrated as a lovers'
holiday today, with the giving of candy, flowers, or other gifts between
couples in love, it originated in 5th Century Rome as a tribute to St. For eight hundred years prior to the establishment of Valentine's Day, the In an effort to do away with the pagan festival, Pope Gelasius ordered a slight change in the lottery. Instead of the names of young women, the box would contain the names of saints. Both men and women were allowed to draw from the box, and the game was to emulate the ways of the saint they drew during the rest of the year. Needless to say, many of the young Roman men were not too pleased with the rule changes. Instead of the pagan god Lupercus, the Church looked for a suitable patron
saint of love to take his place. They found an appropriate choice in Claudius had determined that married men made poor soldiers. So he banned marriage from his empire. But Valentine would secretly marry young men that came to him. When Claudius found out about Valentine, he first tried to convert him to paganism. But Valentine reversed the strategy, trying instead to convert Claudius. When he failed, he was stoned and beheaded. During the days that Valentine was imprisoned, he fell in love with the
blind daughter of his jailer. His love for her, and his great faith,
managed to miraculously heal her from her blindness before his death. Although the lottery for women had been banned by the church, the mid- The first Valentine card grew out of this practice. The first true Cupid, another symbol of the holiday, became associated with it because he was the son of Venus, the Roman god of love and beauty. Cupid often appears on Valentine cards. Easter! (between the dates of March 22 and April 25) The Traditions of Easter As with almost all "Christian" holidays, Easter has been secularized and commercialized. The dichotomous nature of Easter and its symbols, however, is not necessarily a modern fabrication. Since its conception as a holy celebration in the second century, Easter has had its non-religious side. In fact, Easter was originally a pagan festival. The ancient Saxons celebrated the return of spring with an uproarious
festival commemorating their goddess of offspring and of springtime, It would have been suicide for the very early Christian converts to
celebrate their holy days with observances that did not coincide with
celebrations that already existed. To save lives, the missionaries cleverly
decided to spread their religious message slowly throughout the populations
by allowing them to continue to celebrate pagan feasts, but to do so in a As it happened, the pagan festival of Eastre occurred at the same time of
year as the Christian observance of the Resurrection of Christ. It made
sense, therefore, to alter the festival itself, to make it a Christian
celebration as converts were slowly won over. The early name, Eastre, was
eventually changed to its modern spelling, Easter. Prior to A.D. 325, Easter was variously celebrated on different days of the
week, including Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. In that year, the Council of The Lenten Season Lent is the forty-six day period just prior to Easter Sunday. It begins on The Cross The Cross is the symbol of the Crucifixion, as opposed to the Resurrection. The Easter Bunny The Easter Bunny is not a modern invention. The symbol originated with the
pagan festival of Eastre. The goddess, Eastre, was worshipped by the Anglo- The Germans brought the symbol of the Easter rabbit to America. It was widely ignored by other Christians until shortly after the Civil War. In fact, Easter itself was not widely celebrated in America until after that time. The Easter Egg As with the Easter Bunny and the holiday itself, the Easter Egg predates
the Christian holiday of Easter. The exchange of eggs in the springtime is
a custom that was centuries old when Easter was first celebrated by From the earliest times, the egg was a symbol of rebirth in most cultures. Today, children hunt colored eggs and place them in Easter baskets along with the modern version of real Easter eggs -- those made of plastic or chocolate candy. St. Patrick's Day! (March 17) Customs and Traditions The person who was to become St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, was born in Wales about AD 385. His given name was Maewyn, and he almost didn't get the job of bishop of Ireland because he lacked the required scholarship. Far from being a saint, until he was 16, he considered himself a pagan. At that age, he was sold into slavery by a group of Irish marauders that raided his village. During his captivity, he became closer to God. He escaped from slavery after six years and went to Gaul where he studied in the monastery under St. Germain, bishop of Auxerre for a period of twelve years. During his training he became aware that his calling was to convert the pagans to Christianity. His wishes were to return to Ireland, to convert the native pagans to Patrick was quite successful at winning converts. And this fact upset the His mission in Ireland lasted for thirty years. After that time, Patrick retired to County Down. He died on March 17 in AD 461. That day has been commemorated as St. Patrick's Day ever since. Much Irish folklore surrounds St. Patrick's Day. Not much of it is actually substantiated. Some of this lore includes the belief that Patrick raised people from the
dead. He also is said to have given a sermon from a hilltop that drove all
the snakes from Ireland. Of course, no snakes were ever native to Ireland,
and some people think this is a metaphor for the conversion of the pagans. One traditional icon of the day is the shamrock. And this stems from a more
bona fide Irish tale that tells how Patrick used the three-leafed shamrock
to explain the Trinity. He used it in his sermons to represent how the The St. Patrick's Day custom came to America in 1737. That was the first year St. Patrick's Day was publicly celebrated in this country, in Boston. Groundhog Day! (March 20) How Did the Groundhog Get a Day of His Own? The lowly groundhog, often called a woodchuck, is the only mammal to have a day named in his honor. The groundhog's day is February 2. Granted, it’s not a federal holiday; nobody gets off work. But still, to have a day named after you is quite a feat. How did the groundhog come by this honor? It stems from the ancient belief that hibernating creatures were able to predict the arrival of springtime by their emergence. The German immigrants known as Pennsylvania Dutch brought the tradition to Candlemas is one of the four "cross-quarters" of the year, occurring half
way between the first day of winter and the first day of spring. If Candlemas be fair and bright, The groundhog and badger were not the only animals that have been used to predict spring. Other Europeans used the bear or hedgehog--but in any case the honor belonged to a creature that hibernated. Its emergence symbolized the imminent arrival of spring. Traditionally, the groundhog is supposed to awaken on February 2, Groundhog In the U.S., the “official” groundhog is kept in Punxsutawney, Of course, this is for show. It’s a fun celebration and a great tradition. Besides, spring always arrives on or near March 21, so whether the groundhog decides to return to his den or remain above ground, the sad fact is spring will always have to wait at least six more weeks. April fool’s day! (April 1) Unlike most of the other nonfoolish holidays, the history of April Fool's The closest point in time that can be identified as the beginning of this
tradition was in 1582, in France. Prior to that year, the new year was
celebrated for eight days, beginning on March 25. The celebration
culminated on April 1. With the reform of the calendar under Charles IX,
the Gregorian Calendar was introduced, and New Year's Day was moved to However, communications being what they were in the days when news traveled
by foot, many people did not receive the news for several years. Others,
the more obstinate crowd, refused to accept the new calendar and continued
to celebrate the new year on April 1. These backward folk were labeled as This harassment evolved, over time, into a tradition of prank-playing on
the first day of April. The tradition eventually spread to England and In Scotland, for example, April Fool's Day is actually celebrated for two days. The second day is devoted to pranks involving the posterior region of the body. It is called Taily Day. The origin of the "kick me" sign can be traced to this observance. Mexico's counterpart of April Fool's Day is actually observed on December Pranks performed on April Fool's Day range from the simple, (such as saying, "Your shoe's untied!), to the elaborate. Setting a roommate's alarm clock back an hour is a common gag. Whatever the prank, the trickster usually ends it by yelling to his victim, "April Fool!" Practical jokes are a common practice on April Fool's Day. Sometimes, elaborate practical jokes are played on friends or relatives that last the entire day. The news media even gets involved. For instance, a British short film once shown on April Fool's Day was a fairly detailed documentary about "spaghetti farmers" and how they harvest their crop from the spaghetti trees. April Fool's Day is a "for-fun-only" observance. Nobody is expected to buy gifts or to take their "significant other" out to eat in a fancy restaurant. Nobody gets off work or school. It's simply a fun little holiday, but a holiday on which one must remain forever vigilant, for he may be the next April Fool! Mother's Day! (May 10) History of Mothers' Day
History and Customs... In the U.S. Mothers' Day is a holiday celebrated on second Sunday in May. Страницы: 1, 2 |
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