The History behind Trick-or-Treating

Last weekend I spent hours at various stores trying to find the perfect costume for my kids. Not an easy task , especially when the kids kept changing their minds about what they wanted to be. They both finally decided to be vampires, which got me to thinking about the not so commercial aspect of the trick-or-treating. How many of you know where the tradition started?

The custom of trick-or-treating is thought to have originated not with the Irish Celts, but with a ninth-century European custom called souling. On November 2, All Souls Day, early Christians would walk from village to village begging for "soul cakes," made out of square pieces of bread with currants. The more soul cakes the beggars would receive, the more prayers they would promise to say on behalf of the dead relatives of the donors. At the time, it was believed that the dead remained in limbo for a time after death, and that prayer, even by strangers, could expedite a soul's passage to heaven.

Something to think about as you're herding you little ghost or goblin along the sidewalks between houses.
Happy Halloween!
Kim

The History behind the Jack-o-lantern

The Jack-o-lantern custom probably comes from Irish folklore. As the tale is told, a man named Jack, who was notorious as a drunkard and trickster, tricked Satan into climbing a tree. Jack then carved an image of a cross in the tree's trunk, trapping the devil up the tree. Jack made a deal with the devil that, if he would never tempt him again, he would promise to let him down the tree.

According to folklore, after Jack died, he was denied entrance to Heaven because of his evil ways, but he was also denied access to Hell because he had tricked the devil. Instead, the devil gave him a single ember to light his way through the frigid darkness. The ember was placed inside a hollowed-out turnip to keep it glowing longer.

The Irish used turnips as their "Jack's lanterns" originally. But when the immigrants came to America, they found that pumpkins were far more plentiful than turnips. So the Jack-O-Lantern in America was a hollowed-out pumpkin, lit with an ember.

Kim

Dog Days of Summer

The phrase "the dog days of summer" refers to the hottest, most sultry days of summer. They usually fall between July and early September but the actual dates may vary. The Old Farmer's Almanac lists the traditional timing of the Dog Days as the 40 days beginning July 3 and ending
August 11, which coincides with the ancient heliacal rising of the Dog Star, Sirius. So now you know......

Well the dog days of summer are here in Phoenix and it’s time to break out those eggs. Fried or scrambled? Poached? Now you’re pushing it. The kids are home and going stir crazy. Is it possible to watch too much SpongeBob? (Not in my book.) Still, I can’t wait until August 7 when school’s back in session. I’ll be the one dancing in the hallways while the teachers all have that deer-in-the-headlights look.

The Wild Rose Press is offering free reads at www.thewildrosepress.com. These stories are between 750 - 2500 words and are listed on the main book store page under FREE READS.
Enjoy your dog days of summer even more by grabbing some stories
and discovering new authors.

Kim

Betcha Didn't Know...

I thought since Easter is coming around real quick, I’d share some little known and interesting facts about Easter.

• The celebration of Easter has roots in three different traditions - Hebrew, Pagan and Christianity.


• Easter was given that specific name because early Christians wanted to convert others and they thought everyone was familiar with the name, because it was an old spring tradition.


• The White Lily is a symbol of Christ’s resurrection for Easter.
  
• The hare and the egg became the symbol of Easter. Both are signs of fertility. The hare changed over to the rabbit because rabbits were far more common than hares.
  
• The basket became a tradition, because it was a custom for Cathlolics to bring their food to mass in order for it to be blessed. It was also an ancient agrarian custom to bring a family’s first crop to the local temple.


• Jelly beans didn’t become a tradition in the United States until the 1930s.
  
• The first edible Bunny began its tradition in Germany. It wasn’t made of chocolate but of pastry and sugar.

Here's a little tidbit about Easter you may not know.

Easter is early this year. Easter is always the 1st Sunday after the 1st full Moon after the Spring Equinox (which is March 20). This dating of Easter is based on the lunar calendar that Hebrew people used to identify Passover, which is why it moves around on our Roman calendar.

Based on the above, Easter can actually be one day earlier (March 22) but that is pretty rare.

Here's the interesting info. This year is the earliest Easter any of us will ever see the rest of our lives! And only the most elderly of our population has ever seen it this early (95 years old or bove!). And none of us have ever, or will ever, see it a day earlier!

Here are the facts:

1) The next time Easter will be this early (March 23) will be the year 2228 (220 years from now). The last time it was this early was 1913 (so if you're 95 or older, you are the only ones that were around for that!).

2) The next time it will be a day earlier, March 22, will be in theYear 2285 (277 years from now). The last time it was on March 22 was 1818.

So, no one alive today has or will ever see it any earlier than this year

Easter and Jellybeans

The exact origin of the Jellybean is somewhat foggy likely lost to time and a lack of permanent record keeping methods. Most historians, however, agree that in the USA they were first linked with Easter in the 1930s. That is when people began tucking them into Easter baskets likely because of their resemblance to small eggs.

Eggs have long been a symbol of fertility and spring renewal associated with Easter. The Jellybean's beguiling resemblance to small bird eggs was evident, and that along with their colorful appearance made them a natural addition to Easter festivities. The American appetite for Jellybeans seems to be ravenous and growing annually. In the USA candy makers manufacture approximately 16 Billion Jellybeans annually in anticipation of Easter. Moreover, in recent years some Grocery stores have doubled the space designated for highlighting Jellybeans near Easter time.

The History of St. Patrick's Day

For those of you with inquiring minds because sometimes you just can't have to much information!

Conceived in 5th century Ireland, the March 17 holiday initially was a reverent Roman Catholic observance humbly paying homage to St Patrick the patron saint of Ireland. In keeping with that sober tone, until the 1970s, Ireland's, pubs were mandated closed, in veneration of the holy day. The holiday's observance is the day St Patrick died, believed by historians to be somewhere around 460 A.D.

There was no parade.

Imported toAmerica and other countries by nostalgic Irish immigrants, the hallowed festival was launched in their newly-settled homelands to inspire unity, assert a presence, and to celebrate their cultural integration. After Irish immigrants found their way to America, the Colonies celebrated St Patrick's Day for the first time in Boston, in 1737. In New York City, the earliest celebration was held in 1756 at the Crown and Thistle Tavern, according to the U.S. Department of International Information programs.

Some interesting tidbits:

Shamrocks are added to St Patrick's Best beer brewed by
The Strangford Lough Brewing Company.

(That's got to taste better than those fat, little worms)

The symbolic color of St Patrick's Day was formerly blue not green.

Corned beef is not traditional.

(No wonder I can't stand it)

Patrick was sold to an Irish chieftain.
He spent six years in slavery, until escaping.