Some such surroundings include the parades, the drinking aspect of the holiday, public schools, and how everyone celebrates as Irish on St. Patrick’s Day. In Ireland, St. Patrick’s Day has primarily been a religious event. “Until the 1970’s, pubs were required by law to close on March 17th.” (Religion Facts). After all, the day is set aside to celebrate the death of a saint. “In Dublin, it is a weeklong event called St. Patrick’s Festival.” (Religion Facts).
Cycles in Time and History- The very first Mitzva the Jewish people were given was to establish a calendar based on only the moon and not the sun. The idea represented in this colossal and monumental act was that of complete and final divergence from the Egyptian culture. The Egyptians were of the belief that they came from the sun, their sun god, was considered the source that they received their sustenance and power from. The idea represented therein is, that while the sun is stationary and unchanging the moon however, is constantly changing and renewing within every month. The Egyptians believed that as the sun is constant and unchanging they believed that they have no free will or moral freedom.
Jewish Feast Days REL 134 June 13, 2012 Jewish Feast Days There are three holidays for the Jewish people that have both a historical and agricultural meaning for them. The Pesach, Passover is in remembrance of the Jews Exodus from Egypt and the beginning of the harvest season. The Shavu’ot is for remembering the giving of the Torah and the brining of the first fruits to the temple. The Sukkot holiday is for remembering the forty years the Israelites wandered in the desert and for the ingathering of the harvest. Each of these holidays carry with it certain customs and traditions of what must be done, what can be eaten, and how each Jew must pray.
The pilgrimage must be made the first half of the last month of the lunar year. Molly, M. (2010). Experiencing the world's religion: Tradition, challenge, and change (5th ed.). New York, NY:
It reached Scandinavia before spreading to various other countries. The four candles are lit one by one, on each of the four Sundays before Christmas. The Advent Calendar The Advent Calendar is a tradition of German origin aimed to encourage children to be patient until Christmas. Thus, in order to feel that they have less time to wait, children are given an Advent Calendar at
3. Farewell ceremony for the Kitchen Gods (Ong Tao) Seven days (the 23rd night of the last lunar month) prior to Tet, each Vietnamese family offers a farewell ceremony for Ong Tao to go up to Heaven Palace. His task is to make an annual report to the Jade Emperor of the family’s affairs throughout the year. 4. New Year’s Eve However, in a literal translation, it means “Passage from the Old to the New Year”.
Samhain dates back to the ancient Celts who lived 2,000 years ago. “On the night of October 31 they celebrated Samhain, when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth (“Halloween”). Samhain, the Pagan holiday, in on November 1st but their celebrations did and still do start at sunset on October 31st. During the celebration, the Celts wore costumes and danced around the bonfire. In addition to celebrations and dance, it was believed that the thin veil between the physical world and the other world provided extra energy for communications between the living and the dead.
Yom Kippur is one of two holidays referred to as “The High Holy Days”, with the other being Rosh Hashanah. Together the two are the important holidays of the Jewish year and it is sometimes referred to as the “Sabbath of Sabbaths.” Rosh Hashanah celebrates the New Year while Ten days later, Yom Kippur begins the New Year with a day of atonement for all wrongdoings. ("Yom Kippur - Holidays - HISTORY.com," n.d.) The days leading up to Yom Kippur from Rosh Hashanah are called “The Days of Awe,” know as being a period of judgment, repentance and forgiveness. These days are ripe with tradition, on the first day of Rosh Hashanah, every synagogue in the world will be the sounding the shofar which is a horn typically from a Ram; “You shall observe it as a day of sounding the horn” (Leviticus 23:24). Though the Bible is not so specific as to say why this is done one of the leading reasons believed is to remind us of the horns that blow on the Day of Judgment.
Hajj takes place at a specific time of the Muslim lunar calendar. At this time of the year, millions of Muslims from the four corners of the world come together on the pilgrimage to Mecca, the birthplace of Islam. Pilgrims are supposed to fulfill certain requirements before they can set out on Hajj. Each of the six days holds different rituals that have to be performed by the pilgrim in accordance to the prophet’s doings. Hajj is very significant and plays a very important role in a Muslims life.
THE TWELFTH NIGHT Twelfth night is a name commonly given to the Christian Feast of the Epiphany, which is celebrated on the 6th of January and which commemorates the coming of the Magi- the 3 wise men to where Christ was born. They brought with them the gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh, which were appropriate for an infant king. Winter festivals Almost all societies and cultures find it necessary to have some kind of holiday in the middle of winter. The ancient Romans used to hold an annual ‘Saturnalia’ for about a week in the middle of December. During this period all forms of public order were suspended, the law courts and schools were closed, trading ceased and no criminals were executed.