Everybody looks forward to holidays—spanning from Christmas, the jolly time of year when the world nostalgically envisions snow descending upon the fallow earth, to Halloween, the tenebrous time where people delight in costumes and impetuously chanting, “Trick or treat!” But, does the thought ever cross our minds: “how did these holidays come about?” or, “why do we celebrate this day?” Although research shows that many of the festivals include Puritan traditions, over time they fell victim to corrupt, pagan practices,—ranging from the cute but misguided efforts of Easter to the nefarious elements of Halloween. Do reasons to still feel joyful and happy when the holidays come around remain? I believe so, but only with caution and a greater …show more content…
Almost everything about the secular Easter in our world today smells of idolatry; the eggs, the bunny, and obviously the name--reminiscent of Ishtar, a Babylonian goddess! If this holiday really revolved around Jesus, why is it not labeled Resurrection Day or Passover? In fact, since the First Council of Nicaea, Easter can date as little as three weeks away from the Jewish Passover and is uniformly set as the first Sunday after the spring equinox. Coincidentally, that day also presumedly celebrated Ishtar. 2 Corinthians 6:16 says, “What agreement can exist between the temple of God and idols?” Easter has become a tapestry of many interwoven threads—some noble and some ignoble. I think that the innocent-looking activities contribute only as a distraction and therefore become a poor choice to engage it. My family and I do not celebrate them in the customary ways, but instead bake a cake in the shape of a cross. We usually spend the time reserved for the Easter hunt as a time to bond with each other and reflect on/praise Jesus. Turning the day into the celebration of Jesus coming back to life is something that I do think acts as the most important thing to
This is an area of history that has rarely been explored in such depth and nuance. Similar to other chapters, there is a large amount of cataloging of the origins of different custom, their transformations through time, and intersections with historical events. In these sections we are treated to stories of the interior life of many communities and their tradition-making in an intimate and spontaneous fashion. Each anecdote contributes to a fuller picture of the meaning of Carnival in Louisiana. One such tale showcases the resilience of Mardi Gras, when in 2014 the commitment to celebration was tested in the St. Mary Parish.
Holidays celebrate an area’s culture and/or the day(s) it commemorates with various festivities and traditions. In Theodore Geisel’s How The Grinch Stole Christmas, the light-hearted denizens of Who-Ville are preparing to celebrate Christmas. For the Whos, it is a time of fun and merryness, in which they sing and play with one another. This is a time of camaraderie and fellowship between everyone in the town. Apart from this is the antagonist, the Grinch, who dreads the holiday along with the singing, feasting, and other festive activities that the holiday inspires.
For a week, up until the Friday before Easte, her family fasts and refrains from engaging in any activities. Using electronics, cooking and working are some examples of the activities that are prohibited around the time before Easter. Food is prepped for the entire week, which does not need require anyone to use the stove or an electronics to heat up the food. Although, this type of ritual for Easter originated in Guatemala, her family continues to keep their ties to the Guatemalan
Good Evening Prof. Ellis, I hope you enjoyed your Thanksgiving Break! I know I enjoyed a nice home cooked meal, however, the reason I am emailing you is to make sure I don 't have my "final grade docked" because I didn 't send in excuses for my absences. I am positive I have missed over three absences, so attached are doctor 's notes for two of the days I missed. I know there is a chance my grade would not have been affected, but I did not want to risk it. Thanks.
Dia de los Muertos can be associated with Christianity, because it was introduced by the Roman Catholic Church. Dia de los Muertos and Halloween can both be represented with images of skeletons or pumpkins, they are both a way to unite people together, they both involve festive food and decorations, and they are both a legitimate excuse to dress up for either a parade, a party, or trick or treating. One fascinating thing that is believed to happen on Dia de los Muertos is the portal opening from earth to the afterlife in order for family members to be reconciled with late relatives. Most people don’t know that turnips were carved into faces, but the jack o’ lanterns have evolved over hundreds of years and are now carved in pumpkins. Overall, while Dia de los Muertos and Halloween have many similarities they are both very different ways to celebrate the
Nowadays, witches are often regarded to be figments of vivid imaginations or ideas for Halloween costumes. However, in the late 17th century, the utterance of the word would create a deep anxiety in the hearts of many. This frenzy was especially prevalent in Salem, Massachusetts. Here, the infamous Salem Witch Trials swept through the area like an angel of death. The time period was quite tumultuous, as it created a clear divide within the community, forming two different sides: the accusers and the accused.
As a child growing up, our parents taught us many fictional characters and myths. For example, Santa Calsus, the Easter Bunny, and the myth behind the tooth fairy. Theses thoughts or “tales” are placed in our head so as children, we have the idea of a perfect happy world. In elementary school, I was taught that thanksgiving was simply a time to stuff your face with turkey. As a grew a bit older thanksgiving was expounded and I learned that the first Thanksgiving Day was celebrated in Plymouth by Pilgrims and Native Americans, and this information was still incorrect.
There numerous traditional festivals in Christianity, however, I envisage Easter and Christmas to be the grandest and memorable traditional festivals. Back in my home church where I was involved in the youth ministry, people would prepare in weeks in advance to decorate the church, make baskets full of presents with Easter-related items, and set up various activities for the kids. Activities were an entertaining way for kids to learn about Christianity and Easter. I cannot speak much for my church 's adult congregation, however, the youth ministry focused on the concept of 'giving back to community ' on Christmas. We would receive donations of food and necessities to give back to the those in need.
Holidays in Hispanic Countries Major holidays in Hispanic countries include the Day of the Dead, Carnival, Holy Week and Christmas. Some of the major holidays in the United States are Easter and Christmas. Each of these holidays range in time, have different people that participate, and they each have different traditional activities.
As studied by Janet Siskind, the American Thanksgiving celebration is actually a very detailed ritual that contains many symbols. Similar to other rituals, the holiday reinforces certain social structures and “…reaffirms values and assumptions about cultural and social unity, about identity and history, about inclusion and exclusion” (168). The Thanksgiving ritual is centered around a return home, as people traveled from their urban homes back to their rural home to meet with their larger family. As a result, “the household became the site of ritual performance…” (175). The goal of the Thanksgiving ritual was to reaffirm the family and renew traditional ties, especially as more people had started moving into the cities around the time that the holiday became popular in the United States (176).
However, there are some huge differences between Semana Santa and Easter. During Semana
The Civic of Christmas When most people think of Christmastime, they picture Santa Claus, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, The Nutcracker, and snow-covered hills perfect for sledding. At face value, these age-old holiday observances are just ways of celebrating the holiday season, or traditions that have been passed down from generation to generation. However, upon further examination, aspects of the holiday season have had deep-rooted impacts on our society. During the turn-of-the-twentieth-century Progressive Era, practiced rhetoricians took strategic advantage of the opportunity to connect the emotional appeals of the holiday season with the widespread social activism that unfurled across the nation. The landmark
However, there is a distinct difference between the two holidays. In America, Halloween has shifted from focusing on death to focusing on trick-or-treating. The Day of the Dead celebrates the fact that death does not destroy the unity between those alive and those dead. While both celebrate with dressing up, eating with loved ones, and spending time with family, they gather for vey different reasons. In keeping with their culture, Americans celebrate being with those still alive, while Mexicans include deceased individuals in their
The meaning of Easter is Jesus Christ’s victory over death. His resurrection symbolizes the eternal life that is granted to all who believe in Him. The meaning of Easter also symbolizes the complete verification of all that Jesus preached and taught during His three-year ministry. If He had not risen from the dead, if He had merely died and not been resurrected, He would have been considered just another teacher or Rabbi. However, His resurrection changed all that and gave final and irrefutable proof that He was really the Son of God and that He had conquered death once and for
The sound of birds chirping garishly outside my window, wakens me from a deep slumber. Opening my eyes, I see the morning sun’s rays illuminating my room. I’m longing for sleep to engulf me back into its warm embrace. My father ruins any hope of going back to sleep as he hollers upstairs that breakfast is ready. Standing up and doing a morning stretch is when I first smell it.