But before we get to talking of pagan festivities, let’s take a little detour to another springtime celebration: Passover – I promise, if you stick with me, it will all tie in together in the end.

The Time of Year Easter is celebrated is related to the celebration of Passover

Around the Spring time, Jews celebrate the holiday of Passover
(in Aramaic: פסחא or Pascha). Part of the Passover story is that the blood of sacrificial lambs was used to indicate to God to pass-over the God-abiding Jewish houses, to protect them from the plague that God cast over the area. Early Syrian Christians living alongside the Jews saw a connection between the blood of the sacrificial lambs in the Passover story and the figurative sacrificial lamb of Jesus Christ, so they celebrated the sacrifice and resurrection of Christ at the same time of the year as the Jewish celebration of Passover.

This ancient Easter-Passover-connection explains why in many non-English countries, the word for Easter is a variant of the word “Pascha” (Passover).
Examples of these related names for Easter:
Bulgarian: Paskha
Danish: Passke
Dutch: Pasen
Greek: Pascha
Italian: Pasqua
Finnish: Pääsiäinen
Indonesian: Paskah
Portuguese: Páscoa

How celebrating Christ’s sacrifice and resurrection at this time of year led to the naming of “Easter”

Ok, so what does this Passover connection have to do with pagans and the very different looking word “Easter”?

Well, around 325 AD, Christian bishops held a council (“the Council of Nicaea”) to help set a standard date to celebrate the resurrection of Christ. Prior to this council meeting there had been some confusion amongst Christians regarding when the holiday should be celebrated and Christians in different countries held the celebration at different times. The Passover-related date that was being used in Syria and Alexandria, helped determine that the celebration should be held in the spring time.

It would seem understandable that the fact that spring time and the Spring Equinox is a time of rebirth for plants and flowers may have helped tie in the symbolic link to resurrection, though this is speculation and there is no evidence that the bishops in the council took this into consideration.

In any case, the result of this council meeting was that the holiday celebrating the resurrection of Christ should be celebrated in the spring time, on the first Sunday after the first full moon following the Spring Equinox.

Meanwhile, in Northern Europe and in Anglo-Saxon England, another festival was being held around the Spring Equinox: The festival of Eostre.

Thanks to an ancient English scholar called Bede, who lived around 673-735 AD, we know that Anglo-Saxon English pagans worshipped a pagan goddess called “Eostre” (sometimes called Estre, Estara, Eastre or Ostara) and Eostre’s festival was celebrated in the Springtime during the Spring Equinox. Eostre was the goddess of dawn (the rebirth of a new day), fertility and spring (rebirth of plants & flowers), and it is believed that the word Easter originates from her name.

It is likely that since the Christian celebration of Christ’s resurrection was also celebrated during this time of year, Christians who were living alongside pagans, were influenced in seeing this time of year as being the time of the festival of Eostre. And so the name of this Christian holiday that was celebrated alongside Eostre’s festival, came to be called Easter.

These days, with an emphasis on saving energy and on being more aware of our environment, inventions like LED Christmas lights are being used more and more. Because LED lights use up less energy, don’t get hot like traditional lights and last longer, their use has changed the face of Christmas lighting and lighting in general. But when did the idea to put lights up for the holidays first arise?

History of Christmas lights

The idea of using lights as decoration at Christmas was something that had been taking place for some time.

The first illuminated Christmas trees were lit with candles, but even before the age of Christmas, light played an important part in ancient festivities that took place around this time of the year. Sun-worshiping pagans lit candles during the festivals of the Winter solstice, which coincide with the modern Christmas period, because they hoped that providing light from candles and bonfires would encourage the sun’s warmth and light to return after the cold, dark winter.

With the Christianization of pagan holidays, the candle-lighting tradition was incorporated into Christmas customs although it seems that this tradition really regained major popularity after the 18th century.

Around the 18th century it became a popular tradition in many Protestant upper-class German homes to honor Christmas by decorating their Christmas trees with many small miniature candles. The candles were sometimes glued to the tree with melted wax and at other homes they were attached to the trees with pins.

Because of the fire hazard that the flickering candles presented, by the early 1900s lantern-like glass balls were used to hold the illuminated candles, and after the invention of the light bulb, eventually the glass balls of light evolved into the traditional Christmas lights we know today. In spite of the modernization of Christmas lights there are still some places in the world that continue to utilize the old-fashioned candle lights.

What do the Christmas lights symbolise to Christians?

Regardless of their pagan origins, the Christmas lights have amassed new symbolism and meaning since becoming a Christian Christmas tradition. What do the Christmas lights symbolise in Christianity?

I did have a chuckle when I heard the joke that the Christmas lights are put up to help Santa Claus find your house and easily locate the tree in order to put presents under it, but the Christmas lights also have a more meaningful religious symbolism:

• Symbol of the starry night on which Christ was born:
  Some people like to think of the lights representing the Star of Bethlehem, the sign that marked that Christ was born.
• Symbol of the light of Christ:
  In Christian tradition, candles are a symbol for Jesus and the light he brings to earth even in the darkest times. Some believe that the light is symbolic of the eternal light of Jesus’ spirit that is particularly kept in mind over Christmas. Different colored candles also represented different qualities, for example a white candle represents the purity of Christ whilst a pink candle represents joy.
• Symbol of the light, hope and good in the world:
  The Christmas lights also served to remind good Christians to provide light to others.
• Symbol of following the enlightened path:
  Some suggest that the Christmas lights are a reminder to follow the way of Christ. The path of lights that wind around the tree leading to the star at the top may be symbolic of the enlighted path to salvation.

Credits:
Article contributions from Robert Lobitz

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- Why do we celebrate Christmas on December 25th?
- Why do we eat Turkey at Christmas?
- Why are robins on Christmas cards?

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Most of us have heard of people who have made religious pilgrimages but for those who are not particularly religious or those who know little about the details of a pilgrimage, the idea of what drives a person to walk for days to get to a holy site can be quite mysterious when in our day and age they could get there through modern transportation. Why do people go on pilgrimages?

Reasons for pilgrimage:

The motivation is usually different for each person, but there are some basic common underlying themes behind why people go on pilgrimages:

1.) Pilgrimage as an act of penance for sins

You know how some people say “I’d do anything for you to forgive me!”? Well, pilgrimages are some people’s way of “doing anything” for the sake of forgiveness.

People who are truly sorry for something they’ve done may demonstrate how rependant they are by dedicating time and effort to go on a long pilgrimage which usually includes many hours walking on foot. Although many modern religions no longer promote suffering as a means of repentance, some religions still abide by these ancient customs, seeing the suffering of a person as they go on a gruelling journey as a form of penance for their sins. The idea is that God will see this action as a clear sign that they are sincerely sorry and can then be forgiven. God’s forgiveness is sought in the hope of improving their chances of going to heaven.

2.) Pilgrimage as an act of devotion to God in exchange for a miracle

Those who seek something that seems very difficult or almost impossible to achieve, like receiving a healing from a long-term incurable problem like illness or infertility, or finding success in a field of their life which up until now has evaded them, be it work, romance or anything else, may all look for a miracle from God. In exchange for the miracle, they demonstrate their devotion to God by going on a pilgrimage. Henry VIII is said to have made such a pilgrimage (to Walsingham) when he implored God to give him a male heir.

Many stories of miracles occurring to pilgrims during or after a pilgrimage exist. One source for example, notes that the Catholic Church recognizes 65 miracles to have taken place at the pilgrimage hotspot, Lourdes.

3.) Pilgrimages in order to touch a holy relic which can bring good fortune

Many of the religious sites sought out by pilgrims were made were popular because they housed some religious relic, such as a cloth soaked in the blood of a saint, or a piece of a saint’s skeleton, or a part of Jesus’s cross. Some believed that coming in close proximity to artefacts touched by holy people could rub some luck off on them, especially if the artefact belonged to someone with traits that are desired, such as being famous for great courage or for healing abilities.

4.) To experience the joyous feeling of spiritual connection and being close to God

Some people go on pilgrimages simply because it is an opportunity for them to enjoy the feeling of connection with God and all His creations.

Joy can be experienced in every little thing that is usually taken for granted. The joy of waking up to a fresh day, delighting in the observation of your life-giving breath, experiencing all the wonders around you – the trees, flowers, sky, mountains, the unique aromas in your surroundings, the sounds, the sensation of the soft breeze on your skin.. Pleasure can be felt as you observe yourself, your environment and the people around you, feeling how everything is connected by being one creation of God.

It can make you realise how we are all equal and no-one is superior or inferior to one another. On a pilgrimage, there is a feeling that all are equal in the eyes of God, regardless of their status in the everyday world. This can bring a wonderful sense of “togetherness” and belonging.

All this awareness and appreciation can be tremendously exhilarating and fill you with a delicious feeling of bliss.

5.) Pilgrimages as a form of escapism from distractions to give an opportunity to reflect and to receive God-given guidance

A pilgrimage is an opportunity to have some quiet time away from the demands of daily life, to reflect. In everyday life people are often preoccupied by their relationships, work, leaky roofs and other niggling troubles. As a result many find little time to take a step back and reflect on the most important things in their life. By presenting a break from such worries, a pilgrimage gives a person a much needed chance to clear their head, focus positively and gain a renewed perspective on life.

Devout pilgrims would consider any new insights and solutions gained on a pilgrimage to be God-given. It is generally believed that without the distractions of the mundane it is easier to hear Divine guidance.

6.) Pilgrimages as an adventure

A more modern, non-religious reason for pilgrimages is because it can be seen as a fun adventure. It provides an opportunity to meet people of your faith, have an enjoyable time stretching your legs, exercising those muscles and being out in the great outdoors.

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If you’re British or are familiar with British customs, you’ll know that in the UK there is a different date for Mother’s Day celebrations than in the States. What’s more, traditionally the British day of celebration is not known as Mother’s day, but rather as Mothering Sunday. With all these differences, it’s not surprising that the history of Mothering Sunday is a very different one from the American Mother’s Day. This article explores the story behind the origin of Mothering Sunday.

When is Mothering Sunday?

Whilst the American Mother’s Day which occurs in May, Mothering Sunday usually takes place in March. The exact Mothering Sunday date is always the fourth Sunday of Lent, which means that it falls on slightly different days each year. If you want to pencil it into your diary, Mothering Sunday falls on the following dates in the coming years:

• 2012 :: 18 March
• 2013 :: 10 March
• 2014 :: 30 March
• 2015 :: 15 March
• 2016 :: 6 March

Why is Mothering Sunday celebrated on this date?

Historical records seem to suggest that Mothering Sunday has been celebrated on the fourth Sunday of Lent since at least the 16th century, however, it is likely that it was celebrated long before then because the history of its celebration may well date far earlier than this.

To further understand its allocated date of celebration, let’s journey into the history of Mothering Sunday.

The first Mothering Sunday may have been for a Greek or Roman mother goddess

Some suggest that the modern British Mother’s day celebrations evolved from a far earlier pagan celebration of a different kind of mother: a mother goddess.

Many early civilizations had a “mother goddess” figure that was honored and celebrated at certain times of the year. In Ancient Greece the Mother of the Gods (or the Magna Mater) was called Rhea, and it may be that celebrations held for this goddess around the 6th century BC were the earliest form of “Mother’s day” celebrations.

Later, around the 3rd century BC, the Greek traditions were adopted by Ancient Romans, and similar celebrations took place in honor of Rhea’s Roman equivalent, the mother goddess, Cybele. Interestingly enough, the celebrations for Cybele occurred in March, around the same time that we celebrate Mothering Sunday today.

Romans celebrated Cybele in a festival called: Hilaria. Why did they celebrate on this particular date in March? Because it was around the time of the Vernal Equinox, (where Vernal Equinox literally means: Vernal = Spring; Equinox = equal night and day). It was a celebration of the first day which had a longer day than night, marking the end of the gloomy winter, and the onset of a more joyous, sunny spring.

From “Mother’s day” celebrations of Mother goddesses to celebrations of the Holy Mother and the Mother Church

Many festivals celebrated by the Ancient Romans were converted into Christian celebrations when Christianity became the dominant religion of the Roman Empire and of most of Europe. This adaptation of existing Roman festivals was done to help the people adapt more easily to the new Christian religion.

The Roman festival of Saturnalia became Christmas, the Roman celebrations of Juno Februa and Lupercalia eventually became Saint Valentine’s Day, and although the evidence is not unequivocal, it is possible that Cybele’s Hilaria celebrations became Mothering Sunday. In order to make the festival more Christian, the heads of the church may have deemed this “mother goddess” celebration to be an appropriate time at which to replace pagan customs with their own, honoring Mother Mary and the Mother Church. (Mother Church was the term given to the biggest church in the area, often where local Christians would have been baptised.) The date of the celebration was also Christianized to relate directly to Easter and Lent, setting the date of this new festival to fall on the fourth Sunday of Lent. The church services held on this day are likely to have been themed around a Motherly theme, talking about Mary’s maternal love, and of maternal love in general.

Mother Church congregations became an occasion for family reunions with an emphasis on the maternal member of the family

By the 16th century, it was customary to visit the Mother Church for a special service on Mothering Sunday. Visiting the Mother Church on this day was colloquially known as “going a-mothering”.

Although this was a holy day and had little to do with celebrating mothers in any way, the congregating of people at their Mother Church celebrated the joyous coming together again of families. In those days it was common for children as young as ten to be put to work as apprentices, maids and domestic servants, working and living in various country manors, sometimes a fair distance from home. Being given a day off for a reunion with their mothers (and the rest of the family) was an exciting occasion (particularly since some sources suggest that for many working children this was amongst the only days off they had).

On their way home from their work posts, some children would pick flowers to give as a gift to their mothers.

Others would bring home a cake from the manor house where they worked. The most common cakes that were thought to have been made were fruit cakes known as simnel cakes, which are to this day the traditional Mothering Sunday cake that is made.

In some churches, the happy reunion was integrated into the Mother-themed church service where the spring flowers that were picked by the children would be blessed by the church before being presented to the mothers. To this day, flower bouquets are amongst the most common gifts given to mothers on Mothering Sunday.

By the 1940s Mothering Sunday Traditions underwent a transformation to resemble the American Mother’s Day

Somewhere along the line between the 16th century and the early 20th century, Mothering Sunday celebrations began to fade and celebrations became more subdued. But around the 1940s two main things occured which led to the revival of Mothering Sunday and its rebirth as the official Mother’s day celebration we know today:

The first thing that happened was that in the United States, a lady called Anna Jarvis campaigned for an American celebration of mothers throughout the country. Her success resulted in the first national American celebration of Mother’s Day in 1908. Some of her enthusiasm made its way to Britain to a woman called Constance Penswick-Smith who, inspired by Anna Jarvis, campaigned for the closest British equivalent Mother’s day celebration, Mothering Sunday, to be revived. Constance’s Mothering Sunday Movement campaign lasted a good few years, all the way from 1914 to the early 1920s. Although this served to prick up a few ears, nothing much changed in Britain. What did make a huge impact on the resurgence of celebrating Mothering Sunday in Britain, was the second event that happened around this time: World War II.

During World War II, English, American and Canadian soldiers worked alongside one another and had a chance to socialize and talk. One thing that they all had in common was missing their mothers, wives and girlfriends back home. With this newly realized appreciation for their mothers in the darkness of war, at some point (perhaps even on American Mother’s day itself) conversation turned to the American tradition of celebrating Mother’s Day. Inspired by the American celebrations, the British soldiers brought back with them a new found eagerness and desire to celebrate their mothers using the closest thing they had to Mother’s Day: Mothering Sunday.

By the 1950s, Mothering Sunday was once again celebrated throughout Britain with great enthusiasm; an enthusiasm that may have been helped by the exuberant marketing of the festival by merchants selling Mother’s Day related gifts.

A merging occurred between new American traditions and old Mothering Sunday traditions as British mothers began being shown love and appreciation on Mothering Sunday. The merging of traditions was so strong that people even began calling Mothering Sunday, “Mother’s Day”.

Today many people believe that Mothering Sunday and Mother’s Day are one and the same thing, and although the two celebrations have distinctly different origins, they share the same principles at their core: a celebration and appreciation of mothers, be they holy, human or otherwise.

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If you’re ever in Britain around Christmas time, you’ll find pictures of robin red breasts adorning Christmas cards, ornaments, stamps, chocolate boxes, shop windows and Christmas wrapping paper. Their images can even be found decorating Christmas cakes. How did the humble European robin become the Christmas robin?

Why Robins are on Christmas cards

Although robin folklore existed for many years, the robin became far more widely associated with Christmas after it was depicted on Christmas cards in 19th century England; a tradition that has been retained to this day. (1)

Why are robins on Christmas cards? It’s all inspired by the robins who used to deliver the Christmas cards in 19th century Britain.

In the 1800s, British postmen wore bright red uniforms. They wore red in honor of the crown since red is considered both a Royal color and an important color on the English flag. (Incidentally, this may also be one of the reasons why British post boxes were eventually standardized to be red). The postmen in their red-breasted coats resembled the much-loved British bird, the robin red-breast, earning Victorian postmen the nick-name: Robins.

Around Christmas time, people would eagerly await the Robins’ delivery of Christmas cards from near and far. Some greeting card artists were inspired by this to illustrate their cards with the joyous delivery of letters, and instead of drawing a postman, one artist decided to draw the Robins’ namesake, the robin birds, delivering letters in their little beaks. The trend caught on and survives to this day despite the fact that the postmen’s red coat uniforms and the postmen’s Robin nickname have long been retired to the history books.

Robin Folklore

Aside from the postman-robin association explaining the robin’s presence on Christmas cards, the robins already had a rich association with Christmas because various folklore stories exist surrounding the Christmas robin. Below are three of the most popular Christian tales of robin folklore regarding how the robin got its red breast:

1.) The kind-hearted Robin who got its red breast tending to baby Jesus’s fire

One tale from robin folklore is that when Mary was giving birth to Jesus, the fire that was burning to keep the stable warm and comfortable was about to go out. Just as Mary was starting to worry about the chill of the night descending upon her and her newborn, a tiny brown bird alighted by the fire, singing and flapping its little wings. The flapping made the embers glow brightly, re-igniting the fire. In some versions of this tale, the little bird also brought small twigs in its beak to help feed the fire.

As the robin flew around, tending to the fire, the flames crackled and snapped, and a stray red-hot ember flew from the hearth, landing on the brown bird’s breast, making it glow bright red. When Mary saw all this, she declared that the red breast was a sign of the bird’s kind heart and that the bird and all its descendants would wear a red breast proudly for evermore. (2)

2.) The robin who got its red breast trying to help Christ at the crucifixion

Another story about how the robin got its red breast is based on Christ’s crucifixion. The story goes that as Christ was dying on the cross a little brown bird flew beside him, trying to comfort him with its song. The bird clamped its little beak on Jesus’ thorny crown, trying to remove it, and although the bird was not strong enough, in its passionate attempts pulling on the thorns, a little bit of Christ’s blood stained the bird’s breast red. (3)

3.) The robin who got its red breast when giving water to souls in Purgatory

A less popular bit of robin folklore tells of the robin who was kind enough to fetch water for the souls in Purgatory or hell. As it flew in this fiery place, its breast was accidentally scorched, giving the robin its red breast. (1)

Today the robin is considered by some to be Britain’s favorite bird. (4) With the existence of so many positive tales about the robin red breast in folklore and also in everyday life with its cheerful song and its role in keeping gardeners company, it is easy to understand why the robins were well-liked enough to be retained as decorations for Christmas cards and decorations well after their original meaning was forgotten. Well… forgotten until now!

References
(1) de Vries, A. 2004. Elsevier’s Dictionary of Symbols and Imagery. Emerald Group Publishing.
(2) Egan L.B. 1988. A Christmas Stocking: A Child’s Treasury for the Festive Season. Simon & Schuster Ltd
(3) Cooper J.C. 1992. Symbolic and Mythological Animals. Harpercollins
(4) British Bird Lovers website

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Every March 17^th, many places around the globe celebrate St Patrick’s Day with parades, costumes, wearing green, glugging down Irish beer and  generally having some good old craic! Why do we wear green on this day? And more importantly, what are we actually celebrating?

St Patrick’s Day History

Why do we celebrate St Patrick’s day? Basically it’s because we’re celebrating the bringing of Christianity to Ireland.

St Patrick was a British priest living in the 4^th Century. It is said that around 432AD he had a vision in a dream that he would go to Ireland and preach to the Irish to Christianize the pagans who were living there. He embarked on a 30-year missionary operation to convert the pagans to Christianity, and in spite of some problems with the druids, he eventually succeeded gloriously. He was strategic in his efforts and preached to highly influential, powerful people and to nobles whose example was likely to be followed, to help bring on a smooth shift into the new religion.  It is largely thanks to him that to this day Ireland is a strongly Christian country, decorated with beautiful churches, monasteries and religious art. For this reason, St Patrick is known as the Patron Saint of Ireland, and for this reason his death-day anniversary is celebrated every March 17^th.

Why do people wear green on St Patrick’s day?

On St Patrick’s day you might see people wearing green clothes, drinking green beer, and if you’re in Chicago you’ll even see the Chicago River being dyed green in honour of St Patrick’s day! Why green on St Patrick’s day?

The Chicago River has been dyed green every year since 1962 in honour of St Patrick's Day.

Image by Mike Boehmer

Possible Reason 1: Green is associated with Saint Patrick because of the green Shamrock he used to teach about Christianity:

The connection of St Patrick’s Day to the color green may be linked to the role of the shamrock in Saint Patrick’s life story.  Legend has it that Saint Patrick used a green shamrock to explain the concept of the Holy Trinity to the pagans. It illustrated the idea of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, as *one* entity, one God. This is just like how the three leaves are part of one shamrock – but you need all the parts to make it complete.

Possible Reason 2: St Patrick’s day celebrates an Irish tradition and green is the color that is most representative of Ireland:

Because St Patrick’s day culturally evolved into a celebration of Irishness more than of Christianity, this may have led to celebrating with a color that represented the “Emerald Isle” most fittingly. People say that the Irish landscape has 40 shades of green with its lush pastures throughout its countryside, so no color is more appropriate in representing Ireland really!

Possible Reason 3: Green on the Irish flag represents Catholicism, and Saint Patrick was Catholic

The color green has been used historically to represent various groups in Ireland, particularly the Irish Catholic nationalists of the south, and eventually this color was adopted as part of the official country’s flag in 1919. The Irish flag is a tri-color of green, white and orange. The green is said to be representative of the Catholics in the country, the orange signifies the Protestants, and the white stands for the peace between them. It is appropriate then that St Patrick’s day, a Catholic celebration, is represented by the color green.

If St Patrick’s day is such an Irish-centred celebration, why do we celebrate it all over the world?

It is likely that the reason the celebrations reached far and wide is due to Irish immigrants spreading their traditions where-ever they went, as they tried to rekindle a taste of home. The fun of the celebrations was so enticing that, as the cheeky Irish saying goes: “There are only two kinds of people in the world: the Irish and those who wish they were!” Judging by the global celebrations of St Patrick’s Day, there may indeed be some truth to this saying!

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Once a year it is customary to stuff our faces with pancakes. Yes, I’m talking about Pancake Day! Or as it’s more correctly known by it’s Christian name, Shrove Tuesday. But how did “Pancake Day” arise? Why do we eat pancakes on Shrove Tuesday?

Pancake Day is always the day before Ash Wednesday, where Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the Christian period of Lent. To understand why we eat pancakes on Shrove Tuesday, it’s important to understand one thing about Lent: Lent has traditionally been a period marked by abstaining from certain foods. There were different variations of the fasting custom but one of the most popular ones was abstaining from animal products, such as meat, lard, eggs, and dairy. Sometimes sugar was also removed.

Hold on: eggs and dairy? This is beginning to sound a lot like the ingredients for pancake mix! In preparation for the period of Lent, Christian households wanted to finish off all the produce they would be unable to use over Lent, and because pancakes required many of these soon-to-be-forbidden foods, since their invention around the 1400s, a pancake feast was common in many households on the Tuesday before Lent began.

In many countries pancakes are the traditional food to be eaten, but different Christian countries around the world have varying traditional foods which they eat with the aim of using up all their animal products, eaten every Shrove Tuesday (and sometimes on the related pre-Lent feast day, Fat Thursday). For example:

• In Sweden they make a sweet bun called “semla” or “fettisdag buller“, which is made with butter, milk and eggs, filled with marzipan, topped off with whipped cream, and served with a steaming mug of hot milk. Estonia, Finland and Denmark have a similar Shrove Tuesday traditional food.
• In Germany they make a diamond-shaped, deep-fried pastry called a fasnacht which is made from milk, lard and mashed potatoes.
• In Portugal, they eat Malasadas, which are doughnuts made from lard or butter, eggs and sugar amongst other ingredients. Sometimes they are filled with cream, and they function very well in helping to use up animal products that are lying around.
• In Scotland they eat bannocks of eggs and meal, and rather than calling the day Pancake day, they call it “Bannocky Day”.
• In Italy, they have a special dove-shaped pastry called a “colomba“.
• In Iceland, they feast on salted meat which is another animal product traditionally abstained from during Lent.
• In Poland it is customary to eat special doughnuts called “pączki” and a special crispy pastry called “faworki” on Fat Thursday.
• In France, traditionally, Lyon cold meat shops sold a special crispy pastry similar to the Polish “faworki”, called “bugnes” on Fat Thursday in the buildup to Lent.

With all this eating, it’s not surprising that Pancake Day is also known as Fat Tuesday (“Mardi Gras” in France, “Terça-feira gorda” in Brazil and Portugal, “Fettisdagen” in Sweden) and Bursting day (Sprengidagur in Iceland)!

Why aren’t you supposed to eat animal products during Lent?

Ok, so the great pancake feast is all to do with using up foods which are forbidden during Lent. But why aren’t you allowed to eat these foods during Lent in the first place?

The 40 day self-denial of selected pleasures (like animal products) in the countdown to Easter, is meant to be a spiritual experience in which Christians empathize with Jesus in the story of “the temptation of Christ“. This story is described in the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, and they speak of Jesus fasting in the desert for 40 days and nights after being baptized. During his time in the wilderness, he was subjected to temptations by the devil, but Jesus held strong and didn’t give in to temptation. Fasting from certain foods during Lent is a symbol of self-control against temptation, and the idea is that by imitating Jesus, you draw closer to him so that you can learn to think and act like him, to live a better life.

Some believe that you don’t need to fast to demonstrate self-control nor to learn Jesus teachings or live a better life. As one article put it, “Fasting, of and by itself, cannot produce godly self-control.”

In any case, the tradition of fasting during Lent is far less common today than it was in the past.

The tradition of eating pancakes on Shrove Tuesday however is still going strong! And in some places, it has even lead to offshoot traditions like the “Pancake Day Race” in which contestants must run whilst tossing a pancake in a frying pan!

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- Why do we eat Turkey at Christmas?

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The origin of the wedding ring custom began in Ancient Egypt
Some suggest that since Neanderthal times gifts were exchanged as tokens of a special relationship. However the origin of an actual ring being given as a token of love appears to date back to Ancient Egypt, about 5000 years ago. We know this through archaeological evidence which found hieroglyphics depicting wedding bands.

The Egyptian grooms would take plant stems from reeds and rushes, and they’d twist and plait them into rings and bracelets which would then be presented to their brides.

It is believed the Egyptians considered the circular shape a symbol of ever-lasting love and good omens, as it is also the shape of the holy Sun and the Moon.

The hole in the centre of the ring was symbolic of the unknown things to come in their new life as a married couple.

Like many of us today, the Egyptians wore their wedding ring on the 4th finger of the left hand. The origin of this custom is from the belief that there was a vein running from this ring finger, all the way to the heart. So by wearing a ring on this finger you are saying that the person who gave you that ring has a direct link to your heart.

The wedding ring tradition was passed down through the Ancient Greeks and Romans

Many years later, the Ancient Greeks adopted this wedding ring custom and belief as their own, when they conquered Egypt in 332 BC. Fast-forward a few more years and this tradition was passed on to the Romans, who added a name to this special heart-linked vein, calling it the “vena amoris”: the vein of love.

Over time, wedding rings evolved and were no longer made of plant stems, but of more durable leather, ivory, bone and once the art of metalwork became more refined, they began to be made of metal, although the first metal rings were quite uneven and uncomfortable to wear! In Roman times, most rings were made of iron.

Over time, the symbol of the ring also evolved. For many, the ring somewhat lost some of it’s romantic significance, as marriage became more of a contract for security than an exchange of love. The ring became the mark of a legal agreement, marking a contract between families rather than between lovers, where the ring was the binding force. The ring became an indication of financial security that the husband could offer his new wife.

At this time only women would wear engagement and wedding rings. In fact, in the early 1900s, reports show that only about 15% of grooms wore a wedding ring. Men only started wearing wedding rings in comparatively modern times, around the time of World War II, and later the Korean War, when men wanted a physical reminder of their wives to bring them cheer and hope as they fought far from home.

Back in Roman times, so much did the ring become a sign of offering financial security, that there was even a phase when it was fashionable for women to be given rings with keys attached to them, where the key was her access to her husband’s safety deposit box of valuables.

The wedding ring tradition passed down to Medieval Times
In line with this view of marriage as a necessary means to give a woman financial security, in Medieval Europe, the more expensive the metal for the ring, the “better” the man’s marriage proposal was seen to be.

Once gold metalwork began, it soon became the material of choice for wedding rings. And if a man could afford gemstones on the ring as well – all the better! Sometimes further gifts of leather pouches full of gold and silver were given to the bride as part of the marriage ceremony following the ring exchange.

Romance was not dead however, as ruby gemstones in the ring not only showed the wealth of the husband, but also symbolized the colour of love. Similarly, diamonds became the symbol of indestructible and long-lasting love, as of 1477 when the first documented diamond ring was given by the Viennese Archduke Maximilian to his beloved Mary of Burgundy. Diamond rings only really became popular around the 1930s.

The Christianization of the wedding ring tradition
Although there are no Christian biblical references decreeing the ring as part of the wedding ceremony, there are some references to rings being given as tokens of fidelity (Genesis 24:22.30.53; and 41:42) and symbols of adoption (Esth 8:2,8; Luke 15:22). Considering this together with considerations of the public popularity of the marriage ring custom, in the 12th century, Pope Innocent III officially accepted the ring exchange into the Christian wedding ceremony. He created the tradition of placing the ring on the index finger, middle finger and finally ring finger, representing the Holy Trinity, as they recited: “In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost”.

The precise lines recited in the Christian ceremony alluding to the ring vary depending on the Christian sect:

• Church of England: “With this ring I thee wed, with my body I thee worship, and with all my worldly goods I thee endow: In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.”
• Roman Catholic: “Take this ring as a sign of my love and fidelity. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.”
• Anglican, Episcopal, Protestant: “I give you this ring as a symbol of my vow [or love], and with all that I am and all that I have, I honour you, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
• Presbyterian: “This ring I give you, in token and pledge of our constant faith and abiding love”

(So next time you hear the ring exchange at a wedding, you’ll be able to tell what type of Christianity the married couple are, by the words used in the ring exchange!)

Not all Christians adopted the ring-giving tradition. Some Christian groups shun the idea of jewellery altogether, believing it to be wasteful and immoral, and believing it promotes the negative idea that beauty is on the outside rather than on the inside. (This is based on 1 Timothy 2:9-10 and 1 Peter 3:3-4). As a result, in 19th century America, a tradition of giving a thimble as an engagement gift arose, rather than a ring. In spite of this – slightly rebellious brides may have removed the top of the thimble to make it into a secret ring!

So what does the engagement and wedding ring tradition symbolize today?

1.) The Circle as a sign of eternal, never-ending love
The original Egyptian symbolism of the ring remains: It’s circular shape being the mark of eternal love. An unbroken promise of commitment and love.

2.) Chinese Symbolism
There is a really beautiful ancient Chinese symbolism related to wearing the wedding ring on the ring finger.

It’s easiest to explain the significance of the ring finger through a little demonstration:

• Put your hands together, palm to palm.
• Keeping all you finger tips touching, unlink your middle finger, and place it touching finger-joint-to-finger-joint as shown in the diagram below.
  
• Now try and unlink each finger, one by one. See how the thumb unlinks easily? Put it back and try and unlink the index fingers – easy to unlink again. Now try unlinking your little finger – no problem there. But lastly, try to unlink your ring fingers. You can’t!

Chinese tradition associates your thumb with your parents, your index finger with your siblings, your middle finger with yourself, your ring finger with your life partner and soul mate, and your little finger with your children. The symbolism is that you can separate from parents as you fly the nest; you separate from siblings as you grow older, move out of the family home, and each sibling has their own family; you separate from your children when they grow up. But your soul mate and life partner is someone we don’t separate from. Like the ring fingers in this demonstration, soul mates stay linked together strongly throughout life. This is why the ring is worn on this finger according to Chinese custom.

Related Posts
- Why do grooms wear a pocket square at weddings?
- Why marry? Why do people get married?
- Why do people go on honeymoons? And why do we call it a honeymoon?
- Why do we write RSVP on wedding invitations?

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