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.

Since the 1960s, the Bank of England has been printing significant people from British history on the official British banknotes. Most of us handle bank notes every day, but if I were to ask you to close your eyes and tell me who the people on the British bank notes are, would you be able to name them?

Even upon digging into wallets and pulling out the notes, most people may be surprised to find that they don’t recognise some of the historic figures honoured on English bank notes. But fear not! The answers are close at hand!

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£5 Note

The lady who has been on the £5 since 2002 is Elizabeth Fry and she’s not going to be on the fiver for very much longer – just until 2016. She was honoured for her philanthropy, humanitarian and social reform work in the 1800s. Throughout her life, she endeavoured to help the poor, the homeless and the needy. She is perhaps most famous her work with prisoners; fighting for the rights of female prisoners, campaigning for them to be treated in a more humane way and campaigning to improve their living conditions. Opposite her portrait on the banknote is an image of her at work, surrounded by women and children. Her work was appreciated by the highest of high society, and she is said to have even been granted an audience with Queen Victoria on more than one occasion. On an interesting side note, she was also a mother to 11 children!

In addition to her own meaningful work in society, my own personal speculation is that perhaps the fact that both her parents were important in the banking world may have helped her chances to get on a bank note. Her mother was from the Barclay family that founded Barclays Bank and her father was also an important bank man, being a partner at the then-well-respected Gurney’s Bank in Norwich, which later merged with Barclays Bank.

In 2016, the plans are to replace the Elizabeth Fry fiver with a new Winston Churchill five pound note, to honour his role as Prime Minister of the UK during World War II. You can see the image of this new banknote in this Guardian newspaper article.

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£10 Note

The current £10 note was first issued in the year 2000, and has an image of a man who most people would probably recognise: Charles Darwin; biologist and founding father of the theory of evolution. Alongside his portrait there are images of his ship, the HMS Beagle, that he used to travel the world to gather biological specimens and observations which helped him develop his great theory. The note also depicts a tool Darwin used: his magnifying lens, and some flora and fauna that he may have come across on his travels.

In 2017, the current plans are to replace the Darwin tenner with a £10 honouring the author Jane Austen, for her contributions to English literature. You can see the proposed design of the new ten pound note in this article here.

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£20 Note

The £20 note that was first published in 2007 shows a portrait of Adam Smith, a Scottish philosopher and economist from the 1700s; a man often cited as “the father of modern economics”. Besides his portrait is some text about one of his most famous contributions: his thoughts about the “division of labour”. His simple but then-groundbreaking idea was that if you divide up the labour efficiently between various specialized workers in a factory, efficiency would rise and a “great increase in the quantity of work” would result.

There are plans to replace Adam Smith on the banknote around 2018-2020.

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£50 Note

The £50 note that’s been in circulation since 2011 has two people on it: engineer and scientist, James Watt, and manufacturer Matthew Boulton. (You can see the image of this note here). Together they are both honoured for their roles in developing steam engine technology in the 1700s. Steam-driven machinery is particularly relevant to the banking industry because it was steam-driven machinery that had an important role in the minting of coins at Boulton’s Soho Mint.

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Other people who have been honoured on bank notes in the past include:
(I’ve linked each name to an image of the relevant banknote that I found online)

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Why write a novel?

12 reasons why people write books:

1.) Because it’s fun

Writing can be extremely enjoyable for some people. What makes it fun?

• The joy of succeeding to paint a picture with words
• The joy of invention and creation: creating something entirely new and original from nothing but your mind.
• The joy and release of self-expression of your thoughts, dreams and beliefs.
• The joy of the freedom to write whatever you want. You can take the story anywhere you wish. There are no boundaries.
• The joy of escaping into another world, one where you can write your dreams into existence and make them come true by living vicariously through your characters. It can be a world where dreams can come true, where you can say everything you’ve never dared to say in real life, where bad guys get their just desserts, good guys usually win and there’s often a happy ending.
• The joy of connecting with your characters and seeing them develop and overcome conflicts.

2.) Because you have something you want to say

You may write because you feel a strong sense of having something to say. This may be in the form of self-expression of a feeling where writing about it gives you some relief. In other instances you may want to write to share an important idea, a revelation you’ve made about how humans or society function, a profound realization about life, a strong belief you have or something you think will inspire others to feel better, to become better people or to help make the world a better place.

3.) Because you want to be the catalyst that brings the joy of reading to others through your book

I think it would be fair to say that most writers and wannabe authors would list reading as one of their hobbies because books have been a source of enjoyment and inspiration for them in the past. Some people can become inspired from reading a good book just because it makes them want to be able to stir in others those wonderful feelings they experienced while reading.

4.) Because having control over a fictional world can feel empowering

In life, many of us can go through times when we feel vulnerable, powerless or like we lack control over our lives. By writing a world where you essentially play god, it can give a great sense of empowerment. The fun thing is that even if you feel empowered from writing a piece of fiction, according to the Law of Attraction, the longer you spend focused on an activity which makes you feel empowered, the more likely you are to bring that feeling into other aspects of your real life too.

5.) For the pure challenge and its achievement

If you already know that you enjoy writing short stories, blogs, poetry, writing in your journal or anywhere else, a fun challenge you can set yourself is trying to write a novel, for the pure challenge.

During the process of writing a book you will most likely improve your writing skills and expand in this way.

For some it can help you feel like you’re proving yourself. Writing over 50,000 words can be akin to climbing a mountain. Both require skill and stamina, and both can feel like a great achievement when you complete them. For those who gain their self-confidence from external things, such an achievement can boost self-esteem.

6.) To connect with people and help them feel like they’re not alone

In life we often have a tendency to hide certain aspects of ourselves that are a bit dark or that we fear will be considered to be weird, wussy or otherwise unacceptable by society. When characters in books are portrayed as having such very human traits that we can secretly relate to, it can make us feel like we’re not alone. By writing a book with such characters (often based on yourself or other real people that you personally know) you as the author can feel like you’re helping people to feel like they’re less alone, and that act of reaching out to others in this very real, honest way can feel good.

7.) To leave something behind when we’re gone

As mortals, many of us have a desire to matter and to leave a mark on the world even after we’re long gone. By sharing a part of yourself through a book, you leave behind something that can outlive you by centuries. We’re still reading writing by the likes of Pliny the Elder and Homer almost 2000 years after they wrote them. If the thing that you leave behind has the potential of making a positive impact to the world in some way, all the better.

8.) For the pure experience

Why does someone want to taste a new food or visit a new country? For the experience. Writing a novel is an experience in itself which some people want to go through for the pure reason that they want to know what it feels like.

9.) To gain a feeling of acceptance from others

Whilst this may not be most psychologically healthy reason to write a novel, some people want to write in order to feel good from the positive feedback, compliments and general approval and acceptance of their writing. This is a slightly dangerous reason to write a novel because anyone who lets themselves determine their happiness based on the approval of others also can be particularly hurt in the event that their book doesn’t go down well.

10.) It’s cheaper than therapy or than taking a psychology course!

What better way to explore and understand your own behavior (and others’ behavior) than by getting it down on paper, questioning it, analysing it and researching it for the purpose of deeply understanding your characters? Writing a novel can be a great way of organizing our thoughts to help us learn about ourselves and others.

11.) It can be an excuse to study history whilst producing something useful with that information

History buffs can enjoy the excuse to read about a certain era in great depth and utilize that information to write an historic novel. Writing a book can give you a way to turn an interest in history into something that comes to life and which others can also enjoy.

12.) To make money from doing something you love

For those who enjoy writing as a hobby, what could be better than earning money from doing something you love? Much like successful actors or popstars, making it as an author has the potential to make you a lot of money if you’re amongst the ones who make it big.

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In post-Confucian ancient China (around 500BC – 200AD), at a time when scholarship was well-respected, it was believed to be uncivilized to serve meat at the table as a whole carcass that still looked like the animal. What’s more, it was considered rude to subject your guests to having to dissect the animal at the table like an aggressive warrior or violent barbarian. This way of thinking is well represented by this quote from Confucius that states: “The honorable and upright man keeps well away from both the slaughterhouse and the kitchen. And he allows no knives on his table.”

As a result, long before Europeans started chopping up their meat pre-being served at the table, in China the custom of dicing up food into small pieces was already established.

In order to easily eat the pre-cut food, chopsticks were developed as delicate, civilized tools perfect for picking up the dainty food pieces.

After the habit of eating with chopsticks was established in China, it slowly spread to other parts of Asia including Japan, Korea, Vietnam and Taiwan.

But where did the chopsticks come from?

Chopsticks had been around before they started being used as eating utensils. The earliest chopsticks that have been found date from around 1200BC and they seem to have been used to stir the fire, to serve food or to seize food rather than having their later purpose of picking up tiny food morsels.

It is likely that the first chopstick-like sticks developed as tools in food preparation over a fire, and these early tools probably arose from sticks and twigs primitive people found in their surroundings. Eventually these sticks evolved. Over time they started being carved out of more materials including bone, ivory, metal, jade, porcelain, bamboo, wood and eventually plastic. They gained more refined functions until they reached their famous purpose as the eating utensils that we’re familiar with today.

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Have you ever wondered why the Queen wears a crown? Would you be surprised to hear it has a religious origin?

If you’ve ever seen religious art, you’ll be familiar with the halos that are often painted around the heads of holy people and deities. This custom of painting golden halos around heads has been customary for centuries and can be seen in art depicting pagan deities from Ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome, as well as in artwork from Ancient Asia.

During these ancient times, Emperors, Kings and Queens were believed to have been given the gift to rule by the grace of God, so that it was generally believed that they had a relationship with God that made them closer to being holy than your average Joe on the street. Some even went so far as to claim direct familial links with deities. For example, the Pharaoh of ancient Egypt was believed to be the son of the Sun god, Ra and the Japanese Emperor was considered to be a descendant of the Sun goddess, Amaterasu. I need to research this further but seeing that sun gods were amongst the earliest pagan deities, I wonder if the sun-god connection may be linked to the sun-like rays that were drawn around royal and holy heads in paintings.

Here are a few images of deities and holy figures that have been pictured with different forms of halos:

To symbolize their privileged relationship with the divine, Emperors, Kings and Queens sought to emulate the “halo effect” that is so often seen in paintings by giving themselves a real life halo in the form of a crown.

Early crowns were made of feathers or (more famously) of gemstones and precious metals like gold.

To this day the British monarchy has retained the tradition of wearing a crown made of shiny precious metal and gemstones.

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• The GR post box
• The ER post box.

What is the meaning of these letters on the postboxes?

. . .

On many postboxes, the clue to the meaning of these letters is on the postbox itself because you’ll often find these letters seen right next to a crown.

The letters are called the “Royal Cypher” and they signify the King or Queen that was the monarch at the time when the postbox was erected.

A GR post box was put up during the era of King George (G stands for George, R stands for Rex, which is King in Latin). If there are no more letters around the GR, then it’s likely from the period of King George V, and if it’s from the era of King George VI you may notice a little “VI” next to the GR.

An ER post box was set up either during the rule of King Edward or during the time of Queen Elizabeth (E standing for Elizabeth or Edward, and R standing either for Rex or for Regina which is Queen in Latin). To know the exact monarch the postbox is honoring, have a look at the accompanying numbers. For example, if you notice a little “II” near the ER it indicates the postbox was installed in the era of Elizabeth II rather than in Edwardian times. Likewise, a “VII” or “VIII” after the ER indicates the E stands for Edward. You’ll never see a postbox from Elizabeth I’s era since she reigned between 1558-1603, long before the first red pillar post box was put up (in 1853).

Although GR and ER postboxes are perhaps the most commonly seen post boxes, you may also spot a VR on occasion. Next time you’re next to a post box, look out for these letters to work out when it was installed:

• VR post box – Queen Victoria (postbox put up between 1853-1901)
• ER VII post box – Edward VII (postbox put up between 1901-1910)
• GR post box – George V (postbox put up between 1910-1936)
• ER VIII post box – Edward VIII (postbox put up between 20 January 1936 – 11 December 1936 before he abdicated the throne to marry Wallis Simpson)
• GR VI post box – George VI (aka Bertie from the King’s Speech: postbox put up between 1936-1952)
• ER II post box – Elizabeth II (postbox put up between 1952-recently)

. . .

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Every time the World Cup or Euro Cup soccer is on, I find myself wondering why the Italian football shirts are blue. Common sense dictates that it should be green, white or red like the flag – so where did blue enter the equation?

This year whilst watching the Euro 2012 final between Italy and Spain, I finally resolved to investigate and here’s what I found:

How the color blue relates to Italy:

The answer all relates to Italy’s history: Did you know that Italy once had a king? In 1861 and up until 1946, Italy was ruled by the House of Savoy (sometimes spelled House of Savoia). Most royal families have their own coat of arms and the Italian royal family was no exception. There were a few versions of their coat of arms, but it’s generally something like this:

It features a shield with a red and white flag of Savoy (where Savoy is a region of Switzerland from which the royal family hailed. You’ll notice that the Savoy flag is quite similar to the Swiss flag). The emblem also features a sky blue border. I have been so far unsuccessful in finding out *why* they chose blue as the color of the border (if you know please let me know in the comments below ). Some say it represents Italy’s blue skies and sea.

Whatever the reason, this blue part of the coat of arms became the official color of the Italian royal family and the color that the nation adopted as the national color of Italy, known as “Azzurro Savoia” or Savoy Blue.

Even though the Italian royal family was overthrown in 1946 and the Savoy coat of arms was taken off the Italian flag, the blue national color stuck and to this day it still features as the national uniform color for Italian teams in various sports including soccer / football, ski and basketball.

The Italian soccer team is even nicknamed the “Azzuri” which means “the blues”.

What happened to the Italian royal family?

If you’re wondering where the Italian royalty disappeared to, they are actually still around and despite losing much of their influence over the country, they have retained some of their titles. There still exists a Duke of Savoy, a Prince of Naples, a Prince of Piedmont and a Duke of Aosta and their titled families.

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Since the late 1800s when the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Club was founded there has been a strict dress code: competitors in their Tennis Championship games could wear any color… as long as it was white! But every time I watch Wimbledon I can’t help but wonder why this rule was established. Why do tennis players wear white at Wimbledon?

It seems that there are quite a few theories in circulation regarding this time-honored tradition. The following four reasons are the most often touted ones:

Reason 1: White masks sweat

In the late 1800s and early 1900s it was considered extremely unladylike and ungentlemanly to show signs of perspiration. As a result, white tennis outfits were encouraged because the color white is particularly good at masking any dreaded sweat marks. (Atkin 2010)

Reason 2: White reflects the summer heat

The Wimbledon Tennis Championships occur in the summer months so one often-suggested idea is that the white dress code is a practical matter to ensure the competitors keep cool as their clothes reflect the sun’s heat more efficiently.

Considering that in the early days of tennis long sleeves, long pants and ankle-length dresses were expected to be worn by gentlemen and ladies, the white color was particularly important as the main method to relieve heat.

Reason 3: The high standard of the club was reflected in the high standards and requirements from club members

Some sources suggest that the all-white dress code at Wimbledon was strictly adhered to in order to create an exclusive, high-class feeling at the Tennis club. Crisp, white clothes carried an underlying implication that all their members were well-kept, clean, civilized, respectful of rules and generally “high-class”.

To this day critics are heard saying that the white clothes rule adds an air of classiness to the Wimbledon Championships.

Reason 4: Tennis players wear white because it’s become a tradition

After a while, the rule that tennis players wear white at Wimbledon became a tradition, which lent yet another reason for the dress code: adhering to it simply to respect the history of the Wimbledon Tennis Club.

. . .

Tennis players wearing white through the ages

Although the color code hasn’t changed much over the years, the fashions have changed immensely! Check out some of these earlier tennis outfits worn at Wimbledon in the late 1800s and early 1900s:

Men’s tennis fashion in 1880:

Image Source: Wikipedia

Yes, in the early days long white pants were worn to play tennis! The first man to wear shorts at Wimbledon was Bunny Austin in 1932.

Women’s tennis fashion in 1884:

Image source: www.wimbledon.com

I know it doesn’t look like it but these women holding the rackets are dressed for tennis! The first women who played tennis at Wimbledon had to wear a white heavy flanel-like material, bustles, hats, corsets and some even opted for furs! The tennis fashion remained conservative for many years. Here’s another picture from 29 years later in 1913:

It was only in 1919 that corsets vanished and lighter calf-length frocks with short-sleeves were introduced to Wimbledon, as can be seen in this 1920s photograph:

We’ve come a long way since then!

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References

Atkin. R. 2010. AELTC, The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club official website. Fashion at Wimbledon.

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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You may enjoy the other articles in the culture section of saywhydoi.com, especially the Christmas articles like:
- Why do we put up Christmas wreaths?
- 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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Why is there the Portuguese tradition of decorating things with good luck roosters?

If you’ve ever eaten at the Portuguese-Mozambican restaurant chain, Nando’s, you most likely noticed their logo: a stylized rooster. Although a rooster makes a good logo for a restaurant specializing in chicken, there is a deeper story behind this rooster which is connected to the restaurant’s Portuguese affiliation. If you ever visit Portugal you’re likely to see a rooster in many of the souvenir shops and also in many Portuguese homes. This Portuguese rooster is called the “Galo de Barcelos”, or the Rooster of Barcelos and it is one of the unofficial emblems of Portugal.

What is the Rooster of Barcelos and how did it become the emblem of Portugal?

The image of the Portuguese rooster of Barcelos is a reference to an old legend in which a rooster miraculously saved a man’s life!

The story is set in a city called Barcelos which is located in north-west Portugal. Pilgrims often passed through Barcelos as part of their pilgrimage to the cathedral in Santiago de Compostela; A pilgrimage route also known as the Way of St James, which is still walked by devout Christians to this day. It was one such pilgrim who was instrumental in bringing the legend of the lucky rooster to life in Portugal.

Exhausted from the long walk, the pilgrim decided to rest his weary legs at an inn in Barcelos. Whilst there, a local man discovered that his silver had been stolen. Since the pilgrim was new in the town and happened to have been in the vicinity around the time when the silver went missing, an accusatory finger was swiftly pointed at the pilgrim. The pilgrim was duly arrested and set to be hanged for his dastardly deed.

Knowing he was innocent, the pilgrim made a desperate plea to appeal his case to the local judge. Agreeing grudgingly, the guards took the pilgrim to see the judge who happened to be in the middle of a sumptuous banquet. The spread was magnificent with a delicious roasted rooster sitting enticingly on the table. The pilgrim interrupted the feast and made his case. The sceptical judge ignored the pilgrim’s desperate words, saying that there was no proof of his innocence.

Certain of his innocence and unwavering in his belief in the power of a fair and loving God, the pious pilgrim fell to his knees and began fervently praying to his Maker. Spotting the roasted rooster on the table, he prayed that God would prove his innocence by making the rooster that was sitting on the platter before the judge, come to life and crow in protest should the hanging take place.

Unconvinced, but losing his appetite, the judge set the rooster aside in disgust and asked the guards to take the pilgrim away. The hanging would go ahead as planned.

The hour of the hanging of the unfortunate pilgrim arrived and just as the punishment was to be exected, a rooster’s loud crow pierced the air! Witnesses claimed to have seen the cast-aside roasted rooster standing up from the table and crowing, just as the pilgrim had prayed it would.

Realising the implications of the crow, the judge quickly regretted the hanging and commanded the pilgrim be released from the gallows immediately. Greatly relieved, the pilgrim was freed and continued on his way to Santiago de Compostelo, having been saved by the miraculous crowing roasted rooster!

Such a miracle was reminiscent of those only read about in the Bible. It was so momentous that ever since then the rooster took its proud place in the history of Portugal.

A symbol of the rooster was painted on objects to act as a reminder of this miracle and of the moral of this tale.

What exactly is the moral of this story? What does the Rooster of Barcelos represent?

The rooster of Barcelos stands for:

• Honesty: The pilgrim was innocent. He did not steal and expressed this truthfully. His honesty was eventually rewarded by God who provided a miracle that saved his life.
• Faith: If it weren’t for the pious pilgrim’s faith in God, the story may have had a different ending, so this legend demonstrates both the power of God and the importance of having faith.
• Fairness: The tale reminds us to be fair, refrain from believing unproven accusations and avoid making potentially unjust, snap judgements of our fellow man.
• Luck: Some call the rooster of Barcelos the “good luck rooster” or the “lucky rooster” because it was a rooster that saved the pilgrim’s life. As a result it is considered by some to be lucky to have his image around.

With all these positive messages behind it, it is no wonder that the rooster’s popularity has held strong to this day. And Nando’s restaurants can be proud of their logo because the traits it represents are admirable ones for any business to have!

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