American Holidays and Traditions
It's Another New Year... (January 1)
...but for what reason?
"Happy New Year!" That greeting will be said and heard for at least the
first couple of weeks as a new year gets under way. But the day celebrated
as New Year's Day in modern America was not always January 1.
ANCIENT NEW YEARS
The celebration of the new year is the oldest of all holidays. It was first
observed in ancient Babylon about 4000 years ago. In the years around 2000
BC, the Babylonian New Year began with the first New Moon (actually the
first visible cresent) after the Vernal Equinox (first day of spring).
The beginning of spring is a logical time to start a new year. After all,
it is the season of rebirth, of planting new crops, and of blossoming.
January 1, on the other hand, has no astronomical nor agricultural
significance. It is purely arbitrary.
The Babylonian new year celebration lasted for eleven days. Each day had
its own particular mode of celebration, but it is safe to say that modern
New Year's Eve festivities pale in comparison.
The Romans continued to observe the new year in late March, but their
calendar was continually tampered with by various emperors so that the
calendar soon became out of synchronization with the sun.
In order to set the calendar right, the Roman senate, in 153 BC, declared
January 1 to be the beginning of the new year. But tampering continued
until Julius Caesar, in 46 BC, established what has come to be known as the
Julian Calendar. It again established January 1 as the new year. But in
order to synchronize the calendar with the sun, Caesar had to let the
previous year drag on for 445 days.
THE CHURCH'S VIEW OF NEW YEAR CELEBRATIONS
Although in the first centuries AD the Romans continued celebrating the new
year, the early Catholic Church condemned the festivities as paganism. But
as Christianity became more widespread, the early church began having its
own religious observances concurrently with many of the pagan celebrations,
and New Year's Day was no different. New Years is still observed as the
Feast of Christ's Circumcision by some denominations.
During the Middle Ages, the Church remained opposed to celebrating New
Years. January 1 has been celebrated as a holiday by Western nations for
only about the past 400 years.
NEW YEAR TRADITIONS
Other traditions of the season include the making of New Year's
resolutions. That tradition also dates back to the early Babylonians.
Popular modern resolutions might include the promise to lose weight or quit
smoking. The early Babylonian's most popular resolution was to return
borrowed farm equipment.
The Tournament of Roses Parade dates back to 1886. In that year, members of
the Valley Hunt Club decorated their carriages with flowers. It celebrated
the ripening of the orange crop in California.
Although the Rose Bowl football game was first played as a part of the
Tournament of Roses in 1902, it was replaced by Roman chariot races the
following year. In 1916, the football game returned as the sports
centerpiece of the festival.
The tradition of using a baby to signify the new year was begun in Greece
around 600 BC. It was their tradition at that time to celebrate their god
of wine, Dionysus, by parading a baby in a basket, representing the annual
rebirth of that god as the spirit of fertility. Early Egyptians also used a
baby as a symbol of rebirth.
Although the early Christians denounced the practice as pagan, the
popularity of the baby as a symbol of rebirth forced the Church to
reevaluate its position. The Church finally allowed its members to
celebrate the new year with a baby, which was to symbolize the birth of the
baby Jesus.
The use of an image of a baby with a New Years banner as a symbolic
representation of the new year was brought to early America by the Germans.
They had used the effigy since the fourteenth century.
FOR LUCK IN THE NEW YEAR
Traditionally, it was thought that one could affect the luck they would
have throughout the coming year by what they did or ate on the first day of
the year. For that reason, it has become common for folks to celebrate the
first few minutes of a brand new year in the company of family and friends.
Parties often last into the middle of the night after the ringing in of a
new year. It was once believed that the first visitor on New Year's Day
would bring either good luck or bad luck the rest of the year. It was
particularly lucky if that visitor happened to be a tall dark-haired man.
Traditional New Year foods are also thought to bring luck. Many cultures
believe that anything in the shape of a ring is good luck, because it
symbolizes "coming full circle," completing a year's cycle. For that
reason, the Dutch believe that eating donuts on New Year's Day will bring
good fortune.
Many parts of the U.S. celebrate the new year by consuming black-eyed peas.
These legumes are typically accompanied by either hog jowls or ham. Black-
eyed peas and other legumes have been considered good luck in many
cultures. The hog, and thus its meat, is considered lucky because it
symbolizes prosperity. Cabbage is another "good luck" vegetable that is
consumed on New Year's Day by many. Cabbage leaves are also considered a
sign of prosperity, being representative of paper currency. In some
regions, rice is a lucky food that is eaten on New Year's Day.
AULD LANG SYNE
The song, "Auld Lang Syne," playing in the background, is sung at the
stroke of midnight in almost every English-speaking country in the world to
bring in the new year. At least partially written by Robert Burns in the
1700's, it was first published in 1796 after Burns' death. Early variations
of the song were sung prior to 1700 and inspired Burns to produce the
modern rendition. An old Scotch tune, "Auld Lang Syne" literally means "old
long ago," or simply, "the good old days." The lyrics can be found here.
Valentine's Day! (February 14)
Not Like it Used To Be
February 14 is Valentine's Day. Although it is celebrated as a lovers'
holiday today, with the giving of candy, flowers, or other gifts between
couples in love, it originated in 5th Century Rome as a tribute to St.
Valentine, a Catholic bishop.
For eight hundred years prior to the establishment of Valentine's Day, the
Romans had practiced a pagan celebration in mid-February commemorating
young men's rite of passage to the god Lupercus. The celebration featured a
lottery in which young men would draw the names of teenage girls from a
box. The girl assigned to each young man in that manner would be his sexual
companion during the remaining year.
In an effort to do away with the pagan festival, Pope Gelasius ordered a
slight change in the lottery. Instead of the names of young women, the box
would contain the names of saints. Both men and women were allowed to draw
from the box, and the game was to emulate the ways of the saint they drew
during the rest of the year. Needless to say, many of the young Roman men
were not too pleased with the rule changes.
Instead of the pagan god Lupercus, the Church looked for a suitable patron
saint of love to take his place. They found an appropriate choice in
Valentine, who, in AD 270 had been beheaded by Emperor Claudius.
Claudius had determined that married men made poor soldiers. So he banned
marriage from his empire. But Valentine would secretly marry young men that
came to him. When Claudius found out about Valentine, he first tried to
convert him to paganism. But Valentine reversed the strategy, trying
instead to convert Claudius. When he failed, he was stoned and beheaded.
During the days that Valentine was imprisoned, he fell in love with the
blind daughter of his jailer. His love for her, and his great faith,
managed to miraculously heal her from her blindness before his death.
Before he was taken to his death, he signed a farewell message to her,
"From your Valentine." The phrase has been used on his day ever since.
Although the lottery for women had been banned by the church, the mid-
February holiday in commemoration of St. Valentine was still used by Roman
men to seek the affection of women. It became a tradition for the men to
give the ones they admired handwritten messages of affection, containing
Valentine's name.
The first Valentine card grew out of this practice. The first true
Valentine card was sent in 1415 by Charles, duke of Orleans, to his wife.
He was imprisoned in the Tower of London at the time.
Cupid, another symbol of the holiday, became associated with it because he
was the son of Venus, the Roman god of love and beauty. Cupid often appears
on Valentine cards.
Easter! (between the dates of March 22 and April 25)
The Traditions of Easter
As with almost all "Christian" holidays, Easter has been secularized and
commercialized. The dichotomous nature of Easter and its symbols, however,
is not necessarily a modern fabrication.
Since its conception as a holy celebration in the second century, Easter
has had its non-religious side. In fact, Easter was originally a pagan
festival.
The ancient Saxons celebrated the return of spring with an uproarious
festival commemorating their goddess of offspring and of springtime,
Eastre. When the second-century Christian missionaries encountered the
tribes of the north with their pagan celebrations, they attempted to
convert them to Christianity. They did so, however, in a clandestine
manner.
It would have been suicide for the very early Christian converts to
celebrate their holy days with observances that did not coincide with
celebrations that already existed. To save lives, the missionaries cleverly
decided to spread their religious message slowly throughout the populations
by allowing them to continue to celebrate pagan feasts, but to do so in a
Christian manner.
As it happened, the pagan festival of Eastre occurred at the same time of
year as the Christian observance of the Resurrection of Christ. It made
sense, therefore, to alter the festival itself, to make it a Christian
celebration as converts were slowly won over. The early name, Eastre, was
eventually changed to its modern spelling, Easter.
The Date of Easter
Prior to A.D. 325, Easter was variously celebrated on different days of the
week, including Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. In that year, the Council of
Nicaea was convened by emperor Constantine. It issued the Easter Rule which
states that Easter shall be celebrated on the first Sunday that occurs
after the first full moon on or after the vernal equinox. However, a caveat
must be introduced here. The "full moon" in the rule is the ecclesiastical
full moon, which is defined as the fourteenth day of a tabular lunation,
where day 1 corresponds to the ecclesiastical New Moon. It does not always
occur on the same date as the astronomical full moon. The ecclesiastical
"vernal equinox" is always on March 21. Therefore, Easter must be
celebrated on a Sunday between the dates of March 22 and April 25.
The Lenten Season
Lent is the forty-six day period just prior to Easter Sunday. It begins on
Ash Wednesday. Mardi Gras (French for "Fat Tuesday") is a celebration,
sometimes called "Carnival," practiced around the world, on the Tuesday
prior to Ash Wednesday. It was designed as a way to "get it all out" before
the sacrifices of Lent began. New Orleans is the focal point of Mardi Gras
celebrations in the U.S. Read about the religious meanings of the Lenten
Season.
The Cross
The Cross is the symbol of the Crucifixion, as opposed to the Resurrection.
However, at the Council of Nicaea, in A.D. 325, Constantine decreed that
the Cross was the official symbol of Christianity. The Cross is not only a
symbol of Easter, but it is more widely used, especially by the Catholic
Church, as a year-round symbol of their faith.
The Easter Bunny
The Easter Bunny is not a modern invention. The symbol originated with the
pagan festival of Eastre. The goddess, Eastre, was worshipped by the Anglo-
Saxons through her earthly symbol, the rabbit.
The Germans brought the symbol of the Easter rabbit to America. It was
widely ignored by other Christians until shortly after the Civil War. In
fact, Easter itself was not widely celebrated in America until after that
time.
The Easter Egg
As with the Easter Bunny and the holiday itself, the Easter Egg predates
the Christian holiday of Easter. The exchange of eggs in the springtime is
a custom that was centuries old when Easter was first celebrated by
Christians.
From the earliest times, the egg was a symbol of rebirth in most cultures.
Eggs were often wrapped in gold leaf or, if you were a peasant, colored
brightly by boiling them with the leaves or petals of certain flowers.
Today, children hunt colored eggs and place them in Easter baskets along
with the modern version of real Easter eggs -- those made of plastic or
chocolate candy.
St. Patrick's Day! (March 17)
Customs and Traditions
The person who was to become St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, was
born in Wales about AD 385. His given name was Maewyn, and he almost didn't
get the job of bishop of Ireland because he lacked the required
scholarship.
Far from being a saint, until he was 16, he considered himself a pagan. At
that age, he was sold into slavery by a group of Irish marauders that
raided his village. During his captivity, he became closer to God.
He escaped from slavery after six years and went to Gaul where he studied
in the monastery under St. Germain, bishop of Auxerre for a period of
twelve years. During his training he became aware that his calling was to
convert the pagans to Christianity.
His wishes were to return to Ireland, to convert the native pagans to
Christianity. But his superiors instead appointed St. Palladius. But two
years later, Palladius transferred to Scotland. Patrick, having adopted
that Christian name earlier, was then appointed as second bishop to
Ireland.
Patrick was quite successful at winning converts. And this fact upset the
Celtic Druids. Patrick was arrested several times, but escaped each time.
He traveled throughout Ireland, establishing monasteries across the
country. He also set up schools and churches which would aid him in his
conversion of the Irish country to Christianity.
His mission in Ireland lasted for thirty years. After that time, Patrick
retired to County Down. He died on March 17 in AD 461. That day has been
commemorated as St. Patrick's Day ever since.
Much Irish folklore surrounds St. Patrick's Day. Not much of it is actually
substantiated.
Some of this lore includes the belief that Patrick raised people from the
dead. He also is said to have given a sermon from a hilltop that drove all
the snakes from Ireland. Of course, no snakes were ever native to Ireland,
and some people think this is a metaphor for the conversion of the pagans.
Though originally a Catholic holy day, St. Patrick's Day has evolved into
more of a secular holiday.
One traditional icon of the day is the shamrock. And this stems from a more
bona fide Irish tale that tells how Patrick used the three-leafed shamrock
to explain the Trinity. He used it in his sermons to represent how the
Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit could all exist as separate elements
of the same entity. His followers adopted the custom of wearing a shamrock
on his feast day.
The St. Patrick's Day custom came to America in 1737. That was the first
year St. Patrick's Day was publicly celebrated in this country, in Boston.
Groundhog Day! (March 20)
How Did the Groundhog Get a Day of His Own?
The lowly groundhog, often called a woodchuck, is the only mammal to have a
day named in his honor. The groundhog's day is February 2. Granted, it’s
not a federal holiday; nobody gets off work. But still, to have a day named
after you is quite a feat.
How did the groundhog come by this honor?
It stems from the ancient belief that hibernating creatures were able to
predict the arrival of springtime by their emergence.
The German immigrants known as Pennsylvania Dutch brought the tradition to
America in the 18th century. They had once regarded the badger as the
winter-spring barometer. But the job was reassigned to the groundhog after
importing their Candlemas traditions to the U.S. Candlemas commemorates the
ritual purification of Mary, 40 days after the birth of Jesus.
Candlemas is one of the four "cross-quarters" of the year, occurring half
way between the first day of winter and the first day of spring.
Traditionally, it was believed that if Candlemas was sunny, the remaining
six weeks of winter would be stormy and cold. But if it rained or snowed on
Candlemas, the rest of the winter would be mild. If an animal "sees its
shadow," it must be sunny, so more wintry weather is predicted:
If Candlemas be fair and bright,
Winter has another flight.
If Candlemas brings clouds and rain,
Winter will not come again.
The groundhog and badger were not the only animals that have been used to
predict spring. Other Europeans used the bear or hedgehog--but in any case
the honor belonged to a creature that hibernated. Its emergence symbolized
the imminent arrival of spring.
Traditionally, the groundhog is supposed to awaken on February 2, Groundhog
Day, and come up out of his burrow. If he sees his shadow, he will return
to the burrow for six more weeks of winter. If he doesn’t see his shadow,
he remains outside and starts his year, because he knows that spring has
arrived early.
In the U.S., the “official” groundhog is kept in Punxsutawney,
Pennsylvania. Every February 2, amid a raucous celebration early in the
morning, “Punxsutawney Phil” as the groundhog is called, is pulled from his
den by his keepers, who are dressed in tuxedos. Phil then whispers his
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