|
Post by sadie1263 on Apr 22, 2013 15:08:44 GMT
I just went thru a case of paper to send Happy Earth Day memos to everyone I know. Then I drove all day using numerous tanks of gas to get them to everyone.....I even ran over a few animals by accident and then had to cut thru a giant redwood tree that was blocking my route......but hey.....I got it all done and feel so earth friendly now.
lol
|
|
|
Post by Hunny on Apr 22, 2013 15:12:22 GMT
I just went thru a case of paper to send Happy Earth Day memos to everyone I know. Then I drove all day using numerous tanks of gas to get them to everyone.....I even ran over a few animals by accident and then had to cut thru a giant redwood tree that was blocking my route......but hey.....I got it all done and feel so earth friendly now. lol
|
|
|
Post by Hunny on Apr 22, 2013 23:48:31 GMT
Come here every morning to find out what day it is!April 23 is...Take A Chance Day If you are a gambler, you will just love this day. Today is "Take a Chance Day". This sounds pretty risky (but fun) to me... Life is filled with risks. To get what you want, sometimes you have to take a chance. And, today is created to do just that. Today is the day to take a chance on virtually any object or goal. Will it be love? will it be luck? Or, just lollipops? We hope you fully participate in this day, and that you attain everything you seek. So go ahead and take a chance. As they say "Nothing ventured, nothing gained". If you are in love and a little afraid of taking the next step, perhaps today is the day to take a big leap. After all, it's somewhat coincidental that today is also Lover's Day. Note: If you are going to "take a chance" at winning the lottery, we suggest you only buy one ticket. After all, everyone is going to take a chance today, so the odds are really low. _______________________________________ MONSTER ALBUMS______________________________________________________________DAILY QUOTE:An insincere and evil friend is more to be feared than a wild beast; a wild beast may wound your body, but an evil friend will wound your mind. - Buddha______________________________________________________________ Come back each day for The Daily Buzz!
|
|
|
Post by sadie1263 on Apr 23, 2013 1:34:07 GMT
Are you stuttering Hunny??
|
|
|
Post by Hunny on Apr 23, 2013 10:59:47 GMT
I was yes. But only because I saw what the cat saw -
|
|
|
Post by Hunny on Apr 24, 2013 0:51:52 GMT
Come here every morning to find out what day it is!April 24 is...Secretary's Day "Administrative Professional's Day" (Secretary's Day) was created in 1952 through the work of Harry F. Klemfuss of Young and Rubicam. Klemfuss recognized the importance and value of the position to a company or business. His goal was to encourage more women to become secretaries. Using his skill and experience in public relations, Klemfuss, promoted the values and importance of the job of secretaries. In doing so, he also created the holiday in recognition of the importance of secretaries. Today, the title is changing and evolving. But, the recognition is equally important. There are two new terms in use today. They are "Administrative Professionals" and "Executive Admins". [editor's note: nonsense!] The two names sometimes mean different roles and responsibilities to different companies. Both are broader terms, that encompass more positions than the original "Secretary" role. The name change recognizes and acknowledges that the role has changed significantly since 1952, and for the better at that. And in Harry Klemfuss' day, these positions were the realm of women. Today, you find some males in these positions.The most common ways of recognizing your Administrative Professional(s) today are: Flowers, Cards, often with shopping gift certificates, Take them to lunch, Candies, Assorted Gift Baskets
_______________________________________ MONSTER ALBUMS______________________________________________________________DAILY QUOTE:We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience. - Pierre Teilhard de Chardin ______________________________________________________________ Come back each day for The Daily Buzz!
|
|
|
Post by Hunny on Apr 24, 2013 23:02:34 GMT
Come here every morning to find out what day it is!April 25 is...Red Hat Society DayThe Red Hat Society (RHS) is a social organization originally founded in 1998 in the United States for women age 50 and beyond, but now open to women of all ages. As of 2011, there were over 40,000 chapters in the United States and 30 other countries. The founder of the Society is artist Sue Ellen Cooper, who lives in Fullerton, Orange County, California. In 1997, Cooper gave a friend a 55th birthday gift consisting of a red bowler purchased at an antique store along with a copy of Jenny Joseph's poem "Warning". The opening lines of the poem read: “When I am an old woman I shall wear purple. With a red hat that doesn't go and doesn't suit me.” Cooper repeated the gift on request several times, and eventually several of the women bought purple outfits and held a tea party on April 25, 1998. After spreading by word of mouth, the Society first received national publicity in 2000 through the magazine Romantic Homes and a feature in The Orange County Register. Cooper then established a "Hatquarters" to field the hundreds of e-mail requests for help starting chapters. She now serves as "Exalted Queen Mother", and has written two best-selling books about the Society.The Red Hat Society’s primary purpose is social interaction and bonding among women. A founder or leader of a local chapter is usually referred to as a "Queen". Members 50 and over are called "Red Hatters" and wear red hats and purple attire to all functions. A woman under age 50 may also become a member, but she wears a pink hat and lavender attire to the Society's events until reaching her 50th birthday. She is referred to as a “Pink Hatter.” During her birthday month (or the Society's birthday month of April), a member might wear her colors in reverse, i.e., a purple or lavender hat and red or pink attire.There are two ways of belonging to the Red Hat Society: as a Queen (usually leader of a local chapter; however, no Queen is required to lead a chapter) and as a Supporting Member. Membership dues are paid annually to the Red Hat Society. Both Red and Pink Hatters often wear very elaborately decorated hats and attention-getting fashion accessories, such as a feather boa, at the group's get-togethers. The Society's events vary depending on the chapter, but one of the most common pastimes among Red Hatters is attending or hosting a tea party. Other activities, freely chosen and planned by the individual chapters, include crafts, games, theater or cinema trips, music-making (often on kazoos), and various outings. Chapters often work together to host large regional events, and Hatquarters hosts several official Red Hat Society events each year. The official Red Hat Society day is April 25 each year. _______________________________________ MONSTER ALBUMS______________________________________________________________DAILY QUOTE:“Those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind.” - Bernard M. Baruch______________________________________________________________ Come back each day for The Daily Buzz!
|
|
|
Post by Hunny on Apr 26, 2013 13:09:30 GMT
Come here every morning to find out what day it is!April 26 is...Hug An Australian Day It's Hug an Australian Day. Go ahead and give a big bear hug to any and all Australians today. Show an Australian how much you (errr...we) love them. This is a great opportunity for you to do your part in improving international relations. And hugs benefit the receiver as well as the giver. Go ahead. Give an Australian a hug today. It will do you both good! _______________________________________ MONSTER ALBUMS______________________________________________________________DAILY QUOTE:“You've gotta dance like there's nobody watching, Love like you'll never be hurt, Sing like there's nobody listening, And live like it's heaven on earth.” - William Purkey______________________________________________________________ Come back each day for The Daily Buzz!
|
|
|
Post by Hunny on Apr 26, 2013 22:48:20 GMT
Come here every morning to find out what day it is!April 27 is...Tell A Story DayWhen: United States: Always April 27th Scotland and England: National Tell a Story Day is October 27th Tell a Story Day celebrates story-telling of all kinds. It doesn't matter if its fiction or non-fiction, a tall tale, or folk lore. Today is a day to tell 'em all. Stories can be from a book, other written material, or from memory. Our research discovered two distinct holidays, one in the U.S. The other is in Scotland and the UK. The latter is by far more prominent and organized. These two holidays are exactly six months apart. Libraries celebrate this day with story telling hours for kids. You can enjoy today telling stories to your kids, family members, or organizations and groups that you belong to. Make Tell a Story Day an important and pleasure-filled experience. To enhance the enjoyment of the story, try setting the atmosphere. If it's an eerie or spooky story, turn down the lights. Bring decorations and memorabilia that speak to the theme. If its about a person, display a picture of the individual. _______________________________________ MONSTER ALBUMS______________________________________________________________DAILY QUOTE:“Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe.” - Albert Einstein______________________________________________________________ Come back each day for The Daily Buzz!
|
|
|
Post by Hunny on Apr 28, 2013 1:00:11 GMT
Come here every morning to find out what day it is!April 28 is...Worker's Memorial DayWorkers' Memorial Day, International Workers' Memorial Day or International Commemoration Day (ICD) for Dead and Injured or Day of Mourning takes place annually around the world on April 28, an international day of remembrance and action for workers killed, disabled, injured or made unwell by their work. According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO), across the world: Each year, more than two million women and men die as a result of work-related accidents and diseases. Workers suffer approximately 270 million accidents each year, and fall victim to some 160 million incidents of -related illnesses. Hazardous substances kill 440,000 workers annually – asbestos claims 100,000 lives. One worker dies every 15 seconds worldwide. 6,000 workers die every day. More people die whilst at work than those fighting wars. READ MORE..._______________________________________ MONSTER ALBUMS______________________________________________________________DAILY QUOTE:I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ. - Mahatama Ghandi______________________________________________________________ Come back each day for The Daily Buzz!
|
|
|
Post by Hunny on Apr 28, 2013 12:33:34 GMT
I found those work-related deaths numbers unbelievably high, so I researched some more and came up with the same number www.ohsrep.org.au/news-views/features/two-million-killed-at-work-each-year/index.cfmGeez. Lucky thing we have (in the U.S.) Republicans "deregulating" and making things so much...oh yea..WORSE! All hail Ronald Reagan, eh? The president that wanted to lower the minimum wage to 1.85 an hour and declare ketchup a vegetable to save "wasteful spending" on real vegetables in children's school lunches. Oh yea. Let's put his face on Mount Rushmore! (that's just my little rant in the spirit of the day)
|
|
|
Post by Hunny on Apr 29, 2013 0:45:35 GMT
Come here every morning to find out what day it is!April 29 is...National Jelly Bean Day National Jelly Bean Day is a time to enjoy gobs and gobs of jelly beans. Anyone who loves jelly beans, knows they are not just for Easter. Sure, they are very popular at Easter. But, they are also enjoyed year round. The flavors are limited only by the imagination of candy makers. If you've never enjoyed the multitude of flavors in a box of gourmet jelly beans, the we suggest you head right out to the store and buy some. _______________________________________ MONSTER ALBUMS______________________________________________________________DAILY QUOTE:Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people. - Eleanor Roosevelt______________________________________________________________ Come back each day for The Daily Buzz!
|
|
|
Post by Hunny on Apr 29, 2013 21:57:06 GMT
Come here every morning to find out what day it is!April 29 is...Koninginnedag (Queen's Day) in The NetherlandsRevellers dressed in orange in Amsterdam, Koninginnedag 2007 Koninginnedag - Queen's Day - is a national holiday in the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Celebrated on 30 April, Koninginnedag is Queen Beatrix's official celebration day. Though Queen Beatrix was born on 31 January, the holiday is observed on 30 April as it was the birthday of her mother and predecessor, Juliana. Many of the traditional activities are held outside, and observing the holiday in April makes suitable weather more likely. In 2014, the holiday will become known as Koningsdag or King's Day following the investiture of Willem-Alexander as king of the Netherlands. The holiday was first observed on 31 August 1885 as Prinsessedag or Princess's Day, the fifth birthday of Princess Wilhelmina, heiress to the Dutch throne. On her accession, the holiday acquired its present name, Koninginnedag. When held on 31 August the holiday was the final day of school summer vacation, leading to its popularity among children. Following the accession of Wilhelmina's daughter Queen Juliana in 1948, the holiday was moved to her birthday. Her daughter, Beatrix retained the celebration on 30 April after she ascended the throne in 1980. Beatrix altered her mother's custom of receiving a floral parade near a Royal palace, instead choosing to visit different Dutch towns each year and join in the festivities along with her sons. In 2009, the Queen was carrying out this custom in the city of Apeldoorn when Karst Tates attempted to assassinate her by ramming the Royal family's vehicle with his car; instead he drove into a crowd of people who were watching the parade, and fatally crashed into a monument. Seven people in the crowd were killed, and the car's driver also died soon afterwards. Koninginnedag is known for its nationwide vrijmarkt ("free market"), at which many Dutch sell their secondhand items. It is also an opportunity for "orange madness" or oranjegekte, for the national colour, when the normally strait-laced Dutch let down their hair,[1] often dyed orange for the occasion. The vrijmarkt is a nationwide or free market. Koninginnedag is the one day of the year that the Dutch government permits sales on the street without a permit and without the payment of value added tax. ING Bank found in 2011 that one in five Dutch residents planned to sell at the vrijmarkt and estimated they would earn €100 per person for a total turnover of €290 million. Over half of the Dutch people buy at the vrijmarkt. The Queen has been known to buy at the vrijmarkt; in 1995 she purchased a floor lamp. Among the most popular areas for the vrijmarkt in Amsterdam is the Jordaan quarter, but the wide Apollolaan in front of the Hilton hotel in southern Amsterdam is gaining in popularity. Children sell their cast-off toys or garments at the Vondelpark, also in southern Amsterdam, and in a spirit of fun passers-by often offer the young sellers more than they are asking for the goods. Until 1996 the vrijmarkt began the evening before and continued for 24 hours. This was ended in the hope of gaining a pause in the celebrations so preparations could be made for the daytime activities. Utrecht, uniquely among Dutch municipalities, retains the overnight vrijmarkt. Koninginnedag now sees large-scale celebrations, with many concerts and special events in public spaces, particularly in Amsterdam. An outdoor concert is held on Amsterdam's Museumplein, where as many as 800,000 people may gather. In recent years parties and concerts have been held the evening before Koninginnedag. Nightclubs across the Netherlands organise special events for what has become known as Koninginnenacht (Queen's Night). Many young people celebrate in the streets and squares (and in Amsterdam, the canals as well) throughout the night, and after all-night partying join the crowds at the vrijmarkt. While Queen's Day celebrations take place throughout the Netherlands, Amsterdam is a popular destination for many revelers. Often the city's 750.000 residents are joined by up to 1 million visitors. In recent years Amsterdam authorities have taken some measures to try and stem the flow of visitors as the city simply became too full. Those taking part in Koninginnedag commonly dye their hair orange or wear orange clothing in honour of the House of Orange-Nassau, which rules over the Netherlands. Orange-coloured drinks are also popular. This colour choice is sometimes dubbed "orange madness", or in Dutch, oranjegekte. A local Orange Committee member said of Koninginnedag in 2011: "Friendships—and community—will be formed. For me that’s really what Queen’s Day is all about. It’s not an outburst of patriotism, it’s not even about the popularity of the royal family. It’s about a sense of belonging. For one day, everybody is the same in Holland. Bright orange and barmy." Vrijmarkt, Koninginnedag 2011 _______________________________________ MONSTER ALBUMS______________________________________________________________DAILY QUOTE: True friends stab you in the front. - Oscar Wilde______________________________________________________________ Come back each day for The Daily Buzz!
|
|
|
Post by Hunny on Apr 29, 2013 22:17:34 GMT
Oops, I did April 29th twice, didnt I? Okay, well this afternoon I'll post a piece about the 30th...
|
|
|
Post by sadie1263 on Apr 30, 2013 0:34:00 GMT
I thought maybe there was just a lot of information for the 29th!!!!
|
|
|
Post by Hunny on Apr 30, 2013 12:44:31 GMT
Come here every morning to find out what day it is!April 30 is...Walpurgisnacht (May Day)Walpurgis Night (Walpurgisnacht)
is a spring festival celebrated on April 30 or May 1 by the Dutch, Germans, Swedes, Finns, Estonians, Latvians, Lithuanians, and Czechs. Its celebration is associated with dancing and bonfires.
The current festival is named after Saint Walburga ( 710-777 AD). As Walburga was canonized on May 1, 870 AD, she became associated with May Day, especially in the Finnish and Swedish calendars. The eve of May day, traditionally celebrated with dancing, came to be known as Walpurgisnacht ("Walpurga's night").
In Germany, the 17th century tradition of a meeting of sorcerers and witches on May Day is influenced by the descriptions of Witches' Sabbaths in 15th and 16th century literature.
In The Czech Republic, April 30 is pálení čarodějnic ("burning of the witches"), the day that winter is ceremonially brought to an end by the burning of rag and straw witches or just broomsticks on bonfires around the country. The festival offers Czechs the chance to eat, drink and be merry around a roaring fire.
In Estonia, Volbriöö is celebrated throughout the night of April 30 and into the early hours of May 1, which is a public holiday called "Spring Day" (Kevadpüha). Volbriöö is an important celebration of the arrival of spring in the country. Influenced by German culture, the night originally stood for the gathering and meeting of witches. Modern people still dress up as witches to wander the streets in a carnival-like mood.
In Finland, Walpurgis day (Vappu) is, along with New Year's Eve and Midsummer (Juhannus), the biggest carnival-style festival held in the streets of Finland's towns and cities. The celebration, which begins on the evening of April 30 and continues to May 1, typically centers on copious consumption of wine and other alcoholic beverages. Student traditions, particularly those of the engineering students, are one of the main characteristics of Vappu. Since the end of the 19th century, this traditional upper-class feast has been appropriated by university students. Many graduates from lukio, and thus traditionally assumed as university students or alumni, wear a cap. Most people think the caps of the engineering students are distinguished by pom-poms hanging from them; however, nurses and some other vocational school graduates also have caps with pom-poms. One tradition is to drink sima, a home-made non-alcohol mead, along with freshly cooked funnel cakes.
In the capital Helsinki and its surrounding region, fixtures include the capping (on April 30, at 6 pm) of the Havis Amanda, a nude female statue, and the biannually alternating publications of ribald matter called Äpy and Julkku, by engineering students of Aalto University School of Science and Technology. Both are sophomoric; but while Julkku is a standard magazine, Äpy is always a gimmick. Classic forms have included an Äpy printed on toilet paper and a bedsheet. Often, the magazine has been stuffed inside standard industrial packages, such as sardine cans and milk cartons. For most university students, Vappu starts a week before the day of celebration. The festivities also include a picnic on May 1, which is sometimes prepared in a lavish manner, particularly in Ullanlinnanmäki—and Kaisaniemi for the Swedish-speaking population—in Helsinki city.
The Finnish tradition is also a shadowing of the Socialist May Day parade. Expanding from the parties of the left, the whole of the Finnish political scene has adopted Vappu as the day to go out on stumps and agitate. This does not only include political activists: other institutions, such as the church, have followed suit, marching and making speeches. Left-wing activists who were active in the 1970s still party on May Day. They arrange carnivals, and radio stations play leftist songs from the 1970s. People at a Vappu picnic in Kaivopuisto in 2008 Traditionally, May 1 is celebrated by a picnic in a park (Kaivopuisto or Kaisaniemi in the case of Helsinki). For most, the picnic is enjoyed with friends on a blanket with good food and sparkling wine. Some people, however, arrange extremely lavish picnics with pavilions, white tablecloths, silver candelabras, classical music and extravagant food. The picnic usually starts early in the morning, where some of the previous night's party-goers continue their celebrations undaunted by lack of sleep.
Some student organizations reserve areas where they traditionally camp every year. Student caps, mead, streamers and balloons have their role in the picnic, as well as in the celebration as a whole.
Vappu/Valborg and Midsummer are Finland's two main holidays in the summer half of the year, on a par with Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve in the winter half.
In Sweden, Walpurgis Night (Swedish: Valborgsmässoafton or simply Valborg) has more or less become a de facto half holiday. The forms of celebration in Sweden vary in different parts of the country. One of the main traditions in Sweden is to light large bonfires, a custom that is most firmly established in Svealand and may have begun in Uppland during the 18th century: "At Walpurgis (Valborg), farm animals were let out to graze, and ever since the early 18th century bonfires (majbrasor, kasar) have been lit to scare away predators." In Southern Sweden, an older tradition, no longer practiced, was for the younger people to collect greenery and branches from the woods at twilight, these were used to adorn the houses of the village. The expected reward for this task was to be paid in eggs.
Singing traditional songs of spring is widespread throughout the country. The songs are mostly from the 19th century and were spread by students' spring festivities. The strongest and most traditional spring festivities are also found in the old university cities, such as Uppsala and Lund, where undergraduates, graduates and alumni gather at events that last most of the day from early morning to late night on April 30, or sista april ("The Last Day Of April") as it is called in Lund. More modern Valborg celebrations, particularly among Uppsala students, oftentimes consist of enjoying a breakfast including champagne and strawberries. During the day, people gather in parks, drink considerable amounts of alcoholic beverages, barbecue and generally enjoy the weather, if it happens to be favorable.
In Uppsala, since the mid-1970s, students also go rafting on Fyrisån through the center of town with home-made, in fact quite easily wreckable, and often humorously decorated rafts. Several nations also hold "Champagne Races", where students go to drink and spray champagne or somewhat more modestly priced sparkling wine on each other. The walls and floors of the old nation buildings are covered in plastic for this occasion, as the champagne is poured around recklessly and sometimes spilled enough to wade in. Spraying champagne is, however, a fairly recent addition to the Champagne Race. The name derives from the students running down the downhill slope from the Carolina Rediviva library, toward the Student Nations, to drink champagne.
In Linköping, the students and public gather at the courtyard of Linköping Castle. Spring songs are sung by the Linköping University Male Voice Choir, and speeches are made by representatives of the students and the university teachers.
In Gothenburg, the carnival parade, The Cortège, which has been held since 1909 by the students at Chalmers University of Technology, is an important part of the celebration. It is seen by around 250,000 people each year. Another major event is the gathering of students in Trädgårdsföreningen to listen to student choirs, orchestras and speeches. An important part of the gathering is the ceremonial donning of the student cap, which stems from the time when students wore their caps daily and switched from black winter cap to white summer cap.
In Landskrona, people gather at the Citadel to play beer-brännboll, a game in which one drinks beer and plays brännboll at the same time.
Walpurgis Day, or May Day, is also known as Worker's Day
May Day is internationally known as a "Workers Day". In 1889 "May Day" was chosen as a workers celebration day in the Congress of Paris. On May Day, even today, many strikes and Demonstrations were organized by workers. In the United States, May 1 was the day when working contracts were renewed, "moving day", and this automatically caused restlessness among the workers. "May Day" is traditionally a day when political parties and union leaders address "workers", at various central locations. In Finland "May Day" became an official flag- raising day in 1978, and was named "The Day of Finnish Work".
The Finnish name for May Day, "Vappu", originates from Catholic St. Walpurgis, who's commemoration day was celebrated on the 1st of May. In Central-Europe, this day has been celebrated as a festival of spring since medieval times. The first May Day festivities in Finland started in parsonages and upper-class families in the 1700's. At that time people celebrated the day by going horse riding enjoying the greenery of spring, and held "Mead" parties at home together with friends and family. The Finnish May Day celebration, as it is nowadays, was started by secondary school graduates in the 1800's. Even back then the festival was a time of rejoicing and very "Damp" students. Student caps might have been worn from 1st of May until the end of September, but nowadays students and past students wear it on the eve of May Day and on the actual day.
In Finland May Day celebrations begin on May Day Eve. In Helsinki the statue "Havis Amanda", which lies near to the Helsinki market square, receives her white student's cap at six o'clock, at the same time as people put their caps on. This has been a tradition since 1932. Similar ceremonies take place in cities all around Finland, with different statues being "capped". The celebrations have begun and soon a carnival like atmosphere spreads among the normally quite and reserved Finns, who enthusiastically chat and raise their glasses together with persons they have never met before. May Day markets are full of knick-knacks, serpentines, flowers, whistles, May Day whisks, balloons and masks for children and childlike adults. Sparkling wines flow and there is spring in the air, and what does it matter if it is snowing, as it sometimes still does at the end of April.
The next day people head for parks to have picnics together with friends and family and brunches served in restaurants are also popular meeting points. Traditional May Day delicacies are fritters called "tippaleipä" and they are served together with homemade mead, "sima".Traditional Finnish Recipes:In Finland May Day Fritters (tippaleipä) and Mead (sima) are traditionally served and enjoyed on May Day (Vappu). Recipes for baking and preparing May Day Fritters and Mead can be found here: RECIPES~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ May Day ceremonies that stem from the centuries-old May Day traditions are celebrated across the world... Originally a celebration of spring and the rebirth taking place in nature, May Day dates back to Pagan times. Traditionally, the day is characterized by the gathering of flowers and the fertility rite of dancing around the maypole.
A maypole is a tall wooden pole erected as a part of various European folk festivals, particularly on May Day, or Pentecost (Whitsun) although in some countries it is instead erected at Midsummer. In some cases the maypole is a permanent feature that is only utilized during the festival, although in other cases it is erected specifically for the purpose before being taken down again.
Primarily found within the nations of Germanic Europe and the neighboring areas which they have influenced, its origins remain unknown, although it has been speculated that it originally had some importance in the Germanic paganism of Iron Age and early Medieval cultures {*tree worship. the pole was meant to represent a tree, an important symbol}, and that the tradition survived Christianization, albeit losing any original meaning that it had. It has been a recorded practice in many parts of Europe throughout the Medieval and Early Modern periods, although became less popular in the 18th and 19th centuries. Today, the tradition is still observed in some parts of Europe and amongst European communities in North America.
In England, for instance, May Day is still celebrated in many towns with the crowning of the May Queen. Maypoles can still be found in some towns and May Day traditions may include hobby horses and local people dressed in costumes. In Oxford, traditions are upheld for May Day celebrations, starting with the choir of Magdalen College singing from the top of the chapel tower.
It is a common factor, in all our holiday's histories, that the holiday begins as a pre-Christian practice; which is then eclipsed (taken over and changed) by the arrival of Christianity; which in turn is changed again as we enter the modern age.
So this is why we start with "May Day" -a celebration of spring / rebirth / fertility and nature- and then transition to a women-burning ceremony, and then transition again, to a "Worker's Day" or "Labor Day"...In many countries it has evolved into "Labor Day In recent years, particularly in socialist and Communist countries, May Day has become a labor festival honoring the military and industrial efforts of the country.
It is referred to as Labor Day in many countries, as it also evolved from efforts of the labor union movement to celebrate the economic and social achievements of workers.
It is a national holiday across many countries in continents around the world.
In Mexico, it's referred to as Primero de Mayo.
In Chile, it is referred to as Día del trabajador (Workers Day).
Whatever way you celebrate it, I wish you all Happy Worker's Day / Happy May Day / Happy Walpurgis Day / Happy Beltaine / Happy Volbriöö / Happy Spring Day / Happy Vappu / Happy pálení čarodějnic etc, etc etc !
_______________________________________ MONSTER ALBUMS______________________________________________________________DAILY QUOTE:There is a tide in the affairs of men, Which taken at the flood, leads on to fortune. Omitted, all the voyage of their life is bound in shallows and in miseries. On such a full sea are we now afloat. And we must take the current when it serves, or lose our ventures. - William Shakespeare______________________________________________________________ Come back each day for The Daily Buzz!
|
|
|
Post by Hunny on Apr 30, 2013 14:08:40 GMT
I feel obliged to add an apology for not covering Beltaine, the holy day of Wiccans. It's such a magical tradition (no wordplay intended); it seems a shame not to do a proper article on it.
Christianity did horrible things to oppress women, so it could take over. And if not to disallow the hiding of Christianity's murderous means of conquest, at the least we should speak of how women had power before it was taken away. The modern Wiccan tradition honors that, remembers and reclaims it. It's a charming, peaceful and natural religion; someone should speak of it.
In the meantime, I want to point out how horrible I think it is that the world has holiday traditions which take so flippantly that more than a million women were tortured and then burned alive (as the scene pictured above is intended to portray). Why people take it so lightly, how entirely heinous what happened was, I don't know. But in this enlightened time of "political correctness", it seems ceremonies like pretending to burn a woman alive (and for even the children to watch) should be banned.
Happy Beltaine to you! Blessed be.
|
|
|
Post by Hunny on Apr 30, 2013 14:10:33 GMT
Also, yes, you have seen this before. Sorry. But it is what's in the Daily Buzz today(it appears at other sites too), and I didn't want to skip an issue...
|
|
|
Post by Hunny on May 1, 2013 0:49:10 GMT
The Daily Buzz will return tomorrow AM. Happy May Day everyone!
|
|
|
Post by Hunny on May 1, 2013 22:41:46 GMT
Come here every morning to find out what day it is!May 2 is...Brothers and Sisters DayBrothers and Sisters Day is a day to cherish your siblings. Sure, there's times when you love your brothers and sisters. And, there's times when you want to disown them. All in all, having a brother and/or a sister or two is invaluable. The older you get, the more you learn to appreciate them. Celebrate Brothers and Sisters Day by touching them in some way. A card or a phone call is appropriate for those who are separated by too many miles. A visit, or sharing a meal together, is a great way to enjoy this special day. Don't have a brother or sister? Become a "Big Brother" or Big Sister". Chances are, there is an organization in your area. And, they need your help. _______________________________________ MONSTER ALBUMS______________________________________________________________DAILY QUOTE: You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream. - C.S. Lewis______________________________________________________________ Come back each day for The Daily Buzz!
|
|