DECK THE HOLIDAY'S

   Halloween  is going to be a busy night for many people – opening the door and dishing out candy and other treats – and in some cases, hiding every time the doorbell goes. Why not add a bit of spice in to your Halloween this year with some of these clever ways to confuse trick or treaters? 1. Give away something other than candy. (Toothpicks, golf balls, bags of sand) 2. Wait behind the door until some people come. When they get near the door, jump out, wearing a costume, and holding a bag, and yell, “Trick or Treat !” Look at them, scratch your head, and act confused. 3. Fill a briefcase with marbles and crackers. Write on it, “Top Secret” in big letters. When trick-or-treaters come, look around suspiciously, say, “It’s about time you got here,” give them the briefcase, and quickly shut the door. 4. Get about 30 people to wait in your living room. When trick-or-treaters come to the door, say, “Come in.” When they do, have everyone yell, “Surprise!!!”...

  Since 1986, every third weekend of September, the city of Le Puy-en-Velay (Haute-Loire) found its Renaissance colors. Through a festival of a high culture, the city takes the guise of an old and true archery contest to get it  back into the glorious past.     For four days in September, priority is given to street performances and the reconstruction of what  daily life in the sixteenth century in the Velay would have been like.  Tented camps, struggles with the sound of cannon fire, folk artisans, daily cooking and meal time, and  pilgrims on their way to Saint Jacques de Compostela  to set up their tents and compounds for so they can rough it just like their ancestors.    Each year, several days after the school year has been out, the entire city and its people gather to live and work in the Bird King Renaissance Festival  offering  all who  who attend the festival, to...

   Around Halloween every year a fair number of Christians express disgust at the idea of celebrating a "satanic holiday." To some Christians the very idea of Halloween is repulsive. Halloween and everything involved in it seems to strike a chord deep in the hearts of the most adamant Christian believers. It appears to be contrary to everything a Christian believes is good and holy with all of the evil ghosts, devils and witches floating about. But is Halloween really the evil satanic holiday that some Christians think it is?     The best place to begin is... at the beginning. There is a lot of literature available on the history of Halloween, including web sites and books. Some of it is even accurate! Most of it boils down to a few simple facts. Halloween appears to have started with the Celtic people. I say it "appears" to have started with them because they didn't write much down. They had a strong oral tradition much like American Indians. What we learn ...

   Burning Man is a week-long annual event held in the Black Rock Desert in northern Nevada , in the United States . The event starts on the Monday before, and ends on the day of, the American Labor Day holiday (August 29 to September 4, 2011). It takes its name from the ritual burning of a large wooden effigy on Saturday evening. The event is described by many participants as an experiment in community , radical self-expression , and radical self-reliance .    Burning Man is organized by Black Rock City, LLC . In 2010, 51,515 people attended Burning Man.  2011 attendance was capped at 50,000 participants and the event sold out on July 24th. A smaller event known as the Smoke Creek Gathering has been opened to the public nearby to give the thousands of lucky people a place to participate. HISTORY   1986 to 1989    The annual event now known as Burning Man began as a bonfire ritual on the summer solstice in 1986 when Larry Harvey ...

    Halloween has ancient origins that are embedded in tradition and the Halloween parade is one of the many celebrations associated with this holiday. Halloween parades today represent an opportunity for people to show off their Halloween costumes  and even compete for prizes. However, this fun part of modern-day Halloween tradition actually began thousands of years ago, with the intent of warding away malevolent spirits.    The tradition of having a Halloween parade can be traced back to the earliest origins of Halloween. Halloween actually began as the pagan festival Samhain, which was observed thousands of years ago with the ancient Celts who occupied what was is now Ireland , the United Kingdom, and northern France. Samhain represented a time when human spirits were supposed to come to earth to wreak havoc on human souls.    Each year on Samhain, the Celts dressed up in gruesome animal-like costumes that were usuall...

   Moon Festival, Mooncake Festival , or the August Moon Festival - they are the different names of the same festival, which is popularly also known as the Mid Autumn Festival . It is a celebration of abundance and togetherness.   The Chinese believe in praying to the moon god for protection, family unity, and good fortune. It falls on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month, a date that parallels the Autumn Equinox of the solar calendar.On this day the moon is unusually bright, clear and round. Historical accounts are silent about the exact origin of this festival, but as far as the assumption of the scholars are concerned , it is related to the two customs in China.    The first customs concern the Chinese farmers. China is an agricultural country and farming in China is intricately associated with the seasons. In the ancient times, the farmers used to worship Earth God and prayed for a good harvest when they sowed the seeds during spring. ...