DECK THE HOLIDAY'S

   Russian Christmas is celebrated later than in other countries, including the Untied States and most of Europe.  Most Russian Christians belong to the Orthodox Church.  The Orthodox Church uses the old Julian calendar to schedule holidays.  Since they use a different calendar, their Christmas celebrations are 13 days later, on January 7th.    After the Russian Revolution in 1917, Christmas was banned throughout Russia, as were other religious celebrations.  Christmas was forbidden to be openly celebrated for 75 years.  In 1992, Christmas was once again allowed to be openly observed.    Today, Christmas is once again celebrated in grand fashion.  Cathedrals are filled with incense, and the faithful participate in all night masses, amidst with painted icons of Saints.    The Christmas Eve meal is served after evening mass.  The Christmas Eve feast is also a meatless meal.    The table is covered...

    Aloha Festival is Hawai'i’s premier cultural showcase, a celebration of Hawai'i’s music, dance and history intended to preserve the unique island traditions. HISTORY    HONOLULU’S 65 year-old Aloha Festivals is the oldest and largest Hawaiian cultural celebration in the United States. What is known today as Aloha Festivals was created in 1946, as Aloha Week - a cultural celebration of Hawai'i’s music, dance and history intended to perpetuate our unique traditions. A group of former Jaycees - known as the Jaycees Old-timers of Hawai'i - had the vision to create a public celebration to honor Hawai'i’s cosmopolitan heritage, yet created a celebration which has itself become a state-wide tradition.    Aloha Week became Aloha Festivals in 1991. Aloha Festivals has become a celebration of our Hawaiian culture. Integrated into the culture are many island traditions and customs of each of the Hawaiian islands. Tho...

  A ghost ship is a ship that is haunted, has been abandoned at sea with no evidence of its crew (or with its crew dead on board), a ship that apparently "haunts" a specific area or various combinations of the above. There are many ghost ship stories in history. Some of them seem to be easily explained, others, not so much. You see, ghost ships are not always related to claims of hauntings, there are some, like the Mary Celeste, that are simply mysterious. Here are three of the most famous ghost ships in history and descriptions of what make them ghost ships. Famous Ghost Ships: The SS Queen Mary     The SS Queen Mary started her life as a cruise liner. However, when World War II broke out, she was commissioned as a personnel carrier. While acting in this capacity, the Queen Mary struck the HMS Curacoa off of the coast of Ireland. It was an accident that was caused by the ship's defensive maneuvers, which were being undertaken to avoid German U-boats. Aft...

Tradition of Durga Puja     Today's most authentic form of the Durga is that of a ten handed goddess modeled out of clay astride a lion. Each of those hands carry a separate weapon in them except two, which holds the spear which has been struck into the chest of the demon, Mahishasura. The four children of the Goddess had also been added to the iconography - Laxmi, the goddess of wealth, Saraswati, the Goddess of knowledge, Kartik, the God of beauty as well as warfare and Ganesha, the 'Siddhidata' or the starter of everything in good sense.    The drum-beats are an integral part of the Durga Puja. This special variety of the drum, known as 'Dhak,' enthralls the hearts of the Calcutta with its majestic rhythm right from the day of 'Sasthi.' This drum is held on the shoulder with the beating side in the bottom and is beaten with two sticks, one thick and another thin.    The Durga Puja spans over a period of ten days...

   Halloween is just around the corner and with it comes loads of candy, movies, costumes, and fun! Because we already have a list of the top 10 horror movies , we thought it might be a nice idea to do a list of halloween movies that are suitable for all ages – something the kids and adults will both love. I have tried to pick a good balanced selection of movies – not just horror movies, but movies that contain halloween themes: witches, ghosts, and all things spooky. I have intentionally excluded movie series (such as the Harry Potter series) and Halloween versions of popular shows (such as the Spongebob Halloween special). If you haven’t seen any of these movies, you definitely should. Be sure to tell us what movies you will be watching this halloween! This list contains a competition – further details at the bottom of the list. 10.  Hocus Pocus/1993           More than 300 years ago, 3 witches were sentenced to ...

   The Abbots Bromley Horn Dance is an English folk dance involving reindeer antlers and a hobby horse that takes place each year in Abbots Bromley , a small village in Staffordshire , England. Origins    There are no recorded references to the horn dance prior to Robert Plot 's Natural History of Staffordshire , written in 1686. However, there is a record of the hobby horse being used in Abbots Bromley as early as 1532, and it is possible that the horn dance component of the custom was also present at that time but not commented upon by the writer.    A carbon analysis discovered that the antlers used in the dance date to the 11th century - though these may well have replaced an even older set. According to some, the use of antlers suggests an Anglo-Saxon origin along with other native Anglo-Saxon traditions that have survived into modern times in various forms.   It has been speculated, for example, that the dance originated in the paga...

 How did the kindly Christian saint, good Bishop Nicholas, become a roly-poly red-suited American symbol for merry holiday festivity and commercial activity? History tells the tale.    The first Europeans to arrive in the New World brought St. Nicholas. Vikings dedicated their cathedral to him in Greenland. On his first voyage, Columbus named a Haitian port for St. Nicholas on December 6, 1492. In Florida, Spaniards named an early settlement St. Nicholas Ferry, now known as Jacksonville. However, St. Nicholas had a difficult time during the 16th century Protestant Reformation which took a dim view of saints. Even though both reformers and counter-reformers tried to stamp out St. Nicholas-related customs, they had very little long-term success except in England where the religious folk traditions were permanently altered. (It is ironic that fervent Puritan Christians began what turned into a trend to a more secular Christmas observance.) Because the common p...