about holidays – Page 5

Mother’s Day Beyond the Rituals

Mothers Day Ecards — Mother's Day Ecards

Rituals are good. But being merely ritualistic takes away some of the meaning behind an occasion. There comes a point when we automatically start Christmas shopping in November, browse Valentine’s Day cards in February and…and rush to save on last minute Mother’s Day deals in May.

The fact is, every single day we live is in a way, Mother’s Day. We wouldn’t be here but for her. We wouldn’t be who we are, if it were not for her. And the bottom line is that we don’t really need a day, a gift or a reason to express how much we love Mom and appreciate her. Sure, these gestures may bring Mom joy and probably even make us feel better about ourselves. But, I think, one of the reasons such occasions exist is so that we take the time to really reflect and think about that one person, all that she means to us and how she has shaped our lives.

So, why not stop your Mother’s Day shopping frenzy for a minute and spend a few moments thinking about your Mom?

I dedicate this post to my Mom. I urge you to share your thoughts in the comments section.

What Mom means to me

She is the embodiment of calm, strength and understanding. I have never seen her raise her voice or lose her temper. Nor have I ever seen her crumble under pressure, cave in or give up in the face of adversity. She simply keeps her cool and does the right thing.

She is an intelligent, intuitive, humble and clear-headed woman who loves her family and has a strong sense of right and wrong. Her calm, composed nature is her strength. However, it takes one who really knows her well to understand that what lies beneath the silence is solid substance. She is too smart to let the little annoyances and imperfections in life get in the way of the bigger picture. She speaks four languages, is a wonderful cook, a math star, a well-read, compassionate person and a real lady.

I am proud of my Mom.

Tell us – What does Mom mean to you?

Mother’s day – It’s about spending time, not money

Luckily for us, what moms want most on Mother’s day (and any day, for that matter) costs next to nothing. The one gripe many moms share is that their kids don’t spend enough time with them. There. Now, that’s one gift almost anyone can afford even on the tightest of budgets. I’m not suggesting that you be cheap. By all means, save up and spend on a special Mother’s Day gift …but, before you start wondering,
“What should I get Mom?” why not stop and think “What would Mom really like?”

This Mother’s day, you could take your mom out to a fancy restaurant where you will exchange pleasantries instead of the heart- to-heart that she wants, plan an extravagant outing where you will constantly be interrupted by phone calls from work, put thought and your savings into expensive gifts she’ll probably never use or send her on a luxury cruise to a faraway island, when all she wanted was to spend a few hours with you.

Or, you could

turn off your cell phone ( and other gizmos) for a day
pay your mom a surprise visit
bring her flowers or a simple, but thoughtful gift
make her breakfast or lunch
take her where she wants to go (shopping, to a play or show, to the lake, Church, to see grandkids)
talk to her…about your life, family, work, kids, dreams
really listen to what she has to say…about whatever’s on her mind
do something she loves with her – go bowling, take a walk in the park, help with her scrap book or gardening project
tell her how much you appreciate her and how she has made you who you are and how proud you are of her
send your mom a free Mother’s day ecard expressing your love, gratitude and admiration

For some reason many of us choose the tougher way out and spend more money than time on Mother’s Day, when a few hours with Mom is all it takes to make her feel loved and special.

This could be the year you reverse the trend. A perfect way to start may be with a free Mother’s Day ecard.

What is your idea of a perfect Mother’s Day?

Celebrate a Greener Easter

If you have been thinking about going green, now is as good a time as any. What could possibly be more fun and fulfilling than planning an eco-friendly Easter with your friends and family!

Simple changes in your normal Easter routine will go a long way in conserving the earth. Remember to involve your kids in the process and discuss with them the importance of your efforts.

Recycle Easter baskets. Use previous years’ baskets. Or save up and use the baskets that you get fruit arrangements or bouquets in. Be creative. Remember the bath kit you received as a gift? Wouldn’t the container make a wonderful Easter basket? How about that straw hat you bought years ago? Invert it, add a fabric handle and you have an Easter basket that’s one of its kind! And if you do buy new Easter baskets this year, remember to save them for the following years!
Fill ‘em with eco-friendly goodies. Choose healthier Easter treats and preferably those wrapped in earth-friendly material. You could choose organic or fair trade chocolates or other options such as jelly beans, or even crunchy carrot bites or gummy beans. Eliminate the use of plastic wherever you can. Why buy plastic grass when you can make a far cooler and eco-friendlier variety with paper, scrap or cloth? Also pay attention to the packaging. Come up with fun projects you can do with your kids. For example, you could recycle their art work or other paper and make gift wraps out of them. They will be thrilled to see their art work put to creative use.
Buy local. Whenever possible, buy produce that is grown locally. When you go shopping for the Easter meal this year, why not stop by the farmer’s market? You may end up spending a little extra, but don’t you think it’s a price worth paying? Besides, you’ll probably meet friendlier faces and even feel healthier at the end of the day!

This Easter, why not start or renew earth-friendly traditions that will breathe new life into our planet? Do you have tips for an eco-friendly Easter? Please share them with us.

And don’t forget to send free, eco-friendly Easter Ecards to your family and friends.

Easter in America

Easter is one of small handful of religious holidays—the other notable one being Christmas—that is celebrated by most Americans. Though Easter itself is a specifically Christian celebration, religious and non-religious Americans celebrate the day in fairly equal numbers.

Long before Jesus Christ, according to the Christian Bible, died for mankind’s sins and then rose from the grave on the day we now know as Easter, most societies already had a holiday in place that fell at roughly the same time as Easter does today, and which rivals Easter in terms of popularity. This is because along with being the purported time that Jesus rose from the grave, the period after the first new moon of the vernal equinox has long been associated as a period of new beginning.

After a long and rough winter period, people who based their livelihoods on the environment around them—whether they be farmers or more simple hunter / gatherers—looked forward to the beginning of Spring, as it symbolized the start of another fruitful season of harvest and warm, pleasant weather, for many months to come.

For this reason Easter in America has turned into a multi-faceted celebration. Most American Christians begin the day by attending a church service. The Easter service, commemorating one of Christianity’s most joyous days, is understandably more festive than other services of the year. There tends to be more singing, less sermonizing, and an overall feeling of good will and cheer in the atmosphere.

From there, revelers return to their homes and, owing to the more secular, spring-related aspects of the Easter celebration, a great meal is prepared and enjoyed by all. This may seem like a fairly standard part of religious holidays, but with Easter, the roots of the feast part of the celebration have a much more practical, specific reason: years ago, non-Christians who were celebrating the spring season, were so confident in the fruitful harvests to come that they would prepare lavish meals, inviting all their neighbors and family members who could make the journey: the message seemed to be, “we’re soon going to have so many new resources, that we can afford to make such a great meal today.”

Another aspect of the American version of Easter celebrations is the leaving of Easter baskets. Like Santa Claus and the gifts he leaves underneath the Christmas Tree, the Easter Bunny is said to travel to the homes of children around the world, leaving baskets of candy for them on the night before Easter. And the gift giving does not always end as the children grow up. Again, like Christmas, where children receive toys when they are younger, and more “useful” gifts as they grow older, children go from receiving candy baskets on Easter morning, to receiving baskets that are a mixture of snacks and various, but useful, small gifts. Many American young people even receive Easter baskets after they leave their childhood homes, and travel away to college, receiving care packages of various essentials and knickknacks around the time of the Easter holiday.

It may seem strange that such a decisively-religious holiday would be so widely celebrated in America, and in such a wide variety of ways. But the way Americans celebrate Easter is actually rather symbolic of the country and its history as a whole: America has long been known as a melting pot of different cultures and customs, and so it only makes sense that its marking of the Easter holiday is such a mash-up of different celebratory styles.

April Fools—Origins and Evolutions

April Fools Day is one of the most unusual “holidays” celebrated around the world today. While other holidays center around strict rituals (like Ash Wednesday or Dia de los Muertos) or large meals shared between family and friends (like Thanksgiving), the whole point of April Fools Day is to play mostly-harmless tricks on people. And as unusual as this day is, it’s appropriate, perhaps, that the actual origins of April Fools Day cannot be nailed down for certain.

Many theories exist as to the origin of April Fools Day, but all we know for sure is that it wasn’t until the mid 1800s that historical and popular sources began to reference the day—though there are some reports of sporadic references to April Fools Day dating as far back as the 16^th century. The most popular theory of the origin of April Fools Day—though this theory, like others, cannot be verified—has to do with the Julian calendar. It was Julius Caesar who first proposed a uniform calendar, setting the start of the year on January 1^st, but the change wasn’t widely accepted until Pope Gregory, in the late 1500s, issued a decree stating that the year should begin on January 1^st.

Even still, many countries, according to this account, didn’t immediately catch on to or accept the new changes, and continued to celebrate the new year on incorrect dates. Those countries that did not move their beginning-of-the-year celebrations to January 1^st mostly held on to April 1^st as the beginning of their year—the reason for this is a combination of celebrating Easter (which, with the rising of Christ from the grave, is seen as a symbolic beginning for Christians) and the start of Spring (in which life blooms—again, symbolic of new beginning).

It is possible that from this confusion, the term “April Fool” was coined, describing those countries that still held onto the April 1^stNew Year date; but there really is no way to be certain: there just isn’t a reliable set of historical documents to verify this claim.

But what really interests everybody is not the history of April Fools Day—debatable as it may be—but the pranks that have made it famous. Every year, America’s National Public Radio (NPR) airs a fake broadcast. NPR, known for its droll, down-the-middle approach to news reporting, uses April Fools Day to poke fun at its own style: for instance, last year, it reported that instead of sending rebate checks, the IRS would be sending Americans actual consumer goods. And comic strip creators regularly switch places with one another on April Fools Day. These artists will usually drop many sly references to the switch that’s taken place, but rarely do they outright say that they are “guest drawing.” A couple of regular participants are Jim Davis (creator of Garfield) and Bill Keane (Family Circus).

Over recent years, the Internet has emerged as a popular way to institute April Fools pranks. One tradition has been for a user to post a link in an online discussion forum, usually using an attractive link title that purports to be particularly relevant to the discussion at hand. When a user clicks the link, they are taken to a music video of Rick Astley’s song “Never gonna give you up.” Over the years, this practice has come to be known as “Rickrolling,” and is no longer confined to April Fools Jokes.

Perhaps the first use of the Internet in pushing an April Fools prank was by Usenet. In the early days of the Internet, Usenet was the most popular—indeed, one of the only—ways for different users to communicate with one another. On April 1^st, 1987, a Usenet member posted a message stating that the Russian KGB would be taking over control of Usenet. Users of the service, not actually used to being pranked on the Internet, accepted the posting as truth, until the original poster came clean, the next day.

The Birth of the Easter Bunny

So, how did the Easter Bunny get its name…and what does a bunny have to do with Easter eggs anyway?

Legend has it that the rabbit (actually, the hare) was a symbol associated with the ancient festival of the Pagans, celebrated in honor of the Goddess Eastre or Eostre. She was the Goddess of fertility and the festival marked the birth of new life. It also coincided with the arrival of spring. Understandably, rabbits and hares, became associated with this Pagan festival owing to their fertility. Later, Christian missionaries, in the process of popularizing the Christian faith, adopted this Pagan symbol of fertility and incorporated it into the occasion representing the resurrection of Jesus which occurred around the same time of the year. The two festivals merged – Eastre became Easter, and the fertile rabbit became the Easter Bunny. The rabbit became a symbol of innocence and sacrifice, very similar to the lamb.

There are a few other stories that tie the loose ends of this unforgettable Easter character together.

In Germany, in the 1500s children were raised to believe that a bunny would bring them colorful eggs as gifts, if they behaved well. This tradition found its way to America in the 1700s. According to another legend, a group of kids once found colorfully decorated eggs hidden in the garden outside their home. Snuggled close to the eggs, as if in a nest, was a bunny, appearing as if it had laid the eggs. This image somehow found its way into folklore and thus paved the way for the now popular Easer Bunny. All these legends combined with the fact that giving decorated eggs as gifts was already a popular custom in Europe, gave rise to the Easter Bunny traditions we know today.

So there you have it. A bunny. A basket of colorful eggs. And a spring festival of fertility. All coming together to symbolize one of the most important occasions for followers of Christianity – the resurrection of Jesus. Easter 2009 is almost here.

How will you be celebrating? Will you be joining your family or do you live too far away? Are you taking your kids on an egg hunt? Or will you be celebrating the arrival of spring in your own unique way? Tell us!

No matter how you mark this occasion and regardless of whether you celebrate spring or life or Easter, there is sure to be something in our Free Easter Ecards section that will make you smile.

Wishing you a Happy Easter and a very joyful spring! Here’s to new beginnings…

Easter – Origins and Traditions

What I like the most about holidays is how they engage everyone in the family in activities of one kind or another. Take Easter, for example. It’s coming up in April and I know kids who are already excited about the Easter egg hunt, and the part where they get to color and decorate the eggs, about exchanging Easter gift baskets and visiting their cousins. But, it’s not just the kids who enjoy this holiday. It has a special significance for adults too.

What is Easter?
Easter marks the Resurrection day of Jesus. It symbolizes a new life after death.

This is the essence of Easter Sunday, which falls on the first Sunday after the full moon following the first day of spring. It marks the end of Lent – the forty day period of preparation for the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Lent begins on Ash Wednesday and is a period of fasting and giving up sins. It ends on Easter Sunday, the day Jesus is believed to have come back to life.

Which brings us to the symbol most commonly associated with Easter

The Easter Eggs

Eggs represent life. And what better way to denote this renewal of life than with this universal symbol that people of all ages and cultures can relate to? There are several legends associated with Easter Eggs, the Easter Bunny and how they became embedded into this holiday.

According to one legend, Virgin Mary walked up to the soldiers at the Cross with eggs and while offering them the eggs, requested them to be kind. It is believed that after speaking to them, she began to cry. Her tears fell on the eggs which took on a brilliant splash of colors. This is probably how the tradition of coloring and decorating Easter Eggs began.

Another famous story associated with the Easter Egg is that of the renowned goldsmith Faberge. He was commissioned by the Russian Czar to create a special Easter gift for the Empress Marie. His spectacular creation comprised of a Platinum shell egg which opened to reveal a golden one and inside the golden egg was placed a replica of the Imperial Crown. This first egg far exceeded the Czar’s expectations. In this way, the tradition of creating custom Easter Eggs as gifts for royalty began and was carried forward by several generations.

Ornately decorated golden eggs were popular Easter gifts among royalty and affluent families of many countries for a long time. And the custom of gifting eggs, decorated with beautiful designs and colors continues to this day, signifying life, the birth of spring, hope and so much more.

Where did the bunny come from?

But, what on earth does a bunny have to do with Easter? Or the eggs? How do you think the Easter Bunny was born? Leave your comments below. Our next post will have the answer.

St Patricks?

Saint Patrick’s Day may be better described as Saint Patricks’ Day—as in, celebrating the lives of two different men.

The Saint Patrick of tradition was believed to a Roman born citizen. On or around his 16^th birthday, he was captured in Rome by Irish raiders. After several years in captivity, he escaped and returned to Rome. Perhaps surprisingly, he is said to have forgiven his Irish tormentors, eventually returning to Ireland as a Christian missionary. This spirit of forgiveness is perhaps what led to his being adopted as the patron saint of Ireland.

But another man, a Catholic priest named Palladius, is perhaps also a model upon which the Saint Patrick’s Day legend is built. Palladius worked under the Pope in Rome, and traveled to Ireland. After being ordained by Pope Celestine, Palladius is believed to have been the first Catholic Bishop sent to Ireland.

Beyond this, not much can be said definitively on the lives of either the “original” Saint Patrick of Palladius. Everything, really, dissolves into myth, and claims that are impossible to substantiate. The only thing that can be said for certain? Saint Patrick is hero to the people of Ireland, and is held in reverence by both native Irish, and Irish descendants living all over the world.

Holi Rituals and Traditions

The previous posts on Holi explored the various legends associated with this Indian festival of colors.

Ras Leela

There is one legend that is particularly colorful and fascinating – that of Radha and Krishna’s Ras Leela. Those familiar with Indian culture know that Lord Krishna was known for his love of the Gopikas or lady shepherds. The mutual love they felt, was spiritual in nature, akin to that between a devotee or worshipper and the Lord, although it is often misrepresented as the infatuation between man and woman. Ras Leela is the famous festival of dance and song representing the abandonment with which Krishna, Radha and the other girls expressed their love for one another in the gardens of Brindavan. Krishna is said to have taken on multiple forms to be able to dance and celebrate with each of the Gopikas so none would leave disappointed. Today, the ritual of Ras Leela is re-enacted during Holi in some parts of India, symbolizing the colorful, joyous and enthralling manner in which pure love is expressed. Men and women, dressed in colorful costumes rejoice and dance to the beats of the Dholak.

Some of the other traditions and rituals surrounding Holi are –

-On the eve of Holi, Holika Dahan takes place, representing the destruction of the evil Holika, Hiranyakashyap’s sister. Bonfires are lit on streets and in some places, people burn the effigy of Holika, and rejoice in the symbolic victory of good over evil.

– Fire or Agni has great significance in Indian culture. An inherent part of many Hindu rituals, it is believed that the heat from the flames and the embers have a positive bio-physical impact, yet to be fully explained by modern Science. As people go around the fire, dancing and celebrating, they no doubt, inadvertently reap some of those benefits.

– Early the next day, the morning of Holi, people wear white clothes and leave their homes with buckets of colored water. Some use Pitchkaris or long syringes that are used to splash colored water. Powdered colors are equally popular.

– They meet on streets, in parks, in public areas and temple grounds – eager to smear each other with splashes of color and muddy water. Children engage in playing pranks and this is one day when you could get away with almost anything!

– Bhang, an intoxicating drink, is mixed with other beverages and consumed. This eliminates any remaining ounce of inhibition in the celebrations.

-After a full day of outdoor celebrations, pranks and ‘color splashing’, people go back home to wash up, offer prayers and then visit friends and relatives, exchanging home made sweets, gifts and other treats.

– Holi is also the time when the equivalent of spring cleaning takes place. People clear out clutter and redecorate their homes.

Holi is less than a week away. How will you and your family celebrate this year? Tell us in the comments section below. What is your favorite part of Holi?

No matter where you are, and how you celebrate, be sure to keep in mind its spiritual, cultural and social significance.

Holi offers us the opportunity to celebrate life in all its shades.

So, here’s wishing you colorful Holi.

The spirit of Holi – The stories and significance

Love. Fertility. Harvest. The onset of spring. If there is any festival that represents the true spirit of all of these aspects and bundles them in one joyful package of color and festivities, it surely is Holi – the Indian festival celebrated in the lunar month Phalguni, which usually falls in early or mid March.

Holi is considered an ancient festival, dating back to the 7^th century, perhaps earlier. It finds mention in the Sanskrit drama Ratnaval and other Sanskrit literary and religious works such as Dashakumar Charit and Garud Puran.

When Cupid crossed the line

Holi is often referred to as the cupid festival. Quite ironically. Kama, the Indian equivalent of Cupid, was believed to have been assigned the task of disturbing Lord Shiva’s meditation, so he could give Parvathi a son who would save the world. Kama attempted to lure Shiva into carnal temptation and as a result became the victim of Shiva’s wrath. Furious on being disturbed, Lord Shiva burnt Kama to ashes with his third eye. Later, on the request of Kama’s wife Rathi, Shiva softened and granted him a partial life, one without physical form. This is one of the stories associated with Holi and the one most commonly told in the southern parts of India during the Kaman Pandigai or Kama Dahanam which are other names of Holi.

Good vanquishes evil, again

The other popular story associated with Holi is that of the young prince Prahlad and his aunt Holika. Prahlad was the son of the arrogant King Hiranyakashyap. Prahlad defied his father by praying to Lord Vishnu, whom he believed to be the all-powerful God. Hiranyakashyap on the other hand was boastful of his own supremacy since he had acquired the boon of not being killed by anyone in any of the three worlds. When he saw that his own son questioned his infallibility, he ordered his sister Holika to kill the young boy. Holika attempted to kill Prahlad by burning him in fire, but it was she who was killed instead, while the Lord saved Prahlad.

The significance of Agni or fire is evident in many of the legends associated with Holi and so bonfires are an integral part of Holi celebrations everywhere. Fire represents the sustenance and victory of good over evil.

So, while it appears to be an uninhibited and joyful, even frivolous celebration of life on the surface, Holi, in fact, is an occasion with deep spiritual and philosophical significance. Not unlike many other Indian festivals that appear to be a mixture of meaningless rituals at first. Only deeper examination reveals the higher truth that drives them.

Coming up… some Holi rituals, Lord Krishna’s Ras Leela and other stories.