Free Ecards – Page 3

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.

Holi – Celebrating colors, harvest and life!

How would you like to be smeared with a splash of rainbow-colored water and powder from head to toe before you even realize what’s happening? Not your idea of a perfect day is it? But, if you thought that being the victim of a practical joke is the last thing anyone would ever want, you probably haven’t heard of Holi. The Indian festival of colors.

Colors = Life!

This popular Indian festival represents the successful winter harvest and the coming of Spring or Vasanth. This is one day when Indians across the country, especially Hindus, celebrate life in all its vibrant hues, abandoning inhibitions.

The Holi festival celebrates the spring season. But it is also symbolic of the way Lord Krishna engaged in a playful celebration of life itself with the beautiful Gopikas (woman cowherds) of Brindavan or Gokul (the gardens where they herded the cows)- singing, dancing and surrendering to love in its purest, divine form. There are several other historical and mythological stories also associated with the origins and significance of Holi.

Family Fun Fest!

Today, Holi is a day when families in India come together, exchange delicacies, sweet dishes and gifts, smear each other with color(gulaal powder) and just have a good time. Getting intoxicated with bhang, holding Matka or Earthen-pot breaking competitions, playing pranks have all come to be associated with this joyous festival that people of all ages enjoy and look forward to. Even if you haven’t experienced it yourself, you can easily get a feel of the spirit of the occasion from numerous Bollywood films. If you live far away from family or friends, don’t forget to send free Holi ecards from our bright and cheerful collection created specially for the occasion.

Some of our upcoming posts will explore the origins of this vibrant Indian festival, the rituals associated with it and other aspects. Holi falls on March 11 2009. So, you still have time to plan a celebration with friends and family. The only question is – are you ready to get your hands (and possibly your outfit, your face and your whole body) dirty?!!

St. Patrick’s Day – Origins, Legends and Traditions

How will you commemorate this St. Patrick’s day? Will you enjoy New York’s Fifth Avenue parade, which is the nation’s largest and most popular event? Or use the occasion as a legitimate excuse to hit one of the many Irish pubs in your city? Perhaps, like the rest of the US, you will wear Green. Do you know how these traditions came to be followed and which of the St Patrick’s day legends are even true? Read on to find out

– St. Patrick’s Day marks the death of Ireland’s patron saint in 461 AD. After being snatched from his family, captured and enslaved for several years, the young Maewyn, experienced a closeness with God. Later, a vision helped him realize his higher calling – to convert Pagans to Christianity. He went about this mission for over 30 years, building schools, churches and monasteries in Ireland, converting the country to the Christian faith.

– Folklore has it that he rid Ireland of snakes. However, Ireland is not known to have housed any snakes. The reference, some believe, is to Pagans, whom St. Patrick set out to convert.

– Another legend mentions his use of the three-leafed shamrock to represent the Trinity of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. The shamrock has come to be considered as the symbol representing St. Patrick’s Day. Its green color is perhaps the reason behind people wearing green on this day. Or maybe the green leaf denotes the advent of spring, which is only a few days away.

– In the US, St. Patrick’s Day was first publicly celebrated in Boston in the year 1737. The Charitable Irish Society organized the first parade.

– The traditional Irish meal originally comprised of boiled bacon and potatoes.

– When Ireland’s potato famine forced the Irish to make other countries their home, they brought along some traditions and made up new ones as time went by.

– The traditional meal too was replaced by other substitutes. If you were to pop into an Irish American kitchen on St Patrick’s day, you might be treated to a sumptuous meal corn beef or beef slow cooked with cabbage.

– St Patrick’s Day is one of the most eagerly awaited holidays for several reasons. Not the least significant of them is the fact that, after attending church, people hit the pubs to down beer and ale, celebrating the feast of St. Patrick.

According to one study, conducted by BIGresearch, there will be a decline in St Patrick’s Day celebrations spending this year. People will spend on average $ 3.00 less than they did in 2008 on food, festivities and beverages to celebrate this holiday.

Well, one thing you don’t have to worry about spending on is on St Patrick’s Day ecards. Like all our other categories, these animated ecards are free and ready to be sent out to your friends and family on the occasion of St. Patrick’s Day. If you want to make your own greeting cards and print them out, you can do that too with our Printable Cards section.

Get well soon ecards

A few years ago, I came down with a horrible flu-like bug, and while I called off work and went to the doctor, I didn’t think to call any of my friends or family.

A week later, after feeling better, I went to a little coffee shop where my friends and I congregated. When they asked why they hadn’t seen me in a week, and I told them how sick I’d been, there was shock all around—my friends had assumed that I just decided to shut myself off for a while. But finding out that the real reason I was gone, everyone felt badly about not calling, and not coming to visit me. I laughed it off, said it was no big deal, and the whole matter was forgotten.

Months later, I got bronchitis, and I was out of commission for a couple of days. This time, you had to stand in line outside my door. All my friends showed up at some point with soup, vitamins, cold medicine and good wishes. And though their visits didn’t make me feel physically better, I definitely was touched by the gesture.

When we’re not feeling well, knowing others are keeping us in their thoughts can be a big lift. And today’s, when practically everyone has Internet access at home, a Get well soon ecard from gotfreecards.com can do just the trick—especially if you want to send your sympathy, without risking catching that flu yourself!

All Occasions

On this blog, we’re always writing about all the different occasions to commemorate by sending a free e-card. Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s, e-cards are always a convenient and cost-effective way of showing people, on holidays, that you’re thankful for their presence in your life.

But you don’t have to wait for the next holiday to roll around on the calendar to take advantage of our free e-cards here at gotfreecards.com. We have tons of birthday cards, of course, along with cards to say “Thanks” and to send your good wishes to that friend or loved one who’s been under the weather lately.

Not only that, but even if you’re just looking for a way to let someone know how much you care, you should check out one of our “Friends” cards, or one of our quickly-growing categories of knock-knock jokes. From the incredibly clever, to the just downright silly, there’s a joke for every taste and temperament.

Feel like personalizing a card? Or maybe commemorating one of the holidays we haven’t gotten around to designing for yet? Click on “printable cards” at the top of the gotfreecards.com homepage, and just follow the step-by-step instructions on the screen (or see my earlier blog on the subject).

So you see, no matter the holiday or occasion, gotfreecards.com is your best spot for free, thoughtful, and funny ways to say that you care!

Who needs Valentine’s Day anyway?

Before you shoot me, let me explain. I am not against love or expressing love or any such thing. In fact, I look forward to Valentine’s day as much as anyone else. (Mostly because I like to catch all the mushy movies on TV, but that’s a different story!) But, think about it. Who really benefits the most from Valentine’s Day?

It’s not the people who have been in love with each other for years. They already know how much they love one another. It’s not the newly weds. They are already in love and have just sealed it with wedding vows. The new lovers? Nope. They are too starry eyed to think about everlasting love and such things at the moment.

You may not want to admit it to yourself, but the ones who benefit the most from Valentine’s Day are businesses, stores, greeting card companies. There, I said it.

Well, let’s say Valentine’s Day is a day to express one’s love for a special someone – not that you need one specific day to do so, but that’s another subject, again. So where do cavity-forming chocolates, environment-unfriendly greeting cards and budget-breaking gifts come into play? Since when has love become a commodity? Why do we need material expression to reinforce the most intangible, powerful and life-giving force on earth? Love is after all, that which cannot be measured, quantified, defined, compared or forgotten, isn’t it? So, how come we have reduced it to something that can be expressed with a box of candies or a bottle of perfume, even if they are the finest?

I just don’t get it. To me, the most beautiful expressions of love are those that are known to and shared only between the two people concerned. Maybe an understanding smile, a meaningful glance, a shoulder rub, a kiss, a timely hug, a hot cup of cocoa when it’s most needed, a concerned phone call, a tight embrace…

Maybe an occasional love note or greeting card would be nice. But to be honest, when I see aisles and aisles of the same stuff in every store – heart-shaped pillows and teddy bears and chocolates – and I realize that at least a thousand other women will be getting the very same thing from their ‘one’, I pretty much lose interest in those gifts. They hold no meaning, no special place in my heart.

What I value most is the unique way in which two people express their love for each other, to each other. Not just on Valentine’s Day but all through their lives. Those special moments, which like our free ecards are personal and unique.

That’s what I call the perfect gift!

So, this Valentine’s Day (and every day), don’t forget to personalize your expression of love. Buying a gift or a greeting card is easy. But to make your expression special, make it your own. After all, isn’t that what you love about each other?

Valentine Ecards for my husband

If you have popped in to any store lately, you are well aware that Valentine’s Day is right around the corner. There are big red candy boxes on the first aisle when you walk in, teddy bears for sale holding red hearts and red balloons, and even boxers adorned with little cupids for sale. And even though all of the merchandise is fun and festive and would make anyone smile, the thought of purchasing anything for Valentine’s Day still stresses me out!

I want to make sure that the gift for my husband is perfect, that it is not too corny, but also not too UN-corny. Flowers are not for my husband, and he doesn’t eat sweets, so I tend to go for the more home-made gifts. One year I made him a gift card that was good for things like a back rub, or breakfast in bed, and another year I had the kids make him a card with their picture in it. So this year, we’re going to do that again, with the help of GotFreeCards.com. I am going to create FREE printable cards at GotFreeCards.com, with pictures of me and my kids and my own corny sentiments, print it out, and give it to my husband for Valentine’s Day. It will be the perfect gift, with the perfect amount of Valentine’s Day corniness.

Birthday Reminders

So you’re kind-hearted enough to remember friends and loved ones on their birthdays and other holidays, and you’re frugal and sensible enough to save your money in doing so by using gotfreecards.com, but how do you keep it all straight? How do you make sure, for example, that you remember to send next-door-neighbor Joe an e-card for his birthday in February, but don’t forget to do the same for classmate Jane on her anniversary?

Holidays are easy to keep straight—most of them fall on the same day every year, and most stores and television stations are kind enough to constantly remind us, weeks in advance, that Christmas / Valentine’s Day / Halloween is coming. But they don’t exactly do the same thing for Joe’s birthday or Jane’s anniversary, do they?

To keep these lesser-advertised but not-less-important days organized, try the “Event Reminder” on gotfreecards.com.

Just go to the homepage—gotfreecards.com—and click on the “Event Reminder” button at the top of the page. This brings a screen up where you can type in your name, the name of the event you want remembered, and any personalized notes you want to add in regards to the event. Then, just select when you want to be reminded (the day, the day before, etc.) and enter your e-mail address. Gotfreecards.com will then, at absolutely no charge and with no obligations required on your end, e-mail you a reminder of the big day at the time you specify. It’s that simple!

New Year Remember the troops

2008 is almost here, and it’s nearly time for another round of sure-to-be-broken New Year’s resolutions.

I’ve had my share of foul-ups in that department in the past. I have not, to date, run a marathon. And I still eat more than my share of French Fries.

But there is one resolution I’m making this year, along with many people I know, that I will keep: this year, I resolve to do more to remind members of the military that we, back home, haven’t forgotten them.

I’ve written about this in the past, and so I know it might seem like I’m beating a dead horse, but it’s that important. It doesn’t matter what you think about their mission; the fact that these brave souls are in other countries, risking their lives on a daily basis under the American flag, is reason enough to hold them in the highest esteem, and to let not one opportunity to let them know pass by.

You can send e-cards, of course (this is, after all, an e-card website). You can also buy telephone cards for our servicepersons—there are countless websites out there collecting them, as well as those collecting care packages. It doesn’t matter what you do, really—just do something.

That’s my resolution this year—what’s yours?

New Year Ecards Surprise

Everyone gets presents on Christmas, and even though we smile and act like we’re surprised to have been thought so kindly of, in reality, if Mom or Dad hasn’t got us any gifts, we’d feel pretty miffed. Similarly, on Valentine’s Day, if you don’t buy your significant other a gift, you’re making trouble for yourself. Mom gets flowers on Mother’s Day, and Dad gets tools on Father’s Day.

But what about those other holidays, where gift-giving isn’t exactly traditional? That’s when you really have the opportunity to surprise the people you love. And you shouldn’t have to break the bank, either. For instance, on New Year’s this year, why not send out some free ecards from gotfreecards.com? They’re absolutely free, and when your friends and loved ones open their e-mail boxes and see you’ve sent them an animated e-card, not only will they know you’ve been thinking about them, but they’ll also know you didn’t have to get them anything: you only did it because you care.