[Sca-cooks] December 21st Holiday Exchange

[kingstaste at mindspring.com]

DEC 21
Divalia - Ancient Rome - Winter Solstice

Winter Solstice - Pre-Christian - Celebrates the return of the sun. Burning
the Yule log for heat and light, along with decorations of holly, mistletoe
and ivy to defy the barrenness of winter were common observances.  Some
claim the act of baking Christmas cookies in the shape of animals comes from
the Teutonic sacrifice of animals at this season.  The Boar’s Head served at
Christmas feasts is a holdover from the Scandinavian Yule Festival.  The pig
was sacrificed to Frey, God of Fertility, and was eaten in honor of the
Sun-Boar.  It was a dish sacred to the heroes of Valhalla. Frey was the God
of fertility and farming and was honored at Yule in the hopes that his time
would soon return. The early Germans built a stone altar to Hertha, or
Bertha, goddess of domesticity and the home, during winter solstice. With a
fire of fir boughs stoked on the altar, Hertha was able to descend through
the smoke and guide those who were wise in Saga lore to foretell the
fortunes of those at the feast.

St. Thomas' Feast Day (74) Apostle, traveled to Persia and India to preach,
baptized the Magi in 40 AD, martyred, Patron Saint of Chichicastenago,
Guatemala.  “St. Thomas Gray, St. Thomas Gray, Longest night and shortest
day” was a chant heard on this day popular for collecting donations for
charities.  In Warwickshire, poor families went “a-corning” (also known as
“a-Thomasing”) visiting farmers to collect flour with which to bake a
special batch of Christmas bread.  Another custom was for school children to
bar the schoolmaster from the door of the schoolhouse if they could get
there first thing in the morning.  The Mayan Indians there also still
worship the sun god they worshiped long before they became Christians. Every
year, for the dangerous palo voladare, or flying pole dance, 3 men climb to
a platform on top of a 50 ft. pole. There, 2 of the men wind one of the long
ropes attached to the pole around one foot. As the 3rd man beats a drum and
plays a flute, both jump off the platform. Slowly the ropes unwind, and the
2 dancers descend. If they land on their feet, the sun god will be so
pleased that he'll start shining a bit longer every day.