[Sca-cooks] January 5th Holiday Exchange

[kingstaste at mindspring.com]

Happy 12th Day of Christmas!  Now can someone come and get all these
drummers, pipers, dancing lords and ladies, maids and their cows, swans,
geese, colly birds, turtle doves and this stupid partidge and the tree thats
loosing pear leaves all over my floors?  (I'll keep the rings, thanks ;)

JAN 5
Festival of Kore - Ancient Greece - Goddess of Fertility, Cereal, Grains,
and Agriculture. The daughter of Demeter, counterpart of Pluto, also known
as Persephone.  (See No. 25th)

Fifth Day of the New Year - Japan - A court banquet marks the transition
from one year to the next.

Epiphany Eve  - Celebrated as the day to receive presents in many areas.

Lilat-al-Kadr  - Syria and Lebanon - the “Night of Destiny” is revered by
Christians and Muslims alike.  The Roman Church insists that it is the
anniversary of His Baptism.  Both Christians and Muslims agree that at
midnight the trees bow down.  Christians believe that the trees showed the
Magi  “the way home” (away from Herod).  Muslims believe that the Koran came
down from Heaven that day, and the animals and trees bow down for the honor
of the revelation.  Mt. Lebanon – Children believe that their presents are
brought by the Magic Mule.  Farther south the Camel of Jesus brings the
goodies.

Italy - Children receive presents from a little old witch woman called la
Belfana.  She was sweeping when the Magi came through.  They asked her to
come with them, but she had to finish her work, so she followed later.  She
never found them or Him, so she keeps looking, and gives gifts to all the
children just in case so she doesn’t miss Him by mistake.

12th Night - 12 days of Christmas end on the eve of Epiphany England -
Twelfth Night is celebrated with a gigantic celebration.  Friends and
relatives dine and drink "Lamb's Wool" and cut the Twelfth Cake.  Inside
there is a bean or a pea, and the first man to find the bean is to be the
King of the revel, and the first woman to be the Queen.

Plough Sunday* - England - The Sunday nearest to January 5th.  Farmers bring
their ploughs to Church to be blessed for the Spring planting season.  Then
there are prayers offered for the farming community.

Glastonbury Thorn Day - England The day the “Glastonbury Thorn Tree” blooms.

St. Simeon Stylites' Feast Day (440? AD) Patron Saint of Shepherds. The most
famous of the desert aesthetics, or Anchorites, he practiced extreme
mortifications and was expelled from the monastery. He retired to the
wilderness, and to avoid the crowds he kept attracting, he took up residence
on top of higher and higher pillars, until he finally lived 60 feet in the
air.