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Today is ‘Epiphany’, a major Christian celebration. It is always celebrated on 6 January and commemorates the presentation of the infant Jesus to the Magi, or three wise men. In some countries, it may be known as ‘Three Kings Day’.

The celebration of the Epiphany began in the Eastern Church and included a celebration of Christ’s birth. However, by the 4th century AD, the various calendar reforms had moved the birth of Christ to 25 December and the church in Rome began celebrating 6 January as Epiphany. Armenian Christians still celebrate the birth of Christ on 6 January.

In Italy, January 6th is also known as La Befana. In Italian folklore, Befana is an old soot-covered woman or witch who delivers presents to Italian children on the night before La Befana (Epiphany Eve). The story goes that on their way to see the infant Jesus, the Magi stopped to ask Befana for directions and asked her to join them. She initially refused, but later had a change of heart and tried to find the manger. She was unable to find the baby Jesus and gave the gifts she had brought to other children. To this day, she travels on her broomstick every year on January 5th looking in vain for the manger and giving her presents to any Italian child who leaves out a shoe or hangs up a stocking on Epiphany Eve. This legend arose in the 13th century and for a long time La Befana was a tradition confined to Rome and the surrounding regions, but this festival has become popular across all of Italy in the last hundred years.

It wouldn’t be a proper Italian festival without an excuse to bake some yummy food and La Befana is no exception. Special treats on La Befana include sweet coal, small cookies called befanini and Befana cake – a cake with a large dried bean inside. Whoever gets the bean in their slice is king (or queen) for the day.

All this focus on La Befana doesn’t mean that there aren’t also traditional Epiphany events. For instance, there is the Cavalcade of the Magi in Florence, in which some 700 people decked out in Renaissance costumes ride on horseback through the historic city center. The Cavalcade of the Magi dates back to the 15th century when it was first organized by the Medici family which ruled Florence during the Renaissance, according to the city’s website.

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Fun with Googly Eyes!!!!

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More cats…even in famous paintings!

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Lego sets are getting too realistic!

Today is the birthday, in 1935, of American musician, singer, and actor Nino Tempo. With his sister, April Stevens, he had the 1963 US No.1 ‘Deep Purple’. The song won the 1964 Grammy Award for Best Rock And Roll Recording, selling more than one million copies and earning a gold disc. As a child actor, he appeared in The Glenn Miller Story featuring James Stewart. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGDbXEk9USE

It’s freezing cold outside and there’s snow on the ground – must be winter. So here are some fun dancevideos to warm us all up! You’re welcome to dance along!

That was fun! How about a little swing??

From the hills of…Ireland!

And from NEW YORK CITY!

Even old-time movie stars are dancing!!

Fred and Rita!

So, everyone…Keep on Dancing!

Losoong (Namsoong) is a series of public holidays in the Indian state of Sikkim. It begins on the first day of the10th month of Tibetan Lunar Calendar –  the new moon of the “Kurneet Lovo”, according to Dungkit Karchu (Lepcha Calendar). This means it usually falls in December in the western calendar.

Sonam Losoong (Farmers’ Harvest) is a New Year celebration of the Sikkimese Bhutia. It is called Namsoong by the Lepchas. The festival marks the time when the farmers rejoice and celebrate their harvest. Although the festival is celebrated privately among family members and friends there is an air of festivity all around. The Black Hat dance takes place at this festival commemorating the victory of good over evil, with ‘chaams’ held in many monasteries two days prior to Losoong.

The festival of Lossong is celebrated with traditional gaiety and colour both by the Lepchas and Bhutias. On the occasion pujas are performed for peace and prosperity for the new year. Certain competitions are also held in traditional skills, such as archery and the merry-making will continue for days.

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Today is the birthday, in 1945, of American singer, songwriter Stephen Stills who was a member of Buffalo Springfield, Crosby Stills Nash & Young and Manassas. With CS&N he had the 1969 UK No.17 single ‘Marrakesh Express’ and the 1970 US No.1 album Deja Vu plus the 1971 solo UK No.37 single ‘Love The One Your With.’ Stills’s first solo album, Stephen Stills, (1970) went gold and is the only album to feature both Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zj8FlXGPcOQ

Today is Berchtold’s Day. This day is a public holiday in the following Swiss cantons: Aargau, Bern, Fribourg, Glarus, Jura, Lucerne, Neuchâtel, Obwalden, Schaffhausen, Solothurn, Thurgau, Vaud, Zug, and Zurich.

Berchtold’s Day commemorates Duke Berchtold V of Zähringen (d. 1218), who founded Bern, the capital of Switzerland, in the twelfth century. According to legend, he left on a hunt declaring he would name his fledgling city after the first animal he killed. The hunting trip was a success and the Duke managed to kill a bear, or bern in German.

Despite many references to the day as St. Berchtold’s day, he wasn’t a saint (certainly not to bears anyway). We are just so used to holidays in Europe being named after saints, that many people have automatically canonized the Duke.

Handily placed in the calendar, by the ever-practical Swiss, to give an extra day to enjoy or recover from the New Year’s celebrations, Berchtold’s Day is a light-hearted, family-oriented celebration.

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Imagine going back in time and trying to explain this…

A perfect metaphor for the coming year…

NINJA CATS ARE WATCHING YOU!!!

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Happy New Year to everyone – have fun!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_hlvRNgGOQ

New Year’s Eve is December 31st, the last day of the year, in the Gregorian calendar. Countries that still use the Julian Calendar observe New Year’s Eve on January 13th.

New Year’s Day was fixed at January 1st in 153 BC, when the two Roman consuls, after whom – in the Roman calendar – years were named and numbered, chose that date, mainly for military reasons. During the Middle Ages, a number of different Christian feast dates were used to mark the New Year, though calendars often continued to display the months in columns running from January to December in the Roman fashion.

Most countries in Western Europe had officially adopted January 1st as New Year’s Day even before they adopted the Gregorian calendar. This was called Circumcision Style, because it was the date of the ‘Feast of the Circumcision’, which occurred on the eighth day after Christmas Day, and is said to have been the day when Christ was circumcised.

There are many tradition’s associated with New Year’s Eve.

“Auld Lang Syne”, written by the Scottish poet Robert Burns in 1788, is traditionally sung at midnight on New Year’s Eve. The words auld lang syne mean “times gone by”.

In Japan, at midnight on Shōgatsu (New Year’s Eve), Buddhist temples ring their bells 108 times to ring in the New Year and drive away the 108 evil desires that humans fall prey to. This event is called Joya no Kane and is carried on Japanese radio.

In Chile it is traditional for people to go to their local cemetery to party. It isn’t so much for luck, more a chance to be reunited with lost loved ones. 

Spaniards eat a each grape for chime of the clock at midnight. Whoever finishes before the chimes end gets luck and happiness in the coming year. 

The Irish put some mistletoe under their pillows before going to sleep on New Year’s Eve. It brings luck in love and a future husband or wife. 

In the Philippines they wear polka dots to guarantee wealth. Roundness signifies prosperity so they fill pockets with coins and eat circular fruits too. 

Families in Ecuador build a scarecrow and burn it to destroy all the bad things from the past 12 months. 

Red underwear brings good luck in Turkey on December 31st, but the colour is associated with evil the rest of the year and should not be worn. 

In Brazil white flowers are thrown into the ocean for Goddess of the Sea, Yemanja. Other offerings like perfume are sent out in small wooden boats. 

Italians throw old possessions from their balconies on to the streets below, the but watch out  – the items can be anything from toasters to fridges. 

Onions are hung on front doors in Greece to signify rebirth and regrowth and in the morning, parents get kids up for church by smacking them with the vegetable. 

In parts of Latin America, on New Year’s Eve people wear yellow underwear if they want good luck in the New Year and red underwear if they want love.

New Year’s Eve, known as Hogmanay, is celebrated in Scotland more than in the rest of the UK. This is because Christmas was effectively banned in Scotland from 1560 until 1712 due to the Scottish Reformation and only became a public holiday in 1958. Instead of Christmas, the Scots threw their end-of-year festivities into New Year. Rather than have a holiday on New Year’s Eve, the canny Scots give themselves an extra public holiday on the Day after New Year to help recover.

Hogmanay

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Remember to layer in the cold weather…

Happy New Year! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFIgMlBcKAs