Clare Florist Blog

Throughout the world, the dawn of each new year is welcomed with celebrations and is seen as a time to reflect on the year past and to consider the possibilities of the year ahead. New year doesn't fall on the same date for all cultures, however. In the US, Canada, Australia and much of Europe, as well as the UK, it takes place on January 1st. This is following the Gregorian calendar and coincides with ancient winter solstice celebrations. In China, however, a lunar calendar is followed and the new year falls on the new moon between January 22nd and February 19th. In other countries it is celebrated in the spring, when life is seen to renew itself, while others choose the autumn, the time of the harvest.

One of the most renowned January 1st new year's celebrations is that of the Scots. In Scotland the eve of the new year, December 31st, is known as Hogmanay and the night is celebrated with fireworks and festivities. From midnight onwards the tradition of 'first-footing' begins. This means a race to be the first person over the threshold of a friend or neighbour, usually bearing a symbolic gift to bring good luck to the householder, traditionally, salt, coal, shortbread, whisky or fruitcake. A similar tradition of gift giving on the first day of the new year exists in Wales, where it's called Calennig. Another Scottish tradition, which has migrated to many countries now, is the singing of Auld Lang Syne at midnight. This was a traditional poem rewritten by the famous Scottish poet, Robert Burns and later set to music. In literal translation to modern English, the title is “old long since” but it means something like 'long ago' or 'times gone by'. The beginning goes like this:

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
and never brought to mind ?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
and auld lang syne ?

CHORUS:
For auld lang syne, my dear,
for auld lang syne,
we’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.

Here's a link to the music if you want to practice!
Happy New Year from Clare Florist — looking forward to all the good things to come in 2008!

Did you know that boxing day is also the start of Kwanza? Established in 1966 by Maulana Karenga, a professor at California State University, Kwanza is a relatively recent tradition. It celebrates both the African heritage and the current place of African-Americans around the world and runs from December 26th to January 1st. Kwanza is a Swahili word meaning “first fruits” or “fruits of the harvest”.

The festival involves the ritual lighting of seven candles (the Mishumaa Saba) representing the seven principles of Kwanza which are collectively called Nguzo Saba. These principles are Unity (Umoja), Self-determination (Kujichagulia), Collective Work and Responsibility (Ujima), Cooperative Economics (Ujamaa), Pupose (Nia), Creativity (Kuumba), and Faith (Imani). (Sound good to me!) The candles are in three colours: black, representing the skin of the African people; red symbolising the blood they've shed, and green representing hope for the future and remembrance of the motherland. Three green candles are placed on the left of a special candleholder (a Kinara), three red ones on the right and a black candle in the centre. Each day of the celebration one of the candles is lit. Houses are decorated with colourful traditional cloths and other decorations and there is drumming, music and dance, as well as reflection on the seven principles. And finally, not to be missed, feasting, including lots of fresh fruit!

The Winter Solstice (like the Summer Solstice and Spring and Autumn Equinoxes) is an astronomical event. It is the shortest day and longest night of the year, after which (slow though it seems!) the days begin to grow longer: a turning point in the annual orbit of Earth round the Sun. It didn't take a modern scientist to realise this, though, and the occasion has been celebrated in pagan traditions for centuries past. This year it falls on December 22nd (sometimes it's December 21st). Officially, it marks the beginning of Winter but it is also known as Midwinter, which is more what it feels like to me —the nights may be growing shorter but it's only getting colder!

Many festivities are held around this time today, some of which I've written about in earlier entries. There's Christmas, Hanukkah, New Year's, St Lucia's Day, Kwanzaa, Yalda... Most of these involve symbols of rebirth and light. The best known name for the ancient celebration is Yule, or Yuletide. The Norsemen of Northern Europe would light bonfires, tell stories and drink sweet ale at this time of year. An enormous Yule Log would be lit and feasts would be held for as long as it burned: from three to twelve days. In the Celtic tradition it was believed that the Sun stood still for twelve days at midwinter, so the the Yule log would be lit to bring light during this time, to ward off evil spirits and attract good luck for the New Year. Druids would give mistletoe, a symbol of life through the deadness of winter, as a blessing. In the Wiccan tradition, too, ceremonies are held to welcome the rebirth of the Great God: the newborn solstice Sun.

In ancient Rome the midwinter/new year festival was called Saturnalia and it was a time for ordinary rules to be turned upside down. Men would dress as women and masters as servants. They would also, as we do still today, decorate their homes with evergreens, light candles, exchange gifts and hold processions. Who would have known our traditions had such a long history (though the cross-dressing seems to have fallen by the wayside)!

Of course, all this only applies to the Northern Hemisphere at this time of year, but our friends down South celebrate their midwinter Yulefest too —only it falls in late June! The Australian tradition includes the lighting of a bonfire, as well as some of the traditions that have migrated from Europe.

To those this end of the globe, happy Winter Solstice! (And a happy Midsummer's to the other half!)

It's been a busy week here at Clare Florist with lots of beautiful bouquets being sent out in time for Christmas. Though it is Christmas which makes itself most apparent in the shops and on television here in the UK, I wondered what other festivals might be being celebrated at this time of year and I was surprised at how many other winter celebrations there are when I started looking into it! More to come later, but here are a couple that have already been:

Hanukkah, which began this year at sundown on December 4th, is an important Jewish celebration, also known as the Festival of Lights. It commemorates the rededication of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem in the second century BC, following its desecration by the Syrians. The festival lasts eight days and for each day a candle is lit on the the Menorah, a special eight branched candelabra. This recalls the miracle of the small vial of oil which lasted a full eight days until a new supply could be found when the temple was being rededicated. Translated from the Hebrew, Hanukkah means 'dedication' or 'consecration' and it is transcribed into various spellings in the roman alphabet, including Hannukah, Hanukah and Chanukah.

Bodhi Day takes place on December 8th and celebrates the day of the Buddha's Enlightenment under the Bodhi Tree. Did you know the Bodhi Tree is actually a type of fig, also known as Pipul? On this day Buddhists dedicate extra time to meditating and reflecting on the Four Noble Truths set out by the Buddha, which concern the nature of suffering and the possibility of transcending it.

To those of you who celebrated Hanukkah or Bodhi Day this year, I hope your celebrations brought some light and warmth into the winter days. We'd love to hear more about how you marked these occasions!

Today (December 13th) is my saint's day and though it's not widely celebrated here in my homeland, I discovered that in Scandinavian countries it marks the beginning of the Christmas celebrations and acts as an occasion to bring light into the darkness. In the old Julian calendar December 13th fell on the shortest day of the year, the winter solstice and, aptly, the name Lucia (or Lucy, in its English version) comes from the Latin word for 'light'.

The legend of St Lucia goes that in 304 AD she was a wealthy young Christian woman living on the isle of Sicily. Unfortunately this was during the last great persecution of Christians, led by the Emperor Diocletian. After she prayed to St Agatha, her ailing mother was miraculously cured and Lucia persuaded her to distribute her wealth among the poor. Lucia also gave up her dowry and her proposed marriage to a pagan man, committed to a life of chastity. Enraged, her suitor denounced her to the Roman authorities who had her tortured. They tore out her eyes and set her to be burned alive but the flames would not harm her. Finally a soldier pierced her with a sword (or, in some versions of the tale, beheaded her) but before she died her eyesight was restored. Thus she became the patron saint of the blind, as well as of Sicily. Later, a famine is said to have ended after the Sicilians prayed to her, ships loaded with grain arriving in the harbour.

In parts of Italy her day is celebrated much as St Nicolas's day and Christmas are elsewhere in Europe. Children leave food out for her and her flying donkey, who helps her to carry gifts that she leaves for them in the night. They're not allowed to see her delivering these gifts; if caught she will throw ashes into their eyes temporarily blinding them! And naughty children will get coal instead of presents. In remembrance of the ended famine, a boiled wheat dish they called Cuccia is eaten.

It is in Sweden, however, that her day is most recognised. Traditionally, the oldest daughter of the family dresses in a white gown and wears a wreath of lit candles on her head. On the morning of St Lucia's Day she brings coffee and Lussekatt (Lucy cats, special Lucia day saffron buns), to wake her family. There are also Lucia Day processions in which young girls and boys dressed in white gowns and bearing candles sing traditional Lucia day carols, lead by the elected Lucia who wears a candle-wreath and a red sash (symbolising the saint's martyred blood). They visit schools, hospitals, offices and churches, distributing gingerbread biscuits and Lussekatt.

Fancy celebrating St Lucy's Day yourself? Make your own Cuccia or Lussekatt, and here are some more suggestions.

Enjoy - Lucy