The cherry blossom festival has been an important part of the Japanese culture for centuries, but it has also captured the imagination of many outside
Background: Christmas and Epiphany Frankincense and myrrh are known to many because of their appearance in the Christmas story. According to St Matthew’s gospel (2:2-11),
What are the twelve days of Christmas? Is it a modern invention or an old tradition? And, most importantly, is Christmas entirely over now in
New Year is a strange festival. It is celebrated very widely and on a large scale, both privately and publicly, with parties requiring glittery outfits,
Late autumn and winter is a season for storms in northern Europe. Week after week they bring gale-force winds, snow, torrential rain and flooding. Such
Christmas food tends to evoke the medieval tradition, due to a combination of spices and other ingredients that were valued during the Middle Ages, the
Like several other evergreen plants, mistletoe is used to decorate homes at Christmas. It has a very long history of use in medicine, and there
What is the meaning of the winter solstice and why was it celebrated? Is there a connection between the pagan winter solstice traditions and Christmas?
When we think of a Christmas tree we usually imagine it to be a conifer – a fir, a spruce or a pine. And indeed
Since the custom of decorating a tree at Christmas has its roots in medieval liturgy and biblical drama, the earliest decorations were religious symbols. A
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