Ask anyone to name five favorite holidays, and it's a sure bet Halloween will be on the list. Then ask how the celebration came to be. More than likely you'll be told Halloween means All Hallows Eve the night of prayer preceding the Feast of All Saints. Yes, but there's more to it than that. The night we celebrate by dressing in outlandish costumes and traipsing about the … [Read more...] about Sláinte! The Irish Roots of Halloween
Slainte Archives
Sláinte! The Feast of Lughnasa
The most joyous event of the Celtic year is Lughnasa (August 1), the beginning of the annual harvest. The Celtic calendar was structured on nature's agricultural cycle and great festivals were celebrated at the start of each season: Imbolc (spring), Beltaine (summer), Lughnasa (autumn), and Samhain (winter). All honor the life-giving sun, but only Lughnasa derives its name from … [Read more...] about Sláinte! The Feast of Lughnasa
Sláinte: Summer Blessings
One of summer's finest gifts is its long hours of sunshine. This is especially true the farther one travels from the equator where a midwinter's night is so long that only a few hours of pale gray twilight feebly light the day. Halfway around the seasonal wheel, the sun blazes forth in the same locale for nearly a whole 24-hour period. This phenomenon has a very scientific … [Read more...] about Sláinte: Summer Blessings
Sláinte! The Ubiquitous Egg
In the 13th century when theologians were arguing how many angels could stand on the head of a pin, Thomas Aquinas, an inquisitive scholar of the Dominican Order of Friars, posed the famous question: "Which came first – the hen or the egg?" After much debate, it was agreed that mama hen came before her ovoid product. Aquinas recorded the consensus in his religious treatise … [Read more...] about Sláinte! The Ubiquitous Egg
Sláinte! Goddess Meets Groundhog
Time passes and things change. As people migrate from nation to nation around the earth, they may leave the land of their birth behind, but their travel gear is packed chock full of tradition. No matter where the emigrants settle, customs and festivities that have weathered the test of time find a new home as well. Sometimes the celebration is adopted whole and intact. One … [Read more...] about Sláinte! Goddess Meets Groundhog