Encyclopedia of Christmas and New Year's Celebrations PDF Download

Author: Tanya Gulevich
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Christmas
Languages : en
Pages : 1014

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Book Description
Over 240 alphabetically arranged entries covering Christmas, New Year's, and related days of observance, including folk and religious customs, history, legends, and symbols from around the world.

Author: Gerry Bowler
Publisher: McClelland & Stewart
ISBN: 1551996073
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 1075

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Book Description
At last, a truly comprehensive look at Christmas and all of its customs with its long history around the world. The World Encyclopedia of Christmas contains articles on the history of Christmas baking, drinking, and merrymaking, and Christmas dramas, music, literature, art, and films. It includes entries on the evolution of the Christmas tree and the Christmas card, gift-giving, and decoration of church and home. There are profiles of the many gift-bringers, from Santa Claus to Babouschka, and miraculous tales of the numerous saints associated with the season. And there are histories of seasonal celebrations and folk customs around the world, from the United States to Japan, from Egypt to Iceland. Who, for example, knew the links between the Punch and Judy show and Christmas? That the medieval Paradise tree hung with tempting apples was the forerunner of the Christmas tree? About the Peerie Guizers, who terrorized the Shetland Islands, going door-to-door for Christmas charity? Or what Freudians make of our interest in Christmas stockings and Santa’s entrance through the chimney? There are detailed accounts of Wren Boys and Star Boys, mumming and wassailing, the Feast of Fools and the origins of eggnog. And of course stories of the Nativity and legends of the Magi. With beautifully illustrated accounts ranging from the pagan roots of Yuletide, through the birth of Christ, and the long and fascinating history of the festival ever since, The World Encyclopedia of Christmas, is a rich and continually surprising array of religious and secular history, trivia, literature, and art. This wonderful book deserves to find a home with every family that celebrates Christmas.

Author: Tanya Gulevich
Publisher: Paw Prints
ISBN: 9781439531761
Category : Christmas
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Christmas is a holiday with a tremendously rich tradition. But you'd have to be a Santa Claus brainiac to be familiar with all the history, myths, legends, customs and religious observances of the season. It's nice to see someone has gotten around to compiling a handy guide to Christmastime arcana. The book dutifully and reverently addresses all the religious and ethnic variations attached to the year-end holiday. One thing is for certain: After reading this hefty Christmas dissertation, you'll be one smart elf. - Arizona Republic. Ho Ho Ho. Officially, the phenomenon of Christmas now begins shortly after Labor Day. Apart from shop till you drop and credit cards on the max, Christmas is a holiday with a long history of twists and turns. The Encyclopedia of Christmas provides readers of all ages with a convenient, easy-to-use source of information on virtually every aspect of this sprawling celebration. From Advent to Zagmug, an ancient Sumerian festival of annual renewal, and with entries on related days and celebrations (such as the Annunciation, Candlemas, and Ephiphany), the Encyclopedia has Christmas covered.

Author: William D. Crump
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 1476607486
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 319

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Book Description
Among the world’s myriad cultures and their associated calendars, the idea of a “New Year” is relative and hardly specifies a universal celebration or even a universal point in time. Ways of celebrating the New Year range from the observances of religious rituals and superstitions to social gatherings featuring particular foods, music, dancing, noisemaking, fireworks and drinking. This first encyclopedia devoted exclusively to the New Year includes 320 entries that give a global perspective on the New Year, beyond its traditional Western associations with Christmas. National or regional entries detail the principal traditions and customs of 130 countries, while 27 entries discuss major calendar systems in current use or of significant historical interest. The remaining entries cover a wide variety of subjects including literary works, movies, and television specials; the customs of specific ethnic groups; universal customs such as toasting and drinking; football bowl games and parades; and the New Year celebrations at the White House and the Vatican.

Author: George Thomas Kurian
Publisher: Scarecrow Press
ISBN: 9780810872837
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 732

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Book Description
Covering 2,000 years, this two-volume set is the first encyclopedia devoted to Christian writers and books. In addition to an overview of the Christian literature, this encyclopedia includes more than 40 essays on the principal genres of Christian literature and more than 400 bio-bibliographical essays describing the principal writers and their works.

Author: William D. Crump
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN:
Category : Reference
Languages : en
Pages : 506

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Book Description
Did you know that Iraqi Christians celebrate Christmas Eve with a bonfire of thorns? That farmers in the Netherlands practice Midwinter Horn Blowing throughout the Advent season? That people in Caracas, Venezuela, roller-skate to midnight mass on Christmas Eve? Find these fascinating facts and hundreds more in this new edition of William Crump's acclaimed Christmas Encyclopedia. From Charles Dickens to Robert Frost, from Mele Kalikimaka to Messiah, and from Charlie Brown to the Waltons, all our favorite Christmas traditions--modern and vintage--are covered here. Crump's second edition of this comprehensive reference work adds 120 new entries, bringing the total number of Christmas-related topics to more than 480. Subjects include individual carols and songs, Christmas episodes of television series, literary figures, and popular Christmas symbols, as well as the origins of some of our most celebrated Christmas traditions. Unique to this work is its emphasis on Christmas as depicted in the popular media, with entries covering literary works, motion pictures and television specials expressing holiday themes.

Author: William D. Crump
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 1476687900
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 632

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Book Description
From the manger of Jesus Christ to the 21st century, this encyclopedia explores more than 2,000 years of Christmas past and present through 966 entries packed with a wide variety of historical and pop-culture subjects. Entries detail customs and traditions from around the world as well as classic Christmas movies, TV series/specials and animated cartoons. Arranged alphabetically by entry name, the book includes the historical background of popular sacred and secular songs as well as accounts of beloved literary works with Christmas themes from such noted authors as Charles Dickens, Louisa May Alcott, Hans Christian Andersen, Pearl Buck, Henry Van Dyke and others. All things Christmas are available here in one comprehensive volume.

Author: Tanya Gulevich
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Reference
Languages : en
Pages : 760

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Book Description
A guide to this season's joyous celebration and solemn worship, including folk customs, religious observances, history, legends, folklore, symbols, and related days from europe, the americas, and around the world.

Author: Nathaniel Parry
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 1476647089
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 261

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Book Description
In some respects, the contrasts of Christmas are what make it the most delightful time of the year. It is a time of generosity, kindness and peace on earth, with broad permission to indulge in food, drink and gifts. On the other hand, Christmas has become a battleground for raging culture wars, marred by debates about how it should be celebrated and acknowledged as a uniquely Christian holiday. This text argues that much of the animosity is based on a fundamental misunderstanding of the holiday's core character. By tracing Christmas's origins as a pagan celebration of the winter solstice and its development in Europe's Christianization, this history explains that the true "reason for the season" has as much to do with the earth's movement around the sun as with the birth of Christ. Chapters chronicle how Christmas's magic and misrule link to the nativity, and why the carnival side of the holiday appears so separated from traditional Christian beliefs.

Author: Carl N. Toney
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 1725295261
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 190

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Book Description
Did you know that the Christmas story almost wasn’t told? But Matthew and Luke saved Christmas. Have you wondered if Christmas is really a pagan holiday? Did marketers invent Santa Claus? And what does a Christmas tree have to do with anti-slavery? We’ll learn which traditions come from the Bible and where other traditions derive. Have you ever considered who Jesus was named after? Or why Jesus’s genealogy is traced to Joseph if he’s not Jesus’s biological father? We’ll answer questions like these surrounding Jesus’s legacy. Maybe you’ve asked what was the Bethlehem star? Or have you heard that there wasn’t an inn or innkeeper? With these kinds of inquiries, we’ll look at the circumstances surrounding Jesus’s birth. Do we know if the magi were kings, astrologers, or magicians? Or could you name the oldest person that met baby Jesus? By interacting with these people who met Jesus on that first Christmas, we’ll join the cast of characters around the manger. As we explore the stories and traditions of Christmas together, we’ll ruin some past misconceptions, but in the process, I promise that we’ll rediscover Jesus.