Open the Door and Let Us In: Mummers at Midwinter
The appearance of a Turkish knight, Beelzebub, and a horse’s skull mark out a centuries old winter tradition in rural communities across Britain.
Bring Back Epiphany!
Christmas is over, New Year has been well and truly celebrated, and most of us are back at work by January 4th at the latest. All we have to look forward to is the rest of January, a month which is cold, dark and devoid of any reason for fun and games. But what about Epiphany? The rest of world enjoys hearty festivities on this day so why are we Brits so ignorant of its importance? Let’s break out the Prosecco again and take a look. And maybe start a petition to Bring Back Epiphany!
Midwinter Celebrations: Yule, Saturnalia, and Christmas Folklore
Christmas traditions have evolved through the centuries, many of them have ancient origins linked to the midwinter festivals of Yule and Saturnalia
Aurora Borealis: the Folklore of the Northern Lights
The Auroras, as we know today, are dependent on the interactions of the sun and our upper atmosphere, and have thus appeared since before history began to be recorded. And it appears that each age of history has had their own ideas about what caused the Auroras, what they consisted of, and what they signified.
A Californian Krampus
Relentlessly sunny and known for a love of trend over tradition, Los Angeles is an unlikely home to a new incarnation of the old Alpine devil. It helps, perhaps, that make-believe is serious business in my town, and that it’s filled with creative people prone to see in an old tradition of folk Catholicism a revolutionary way to shake up the holidays.