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.

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree

Trees have been a centre point of many world mythologies and religions throughout the ages. As a symbol of growth, death and rebirth, they are powerful reminders of the recurring cycles of life, with evergreen trees specifically representing fertility and immortality. The rituals and beliefs surrounding trees in general, and Christmas trees in particular, are rooted in something far more ancient than the birth of Christ two millennia ago.

London Folklore: The Legendary Frost Fairs of the River Thames

he legendary frost fairs on the River Thames are depicted in a number of works of art that show just how cold, icy and severe the weather became during winter, in comparison to the weather experienced in London in modern times.

New Year Celebrations: Herrings in Bonnets at Hogmanay?

In a strange old custom, the Dundee dressed herring is dressed in a crepe paper skirt and bonnet combination in bright colours, tied to ribbons, and carried through the streets and into homes on Hogmanay night.

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