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.

Slavic Traditions: The Garlands of Midsummer’s Eve

In Poland, Midsummer’s Eve garlands would be set on water, their path on the surface foretelling the owner’s future, and protecting from spells and curses.

Food & New Beginnings: How We Celebrate by Eating Circles

We humans, love to eat and we love to celebrate with food, from weddings to birthdays to a Sunday family lunch. Whilst our customs might be different, all around the world we celebrate new beginnings, whether that is a new year, a new marriage or a new baby. And while the food we serve to celebrate new beginnings may be slightly different in our own corner of the globe, there seems to be a universal theme in the type of food we eat. We celebrate the new with circular-shaped food.

Michaelmas: The Day the Devil Spits on the Blackberries?

On Michaelmas Day the Devil takes possession of the blackberries and to eat one after that day would risk… well, something on the spectrum between a bad taste and instant death.

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