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Culture, A History Of Thanks
by James Brown
Sitting back in your recliner, watching a football game while you digest an amazing meal of turkey, veggies, bread and pie you realize Thanksgiving is one of the best holidays in the world. You think to yourself as you settle into a nap, "Whoever thought of this must have been a genius." But who did think of it? While we consider Thanksgiving to be a uniquely American holiday, the truth is harvest festivals similar to this phenomenon happened all over the ancient world.
Greeks and Grain Ancient Greeks believed everything to do with the land came from the blessings of the gods and goddesses they worshipped. Demeter, a fertility goddess was honored every year at harvest time with a festival called Thesmophoria. This three day thanksgiving festival encourages married women to build huts on the first day and fill them full of grain and fruit to show their thankfulness for the abundance they have been given. The second day is set aside for fasting and remembering what life would be like without the gifts of food, and the final day is a village wide feast asking Demeter to bless them more with harvest and fertility.
Hebrew Booths A practice in ancient Hebrew culture still celebrated today, Sukkot - known as the Festival of Tabernacles or Festival of Booths - is an eight day fall festival for giving thanks and tithes of the harvest. The Sukkot is a booth or hut similar to the huts Moses and the children of Israel used when traveling across the desert to the Promised Land. Each harvest these booths are rebuilt as temporary shelters and filled with fruits, vegetables and pomegranates (which are considered a holy fruit by the people of Israel). Families eat under the stars at the booths to honor the journey their ancestors took and bring hope and memory to the journey their lives are taking today.
Roman Cereal Ancient Rome was a cacophony of festivals, rites and rituals stemming from the many gods worshipped in pagan Roman culture. Every October Rome would have the festival of Cerelia. This holiday honored the goddess Ceres, the goddess of corn. Interestingly the name for this goddess is where we get the English word, cereal. The festival was made of parades and lively music where people would bring offerings of grain and fruit to the temple of Ceres and leave them there as a sign of their thankfulness for the good harvest that had been and for the planting season to come. The idea was the more joyously you gave your offering to the temple, the more happy you were with the blessings you had received. In return, the expectation was that Ceres would be so grateful for the good things you had offered she would bless you with an even better harvest the next year.
While "turkey day" may always be an American way of life, the idea of sharing food and giving thanks is something the inhabitants of our world have been doing for a long, long time.
About The Author: James Brown writes about http://www.latestcouponcodes.com
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The information provided in this article is the express opinion of the author. Exchangenet is not responsible for the content!
Sitting back in your recliner, watching a football game while you digest an amazing meal of turkey, veggies, bread and pie you realize Thanksgiving is one of the best holidays in the world. You think to yourself as you settle into a nap, "Whoever thought of this must have been a genius." But who did think of it? While we consider Thanksgiving to be a uniquely American holiday, the truth is harvest festivals similar to this phenomenon happened all over the ancient world.
Greeks and Grain Ancient Greeks believed everything to do with the land came from the blessings of the gods and goddesses they worshipped. Demeter, a fertility goddess was honored every year at harvest time with a festival called Thesmophoria. This three day thanksgiving festival encourages married women to build huts on the first day and fill them full of grain and fruit to show their thankfulness for the abundance they have been given. The second day is set aside for fasting and remembering what life would be like without the gifts of food, and the final day is a village wide feast asking Demeter to bless them more with harvest and fertility.
Hebrew Booths A practice in ancient Hebrew culture still celebrated today, Sukkot - known as the Festival of Tabernacles or Festival of Booths - is an eight day fall festival for giving thanks and tithes of the harvest. The Sukkot is a booth or hut similar to the huts Moses and the children of Israel used when traveling across the desert to the Promised Land. Each harvest these booths are rebuilt as temporary shelters and filled with fruits, vegetables and pomegranates (which are considered a holy fruit by the people of Israel). Families eat under the stars at the booths to honor the journey their ancestors took and bring hope and memory to the journey their lives are taking today.
Roman Cereal Ancient Rome was a cacophony of festivals, rites and rituals stemming from the many gods worshipped in pagan Roman culture. Every October Rome would have the festival of Cerelia. This holiday honored the goddess Ceres, the goddess of corn. Interestingly the name for this goddess is where we get the English word, cereal. The festival was made of parades and lively music where people would bring offerings of grain and fruit to the temple of Ceres and leave them there as a sign of their thankfulness for the good harvest that had been and for the planting season to come. The idea was the more joyously you gave your offering to the temple, the more happy you were with the blessings you had received. In return, the expectation was that Ceres would be so grateful for the good things you had offered she would bless you with an even better harvest the next year.
While "turkey day" may always be an American way of life, the idea of sharing food and giving thanks is something the inhabitants of our world have been doing for a long, long time.
About The Author: James Brown writes about http://www.latestcouponcodes.com
These articles on lifestyle and more
Reprint this article free of charge as long as you keep the author's resource box or bio intact and the links active. A copy of the ezine or URL of the page where the article was reprinted emailed to the author would be very much appreciated. culture
Return to the selection of culture
You may want to try these articles on culture
Culture, Adding Luxury To Your Child's Room by Jena Luthovski Approximately 464 Words
Culture, Why Do People Get Addicted To Smoking? by J.R. Ferrara Approximately 456 Words
Culture, Spring Birthstones: Precious Gems by Linda Polansky Approximately 452 Words
Culture, Learning More About Astrology Birth Charts by Benny Carlson Approximately 449 Words
Culture, Mail Order Clothing by I Henman Approximately 421 Words
Culture, Women And There Perfume by Taisha Grant Approximately 458 Words
Culture, How To Discover Talents And Careers With Palmistry by Per Hogseth Approximately 1905 Words
Culture, The Cost Of Health Insurance For America’s Society by Elizabeth Newberry Approximately 349 Words
You may want to try these websites for additional information
http://dir.yahoo.com/Society_and_Culture/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hip_hop_culture
http://www.washingtontimes.com/section/CULTURE
The information provided in this article is the express opinion of the author. Exchangenet is not responsible for the content!
