Monday, March 16, 2009

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!


St. Patrick's Day is celebrated on March 17, his religious feast day and the anniversary of his death in the fifth century. The Irish have observed this day as a religious holiday for over a thousand years.
On St. Patrick's Day, which falls during the Christian season of Lent, Irish families would traditionally attend church in the morning and celebrate in the afternoon. Lenten prohibitions against the consumption of meat were waived and people would dance, drink, and feast—on the traditional meal of Irish bacon and cabbage.


Wearing of the Green Goes Global
Today, St. Patrick's Day is celebrated by people of all backgrounds in the United States, Canada, and Australia. Although North America is home to the largest productions, St. Patrick's Day has been celebrated in other locations far from Ireland, including Japan, Singapore, and Russia.
Even in South Africa we had a St. Patrick's festival during the weekend and all 4 of us were wearing green ;-) Here the girls with a live green leprechaun.


The Chicago River
Chicago is also famous for a somewhat peculiar annual event: dyeing the Chicago River green. The tradition started in 1962, when city pollution-control workers used dyes to trace illegal sewage discharges and realized that the green dye might provide a unique way to celebrate the holiday. That year, they released 100 pounds of green vegetable dye into the river—enough to keep it green for a week!
Today, in order to minimize environmental damage, only forty pounds of dye are used, making the river green for only several hours. Although Chicago historians claim their city 's idea for a river of green was original, some Savannah natives believe the idea originated in their town.

Symbols and Traditions


The shamrock, which was also called the "seamroy" by the Celts, was a sacred plant in ancient Ireland because it symbolized the rebirth of spring.


Corned Beef
Each year, thousands of Irish Americans gather with their loved ones on St. Patrick's Day to share a "traditional" meal of corned beef and cabbage.


The Leprechaun
The original Irish name for these figures of folklore is "lobaircin," meaning "small-bodied fellow."
Belief in leprechauns probably stems from Celtic belief in fairies, tiny men and women who could use their magical powers to serve good or evil. In Celtic folktales, leprechauns were cranky souls, responsible for mending the shoes of the other fairies. Though only minor figures in Celtic folklore, leprechauns were known for their trickery, which they often used to protect their much-fabled treasure.


I wish you all a wonderful green day!!
Mireille

6 comments:

Mandy said...

Excellent post Mireille! Say, do you fancy meeting up for a cup of coffee when I am over? We'll be right up, um, what is that road called? Witkoppen? I think that is it. Um, we'll be right by Clearwater Mall!

Mireille said...

Of course I would LOVE it!! When are you here??

Mandy said...

I arrive on 28 March and leave on 8 April.

I can do the mornings of 30 March, 1 April or 3 April. I will probably have my Mum with me!

Free Spirit said...

I love how you describe the holiday. Love the pics. The green man is awesome. The girls look great and are so beautiful. I hope that we can get the kids together when I come back to visit. It may be a few years. Why did you move to S.A ?

Chat soon.

Mireille said...

email me privately Emm!
I just wrote the postcards for the kids Free Spirit, and will post them today. We moved to SA for Dirks work, we do that about every 4-5 years. He works for Hilti a Swiss company but is all over the world.

TJ said...

YOU NAILED IT!

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