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The Summerville News, Thurs., Dec. 21, 1972
Old Traditions Still Honor 12th Night
Twelfth Night Is the pop
ular English name for tne
Feast of the Epiphany,
which falls on January fl,
just 12 days after Christ
mas. The word “Epiphany”
comes from a Greek word
meaning "appearance,” us
ually used in reference to
the appearance of a deity
in visible form.
The earliest reference to
the festival, according to
the editors of the Encyclo
pedia Americana, was in the
later years of the 2nd Cen
tury. when Clement of Alex
andria, in Egypt, spoke of
certain Christians observ
ing the 6th of January in
memory of the baptism of
Jesus The actual date
seems to have been chosen
in order to rival some of the
popular pagan festivals of
that day
By the beginning of the
4th century, orthodox
Christians in the East were
observing the festival as a
triple celebration. It became
an all-inclusive feast, hon
oring the birth and baptism
of Christ, and His first mir
acle at Cana of Galilee.
Arrival of the Magi
In the West, however, the
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particular commemoration
assigned to Epiphany was
the visit of the Magi. Dur
ing the Middle Ages, the
Epiphany festival was wide
ly observed by the perform
ance of miracle plays in the
churches about the Three
Kings or Magi Particularly
in England, the day was
marked by dramatic pro
ductions. though not neces
sarily religious ones, and
this custom survived into
the Elizabethan period
Shakespeare took the popu
lar name of Twelfth Night
for his play of that title,
which was written to be
performed on that date.
Since Epiphany concludes
the Yuletide festivities, and
its date coincides with
many ancient pagan cus
toms. it was often celebrat
ed with strange ceremonies
in which those customs mln-
They Still Speak
Aramaic, The
Language of Jesus
In the village of Ma’lula
in Syria, where the houses
of heavy native stone are
tinted blue, one would hard
ly notice the passage of time
since the birth of Christ,
over 2000 years ago The
people have changed little,
in dress and habits, and
more importantly In their
speech For it is here in
Ma’lula, as well as in two
other villages in Syria, Jeb
adeen and Bakhaa, that
one can hear the Aramaic
language Christ used dur
ing His life on earth
Aramaic was spoken
throughout ancient Pales
tine, and the lands that are
now Jordan, Lebanon, Syria,
southern Turkey, and north
ern Iraq But after the Arab
conquest of these lands in
the seventh century, Ara
maic was gradually replaced
by Arabic In Syria, only
those three villages, all in
the Qalamon valley not far
from Damascus, have pre
served the ancient language
of Christ to the present day
The population numbers
only a few thousand, two
fifths of them Greek Or
thodox, another two-fifths
Greek, and the rest Moslem
Philologists of the Uni
versity of Beirut tell us that
while the Aramaic dialect
of these three villages has
been intermixed with Ara
bic, the villagers would have
understood, and been un
derstood by, Christ and the
people of His time
Naturally, the people of
Ma’lula are very proud of
their Aramaic language and
take pains to keep it alive
and flourishing Many fam
ilies speak only Aramaic to
their children until the
youngsters are five years
old and must go to school,
where they learn Arabic,
the national language
Oiitside Syria, Aramaic is
spoken at Urmia, in Turkey
by the Chaldean Catho
lics of Bartelle in northern
Iraq and by the villagers
of Malabar in southwestern
India And Aramaic is still
used in the liturgy of cer
tain churches which began
in the Middle East, such as
the Marionltes and Syrian
Orthodox groups.
That popular holiday
party drink known as egg
nog is a modern version of
an old English drink called
syllabub, which was a spiced
mixture of wine and milk.
gled with Christian rites
Some of these old ceremo
nies still exist in parts of
Europe, where fixed rituals
may have origins, often
with an overlay of magic,
that are lost in the past.
Up-Helly-Aa Is Norse
Still celebrated in the
Shetland Islands is an old
Viking ceremony known as
“Up-Helly-Aa.” The name
means "end of the holiday,”
indicating that the event
comes some time after
Christmas, actually at the
end of January.
The ceremony Itself Is
very dramatic, since it takes
place at night, by torch
light. Men in the old wild
Viking costumes, complete
with nigh horned helmets,
tow a huge 30-foot Norse
longboat through the town.
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5 Way your holiday be bright with happiness...warm with love and friendship...
3 and festive with the traditional joys of the season. To our many friends...a special "Thank you”
j* for the privilege of serving you. We pledge our best efforts to serve you better.
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In a torchlight procession...
then the boat is set ablaze
on the beach.
Haxey Hood Game
Haxey is a place in Lin
colnshire, where they still
play this famous old hood
game, on January 6. Its ori
gins hark back to pagan
times, and the “hood” it
self is thought to represent
the head of a bull.
In the game. 13 men take
part, one called the “fool,”
another the “lord,” and the
eleven others, "boggins.” A
two-team scrimmage takes
place, the object being for
each man to succeed in
placing a folded canvas
nood Into a particular goal,
one after tne other. The
very last hood, the 13th,
called “The Haxey,” has to
be fought towards the final
goal — an inn where there
are drinks for all.
Wassailing the Trees
This unusual torchlight
ceremony still is observed
in certain parts of England
on January 17, which is the
date of “old 12th Night.” It’s
another survival from very
ancient times, when prayers
were made to the god of
trees and fruit.
A glass of cider is thrown
on the trunk of an old apple
tree, while toast soaked in
cider is fastened to the tree
branches. Then guns are
fired through the branches,
while the old invocation, or
prayer to the tree, is sung
Once the evil spirits have
been frightened away by
the guns, says the old tra
dition, one can settle down
to the business of drinking
cider —a real “wassail.”
Christmas Dinners in
The Good Old Days
How many people today
could manage such a menu
as this one? Here it is, right
out of the diary of a Dixie
plantation owner:
"We had for dinner oyster
soup, besides boiled mutton,
ham, boned turkey, wild
ducks, partridges, plum
pudding, sauterne, burgun
dy, sherry, and Madeira.”
And what gourmet cook
would care to cope with this
one? It was served to
hearty-eating miners in the
Rockies in 1858. After oys
ters and pork, which were
conventional “openers,” the
menu went on to elk. ante
lope. buffalo “smothered"
and grizzly bear a la mode.
In addition, there was Black
Mountain squirrel, prairie
dog, and mountain rats —
followed with swans, cranes,
and quail — the whole lot
accompanied by wines.
Take a chance on human
nature; usually it pays off.
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our year. Thanks.
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ALVIN SENTELL'S GARAGE I
2 Miles South of Summerville on Bolling Rd. |
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