Posted
on November 25, 2013
St.
Catherine lived and died a long, long time ago – from around 282
C.E. to 305 C.E. A princess from Alexandria, Egypt, Catherine is said
to have been a scholar who converted to Christianity at age 14, and
who was beheaded by the Roman Emperor Maximinus II when she was in
her early twenties.
The
holiday began in the Catholic church but soon became a pretty
secular celebration (like St. Valentine's and Patrick's Days). These days, it
is especially popular in French Canada and Estonia.
From
a revolving wheel of firecrackers (called a “Catherine's Wheel) and
the baking of “Cattern cakes” in England to the celebration of
“Catherinettes” (unmarried women) with greeting cards and
outrageous hats (and sometimes parades wearing those hats) in France – St. Catherine's Day is celebrated in many ways in Europe.
In
French Canada, girls make St. Catherine's taffy for boys that they
like. The holiday is sometimes called “Taffy Day” (but, you know,
in French). The reason for the association of candy with this feast
day is kind of random – a woman named Marguerite Bourgeois started
a public school in a tiny town that would eventually grow into
Montreal; she wanted to lure First Nations children to the school, so
November 25, 1658, she laid a trail of wrapped taffy on the ground
from the nearby First Nations settlement to the door of the school!
That seems pretty creepy to me!
In
Estonia, the holiday is a sort of feminized version of St. Martin's Day. On the evening of St. Catherine's Day, people
dress up as kadri “beggars” in clean white or
light-colored clothing, and they go from door to door, singing songs,
giving “blessings,” and collecting “gifts.” Because women
traditionally kept the herds of sheep while men farmed, the songs and
blessings deal with wishes for flourishing sheep herds, and the
gifts are food, cloth, or wool. (On St. Martin's Eve, people dress
up in dirty men's clothes and go door to door wishing other families
harvest luck and collecting gifts of sweets .)
By
the way, the reason for the clean and white clothing for kadri
beggars is because St. Catherine's Day is associated with the start
of winter and the coming of snow.
How
about a mash-up of celebrations? Buy a big bag of taffy, and make
an amazing and flamboyant hat. Tonight, dress up in your best white
clothing and the hat, and go door to door to wish your neighbors well
and spread the taffy cheer. You can represent the Catherine's Wheels
by spinning glow necklaces on your arms as you walk from door to
door! When you get home, enjoy taffy apple cake!
Also
on this date:
Independence
Day in Suriname
Plan
Ahead:
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out my Pinterest boards for:
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