feastdays

Twelfth Night
January 5th
Medieval Christmas celebrations ran for 12 days starting with the celebration of Christmas day itself and culminating in the Twelfth Night. Fires were lit and most activities seemed to focus on groups of 12- candles, fires, rows of wheat sown, apples etc. Some believe that the 12 days symbolised the 12 apostles of Christ. Celebrants wore masks over their faces and as with Christmas, a tree is wassailed . Oranges and Lemons was a popular game, the rhyme to which is still known today. The Twelfth cake (occasionally actually two cakes) is placed on the high table where it is cut for the guests. The person who receives the "bean" which was hidden within it, becomes King or Queen of the Bean and the head of the celebration. Foods and drinks to celebrate are apples and apple cider spiced with nutmeg and ginger.

Candlemas or the Feast of the Purification of Mary
February 2nd
Candlemas is named after a tradition of holding candlelit processions on this day and celebrated the purification of Mary and Christ's presentation at the temple. At that time, a child was lifted to the heavens and called "a light to lighten the gentiles". Candles have been used since that time to replicate the event. The priest also blessed candles believed to be beneficial in times of illness to be taken away to others. The candles could be decorated and kept throughout the year to be burned as protection against storms and sickness. This is approximately the halfway mark between the Winter Solstice and the Vernal Equinox. Medieval Englishmen and women saw Candlemas as the approach of spring. We now look to the groundhog on the same date to tell us whether we shall have six more weeks of winter. In some places a tradition similar to groundhog day is performed, but In this case a bear comes out of its cave. If he turns around and goes back to his cave, winter would continue.

Feast of St Valentine
February 14th
One of the most enduring celebrations along with Christmas and Easter, the Feast of St Valentine celebrated lovers and love. It was believed to be the date that birds found their mates for the following season and therefore it seemed natural that it was a day for lovers to likewise. Three known Saints from the 2nd and 3rd centuries bear the name Valentine and various accounts of their lives have them born or died on this day. It is unclear to which of them the festival is credited. Celebrations feature heavily on the love theme with games, foods and decorations all in theme. Celebrants would wear a red heart on their sleeve of clothing as a badge and a sign of their devotion to love. The "Crowned A" is the most recognised symbol of love and was used extensively. Love lanterns were made from large vegetables with faces cut into them similar to jack-o-lanterns. Candles made for the celebrations could have spices or fragrant herbs in the wax to release the scent as they burned. Customary herbs associated with Valentine's are rosemary, basil, bay leaves, marjoram and yarrow. Particular foods enjoyed were peacock, partridge, quail, eggs of all kinds (thought to heighten emotion), apples, pears and pomegranate.

Ostara, Spring or The Vernal Equinox or Lady Day or Alban Eiler (Druidic)
March 21st
Ostara is sacred to Eostre the Saxon Lunar Goddess of fertility (from where the word estrogen is derived), whose two symbols were the egg and the rabbit. The Christian religion adopted these emblems for Easter which is celebrated on the first Sunday after the first full moon following the vernal equinox. The theme of the conception of the goddess was adapted as the Feast of the Annunciation, occurring on the alternative fixed calendar date of March 25 Old Lady Day, the earlier date of the equinox. Lady Day may also refer to other goddesses such as Venus and Aphrodite, many of whom have festivals celebrated around this time. Traditional foods of the season include leafy green vegetables, dairy foods, nuts such as pumpkin, sunflower and pine, flower dishes, sprouts. Herbs and flowers of the season include daffodil, jonquils, woodruff, violet, gorse, olive, peony, iris, narcissus and all other spring flowers.

Carnival or Mardi Gras or Fat Tuesday or Shrove Tuesday
Last before Lent
Carnaval is celebrated on the the last day of the year before Lent and it was a feast like no other in the calendar. The name derives from carnelevare, the Latin word meaning giving up meat. It was called Fat Tuesday because all meat and animal products- cheese, milk, bacon and fat, had to be eaten before sundown, since none could be consumed during the forty-day Lenten fast. This holiday was marked by wild revelling. Masks were worn to protect everyone's identity. The processions and parades often featured male exhibitionism, transvestitism, and simulated copulation. These features of Carnival survive today in such traditions as the Mardi Gras in Latin America.

Easter Week
approximately March 22nd onwards
Easter is the time where Christians traditionally mourn the death of Christ and his subsequent coming back to life several days later. Easter week begins with Palm Sunday, when the faithful would bring "palm leaves" (usually yew, willow or box) or rushes into the church to recall Christ's procession into Jerusalem. Great acts of charity were often done on Maundy Thursday, and a special Mass was held where all the candles were symbolically extinguished one by one during the liturgy to symbolize the coming darkness of the Crucifixion. The week culminated in Easter, the greatest feast day of the medieval calendar falling between March 22 and April 25. Easter was the most important holy day of the year and could fall anywhere from March 22 (the spring equinox) to April 25. The English name for Easter comes from the Old Norse Eostur, meaning the time when the sun began to grow warmer. A festival at the time of the spring equinox was common to most of Europe to celebrate the new life returning to the earth. Though it was not uncommon for tenant farmers to still be required to put in their work on the lord's farm on most feast days, Easter was a notable exception. The feast was taken very seriously, and all work stopped- even kings and judicial courts. This was to ensure that everyone would be in church - the one time of year when this was essential.

Beltane also Roodmas or May Day
April 30th
Although Beltane is now usually celebrated from sundown April 30th to sundown on the first of May, it should be noted that in earlier times, before the calendar changes of 1752, all dates year-round would have come some days later. Beltane means fire of Bel; Belinos being one name for the Sun God, whose coronation feast was celebrated at this time. In the old Celtic times, young people would spend the entire night in the woods "A-Maying" and then dance around the Maypole the next morning. Older married couples were allowed to remove their wedding rings and the restrictions they imply, for this one night. An alternative date is around May 5 (Old Beltane), when the sun reaches 15 degrees. Many people would rise at the first light of dawn to go outdoors and gather flowers and branches to decorate their homes. Women traditionally would braid flowers into their hair. Men and women alike would decorate their bodies. Breads and cereals were popular, oatmeal cakes or cookies sweetened with a dab of honey.

May Day or the Festival of St Philip and St Jacob the Apostles
May 1st
The celebrations reflect a theme of fertility appropriate to what was considered to be the first day of summer. As well as the maypoles, gathering of flowers and forays into the woods, even by town-dwellers, there were numerous traditions which varied with the district. The gathering of hawthorn or 'may' blossoms seems to have been very widespead. Popular Mayday games include storytelling (Robin Hood, a popular theme), jesting, juggling, Morris-dancing, horseplay, mock-tourney with hobbyhorses, and quintain. The custom of placing a cabbage on the doorstep of girls who had behaved imprudently through the year was a more novel method of social control. Regardless of the care they may have undertaken with their flirtations and indiscretion, they were surely to be found out on Mayday.

Midsummer or Feast of St John the Baptist
June 14 or
Summer Solstice
June 21
Midsummer was the culmination of this festive season. Popular activities were huge bonfires, staying up the whole night on Midsummer's Eve, parades and military displays and processions. On this longest day of the year, light was abundant. The Christian religion converted this day of Jack-in-the-Green to the Feast of St. John the Baptist, often portraying him in rustic clothing, sometimes with cloven feet and horns. The alternative fixed calendar date of June 25 (Old Litha) The name Beltane is sometimes incorrectly assigned to this holiday. Traditional foods served at this time include garden fresh fruits and vegetables. Decorative herbs and flowers associated with Midsummer include mugwort, wild thyme, vervain, lavender, ivy, yarrow, fern, chamomile, rose, honeysuckle, lily, oak, elder, daisy and carnation.

Lughnasadh or Lammas
July 31st or August 5th
Lughnasadh means the funeral games of Lugh (pronounced Loo), referring to the Irish sun god. However, the funeral is not his own, but the funeral games he hosts in honor of his foster-mother Tailte. For that reason, the traditional Tailtean craft fairs and Tailtean marriages (which last for a year and a day) are celebrated at this time. This day originally coincided with the first reaping of the harvest. It was known as the time when the plants of spring wither and drop their fruits or seeds for our use as well as to ensure future crops. The Christian religion adopted this theme and called it 'Lammas', meaning 'loaf-mass ', a time when newly baked loaves of bread are placed on the altar. An alternative date around August 5 (Old Lammas), is when the sun reaches 15 degrees. Foods traditionally served at this time include apples, grapes, crab-apples, pears, grains, breads and berries. Herbs and flowers favoured for the celebration include all grains, heather, blackberries and sloe.

Mabon or Second Harvest Festival or Wine Harvest or Feast of Avalon or Equinozio di Autunno (Strega) or Alben Elfed (Caledonii) or Cornucopia or Winter Finding
September 21st
Mabon (pronounced MAY-bun, MAY-bone, MAH-boon, or MAH-bawn) is the Autumn Equinox. The Autumn Equinox divides the day and night equally. The Druids call this celebration, Mea'n Fo'mhair, and honor the The Green Man, the God of the Forest, by offering libations to trees. Offerings of ciders, wines, herbs and fertilizer are appropriate at this time. The Teutonic name, Winter Finding, spans a period of time from the Sabbat to Oct. 15th, Winter's Night, which is the Norse New Year. Symbols of Mabon include wine, gourds, pine cones, acorns, grains, corn, apples, pomegranates, ivy vines, dried seeds, tobacco, and horns of plenty. Herbs and foods associated with Mabon include acorns, benzoin, ferns, grains, honeysuckle, marigold, milkweed, myrrh, passionflower, rose, sage, solomon's seal, thistle, vegetables, breads, nuts, apples, pomegranates, potatoes, carrots, and onions.

Michealmas or the Festival of St Michael the Archangel
September 29th
This feast marked the sowing of wheat, the brewing of ales for winter, and the preparations for the winter season. The feast of St. Michael and All Angels or Michaelmas fell about the time of the autumnal equinox. The equinox marked the period when the nights would be getting longer and the earth would begin to die. St. Michael came to be seen as the protector against the forces of the dark and so became very popular in the Middle Ages. Many monasteries and churches were dedicated to him, usually on high places near the sea. His feast was celebrated with a traditional well-fattened goose which had fed well on the stubble of the fields after the harvest. In many places, a there was also a tradition of special large loaves of bread made only for that day. This day was one of the quarter days when accounts would be usually settled.

All Hallows' Eve or All Saints Day
October 31st
Hallowe'en or All Hallows Eve is the evening before All Hallows' or All Saints' Day and was considered to be a time when the ghosts of the dead walked amongst the living. The Celtic peoples celebrated the festival of Samhain at the beginning of the dark half of the year, about November 1. The Church retained the celebration, but gave it a Christian significance by changing the focus to honour all the saints, both known and unknown. This became known as All Saints' (or All Hallows') Day. The day following became All Souls Day, a day to pray for the souls all the dead. These people saw winter as a time of dying away of the sun and the earth and crops, a time of food shortages and danger. Bonfires were lit and fortune-telling were popular activities. Mask-wearing was also part of the celebrations. People were very superstitious, believing in the power of demons and ghosts. The Church was concerned that dressing up as these figures would give the demons and ghosts extra power. It was believed that by making them the figures of fun and ridicule, demons and ghosts began to lose their strength over the lives of the people. Scarecrows were sometimes made in ragged clothing and carved turnip heads with frightening faces. In more modern times Americans have substituted pumpkins for the traditional turnip heads.

All Saint's Day
November 1st- see also October 31st

Martinmas or Martlemas
or the Feast of St Martin of Tours
November 11th
Martin of Tours died in 397AD and was a soldier, monk, bishop and patron saint of France. It was immediately followed by the beginning of Advent, 40 days of reflection and penance in preparation for the great feast of Christmas. The festivities were similar to those of Carnival, just before Lent, though on a smaller scale. There was much feasting, drinking and playing of games, as well as story telling and sometimes, plays. Cock fights, pig baiting and sport events such as racing, leaping or wrestling were other favourite activities. Food was plentiful right after the harvest. Meat, from the autumn slaughter of those animals that it was not possible to house and feed over winter, could be salted or smoked to preserve it, but sausages and other foods made from offal would not last long. They had to be consumed fairly quickly before they spoiled. Since Advent required some fasting, the feast of St. Martin provided a perfect time to put the abundant meat products to good use. November 11 also was the day that marked the end of old contracts. Hired help moved on to new positions and there were farewell and welcoming banquets for them.

St Nicholas' Day
December 6
This was a time for role reversal in the schools, where one of the boys would be elected as Bishop for the day, presiding over a court of unruly conduct. The festive portion of the season began on Christmas Eve and lasted through to Twelfth Night, the evening before Epiphany January 6, the feast celebrating the arrival of the Magi bearing gifts for the infant Christ. This was still remembered as the first day of the Roman year. Homes were decorated with evergreens, bay, holly, ivy, and mistletoe, and foods served included pies, nuts, fruits (particularly oranges), the boar's head, and the wassail,(a spiced ale served in a brown bowl with great ceremony) marked the occasion. The emphasis on light and warmth, embodied in the Yule Log, dates back to the pre-Christian period.

Advent
four weeks before Christmas
From the thirteeth century, the four-week period before Christmas was celebrated as Advent. Since it led up to the day of Christ's birth and the beginning of Christianity, it was considered the beginning of the Church year also. The fourth century saw the beginning of the holidays of All Saints' and All Souls', followed on November 11 by the feast of St. Martin, or Martinmas. After that, the next four weeks were to be ones of preparation, penance and fasting similar to those of Lent. The Advent fast was required only three days a week. Items to be excluded from the diet included meat, cheese and fat as well as wine, ale and honey-beer. The diet was supplemented by fish, often poached, from local rivers or streams.The faithful were also expected to abstain from love making, weddings, games and unnecessary travel.

Yule or Solstice
December 21st
Yule (pronounced EWE-elle) is when the dark half of the year gives way to the light half. Known as Solstice Night, or the longest night of the year, much celebration was had as they awaited the rebirth of the Oak King, the Sun King, the Giver of Life that warmed the earth. Bonfires were lit in the fields, and crops and trees were "wassailed" with toasts of spiced cider. The wassail bowl was served in households either as a convivial drink or passed from lip to lip. Wassail is another of the ancient pagan customs which perservered well into medieval times. It became a formal affirmation of friendship, as its meaning good health or be whole (Anglo-Saxon wes hal) implies. The bowl is traditionally decorated with evergreens, holly and mistletoe and filled with a mixture of hot ale, sugar, nutmeg or ginger. Those who could afford it used highly spiced and sweetened red wine. Sometimes apples were floated on the top.

Children were escorted from house to house with gifts of clove spiked apples and oranges which were laid in baskets of evergreen boughs and wheat stalks dusted with flour. The apples and oranges represented the sun, the boughs were symbolic of immortality, the wheat stalks represented the harvest, and the flour represented light, and life. Holly, mistletoe, and ivy decorated the outside and inside of homes. A sprig of holly was kept near the door all year for good fortune. The ceremonial yule log was the highlight of the festival. The log must have been harvested from the owner's land, or given as a gift. It must never have been bought. Once in the fireplace it was decorated in seasonal greenery, doused with cider or ale, and dusted with flour before set on fire by a piece of last years log, (held onto for this purpose). The log would burn throughout the night, then smolder for 12 days before being put out. The yule log is traditionally made of ash. Symbols of yule include the yule log, or small yule log with 3 candles, evergreen boughs, wreaths, holly, mistletoe hung in doorways, gold pillar candles, baskets of clove studded fruit, wassail and poinsettias. Herbs of the yule season include frankincense, holly, mistletoe, evergreen, bayberry, blessed thistle, laurel, oak, pine, sage and yellow cedar. Foods of the yule season include nuts, turkey, eggnog, wassail, pork dishes, cookies, caraway cakes soaked in cider, fruits, ginger tea, spiced cider, and an ale made of sugar, nutmeg and roasted apple.

Christmas
December 25th
Christians celebrate Christmas as the traditional day of the birth of Christ to the Virgin Mary in a manger in a lowly stable. Present is usually listed as a donkey, oxen, and sheep and nativity plays continue to include these animals. It is believed that a star shone brightly over the stable where the child was born and many Christmas celebrations feature a similar star which was believed to guide the shepherds and the Three Wise Men from the East to pay homage to the baby and his mother. Christmas has been celebrated from about the 4th century, the same time as the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year. The solstice was a time of festivities when all the traditional rules were broken. The Romans celebrated the feast of Saturn, or Saturnalia, with orgies and wild revelries. All rules of the normal society were overturned and slaves were placed above their masters. In the Celtic culture, there was the feast of the rising of the new light. Stonehenge is aligned so that the rising sun peeks through the stones on the dawn of the winter solstice. These traditions were continued among the people when they became Christians. During the festivities of the twelve days of Christmas, the mighty were displaced and the humble became raised. At the Feast of the Ass, a donkey becomes the focus, at the nativity and later to carry the holy family to safety from King Herod who saw in the newborn Jesus a rival for his throne. Another tradition during the twelve days was the Feast of Fools, where a youth would be elected to be bishop for the day.

St Stephen's Day
December 26
On this day, Lords and servants reversed roles, and those in service received their yearly gift of a set of clothes or livery. After Twelfth Night, the people got back down to business and the yearly calender began again as farmers began to plan for spring by performing maintenance work around the home and farm.

Childermas
December 28
This celebrated the Festival of The Holy Innocents which remembers the killing of the eldest born child in every household carried out by King Herod in his efforts to kill the newborn saviour of the Jews.

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