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Rituals for the arrival of the New Year

  Not always the first day of January was the New Year’s Day; the New Year’s celebration itself dates from 2,000 BC, celebrated by people from Mesopotamia since around four thousand years ago. Usually, the year’s passage was determined by moon phases or seasons change by then. January 1st only became New Year’s Day in 1582, with the introduction of Gregorian calendar in the West. Before this date, New Year's Eve was celebrated on March 23rd, coinciding with the beginning of Spring in Northern Hemisphere, a period in which new harvests are sown. The idea of ​​restarting comes from it; the word New Year's Eve means 'wake up' in French. New Year’s passage rituals vary in each country it’s celebrated: In Brazil, dressing white became standard for symbolizing light and goodness. The Danish rise in chairs to jump at midnight as a preparation for upcoming challenges. Peruvians pack their bags and take a stride around the block, to achieve the dream of traveling. Italians...

Valentines Crafts for Kids

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Fun and easy Valentines' crafts and recipes for kids.

Countdown to New year free theme

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 Free Countdown to New year theme at webpoly .  Download link .

Christmas origins

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Did you know that Christmas celebration is older than Christianism? In 2012, André Bernardo wrote an article for SuperInteressante magazine about the origins of many rituals we perform until today, such as All Soul's Day and New Year's Eve, and Christmas origins too was among them. In ancient Rome, according to it, the shorter day of the year was celebrated with a Sun-worshipping party and three centuries after Jesus’ death, his birthday started be be celebrated on this very same date. The latim word for Christmas, “Natale”, means birthday. The article tells us that, in the year 336, the Roman Emperor Constantino I set Jesus’ birthday date to December, 25th. The choice wasn’t by chance: during this time of the year, it’s Winter Solstice in North Hemisfere, when Romans celebrated the Natalis Solis Invict (Birthday of Invicible Sun). Christianism has been recently legalized in Rome and Constantino used the popularity of this party to promote it. Santa Claus original cloth...