A look back to some holidays we may have missed. February

February is a month where there is not a lot happening. But it does have its share of holidays and celebrations.

February 1    Fireworks, dragons, lions, and Nian Gao all signify the start of Chinese New Year. This is one of the most important holidays in China. It’s observed all over the world. Similar celebrations occur in Japan, Korea, and Vietnam known as the Lunar New Year or the Spring Festival.

Most Chinese holidays follows the lunar calendar, so the date varies from year to year. The Chinese New Year always occurs in January or February on the second new moon after the winter solstice, though on occasion it has been the third new moon. A long time ago, the emperor determined the start of the New Year. Today, celebrations are based on Emperor Han Wu Di’s almanac. It uses the first day of the first month of the Lunar Year as the start of Chinese New Year. Each year has a ruling animal based on the Chinese Zodiac.

February 1 Tết Nguyên Đán, often referred to simply as Tet, is the Vietnamese New Year. The New Year does not fall on the same date each year, although it’s always in January or February. There are similar celebrations in China, Japan, and Korea known as the Lunar New Year or the Spring Festival.

The holiday in Vietnam is officially three days, but is often celebrated for seven. Tet is regarded as one of the most important Vietnamese holidays. Tết Nguyên Đán literally means the first morning of the first day of the new period. It’s believed that the course of these few days will determine the path of the coming year. People stop their quarreling, children vow to behave, and families make special efforts to gather together.

Prior to the celebrations, homes are cleaned and painted. Cleaning during Tet is avoided so the good luck will not be “swept away.” New clothes are purchased, and old debts are paid. People go to church or the pagoda and make offerings to the Kitchen God. Homes are decorated with bonsai trees and flowers, and kumquat trees are brought into the home. These trees represent the family and the hope of good fortune in the new year. Trees are selected with care to ensure the leaves are healthy and that there is ripe fruit as well as green fruit ready to ripen.

Homes are also decorated with the yellow apricot blossoms of the Hoa Mai in the south, while the rosy peach blossoms of the Hoa Dao are used in the North. The blossoms represent the spirit of Tet. They symbolize prosperity and well-being for the family. It’s believed that the longer the blossoms last the more prosperous the family will be in the coming year.

During Tet, the Kitchen God departs the home to report on the family. To help protect the home during the absence of the Kitchen God, families erect a Cay Neu, a “New Years’ Tree.” A bamboo pole is planted in front of the home, all the leaves are removed, except a few at the top The tree is decorated with red paper. Red has long been associated with warding off evil spirits. The Cay Neu is taken down on the seventh day of Tet.

Deceased relatives are remembered during Tet. Families build alters with photographs, flowers, incense, money, and food. People also visit the gravesites of their deceased loved ones.

At midnight on the New Years’ Eve, Le Tru Tich is held. The spirits of the old year are rushed out and the new spirits are welcomed. The streets are chaotic with everyone banging gongs and sounding off noisemakers to scare evil spirits away. Prior to 1995, firecrackers were set off by almost everyone, but in 1995 the government banned fireworks because the cost was financially prohibitive, and the injury rate was soaring.

February 2 Groundhog Day is the United States version of Candlemas. Some countries believed that a burrowing animal, usually a hedgehog, would come out on this day to judge the quality of the weather. This tradition came with settlers to the New World. There were no hedgehogs to be found, but there were lots and lots of groundhogs. Thus, Groundhog Day was born.

Valentine’s Day gets mixed into this holiday as well. This is from the old calendar and all of the haphazard rearranging it succumbed to. Vance Randolf, an Ozark folklorist, stated that the “old-timers” used to celebrate Groundhog Day on February 14.

Though Groundhog Day has been around a long time, the idea of looking at a burrowing animals’ reactions to the weather is an even older custom.

According to tradition, if the animal sees its shadow, it’s a sign there will be six more weeks of bad weather or a “second winter” and it scurries back into his hole. However, if it doesn’t see his shadow, he comes out to stay. So, on a cloudy day it would not see a shadow and would thus know spring is coming.

If the groundhog sees his shadow

we will have six more weeks of winter.

Settlers in Pennsylvania were of German descent. The groundhog is abundant in these parts and the settlers decreed this creature would be the weather predictor of record. The most famous of all the groundhogs lives in Punxsutawney.

In the 1880s, a group of friends went out on Candlemas Day in search of a groundhog. This trip quickly became tradition, and the local newspaper dubbed the group “The Punxsutawney Groundhog Club.” In 1887, the search turned into an official event and the groundhog became known as Punxsutawney Phil. Phil makes his yearly appearance to predict the weather, which is televised and announced on the radio.

Today good ol’ Punxsutawney Phil makes his home in a climate-controlled “burrow” that is next to the Punxsutawney Library. Phil even became a movie star in 1993 when the movie Groundhog Day with Bill Murray opened.

Punxsutawney Phil is not the only weather predicting animal of note however there is also:

·        Pothole Pete in New York City

·        Birmingham Bill in Birmingham, Alabama

·        Buckeye Chuck in Marion, Ohio

·        General Beauregard Lee in Georgia

·        Unadilla Bill in Nebraska

·        French Creek Freddy in West Virginia

·        Shubenacadie Sam in Canada, and

·        Wiarton Willie, Canada’s albino groundhog

·        there’s even Claude the Cajun Crawfish in Louisiana, if he “waves his claws toward the sun, he is signaling the cold spell will come to an end.”

February 14 Technically, it’s St. Valentine’s Day. Valentine’s Day has three possible origins: Lupercalia, the death of Saint Valentine, and the mating habits of birds. In all likeness, it’s a blending of all three.

The Feast of Lupercalia, also known as Februata, was an ancient pagan festival in Rome. Lupercalia honored Lycaeus, the wolf mother of Romulus and Remus (the founders of Rome). Young men and women would pull names, then spend the day enjoying the company of the person whose names they pulled. They were allowed freedom to do whatever they wanted with each other.

 Valentine’s Day is named for Saint Valentine or rather a Saint Valentine. The Catholic Church actually recognizes three different saints all named Valentine (or Valentinus), and all of whom were martyred. There are many myths and legends told of these saints, but nothing conclusive. One St. Valentine, known as Valentine of Terni and Valentine of Rome, is the patron saint of affianced couples, bee keepers, epilepsy, against fainting, happy marriages, love, and plague.

Another Saint Valentine was believed to be beheaded on February 14th. Legend tells that during the Roman Empire, Emperor Claudius II (known as Claudius the Cruel) stopped allowing couples to marry. He felt that their hearts belonged to him and the wars he waged and that love, and marriage would only cloud their judgment. A priest named Valentine secretly married lovers. He was caught and sentenced to death. While in prison awaiting execution, he fell in love with the jailer’s daughter. In his final letter to her he signed, “From your Valentine.”

And lastly, there was a medieval belief that birds selected their mates on February 14. People began associating love and marriage with this date with the idea that “every bird chooses a mate this day.”

Today, people give flowers, candy, cards, and jewelry to their sweethearts. A candlelight dinner at home or at a romantic restaurant is also popular. Children and families celebrate too. Children make hearts and valentine crafts in school to bring to their moms and dads, and the family might have a special dinner and celebrate the love that keeps them together.

The number of cards sent on Valentine’s Day places second only to Christmas-New Year cards. Card giving goes back to when English settlers first arrived in the United States. It was against the law to display affection in public. Giving cards was a way to show one’s affection without doing something “illegal” as well as avoiding public ridicule.

February 21 Historically, Presidents Day celebrates the birthday of George Washington, the first American president. Washington was born February 11, 1731, by the Old-Style dates. Under the Julian calendar the date is February 22. In 1879, Congress created a federal holiday for offices in Washington D.C. The holiday was expanded to encompass all federal offices in 1885. With the Uniform Monday Holiday Act of 1968 (which went into effect in 1971) the observance of certain holidays moved to Mondays; Washington’s birthday was among them.

The change to Presidents Day was first considered in 1951 by the President’s Day National Committee, but the bill stalled in the Senate. An early draft of the Uniform Monday Holiday Act recommended changing the name as well, but when the bill was passed, the name didn’t change. Advertisers, however, preferred Presidents Day, it’s more succinct for sales. Presidents Day Sale rolls off the tongue much easier than George Washington’s Birthday Sale. Advertisers are also responsible for all the alternative spellings: Presidents’ Day, President’s Day, and Presidents Day.

The state dictates who are celebrated. Some celebrate Washington alone (i.e., Virginia and Massachusetts), while others celebrate Washington and Lincoln (such as Ohio and Utah). And then there are those that honor some other combination of presidents, for example Alabama celebrates Washington and Jefferson.

While federal offices get the day off of work on Presidents Day, for most people it’s just another Monday. Elementary schools often do projects and educate children about Washington and the US presidents in the week leading up to and/or the week following.

February 25 The Carnival of Brazil, known locally as Carnaval, is a four-day festival that proceeds Ash Wednesday. Celebrations vary from region of region. In the southeastern cities of Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, and Vitória, there are huge, organized parades. The northeastern cities of Recife, Olinda, Salvador, and Porto Seguro have organized parades as well, but the public interacts with paraders.

Carnaval is huge, drawing millions of people each year. Most places, except for retail establishments, carnival-related businesses, and industrial production close for the festivities.