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Christmas In Finland
Christmas in Finland begins, as is commonplace on public holidays in Finland, on Christmas Eve. Especially the evening of Christmas Eve has become the most important day of the Christmas period, and is nowadays a paid holiday in most workplaces. Unlike on other public holidays, public transportation stops almost completely on the afternoon of Christmas Eve (linkin sisältö lienee muuttunut) in Finland. The Christmas period ends on Epiphany. History In the Finnish tradition, the Christmas period has usually been considered to start on Tuomas’s nameday on December 21 and to continue until St. Knut's Day on January 13. This is reflected in several rhymes and jingles, such as ''Hyvä Tuomas joulun tuopi, paha Nuutti pois sen viepi (“Good Tuomas the bringer, bad Nuutti the taker of Christmas”).'' Prior to 1774, Finland also celebrated a third Christmas Day, the day of apostle John the Evangelist on December 27, and a fourth Christmas Day, Massacre of the Innocents on Decemb ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joulupukki
Joulupukki is a Finnish Christmas figure. The name ''joulupukki'' literally means "Christmas goat" or " Yule Goat" in Finnish; the word ''pukki'' comes from the Germanic root ''bock'', which is a cognate of the English "buck", and means "billy-goat". An old Scandinavian custom, the figure is now often conflated with Santa Claus. Origins and description The ''Joulupukki'' was originally a pagan tradition. The Joulupukki may also be a man turned into a goat-man on Christmas Eve (as depicted in Elsa Beskow's ''Peter and Lotta's Christmas''). Today, in some parts of Finland, the custom persists of persons performing in goat costume in return for leftover Christmas food. The performer traditionally is an older man, who is called a "'". He usually wears warm red robes, but with a broad band of blue near the fur, uses a walking stick, and travels in a sleigh pulled by a number of reindeer (which do not fly, unlike Santa Claus' team). In Lapland, he rides in a ''pulkka'', rather than ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Straw
Straw is an agricultural byproduct consisting of the dry stalks of cereal plants after the grain and chaff have been removed. It makes up about half of the yield of cereal crops such as barley, oats, rice, rye and wheat. It has a number of different uses, including fuel, livestock bedding and fodder, thatching and basket making. Straw is usually gathered and stored in a straw bale, which is a bale, or bundle, of straw tightly bound with twine, wire, or string. Straw bales may be square, rectangular, or round, and can be very large, depending on the type of baler used. Uses Current and historic uses of straw include: * Animal feed **Straw may be fed as part of the roughage component of the diet to cattle or horses that are on a near maintenance level of energy requirement. It has a low digestible energy and nutrient content (as opposed to hay, which is much more nutritious). The heat generated when microorganisms in a herbivore's gut digest straw can be useful in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Himmeli
A straw mobile is a mobile made from reeds, straw or other similar material bound together with string, often forming geometric shapes such as octahedrons, and can be decorated further with craft supplies such as wood, yarn, or feathers. Such mobiles have been traditional in Eastern Europe, Scandinavia, and Russia where they may serve as symbolic or religious decorations. Modern variations can be made from materials like brass or plastic. Name Different cultures have different names for straw mobiles. For example, in some Germanic cultures they are often known as himmeli (heavens), while in Slavic cultures they are known as pajak (spider). } – "heaven" and "sky") The himmeli base shape consists of 12 fragments, which symbolize the 12 months. They are used as decorations from Christmas until Midsummer. Modern himmeli are also made of plywood, paper and even plastic straws. Their purpose is to ensure a good harvest in the following year, and it functions as a home for the crop ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Christmas Decorations
A Christmas decoration is any of several types of ornamentation used at Christmastide and the greater holiday season. The traditional colors of Christmas are pine green (evergreen), snow white, and heart red. Gold and silver are also very common, as are other metallic colours. Typical images on Christmas decorations include Baby Jesus, Father Christmas, Santa Claus, and the star of Bethlehem. In many countries, such as Sweden, people start to set up their Advent and Christmas decorations on the first day of Advent. Liturgically, this is done in some parishes through a Hanging of the Greens ceremony. In the Western Christian world, the two traditional days when Christmas decorations are removed are Twelfth Night and if they are not taken down on that day, Candlemas, the latter of which ends the Christmas-Epiphany season in some denominations. Taking down Christmas decorations before Twelfth Night, as well as leaving the decorations up beyond Candlemas, is historicall ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Finnish Paganism
Finnish paganism is the indigenous pagan religion in Finland and Karelia prior to Christianisation. It was a polytheistic religion, worshipping a number of different deities. The principal god was the god of thunder and the sky, Ukko; other important gods included Jumo (Jumala), Ahti, and Tapio. Jumala was a sky god; today, the word "Jumala" refers to all gods in general. Ahti was a god of the sea, waters and fish. Tapio was the god of forests and hunting. Finnish paganism shows many similarities with the religious practices of related cultures, such as Estonian, Mordvin, Mari, Sami and other Eurasian paganism. It shares some features with its neighbouring Baltic, Norse and Germanic paganisms. The organic tradition was sidelined due to Christianization starting from ca. 12th century and finally broken by the early 20th century, when folk magic and oral traditions went extinct. Finnish paganism provided the inspiration for a contemporary pagan movement Suomenusko (Finnis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Barley
Barley (''Hordeum vulgare''), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains, particularly in Eurasia as early as 10,000 years ago. Globally 70% of barley production is used as animal fodder, while 30% as a source of fermentable material for beer and certain distilled beverages, and as a component of various foods. It is used in soups and stews, and in barley bread of various cultures. Barley grains are commonly made into malt in a traditional and ancient method of preparation. In 2017, barley was ranked fourth among grains in quantity produced () behind maize, rice and wheat. Etymology The Old English word for barley was ', which traces back to Proto-Indo-European and is cognate to the Latin word ' "flour" (''see corresponding entries''). The direct ancestor of modern English ''barley'' in Old English was the derived adjective ''bærlic'', meaning "of barley". The first citation of t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bird
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweight skeleton. Birds live worldwide and range in size from the bee hummingbird to the ostrich. There are about ten thousand living species, more than half of which are passerine, or "perching" birds. Birds have whose development varies according to species; the only known groups without wings are the extinct moa and elephant birds. Wings, which are modified forelimbs, gave birds the ability to fly, although further evolution has led to the loss of flight in some birds, including ratites, penguins, and diverse endemic island species. The digestive and respiratory systems of birds are also uniquely adapted for flight. Some bird species of aquatic environments, particularly seabirds and some waterbirds, have further evolved for swimming. B ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Birch Bark
Birch bark or birchbark is the bark of several Eurasian and North American birch trees of the genus ''Betula''. The strong and water-resistant cardboard-like bark can be easily cut, bent, and sewn, which has made it a valuable building, crafting, and writing material, since pre-historic times. Today, birch bark remains a popular type of wood for various handicrafts and arts. Birch bark also contains substances of medicinal and chemical interest. Some of those products (such as betulin) also have fungicidal properties that help preserve bark artifacts, as well as food preserved in bark containers. Collection and storage Removing birch bark from live trees is harmful to tree health and should be avoided. Instead, it can be removed fairly easily from the trunk or branches of dead wood, by cutting a slit lengthwise through the bark and pulling or prying it away from the wood. The best time for collection is spring or early summer, as the bark is of better quality and most easil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mask
A mask is an object normally worn on the face, typically for protection, disguise, performance, or entertainment and often they have been employed for rituals and rights. Masks have been used since antiquity for both ceremonial and practical purposes, as well as in the performing arts and for entertainment. They are usually worn on the face, although they may also be positioned for effect elsewhere on the wearer's body. More generally in art history, especially sculpture, "mask" is the term for a face without a body that is not modelled in the round (which would make it a "head"), but for example appears in low relief. Etymology The word "mask" appeared in English in the 1530s, from Middle French ''masque'' "covering to hide or guard the face", derived in turn from Italian ''maschera'', from Medieval Latin ''masca'' "mask, specter, nightmare". This word is of uncertain origin, perhaps from Arabic ''maskharah'' مَسْخَرَۃٌ "buffoon", from the verb ''sakhira'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Horn (anatomy)
A horn is a permanent pointed projection on the head of various animals that consists of a covering of keratin and other proteins surrounding a core of live bone. Horns are distinct from antlers, which are not permanent. In mammals, true horns are found mainly among the ruminant artiodactyls, in the families Antilocapridae (pronghorn) and Bovidae (cattle, goats, antelope etc.). Cattle horns arise from subcutaneous connective tissue (under the scalp) and later fuse to the underlying frontal bone. One pair of horns is usual; however, two or more pairs occur in a few wild species and in some domesticated breeds of sheep. Polycerate (multi-horned) sheep breeds include the Hebridean, Icelandic, Jacob, Manx Loaghtan, and the Navajo-Churro. Horns usually have a curved or spiral shape, often with ridges or fluting. In many species, only males have horns. Horns start to grow soon after birth and continue to grow throughout the life of the animal (except in pronghorns, which shed the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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