Christmas True Meaning and Traditions

Christmas True Meaning and Traditions

Christmas has had a long and varied history. It has been celebrated for centuries by different people, at different times, in different places, and in many different ways. Here you will find links to information about the different ways that the holiday we know as Christmas has been celebrated, or not celebrated, over the years.

»Watch video about the history and origins of Christmas

An Ancient HolidaySome of our modern Christmas traditions have much older roots, going back to pagan European traditions.

»See how people celebrated the winter solstice

SaturnaliaSaturnalia was a Roman celebration in honor of the god Saturn.

»Discover what the Ancient Romans celebrated on December 25th

An Outlaw ChristmasThe Puritans didn't believe in the jovial Christmas holiday, so they banned it.

»Find out the penalty for celebrating Christmas

Christmas ReinventedAmericans embraced Christmas in the 19th Century, even inventing some of their own Christmas traditions.

»See how Americans created their own vision of Christmas

A Christmas CarolCharles Dickens' classic tale reflected and influenced changing ideas about the nature of Christmas.

»Learn how Scrooge and Tiny Tim changed Christmas

Enjoy Christmas with Santa Claus at the North pole, an award-winning Christmas web site. Send a letter to Santa Clause or a Christmas card to a friend.

»Santa Claus and Christmas at the Northpole

The True Meaning of Christmas

"The Real Truth About Santa Claus

"Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus!

A famous letter from Virgina O'Hanlon to the editorial of The New York Sun, first printed in 1897.

We take pleasure in answering thus prominently the communication below, expressing at the same time our great gratification that its faithful author is numbered among the friends of The Sun:

Dear Editor---

I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says, "If you see it in The Sun, it's so.

" Please tell me the truth, is there a Santa Claus?Virginia O'HanlonVirginia, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men's or children's, are little. In this great universe of ours, man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus! It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The external light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies. You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if you did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that's no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.

You tear apart the baby's rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived could tear apart. Only faith, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, Virginia, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives and lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay 10 times 10,000 years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!

Please tell me the truth, is there a Santa Claus?

HALLOWEEN AT THE WHITE HOUSE

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Currently you're able to find the nation's premier haunted houses, costumes, pumpkins, crafts, monsters and more. PLEASE, GO GREEN - HALLOWEEN: HOW TO GO GREEN - HALLOWEEN

(1) Halloween at the White House

(2) Halloween at the White House

(3) Halloween at the White House

Not a moment passes at Organizing For America without volunteers and leaders across the country taking their creativity to the next level. Last week, during our October 20 Day of Action, we had students launching ideas in Ohio and neighbors working together in Michigan to create one of the strongest advocacy pushes in the history of OFA. Once again, this Halloween, we want to call on you to put on your creative hats (it'll look great with that costume) and show us your carving skills!

A pumpkin can be many things; for some, its decoration. For others it's what your grandmother calls you while she's pinching your cheeks. Here at OFA, we think a pumpkin on your front porch can also be a way to show your support for health reform! Last year on October 31, four days before we elected Barack Obama as our 44th President, individuals carved images and messages into their festive orange pumpkins. Our friends at YesWeCarve.com showcased the amazing results.

We want you to send us pictures of your carved pumpkins! You can recreate some of the carvings above. Click Here for some stencils, or come up with your own! Send us pictures to halloween2009@dnc.org. We are so close to the one year election anniversary mark, and we are close to making health insurance reform a reality. Bring your friends, family, and (b)roommates together and make a party out of carving your message to show your community your support for reform NOW. Let's scare the naysayers away!

Instead of another bad Halloween joke, I'll just leave the creativity in your hands....Be sure to send us pictures!

IN MEMORY OF PATRICK SWAYZE TRIBUTE 1952 - 2009

IN MEMORY OF PATRICK SWAYZE TRIBUTE 1952 - 2009

Patrick will be greatly missed.

We invite you to sign the Book of Condolence .

Discussion link posted by James Everitt :

Tribute to Patrick Swayze (August 18, 1952 September 14, 2009)

Patrick Swayze and Lisa Niemi "The Time Of My Life" memoir book, which Swayze co-wrote with his wife of 34 years, Lisa Niemi, will be published on September 29. 2009.

In a career spanning more than thirty years, Patrick Swayze has made a name for himself on the stage, the screen, and television. Known for his versatility, passion and fearlessness, he''s become one of our most beloved actors.

But in February 2008, Patrick announced he had been diagnosed with stage IV pancreatic cancer, the final battle to pancreatic cancer was lost September 14, 2009. Always a fighter, he refused to let the disease bring him to his knees, and his bravery has inspired both his legion of fans and cancer patients everywhere. Yet this memoir, written with wisdom and heart, recounts much more than his bout with cancer. In vivid detail, Patrick describes his Texas upbringing, his personal struggles, his rise to fame with North and South, his commercial breakthroughs in Dirty Dancing and Ghost, and the soul mate who''s stood by his side through it all: his wife, writer and director Lisa Niemi.

A behind-the-scenes look at a Hollywood life and a remarkable love, this memoir is both entertainment and inspiration. Patrick and Lisa''s marriage is a journey of two lives intertwined and lived as one--throughout their years in Hollywood and at home on their working ranch outside Los Angeles, and culminating in the hope and wisdom they''ve imparted to all who know them. This book will open the door for families, individuals, and husbands and wives to grow, bond and discover entirely new levels of love and sharing, proving that life shouldn''t be lived as a series of endings, but rather as the beginning of greater strength and love.

Actor Patrick Swayze made peace with the notion of dying from pancreatic cancer after initially finding his diagnosis a "cruel joke", according to a memoir to be published later this month. The Dirty Dancing star, 57, who lost his 20-month battle against the disease on Monday, wrote that fighting his cancer had been an "emotional rollercoaster".

But in excerpts of the memoir "The Time Of My Life" , released on Wednesday, he wrote later; "I began thinking to myself, I've had more lifetimes than any 10 people put together, and it's been an amazing ride. So this is okay."

Please, visit the Official Patrick Swayze International Fan Club Website , where you can offer your prayers to Patrick Swayze's loved ones and fans. "Ditto, the Love inside, you take it with You!"

"Patrick Swayze Pancreas Cancer Research Fund"

Patrick's wife Lisa has contacted us with news of a Research Fund in Patrick's name.

Here is Lisa's message: "Stanford University is coalescing existing research activities on pancreas cancer to form a Pancreas Cancer Center. This center will expedite application of emerging technologies and the development of molecular targeted therapies all focused on pancreas cancer. Of course, our wonderful Dr. George Fisher, Jr. is involved with all this and setting up this fund in Patrick's name.

Checks should be made out to:

"Patrick Swayze Pancreas Cancer Research Fund"

& sent to:

Stanford Cancer Center

875 Blake Wilbur Dr.

Palo Alto CA 94304."

Telephone: 650.234.0600

Fax: 650.234.0645

givinginformation@med.stanford.edu

Sincere thanks to Lisa for sending us this news and we back the Research Fund with all our support. Please promote the Research Fund if you can, thanks.

"Patrick Swayze Pancreas Cancer Research Fund"

In Memory of Patrick Swayze who died from Pancreas Cancer, please help find a cure, thank you! Giving Opportunities and Ways of Giving

Patrick will be greatly missed.

We invite you to sign the Book of Condolence .

Patrick Swayze's Best Movie Moments

Even though we all knew that Patrick Swayze was battling cancer the actor's death last week did come as a bit of a shock.In a career that has spanned almost thirty years the popular actor has made thousands of women fall in love with him in Dirty Dancing and thousands of women cry in Ghost.So to celebrate his career and a life that has been cut tragically short FemaleFirst takes a look at some of the actor's best movie moments.

- Nobody Puts Baby In A Corner (Dirty Dancing)

Johnny Castle is arguably Swayze's most memorable role and was the one that shot him to fame. But it's the final scenes that are the most famous.Johnny, even though he has been fired, returns to the resort to perform the final dance of the season with Baby. He criticises the Housemans for their choice of Baby's seat, he utters the film's most famous line, "Nobody puts Baby in a corner," as he pulls her up from the family's table.

- Dalton vs Jimmy (Road House)

Ok so Road House wasn't the biggest hit of Swayze's career, totally under-appreciated if you ask me, but it contains one of the best fight scenes that the actor was every involved in.Shirtless, which is always a plus, the scene showed off his martial arts training in a fight that ends when he rips the other guy's throat from his neck, perhaps not for the faint hearted.

- Sam Says Goodbye To Molly (Ghost)

Ghost was Patrick Swayze's other mammoth movie when it was released back in 1990, yes it really was almost twenty years ago.And the ending is still a movie moment that brings a tear to my eye. By the end of the film Molly can now hear Sam. He is then enveloped in bright light, which makes him visible to both Oda Mae and Molly.It's time for Sam to go to heaven after sharing a kiss with Molly and saying a final goodbye to Oda Mae he walks towards the bright light. Not a dry eye in the house.

- Surfing Into The Void (Point Break)

Starring alongside Keanu Reeves in the 1991 movie Point Break it has, over the years gained a bit of a cult following.Swayze starred as a surfer who liked to rob banks in his spare time while Reeves played an FBI agent hell bent on catching these criminals.In this scene Reeves catches up with Swayze on the coast of Australia, where he's ready to take a suicide plunge into the biggest wave of his life.Ok so Swayze does play the baddie of the piece but he is ready to die doing what he loves best, what a guy!.

- Unchained Melody

And we couldn't look at Swayze's best movie moments without including the pottery scene with Demi Moore from Ghost.It remains one of cinema's most famous love scenes and is regularly parodied, have you seen The Naked Gun?

Patrick Swayze Tribute 1952 - 2009

Discussion link posted by James Everitt:

Patrick will be greatly missed.

We invite you to sign the Book of Condolence .

Tribute to Patrick Swayze (August 18, 1952 September 14, 2009)

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