Holidays Books - Page 5

Halloween: From Pagan Ritual to Party Night

Nicholas Rogers

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Total reviews: 8 Average rating: 3.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Boasting a rich, complex history rooted in Celtic and Christian ritual, Halloween has evolved from ethnic celebration to a blend of street festival, fright night, and vast commercial enterprise. In this colorful history, Nicholas Rogers takes a lively, entertaining look at the cultural origins and development of one of the most popular holidays of the year.
Drawing on a fascinating array of sources, from classical history to Hollywood films, Rogers traces Halloween as it emerged from the Celtic festival of Samhain (summer's end), picked up elements of the Christian Hallowtide (All Saint's Day and All Soul's Day), arrived in North America as an Irish and Scottish festival, and evolved into an unofficial but large-scale holiday by the early 20th century. He examines the 1970s and '80s phenomena of Halloween sadism (razor blades in apples) and inner-city violence (arson in Detroit), as well as the immense influence of the horror film genre on the reinvention of Halloween as a terror-fest. Throughout his vivid account, Rogers shows how Halloween remains, at its core, a night of inversion, when social norms are turned upside down, and a temporary freedom of expression reigns supreme. He examines how this very license has prompted censure by the religious Right, occasional outrage from law enforcement officials, and appropriation by Left-leaning political groups.
Engagingly written and based on extensive research, Halloween is the definitive history of the most bewitching day of the year, illuminating the intricate history and shifting cultural forces behind this enduring trick-or-treat holiday.

The Days of the Dead: Mexico's Festival of Communion with the Departed

Rosalind Rosoff Beimler

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

GORGEOUS pictoral essay on this oh-so-very-Mexican holiday!! 5 out of 5 stars.
20 of 20 people found this review helpful.

BEAUTIFUL pictures!!! A photographer who captures the very HEART and SOUL of the people, and with a sensitivity to their culture and beliefs that merits the utmost applause!!! If you can't go to Michoacan on November 1st, this has got to be the next best thing to being there!!

Editorial Review:

Mexico's Festival of Communion with the Departed / Los Dias de Muertos, un Festival de Comunion con los Muertos en Mexico

This book offers a remarkable look at Mexico's traditional holiday honoring departed ancestors, friends, and family. Each aspect of the multiday festival is carefully explored: the journey to the cemeteries to spruce up neglected gravesites, the lively marketplace selling breads and candies in the shapes of skulls and skeletons, the peaceful vigil as friends and families crowd the cemeteries to await the arrival of their loved ones through the long night.

San Francisco-based photographer John Greenleigh traveled to small towns in Mexico in four different years to document this extraordinary festival. Accompanied by evocative text by cultural scholar Rosalind Rosoff Beimler, the pictures speak eloquently to a ritual that is at once mocking and respectful of death---and ultimately affirming of human life.

What is Thanksgiving Day?

Margot Parker

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Editorial Review:

Amy explains to Ben the origins of Thanksgiving Day.

Holidays Around the World: Celebrate Kwanzaa: With Candles, Community, and the Fruits of the Harvest (Holidays Around the World)

Carolyn B. Otto

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Editorial Review:

Celebrate Kwanzaa continues the spectacular Holidays Around the World series by focusing on this African-American holiday, which falls during the festive, gift-giving season and is celebrated by families, communities, and schools throughout America. With succinct, lively text and beautiful photographs, the book celebrates African-American culture and helps us to understand and appreciate this special holiday.

Over the course of seven days, African Americans, families and friends, come together to light the candles that symbolize their past and future—and their unity. They gather as a community to make music and to dance; to feast on harvest foods and the good things of the earth; and to exchange simple, often homemade, gifts. Readers are introduced to the symbols of the holiday, such as the mkeka (a special placemat), kinara (candleholder), and kikombe cha umoja (unity cup). Important concepts, like the seven principles, are explained. In addition, a note from the book's consultant, aimed at parents and teachers, puts the holiday in its full cultural and historical perspective.

Beltane: Springtime Rituals, Lore and Celebration

Raven Grimassi

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 20 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

I like Grimassi, no matter what he writes about 4 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

Grimassi usually tackles a much broader scope of subject matter and by limiting himself to Beltane he has undertaken a task that might seem outside his usual habits. But he pulls it off with good writing and capable research. By limiting himself to specifics of the Sabbat he is forced to narrow his focus more than is his wont, but what he does write about, he writes about well and thoroughly. To be honest, the entire Llewellyn Sabbat series has seemed kind of light-handed, so I can't call this Grimassi's finest hour, but it's still quite good for the kind of book it is.

Traditions! 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

Raven Grimassi is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. He writes about many traditions and will show similarities to help you understand where and how these traditions began. Whether you're just researching or Wiccan, I would recommend this and any of this author's books. Yet another to add to your library.

Editorial Review:

Rediscover the ancient Pagan festival of May Day Grimassi reveals the history behind the revelry and offers countless way to celebrate this sacred season of fertility, growth, and gain: arts and craft projects; delicious celebratory recipes; Beltane spells to attract money, success, and love; springtime rituals and traditions; May Day magic and divination; and more.

LA Historia Del Dia De Accion De Gracias/the Story of Thanksgiving

Nancy J. Skarmeas

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Editorial Review:

This title is suitable for toddler and upwards. The text is in Spanish. Children will learn first hand the true meaning of Thanksgiving in Spanish text.

In the Eye of the Sun: Mexican Fiestas

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Gorgeous color imagery from Mexico 5 out of 5 stars.
11 of 13 people found this review helpful.

This book shares the light, color, and poetry of Mexico with its readers. The photographer's passion for his subjects comes through with every photo. It is also an interesting view into the unique Mexican history of fiestas; the context of the traditions within daily life is very intriguing. I would highly recommend this book to those interested in either Mexico or color photography. It is a beautiful and sensitive work.

Editorial Review:

A study, in photographs, of the popular fiestas of Mexico, showing the inhabitants of several Mexican villages. The fiestas intertwine some of the great pagan festivals with Catholic ritual and tradition. These photographs show family scenes, revellers and religious ceremonies.

In Tune With the World: A Theory of Festivity

Josef Pieper

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Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

In this stimulating and still-timely study, Josef Pieper takes up a theme of paramount importance to his thinking - that festivals belong by rights among the great topics of philosophical discussion.

As he develops his theory of festivity, the modern age comes under close and painful scrutiny. It is obvious that we no longer know what festivity is, namely, the celebration of existence under various symbols.

Pieper exposes the pseudo-festivals, in their harmless and their sinister forms: traditional feasts contaminated by commercialism; artificial holidays created in the interest of merchandisers; holidays by coercion, decreed by dictators the world over; festivals as military demonstrations; holidays empty of significance. And lastly we are given the apocalyptic vision of a nihilistic world which would seek its release not in festivities but in destruction.

Formulated with Pieper's customary clarity and elegance, enhanced by brilliantly chosen quotations, this is an illuminating contribution to the understanding of traditional and contemporary experience.

The Pagan Mysteries of Halloween: Celebrating the Dark Half of the Year

Jean Markale

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Total reviews: 9 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

A comprehensive examination of the rituals and philosophies of the Celtic holiday of Samhain, the inspiration for Halloween.

• Presents the true meaning of this ancient holiday and shows how contemporary observances still faithfully reflect the rituals of pagan ancestors.

• Explains why this holiday, largely confined to the English-speaking world since the advent of Christianity, has spread throughout the rest of Europe over the last two decades.

One of humanity's most enduring myths is that the dead, on certain nights of the year, can leave the Other World and move freely about the land of the living. Every year on October 31, when the children of the world parade through the streets dressed as monsters, skeletons, and witches, they reenact a sacred ceremony whose roots extend to the dawn of time. By receiving gifts of sweets from strangers, the children establish, on a symbolic plane that exceeds their understanding, a fraternal exchange between the visible world and the invisible world. Author Jean Markale meticulously examines the rituals and ceremonies of ancient festivities on this holiday and shows how they still shape the customs of today's celebration. During the night of Samhain, the Celtic precursor of today's holiday, the borders between life and death were no longer regarded as insurmountable barriers. Two-way traffic was temporarily permitted between this world and the Other World, and the wealth and wisdom of the sidhe, or fairy folk, were available to the intrepid individuals who dared to enter their realm. Markale enriches our understanding of how the transition from the light to the dark half of the year was a moment in which time stopped and allowed the participants in the week-long festival to attain a level of consciousness not possible in everyday life, an experience we honor in our modern celebrations of Halloween. 

The Seven Festivals of the Messiah

Edward Chumney

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 12 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Fair, but faulty, analysis of the Jewish Festivals of the Torah 3 out of 5 stars.
13 of 15 people found this review helpful.

First, please know that I agree wholeheartedly with the most basic premise of Chumney's book--that the Festivals commanded in the Torah point to Christ--and that it is not my intention to disparage the premise of this book or its basic theology. On the contrary, I agree with it VERY much.

Those things said, I must regretfully give this book and "it's ok" rating (3 stars) rather than something better. In fact, I would be more likely to give it two stars than four. Before you disagree with me, please read the rest of my review.

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Since this is such an unmanageably long review, and most of you won't read it, I offer this as perhaps the best piece of advice I can give: the author has posted his book at his site, www.hebroots.org. (You'll have to scroll down to the heading "Books by Eddie Chumney") Before buying, perhaps you should check there to see if my review is correct.
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As already stated, I actually agree with the premise of Chumney's book. Sadly, Chumney falls far short of actually providing a work that successfully and persuasively proves that point. There are enough faults in the book to seriously detract from his effectiveness as an author. But I'll talk about the good stuff first.

(1) Chumney organizes the book in a manageable format, which makes for easy reference. You can easily re-find points made in the book, because it is organized by headings. One can easily thumb through any given chapter, reading chapter headings only, and get the gist of what Chumney is trying to say.

(2) Chumney's premise, again, is a good one. As a Christian, I find it to be amazingly profound to study just how deeply the Torah (Pentateuch) and the rest of the Tanakh (Old Testament) point to Christ--particularly the Torah. Upon study, it appears that the pages are literally dripping with allegories, portraits, and details about Christ. Further, I agree with Chumney that in order to understand the parallels with which the Torah is rife, one must study and understand the Jewish customs surrounding the practices depicted there.

(3) The book is succinct, with a generally large amount of scripture references to keep the reader informed of where Chumney gets his information. Thus, one can easily read this book, and in most cases, can corroborate what Chumney says. I have obviously qualified this statement, and will discuss that qualification shortly.

After talking about the good things in Chumney's book, I now turn to the things which I find to seriously detract from the book's effectiveness.

(1) Poor writing. Yes. As already stated twice, I AGREE with the general premise of this book. However, the writing is sub-par. There is inadequate use of synonyms, varied writing style, and developed rhetoric. I'm not just being picky--I just know good writing when I see it, and this unfortunately does not qualify. I'll give an example.
Chumney SERIOUSLY encumbers his work by parenthetically including transliterated Hebrew words. For examble, every time Chumney uses the word "Messiah" it is followed by the Hebrew transliteration, as in the following example:

The festivals of the L-rd...were given...so His people
could understand the coming of the Messiah (Mashiach)...
(Chapter 1, page 1, first sentence.)

On that very page, which only includes two small paragraphs, the same convention of using the "(Mashiach)" after "Messiah" is used two more times. I can understand Chumney's desire to use Hebrew words in a work of this type, especially since he expects a part of his audience to be Jewish. Very well. Then use the Hebrew words. Don't use both, throughout the entire book. If he wanted to use the Hebrew words, he should swap the order and say "Mashiach (Messiah)" the first time he uses the word, then use "Mashiach" the rest of the book, and could easily include a glossary for quick reference. As it is, the parentheticals get REAL distracting, REAL quick. In the first five pages of the book, there are no less than 44 such parentheticals...and the quantity does not go down throughout the book.

(2) Poor logic. The general purpose of Chumney's book is to be persuasive. However, he makes his argument much LESS persuasive by making rather large leaps of faith...in both theology and in logic. While I noted above, in the positives, that Chumney includes biblical cites for his assertions in most places, those cites do NOT always support his claim. Take the following example, found on page 14:

The Bible says that the L-rd's right hand destroyed
the Egyptians (Exodus [Shemot] 15:6, 12). The right
hand is a term for the Messiah, Yeshua (Psalms
[Tehillim] 44:3; 48:10; 63:8; 74:10-11; 89:13; 98:1;
110:1; 118:16; 138:7; Isaiah [Yeshayahu] 41:10; 53:1-5;
62:8; Acts 2:32-36; 5:31-21; Hebrews 1:3.

Well, I won't insult you by going through each passage, but suffice it to say that if you look up EVERY one of the passages above in the long string he includes, you will find that NOT ONE of them refers directly to the Messiah, but refers to one of two things: (1) the arm of the Lord by which he defends his people and accomplishes victory for them, and (2) the figurative place of status at God's right hand. While Christ is identified as occupying this position many times, the right arm of God itself is not a direct reference to Christ, unless you do a fair amount of text-adulteration. Chumney then goes on to make the ridiculous logical jump that since Christ is the "arm of the Lord" then this explains why it is custom today for Jews to eat the shankbone, or "arm" of the lamb. Seems an absurd stretch to me.

I'll include one more unfaithful reading of the text. In Acts 1:6, Christ's Apostles asked Christ when he would restore the kingdom to Israel. Chumney reads this to mean asking when God would re-unite the Gentiles with the Jews. This is very far from the most natural reading of the text, which suggests simply that the Apostles expected Christ, upon his resurrection from the dead, to establish a temporal kingdom. I invite you to read it for yourself.

(3) Chumney simply doesn't support his assertions of fact, or of theology on way too many points. In a piece of literature like this one, it is imperative that the author support his propositions with scripture or other authors, at least where possible. Failure to do so raises serious questions as to the validity of the author's arguments. I invite you to read more scholarly works, such as those written by Alfred Edersheim (dated, but still very good) and compare.

Bottom line: decent, but before you buy, read it online at the above link.

Editorial Review:

One of the most fascinating, yet probably one of the least understood, topics in the Bible is that of the feasts listed in Leviticus. In a step-by-step examination of each festival, you will learn foundational truths and the prophetic connections to Jesus' first and second comings. This book will give tremendous insight into your personal relationship with God!