On Fri, 9 Jan 2004, Robert Casey wrote:
btw, you might want to look up the origin of the word "Easter"...

And what connection the resurection of Jesus Christ has with rabbits hiding
colored chicken eggs has.

And why no holiday for "Wester", "Norther", and "Souther" :-)

And why kids get dressed up in costumes and ask neighbors for candy on
Halloween. A Chinese friend once asked me about that, all I could say
was that it was an ancient tradition that nobody knows where it came from
or why it was done.

That I can answer - in part: All Hallows Day (November 1) is "The Day of the
Dead" and may also have represented the end of the fall harvest. The dressing
up as "evil" things (zombies, ghouls, then later, witches/warlocks and such)
sources from that. How it became corrupted to permit anyone to dress up as
ANYTHING like aliens, Superman, Princess Leia, etc., I cannot be certain of but
is most like the result of corporate greed, advertising, and the fact that
"costume party" (at least for adults) is what people really remember.

Santa Claus actually has a religious tie in with Christmas. Santa is a
modified version of St Nick, who, a few hundred years ago somewheres
in Europe, would give the kids in his town small gifts to celebrate the
birth of Christ.

There's a little more to this. Saint Niclaus was also the patron saint of
children. It wasn't so much the time of year but the act of giving toys that
was connected to him. Since children didn't have organized school then, giving
them something to do during the winter when they couldn't play outside due to
the weather (snow) led to toys at the beginning of winter - and guess what time
of year that was. I don't believe that the tie-in to the birth of Christ was
foremost but more coincidental.

Up next: Q sign for Martin Luther King day: QMK

I think the most appropriate sign for this group is QFU. It is certainly
screwed.