LUCA'S DAY FOLK CUSTOMS DECEMBER 13th...

FELIX has made a great effort to inform us about LUCA'S DAY FOLK CUSTOMS... December 13th is the Holiday in Hungary... so go ahead and click on the title above to read what he has to say!

DECEMBER SIXTH IS MIKULUS DAY (SAINT NICK VISITS THE CHILDREN WITH GIFTS)

On DECEMBER 6th in Hungary, children anticipate a visit from Saint Nick, put their boots out for him to fill with sweets - nuts and fruits, small toys, and maybe a "switch," indicating that perhaps they have not been so good and deserve to have their rear ends hit with this. 

To Americans who are sensitive to child abuse this can seem cruel in itself but I think many of us were hit by parents when we were children who had been hit by their parents as well. 

Saint Nick has been tipped off by the parents as to if their child has been "naughty or nice" and so some children get both the switch and the gifts.

SAINT NICK - ONLY THE BRAVEST CHILDREN SPEAK TO HIM

ONLY THE BRAVEST CHILDREN CAN GO UP TO SAINT NICK and speak to him. The rest await his visit as they do here in the United States, to be early with anticipation. He brings small gifts for them.

This illustration courtesy of Dover Publishing is interesting to me because in Saint Nick's pouch there looks to be a gold star of David, the symbol of Judaism.

ADVENT BEGINS IN HUNGARY

We always had advent wreaths in our home growing up. They were never very elaborate and this illustration is the closest to the one I remember, most importantly the colors of the candles, with the lighter, pinker one being lit last as Christmas drew nearer.  The candles were lit and it remained on our table when we had dinner, then hushed out after our meal. We did not begin our holiday decorating until Advent was over until my parents were older.

In recent years I've noticed ADVENT CALENDERS - with little windows and treats being sold in stores in my area, I believe imported from Germany.

ICE SKATING

I watched the Winter Olympics last year and Ice Skating is always one of my favorite sports to watch because long ago I spent a winter season learning how. I never was able to make myself spin without falling.  

There was one woman skating to represent Hungary: Do you know her name?

THANKSGIVING is the MOST AMERICAN of ALL HOLIDAYS

Turkey wasn't always the THANKSGIVING BIRD!  In old Virginia it was the GOOSE that they ate...

Thanksgiving is the most American of Holidays for one reason; it is inclusive of people from ALL RELIGIONS including those who are not religious at all.  

This is a good time to cherish what we have, while also remembering those who do not have as much as we do.

MY HOME HUNGARY : HAZÁM MAGYARORSZÁG

CROWN OF ELIZABETH OF HUNGARY

ALL SOULS DAY IS a H U G E HOLIDAY OF ANCESTOR WORSHIP IN HUNGARY

I do my ancestor worship through genealogy and history research.  It is through this research that I have learned so much about people I never knew or even heard about because my Hungarian-heritage parent had not either. 

At one point in my research I got the impression that a spirit was watching over my shoulder as I constructed family charts. It was very quiet and there was a .. presence. 

I also had a dream during a period of intense research of someone - the hands were ghostly mist - coming to me and showing me who they were; if I ever see a photograph of the woman that those ghostly hands held I will know.

DUMNEAZU's blog here is fascinating (with wonderful pictures!) and you can link to it and find out that there is NO HALLOWEEN IN HUNGARY but ALL SOULS DAY is H U G E !

FIND A GRAVE - BELA LUGOSI

FIND A GRAVE has been useful in my personal genealogy research.  It started out as a site used to find the burial places for celebrities (I'm linking to BELA LUGOSI's grave!) but you can use it to find regular deceased folks too!


Click on the title of this post to get to the link!

The official BELA LUGOSI web site!

BELA LUGOSI is probably the best known male Hungarian actor who made it to Hollywood. He starred as Dracula.... Count Dracula of legend...  who actually may have been based on a real person VLAD THE IMPALER.


Free Screen Saver at this site.... hmmm... would you like it to be Halloween all year long?

THERE IS NO HALLOWEEN IN HUNGARY

There is no Halloween in Hungary...  But of course most Americans do celebrate this holiday beginning in grade school where the cycle of Holidays is usually played out througout the year.  For some this is an opportunity to wear a mask and costume and play at some alter-ego for a while.  Usually this is playful and silly and there is no harm in it at all.

Personally, I like the pumpkins and gourds, the harvest festival aspect of the American Holiday.   I also like the spiritual aspect of it, the idea that at this time of year this world you can celebrate or communicate with your ancestors. 

What I can do without is all the fright and gore,  the Haunted Houses, the way this celebration has been perverted into something evil rather than reverent.  There is no good reason as I see it for EVIL to be associated with this holiday or time of the year, as if evil doesn't exist all the time.  I don't think the celebration of ancestors or trying to communicate with them (this is usually through psychicism) is evil either.  For most of us, going through the family album or old scrapbooks is good enough. 

HUNGARIAN STEREOTYPES : EXCESS WITHOUT REGARD FOR HEALTH

One of the stereotypes of HUNGARIANS is that they all EAT, SMOKE, and DRINK to excess! (This has something to do with a passionate nature!)

C 2010 Magyar-American BlogSpot

Just a note: It is August 2022 and though I believe this stereotype is still holding, from what I've been reading it would seem that even Hungarians are on a health-kick, reducing the lard, making smoking against policy in many places.  I sure hope this doesn't mean enjoying life less.

RED SLUDGE MAKES IT TO THE DANUBE in HUNGARY - BREAKING NEWS

"The concentration of TOXIC HEAVY METALS  where Hungary's massive red sludge spill entered the Danube has dropped to the level allowed in drinking water, authorities said Friday, easing fears that Europe's second longest river would be significantly polluted.


Monday's reservoir break at an ALUNIMA PLANT  dumped up to 700,000 cubic meters (184 million gallons) of sludge onto three villages, government officials said, not much less in a few hours than the 200 million gallons the blown-out BP oil well gushed into the Gulf of Mexico over several months."


PABLO GORONDI reports for Associated Press - click on the title to get to the full news article!

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO YOU TO BE "HUNGARIAN" or "HUNGARIAN-AMERICAN" or

"MAGYAR-AMERICAN" ?