What are some traditions that we can incorporate into our first Christmas solstice together? [more inside]
posted by PhoBWanKenobi on Nov 3, 2009 - 21 answers

What cultural or spiritual practice involves an alter or offering incorporating a dead chicken and money? [more inside]
posted by serazin on Sep 30, 2009 - 14 answers

The other day a childhood memory came back to me. Forgot all about it until we bought and were talking about our Easter Eggs. [more inside]
posted by Webbster on Apr 12, 2009 - 6 answers

What is the history behind pinching those who don't wear green on St. Patrick's Day? This WikiAnswer page says it was thought that "if you wore green, it made you invisible to the Leprechauns, which was good because they would pinch anyone they could see." [more inside]
posted by filthy light thief on Mar 17, 2009 - 17 answers

How accurate is Punxsutawney Phil? [more inside]
posted by Steve_at_Linnwood on Feb 2, 2009 - 9 answers

How to have an Italian wedding? [more inside]
posted by jrichards on Jan 19, 2009 - 13 answers

Do atheists and agnostics put up Christmas trees? [more inside]
posted by netbros on Dec 7, 2008 - 78 answers

This is the first Thanksgiving we're having since my mom passed away 4 months ago, and I'm not looking forward to it. My sister has invited my little family (me, hubby, and 3yr old) to her in-laws house, but I'm not comfortable with their family. I want to start a tradition at our home, cook something small but special, and do something so I'm not thinking about her all day and how much my heart is broken. [more inside]
posted by czechmate on Nov 15, 2008 - 23 answers

What are some UK Christmas holiday traditions? [more inside]
posted by santojulieta on Nov 14, 2008 - 21 answers

Just found out we have been invited to attend a Jewish friend's home for Sukkot today. [more inside]
posted by mamaraks on Oct 19, 2008 - 16 answers

Help me identify: possibly Judaic (maybe Yiddish) folk tradition of a very small group of individuals for whom God allows the world exist. The point being there's no way of knowing if any individual is one of those chosen few, thus necessitating kindness and decency to all. [more inside]
posted by potch on Aug 4, 2008 - 15 answers

Is the Eugen Weber lecture series 'The Western Tradition' available via podcast? [more inside]
posted by Asherah on Jun 11, 2008 - 1 answer

When was the past better than the present? I'd like to know the word or phrase that describes the romanticism people have of the past, e.g. "In those days, children respected their elders!". I was watching the documentary Born Rich and Cody Franchetti mentions that the encyclopedia was better in the early 20th century. Why? This feeling that "old ways are better" is not exactly nostalgia, because often people expressing this sentiment didn't actually grow up in this utopian past. But their feelings toward this time are exactly like nostalgia. [more inside]
posted by Monochrome on May 6, 2008 - 16 answers

How do I gently tell my mom that I do not want her to join my dad in walking me down the aisle? [more inside]
posted by nataliedanger on May 5, 2008 - 27 answers

What do different cultures do with a bird's wish-bone? [more inside]
posted by tumbleweedjack on Apr 15, 2008 - 3 answers

I am buying the girlfriend a locket. One of the ones I am looking at has a space for a photo on each side. What goes where? [more inside]
posted by cjorgensen on Apr 14, 2008 - 15 answers

What's on the dinner table at your Polish Easter celebration? [more inside]
posted by dancinglamb on Feb 24, 2008 - 11 answers

How common is it for couples to get married without an expensive engagement ring? [more inside]
posted by mpls2 on Nov 19, 2007 - 117 answers

I have lived in a studio apartment for the past several years and avoided having people over to hang out. Now that I've graduated to a one-bedroom apartment, I'm more comfortable having comany over again. My apartment is still pretty small, but I'm working on making it inviting. My idea: First Friday movie night. Now what? [more inside]
posted by meindee on Oct 23, 2007 - 30 answers

Which aspects of everyday life for Samuel Johnson or Benjamin Franklin have now essentially vanished from the world? [more inside]
posted by holgate on Sep 10, 2007 - 54 answers

Why does a building under construction have a leafy branch tacked to the peak of the first roof joist over the building entrance? [more inside]
posted by onhazier on Dec 1, 2006 - 7 answers

Hello dudes. Do you know where I can find recordings of good oral tradition storytellers on/offline? (in English)
posted by London Irregular on Nov 29, 2006 - 9 answers

I was in a bar the other night and the bartender passed out a poker chip to everybody in the house, which was, I found out, how the bartender or bar owner buys a round for everybody. I never saw this before. How widespread is this tradition (a round on the house via passing out a token to everybody?)
posted by stupidsexyFlanders on Nov 12, 2006 - 21 answers

Is there a traditional kind of flower or color of rose given for the birth of a baby boy? A friend of mine just delivered, and I want to skip the blue teddy bears and get this right.
posted by symbebekos on Jan 24, 2005 - 5 answers

I gave my girlfriend's grandmother a set of kitchen knives as a gift. She told my girlfriend I needed to give her a penny as well, for good luck. I remember when I was a kid, my dad would give me pocket knives, but ask that I give him a penny in return (he used to say something like, "You can't give or trade someone for a knife. You have to sell it to them." I can understand the selling part, except why would I have to give my girlfriend's grandmother a penny as well? Anyone know the origin of this tradition? Or is it a superstition?
posted by robbie01 on Jan 23, 2005 - 18 answers

When do the 12 days of Christmas actually begin?
posted by oh posey on Dec 12, 2003 - 6 answers