How to make a perfect pumpkin lantern

SHROVE TUESDAY /PANCAKE DAY

      Pancake Day (also known as Shrove Tuesday) is the last day before the period which Christians call LENT. It is traditional on this day to eat pancakes.

      Shrove Tuesday is celebrated the day before Ash Wednesday and is therefore the final day before the start of LENT, a Christian festival  leading up to Easter Sunday (Easter Day).

PANCAKE DAY STORY

ST VALENTINE´S DAY

THE HISTORY OF ST. VALENTINE

So, who was Saint Valentine and how did he become associated with this ancient rite? One legend contends that Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome. When Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, he outlawed marriage for young, single men -- his crop of potential soldiers. Valentine, realizing the injustice of the decree, defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. When Valentine's actions were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put to death.

According to one legend, Valentine actually sent the first 'valentine' greeting himself. While in prison, it is believed that Valentine fell in love with a young girl -- who may have been his jailor's daughter -- who visited him during his confinement. Before his death, it is alleged that he wrote her a letter, which he signed 'From your Valentine,' an expression that is still in use today. Although the truth behind the Valentine legends is murky, the stories certainly emphasize his appeal as a sympathetic, heroic, and, most importantly, romantic figure. It's no surprise that by the Middle Ages, Valentine was one of the most popular saints in England and France.

Gradually, February 14 became the date for exchanging love messages and St. Valentine became the patron saint of lovers. The date was marked by sending poems and simple gifts such as flowers.

CANDLEMAS (2nd February)

February 2nd is Candlemas Day.This ancient festival marks the midpoint of winter, halfway between the shortest day and the spring equinox. It was the day of the year when all the candles that were used in the church during the coming year were brought into church and a blessing was said over them- so it was the Festival Day (´or mass`) of the Candles.

Candlemas Superstitions

Predicting the weather

Candlemas is around the time that bears emerged from winter hibernation to inspect the weather as well as wolves, who if they chose to return to their lairs on this day was interpreted as meaning severe weather would continue for another forty days at least. In the United States and Canada, Candlemas evolved into Groundhog Day celebrated on the same date.

An ancient Scottish rhyme tells us:

If Candlemass day be dry and fair,

The half o' winter to come and mair

If Candlemass day be wet and foul.

The half o' winter gane at Yule.

This means that if it is nice on Candlemas Day you can expect six more weeks of yucky, winter weather, if it isn't nice on Candlemas Day, the weather should get nicer.

Bad Luck

Sailors are often reluctant to set sail on Candlemas Day, believing that any voyage begun then will end in disaster — given the frequency of severe storms in February, this is not entirely without sense.