Storytime Tapestry Newsletter

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Welcome to Fascinating Facts and Tantalizing Trivia

A Hartson Dowd Column

Sept 14, 2006

Canadian Festivals or National Holidays during Mid-September

            Chilean-Canadians commemorate the independence of their country (1818) with a Pena,

or party.  They sing and dance and enjoy such special food as empanadas (meat pastries with an egg and olive filling,) and chichi, a drink much like cider. 

            Many Chileans came to Canada after the overthrow of Salvador Allende’s Marxist government in 1973.  Coincidently, Allende was elected president was elected president on this same date, September 18, 1970.

A Pena of much larger proportions is held at the C.N.E. (Canada National Exhibition) grounds in Toronto.  Mid September is the time that many Spanish-speaking countries celebrate their national holidays.  Canadians from Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Mexico join together for a huge Hispanic Festival.  There is so much to enjoy---delicious foods from every region, music, native dancing and, for the children, pi?atas.

For some Roman Catholics and members of the Greek Orthodox Church, September 14^th marks the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross.  Special church services celebrate the discovery of the cross on which Jesus was crucified.  (There is also a holiday on May 3^rd, when Filipino groups celebrate Santa Cruzan, or the day of Commemoration of the Holy Cross).

            In Greece, the priest of the church will throw a cross from the shore into the sea.  Many young men dive into the depths until the cross is found.  The finder keeps the cross and receives a blessing.  Some churches in Nova Scotia continue that tradition, but in many areas across our country it is too cold even for the hardiest of divers.

            In 1981, the General Assembly of the United Nations named its opening day the “International Day of Peace.”  Since then, many schools across Canada have chosen to have peace assemblies or some other form of commemoration for this day.  At one local school, each class is responsible for making a “Peace Wreath” and these wreaths are presented a  “Peace Assembly,” a celebration of music and poetry.  At the end of the assembly, all students join hands and sing the beautiful “Let There Be Peace on Earth.”  It is really very moving and I feel that the children do get an idea of what peace can mean for them.

            When the sun crosses the plane of the earth’s equator on March 21^st, and again on September 21^st, night and day are of equal length all over the world.  This is known as the vernal equinox.

            September 22 and 23 signals the arrival of autumn, the most beautiful season in Canada.

            Members of the Wiccan faith celebrate Mahon (also called Harvest Home) on September 22^nd.  Most festivals of the Wiccan church follow the logic of seasonal progression, and the festival gives testament to this.  Mahon celebrates the encapsulation of life in the form of the seed in which it survives the cold barren winter.  Mahon also celebrates the grape harvest or “Harvest of the Vine,” which symbolizes the power of the Goddess to change the sweet nectar of youth into the wisdom of old age and spiritual maturity.

            Our Chinese-Canadian friends have a Mid-Autumn Festival which falls on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, toward the end of September.  This is known as the “Moon Festival,” because it is held at the time of the full moon.  Centuries ago, the Babylonians and other ancient peoples compared the moon to a boat, which floats over the ocean to heaven.  The Chinese say more.  They saw a hare sitting under a cassia tree: the hare is using the leaves and the bark of the tree to prepare a drug that, supposedly, assures long life.

            It was the old custom for the women of the family to build an alter in the courtyard of the house.  In the centre of the alter was a long-eared hare and a plate of thirteen moon cakes, one day for each month of the Chinese year.

            The tasty moon cakes are still made today, and there are twenty to thirty varieties.  Their round moon-shape symbolizes family unity.  These cakes are made with greyish flour and are often filled with spices, nuts, lotus seed paste, or red bean paste.  Some even have a duck egg in the centre.

            The Mid-Autumn Festival is often held outdoors.  People usually travel long distances to be together, and family reunions are traditional on this day.  Picnics or feasts of crabmeat, fruit and rice cakes are part of the celebration.

            Before the feast, there is a lantern procession.  The lanterns are often elaborate and very colourful, and their shapes are symbolic of ancient Chinese beliefs.  As you would imagine, the most common shape is round (like the moon), symbolizing perfect joy and the cycle of life.  Lobster-shaped lanterns will bring happiness and contentment; butterflies signal long life; and the fish assures the owner will do well scholastically.

            Traditionally, this festival comes after the harvest, and it becomes a time to rest and enjoy life.

            The Mid-Autumn Festival is celebrated by many Asian communities.  In Korea it is called Hangwai or Ch’usok; in Hong Kong it is Chung Ch’iu; and in Taiwan, it is called Tong-chhiu Choeh.  In Vietnam, the Mid-Autumn Festival is a children’s day, known as Trung-Thu.  The children carry lanterns, shaped like fish, dragons or boats, in the Lion Parade.  Here in Canada, Vietnamese celebrations are similar; complete with a lion parade and lantern processions.

Hartson Sager Dowd

hsdowd@telus.net