Happy Thanksgiving! If you live in the USA, you're most likely getting ready to celebrate a Thanksgiving supper with friends and family this Thursday. (Canadians, of course, already celebrated a national Thanksgiving holiday in October.)
But though Thanksgiving may seem like a purely North American observance, it has its roots in ancient European harvest traditions as well as religious rites that go back to the Protestant Reformation. The Puritans even brought their own blend of solemn prayers of thanksgiving and harvest feasts to the New World when they sailed to America on the Mayflower.
English harvest festivals date back thousands of years and many of the customs that started in antiquity are still practiced in some isolated areas of the United Kingdom. Called Harvest Home or Ingathering, these celebrations include songs, sermons, games and decorations using flowers and ribbons. And of course, there is a bounteous feast celebrating the fruits of the harvest.
One popular British…
But though Thanksgiving may seem like a purely North American observance, it has its roots in ancient European harvest traditions as well as religious rites that go back to the Protestant Reformation. The Puritans even brought their own blend of solemn prayers of thanksgiving and harvest feasts to the New World when they sailed to America on the Mayflower.
English harvest festivals date back thousands of years and many of the customs that started in antiquity are still practiced in some isolated areas of the United Kingdom. Called Harvest Home or Ingathering, these celebrations include songs, sermons, games and decorations using flowers and ribbons. And of course, there is a bounteous feast celebrating the fruits of the harvest.
One popular British…