Where does the tradition of kissing under the misteltoe come from?
925091
Kissing under the mistletoe is first found associated with )the Greek festival of Saturnalia) and later with primitive marriage rites. Mistletoe was believed to have the power of bestowing fertility, and the dung from which the mistletoe was thought to arise was also said to have "life-giving" power. \n\nIn Scandinavia, mistletoe was considered a plant of peace, under which enemies could declare a truce or warring spouses kiss and make-up. \n\nIn some parts of England the Christmas mistletoe is burned on the twelfth night lest all the boys and girls who have kissed under it never marry. \n\nAnd for those who wish to observe the correct etiquette: a man should pluck a berry when he kisses a woman under the mistletoe, and when the last berry is gone, there should be no more kissing!
304302
"More commonly known today as the bachelor party, this celebration in the groom's honor was originally called the bachelor dinner, or stag party. Like many other wedding traditions, the custom has stood the test of time. It first came about in the fifth century, in Sparta, where military comrades would feast and toast one another on the eve of a friend's wedding. Even today, a bachelor party customarily takes place quite close to the actual wedding date, as it has become known as the groom's last taste of freedom. Despite the risqué entertainment that is associated with stag parties today, bachelor parties have not always entailed this controversial element. Although rowdy and boisterous, bachelor parties are traditionally organized to allow the jittery groom and his wedding attendants to release some anxieties before the big day.\n"
109931
well..here it is..\n\nEveryone thinks they know the origin of Valentine's Day. According to the most commonly accepted story, Emperor Claudius of Rome issued a decree forbidding marriage in the year 271. Roman generals had found that married men did not make very good soldiers, because they wanted to return as quickly as possible to their wives and children-and they didn't want to leave them to fight the emperor's battles in the first place. So Claudius issued his edict that there should be no more marriages, and all single men should report for duty.\n \nA priest named Valentine deemed such a decree an abomination, and he secretly continued to marry young lovers. When Claudius learned of this extreme act of disobedience to his imperial command, he ordered the priest dragged off to prison and had him executed on February 14.\n \nFather Valentine, the friend of sweethearts, became a martyr to love and the sanctity of marriage, and when the Church gained power in the Roman Empire, the Holy See was quick to make him a saint.\n \nThe early Church fathers were well aware of the popularity of a vast number of heathen gods and goddesses, as well as the dates of observation of pagan festivals, so they set about replacing as many of the entities and the holidays as possible with ecclesiastical saints and feast days. Mid-February had an ancient history of being devoted to acts of love of a far more passionate and lusty nature than the Church wished to bless, and the bishops moved as speedily as possible to claim the days of February 14 through 17 as belonging to Saint Valentine, the courageous martyr to the ties that bound couples in Christian love.
75357
good question -- i've asked it myself. what i've come up w/thru googling is that it's a custom derived from european handfasting ceremony. i've also read that it was "made up" by the enslaved africans. here's a couple sources
18232
It is a form of affection started in the 1200's.  Back then people would spit on each other to let them know that they liked each other.  However, so many people were dying from the spread of diseases that the custom is to now spit on the ground instead.\n\nIn the 1900's, some cities were plagued with spitting by youth that didn't really know what it meant. It got so out of hand that they actually made it a ticketable offense to spit on the sidewalk within city limits.\n\nToday, it is mostly know as a favorite pastime for baseball players.  They love each other so much that they actually use glass laden tobacco to help stimulate the saliva glands.  They continually show their affection for their teammates throughout the game.
91881
i don't know much, but do u know about the "French Kiss"? in France, they don't kiss like that, they actually call that the "English Kiss"
200144
I would think that kissing becomes sinful, according to Christianty, when it becomes sexual in the mind when you are not married.  The ten commandments says if a man looks at another woman with lust in his eyes he has basically committed adultry, so I would think that would apply to kissing as well as far as controlling yourself to not sin in your mind.  Christianty = complete mind control through actions taken.
1041466
You know, many of our wedding traditions come from strange things.  Originally weddings took place in June because that is when most people took their yearly bath and that made the wedding party more attractive by being less stinky (also easier to assemble a large group without folks fainting from stink).  The wedding bouquet also was related to our hygiene - the bride and brides maids would carry very aromatic flowers to camouflage any odor they would have due to infrequent baths.\n\nWhat I am trying to say is that many of the old customs don't really apply today, though they are still nice to observe.\n\nHaving said that, in all the weddings I have attended, I never heard that a veil indicated virginity - only the color of the wedding dress.  Pure white implies pure and virginal (which mean hymen membrane in tact - no intercourse i.e. penetration) Off white implies less than pure and darker than that implies previously married (my mother wore a light blue dress at her second wedding).\n\nSo where a veil if you want.  Where white if you want.  Your Virginity is your own private business.  Peace!
422855
I have been to college myself. I never heard of Kissology (the study of kisses) 101. that is pretty funny, but maybe he is right.  Did you know that kissing can be considered a sexual act within itself?  After I read that, I stopped kissing around.  (I am so giggly right now, i have got to go.)
337641
The merry wives of Windsor by Shakespeare.\n\nBut it was originally said by Publius Syrus in 42 b.c.
127160
The English language is most weird.\nWhy even call it making love if often it is gratifying lust?\nOne can not tell by outside observation what is happening with two people during coitus.  While one is expressing a deep emotion, the other could be merely fulfilling a physical desire.  And two people caught in the throws of pure unadulterated lust might seem just as good about what is going on as two partners who are strengthening their bonds by physical and emotional intimacy.\nThe biggest issue is that for most of English history, sex was to be hidden and not even spoken about.  It is no wonder that communication about such topics is so difficult today.
567263
Wedding traditions in France\nhttp://www.worldweddingtraditions.com/locations/west_europe_traditions/french_traditions.html\n\nChristmas Traditions in France\nhttp://french.about.com/cs/culture/a/christmas.htm\n\nHope this info helps
339187
I have no clue but as long as we are on the pushing subject, where did pushing up the daisies come from??? hmmm
796701
Traditionally, dating is taboo in Indian culture, therefore public displays of affection are also. Also, in India it's still illegal to kiss in public! However, people often show affection to their kids. These are just cultural practices.
106476
The holiday probably derives from the ancient Roman feast of Lupercalis (February 15). Originally a festival for shepherds, it was celebrated in honour of Faunus. Its primary purpose was to secure fertility for the fields, the flocks, and the shepherds themselves. The festival gradually became associated with the feast day (February 14) of two Roman martyrs, both named St Valentine, who lived in the 3rd century, but about whom nothing specific is known. St Valentine has traditionally been regarded as the patron saint of lovers. An early reference is found in the works of Chaucer, who states that birds pair on St Valentine’s Day. The practice of calling oneself a “valentine” and asking one’s beloved to be the same, is referred to in the Paston Letters, the largest surviving collection of 15th-century English correspondence written by the Paston family and their neighbours in Norfolk.
457976
romadgo..utter rubbish!...Nothing wrong in common law marriages, I do not live in the US, I am pagan and as a pagan I got 'wed' we had a handfastening ceremony.  Just because its not recognised by law doesnt mean it doesnt work.  Many of my friends live with their life partner, and have kids. A piece of paper doesnt keep you together, love does
1092378
Story of Christmas\nA. Roman pagans first introduced the holiday of Saturnalia, a week long period of lawlessness celebrated between December 17-25. During this period, Roman courts were closed, and Roman law dictated that no one could be punished for damaging property or injuring people during the weeklong celebration. The festival began when Roman authorities chose “an enemy of the Roman people” to represent the “Lord of Misrule.” Each Roman community selected a victim whom they forced to indulge in food and other physical pleasures throughout the week. At the festival’s conclusion, December 25th, Roman authorities believed they were destroying the forces of darkness by brutally murdering this innocent man or woman.\n\nB. The ancient Greek writer poet and historian Lucian (in his dialogue entitled Saturnalia) describes the festival’s observance in his time. In addition to human sacrifice, he mentions these customs: widespread intoxication; going from house to house while singing naked; rape and other sexual license; and consuming human-shaped biscuits (still produced in some English and most German bakeries during the Christmas season).\n\nC. In the 4th century CE, Christianity imported the Saturnalia festival hoping to take the pagan masses in with it. Christian leaders succeeded in converting to Christianity large numbers of pagans by promising them that they could continue to celebrate the Saturnalia as Christians.[2]\n\nD. The problem was that there was nothing intrinsically Christian about Saturnalia. To remedy this, these Christian leaders named Saturnalia’s concluding day, December 25th, to be Jesus’ birthday.\n\nE. Christians had little success, however, refining the practices of Saturnalia. As Stephen Nissenbaum, professor history at the University of Massachussetts, Amherst, writes, “In return for ensuring massive observance of the anniversary of the Savior’s birth by assigning it to this resonant date, the Church for its part tacitly agreed to allow the holiday to be celebrated more or less the way it had always been.” The earliest Christmas holidays were celebrated by drinking, sexual indulgence, singing naked in the streets (a precursor of modern caroling), etc.\n\nF. The Reverend Increase Mather of Boston observed in 1687 that “the early Christians who first observed the Nativity on December 25 did not do so thinking that Christ was born in that Month, but because the Heathens’ Saturnalia was at that time kept in Rome, and they were willing to have those Pagan Holidays metamorphosed into Christian ones.”[3] Because of its known pagan origin, Christmas was banned by the Puritans and its observance was illegal in Massachusetts between 1659 and 1681.[4] However, Christmas was and still is celebrated by most Christians.\n\nG. Some of the most depraved customs of the Saturnalia carnival were intentionally revived by the Catholic Church in 1466 when Pope Paul II, for the amusement of his Roman citizens, forced Jews to race naked through the streets of the city. An eyewitness account reports, “Before they were to run, the Jews were richly fed, so as to make the race more difficult for them and at the same time more amusing for spectators. They ran… amid Rome’s taunting shrieks and peals of laughter, while the Holy Father stood upon a richly ornamented balcony and laughed heartily.”[5]\n\nH. As part of the Saturnalia carnival throughout the 18th and 19th centuries CE, rabbis of the ghetto in Rome were forced to wear clownish outfits and march through the city streets to the jeers of the crowd, pelted by a variety of missiles. When the Jewish community of Rome sent a petition in1836 to Pope Gregory XVI begging him to stop the annual Saturnalia abuse of the Jewish community, he responded, “It is not opportune to make any innovation.”[6] On December 25, 1881, Christian leaders whipped the Polish masses into Antisemitic frenzies that led to riots across the country. In Warsaw 12 Jews