The First Square: All Saints Day, Día de Muertos and Calan Gaeaf

All Saints Day / Día de Muertos

All Saints' Day (also known as All Hallows' Day, Hallowmas, Feast of All Saints, or Solemnity of All Saints) is a Christian festival celebrated in honor of all the saints, known and unknown. In Western Christianity, it is celebrated on November 1 by the Roman Catholic Church, the Anglican Communion, the Methodist Church, the Lutheran Church, and other Protestant churches. Christian celebration of All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day stems from a belief that there is a powerful spiritual bond between those in heaven and those still living. In Catholic theology, the day commemorates all those who have attained the beatific vision in Heaven. It is a national holiday in many historically Catholic countries. In Methodist theology, All Saints Day revolves around giving God solemn thanks for the lives and deaths of his saints.


Día de Muertos is a holiday celebrated throughout Mexico and by people of Mexican ancestry living in other places, e.g., in the United States. In Mexico the day is a public holiday; it is also acknowledged, however, internationally in many other countries. The multi-day holiday focuses on gatherings of family and friends to pray for and remember friends and family members who have died, and help support their spiritual journey. Prior to Spanish colonization in the 16th century, the celebration took place at the beginning of summer. Gradually, it was associated with November 1 and November 2, to coincide with All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day. Traditions connected with the holiday include building private altars (ofrendas), honoring the deceased using calaveras (decorated skull effigies), Aztec marigolds, and the favorite foods and beverages of the departed, and visiting graves with these as gifts. Visitors also leave possessions of the deceased at the graves. – The Spanish tradition includes festivals and parades, as well as gatherings of families at cemeteries to pray for their deceased loved ones at the end of the day.

With their colorful expressionism, Día de Muertos celebrations provide a striking contrast to the muted colors and – in the Northern hemisphere – frequently gray November skies predominating on All Saints’ Day.

The Reading Tasks:
Read a book that has a primarily black and white or gray cover, or one that has all the colors (ROYGBIV) on the cover.

Or:

Other tasks:
Create a short poem or an epitaph for your most hated book ever.



Calan Gaeaf
Calan Gaeaf is the name of the first day of winter in Wales, observed on November 1. Spirits are believed to be abroad the night before, and people avoid churchyards, stiles, and crossroads, since this is where spirits are thought to be gathering. During Calan Gaeaf, it is the custom for children and women to dance around a village fire, while everyone writes their names on rocks and places them in and around that fire. When the fire starts to die out, they all run home: Superstition has it that those who stay will have their souls eaten by a bad omen taking the form of a tailless black sow with a headless woman. The following morning, all the stones containing villagers' names are checked, and if a stone is missing, the person who wrote their name on that stone is believed to die within a year. – According to another tradition associated with the holiday, ground ivy leaves, put under a boy’s head before he goes to sleep at night, are thought to convey to him the power to see hags and have prophetic dreams. A girl, on the other hand, should take a wild rose grown into a hoop, creep through it three times, cut it in silence, and go to bed with it under her pillow. In the Southern province of Glamorgan, tailors were once associated with witchcraft as well.

The Reading Tasks:
Read any of your planned Halloween Bingo books that you didn’t end up reading after all, especially if it features witches or witchcraft. (Ditto if you didn’t participate in the Halloween Bingo of course: Read a book featuring witches or witchcraft.) Alternatively, read a book with ivy or roses on the cover, or a book with “Ivy” or “Rose(s)” in the title or as character names.

Or –

Other Tasks:
If you’re superstition-proof, inscribe your name on a rock, toss it in a fire and take a picture to post. Or if you prefer, make a cozy wintertime dish involving leaks (the national plant of Wales) and post the recipe and pictures.

Can we please have the individual graphics as they appear on the card? That way when we post our reads and tasks, they will match with the card, the way we did with Halloween Bingo.

Reply to post #2 (show post):
You mean, just the individual squares as separate graphics? Yes - that I can definitely do. It'll just take a few hours, since I have some general catch-up/housekeeping tasks I have to do first.

I'll post them in the general announcement thread though, ok? Will make it easier for everyone to find and keep things organised. :)

Yay! No big rush, just whenever it's convenient. For those of us who are visual.

The Second Square: Guy Fawkes Night and Bon Om Touk


Guy Fawkes Night
Guy Fawkes Night, also known as Bonfire Night, is an annual commemoration observed on November 5, primarily in Great Britain. Its history begins with the events of November 5, 1605, when Guy Fawkes and his co-conspirators of the so-called Gunpowder Plot were arrested for planning to blow up explsives placed beneath the House of Lords. Celebrating the fact that King James I had survived the attempt on his life, people lit bonfires around London, and several months later an Act of Parliament enforced an annual public day of thanksgiving for the plot's failure. Traditionally, Guy Fawkes Night bonfires are kindled by a supersized straw effigy.

The Reading Tasks:
Read a book about the English monarchy (any genre) –OR– about political treason –OR– a political thriller –OR– a book where fire is a major theme –OR– which has an image of a fire on the cover.

–OR–

Other Tasks:
Post pictures of past or present bonfires, fireworks (IF THEY’RE LEGAL) or sparklers. –OR– Host a traditional English tea party, or make yourself a nice cup of tea and settle down with a good book to read. Which kind of tea is your favorite? Tell us why.


Bon Om Touk
The Cambodian Water Festival Bon Om Touk is celebrated in early November and commemorates the end of the country's rainy season, as well as the annual reversal of the flow of the Tonle Sap River, the central part of a hydrological system in the Lower Mekong Basin which the Mekong River replenishes with water and sediments annually. The Water Festival was first celebrated in the 12th century, around the time of Angkorian King Jayavarman VII, when the King’s Navy helped usher in the Cambodian fishing season. The festivities made the gods happy and secured good harvests of rice and fish in the upcoming year. Another interpretation is that Bon Om Touk was a way for the King to prepare his navy for battle. -- The biggest celebrations take place in Phnom Penh, lasting night and day for three days, with boat racing along the Sisowath Quay and concerts.

The Reading Tasks:
Read a book that takes place on the sea, near the sea, or on a lake or a river –OR– read a book that has water on the cover.

–OR–

Other Tasks:
Post a picture from your most recent or favorite vacation on the sea (or a lake, river, or any other body of water larger than a puddle) –OR– if you're living on the sea or on a lake or a river, post a picture of your favorite spot on the shore / banks / beach / at the nearest harbour.

The Third Square: St. Martin's Day and Armistice Day / Veterans' Day


St. Martin’s Day
St. Martin's Day, also known as the Feast of Saint Martin, Martinstag or Martinmas, is the feast day of Saint Martin of Tours (Martin le Miséricordieux, a Roman soldier turned monk after his baptism), and it is celebrated on November 11. This is the time when autumn wheat seeding was completed, and when historically hiring fairs were held where farm laborers would seek new posts. – The best-known legend associated with his life is that he once cut his cloak in half to share with a beggar during a snowstorm, to save the beggar from dying from the cold. In a dream, St. Martin saw the beggar revealed as Jesus Christ.

St. Martin’s Day processions – which typically end up with a bonfire – are held in the evening, with participating children carrying colorful lanterns (often homemade). The goose became a symbol of St. Martin of Tours, because legend has it that when trying to avoid being ordained bishop he hid in a goose pen, but was betrayed by the cackling of the geese. (St. Martin's feast day falls in November, when geese are ready for killing.) He is also credited with helping spread viticulture in the Touraine region. A pastry associated with St. Martin’s Day in parts of the German-speaking world is the “Weckmann”, a sweet yeast dough figure with raisin eyes clutching a white clay pipe. (Elsewhere, it’s more commonly eaten on St. Nicholas’ Day.)

The Reading Tasks:
Read a book set on a vineyard, or in a rural setting, –OR– a story where the MC searches for/gets a new job. –OR– A book with a lantern on the cover, or books set before the age of electricity. –OR– A story dealing with an act of selfless generosity (like St. Martin sharing his cloak with a beggar).

–OR–

Other Tasks:
Write a Mother Goose-style rhyme or a limerick; the funnier the better. –OR– Take a picture of the book you’re currently reading, next to a glass of wine, or the drink of your choice, with or without a fire in the background. –OR– Bake a Weckmann; if you’re not a dab hand with yeast baking, make a batch of gingerbread men, or something else that’s typical of this time of the year where you live. Post pics of the results and the recipe if you’d like to share it.



Armistice Day / Veterans’ Day
Armistice Day is commemorated every year on November 11 to mark the armistice signed between the Allies of World War I and Germany at Compiègne, France, for the cessation of hostilities on the Western Front of WW I, which took effect at 11:00 AM – the "eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month" of 1918. The date was declared a national holiday in many allied nations, and coincides with Remembrance Day in the British Commonwealth and Veterans’ Day in the U.S., both public holidays. The poppy became the international symbol of the day as a result of its being mentioned in the poem In Flanders Fields by Canadian physician Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae, which commemorates the fallen soldiers buried under the Flanders poppy fields.

The Reading Tasks:
Read a book involving veterans of any war, books about WWI or WWII (fiction or non-fiction). –OR– Read a book with poppies on the cover.

–OR–

Other Tasks:
Make, or draw a red poppy and show us a pic of your red poppy or other symbol of remembrance –OR– post a quote or a piece of poetry about the ravages of war.

The Fourth Square: Penance Day and Thanksgiving


Buß- und Bettag (Penance Day, or Day of Repentance and Prayer) (November 22)
Buß- und Bettag was a public holiday in Germany until 1994, and is still a public holiday in Saxony and a school holiday in Bavaria. In Germany and Switzerland, Protestant church bodies of Lutheran, Reformed (Calvinist) and United denominations celebrate a day of repentance and prayer on the penultimate Wednesday before the beginning of the Protestant liturgical year on the first Sunday of Advent (i.e., the Wednesday that falls between November 16 and 22.

The Reading Tasks:
Read a book that has a monk, nun, pastor / preacher, priest or other representative of the organized church as a protagonist, or where someone is struggling with feelings of guilt or with their conscience (regardless over what).

–OR–

Other Tasks:
Tell us – what has recently made you stop in your tracks and think? –OR– What was a big turning point in your life? –OR– Penance Day is a holiday of the Protestant church, which dates its origins, in large parts, to Martin Luther, who published his “95 Theses” exactly 500 years ago this year. Compile a catalogue of theses (it needn’t be 95) about book blogging! What suggestions or ideas would you propose to improve the experience of book blogging?



Thanksgiving (November 23)
To most of this community, this is going to be carrying turkeys to Plymouth, but just in case ...

Thanksgiving Day is a national holiday celebrated in the United States, Canada, some of the Caribbean islands, and Liberia. It began as a day of giving thanks for the blessing of the harvest and of the preceding year; similarly named festival holidays occur in Germany and Japan, albeit not at the same time. Thanksgiving is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States and on the second Monday of October in Canada. Although Thanksgiving has historical roots in religious and cultural traditions, it has long been celebrated as a secular holiday as well; in the U.S. the First Thanksgiving is believed to have been held by the Puritan settlers in the early 17th century. Traditions associated with Thanksgiving in North America include family gatherings for a dinner of roasted turkey, potatoes, squash / pumpkins and gravy, as well as spiced pumpkin or apple pie for desert.

The Reading Tasks:
Read a book with a theme of coming together to help a community or family in need. –OR– A book with a turkey or pumpkin on the cover.

–OR–

Other Tasks:
List of 5 things you’re grateful for –OR– a picture of your thanksgiving feast; post your favourite turkey-day recipe. –OR– Be thankful for yourself and treat yourself to a new book - post a picture of it.

Bonus task: share your most hilarious turkey-day memory.

Thie Fifth Square - Advent (December 3 and following three Sundays)

This, again, may be the "16 Festive Tasks" equivalent to carrying coals to Newcastle, but anyway ...:

Advent is a season observed in many Christian churches as a time of expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration of the Nativity of Jesus at Christmas. The term is a version of the Latin word meaning "coming". Advent is the beginning of the Western liturgical year and commences on the fourth Sunday before Christmas (sometimes known as Advent Sunday), the Sunday nearest to St. Andrew's Day (November 30), in the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church and, inter alia, in the Anglican, Lutheran, Presbyterian and Methodist calendars. – Practices associated with Advent include keeping an Advent calendar, lighting an Advent wreath, praying an Advent daily devotional, as well as other ways of preparing for Christmas, such as setting up Christmas decorations.

As Advent involves four Sundays, we’ve assigned one square to this period, with the four Sundays (and four candles on the Advent wreath) corresponding with four sets of tasks.


The Reading Tasks:
Read
(1) a book with a wreath or with pines or fir trees on the cover; or
(2) the 4th book from a favorite series, or a book featuring 4 siblings, or a book involving a countdown to something.

–OR–

Other Tasks:
(1) Post a picture of your advent calendar, if you have one. (Festive cat, dog, hamster or other suitable pet background expressly encouraged.)
(2) Tell us: What in the immediate or near future are you most looking forward to? (This can be a book release, or a tech gadget, or an event … whatever you next expect to make you really happy.)

Bonus task: make your own advent calendar and post it.

The Sixth Square: Sinterklaas / Krampusnacht / St. Nicholas's Day & Bodhi Day


Sinterklaas / Krampusnacht (December 5th) / St. Nicholas Day (December 6th)
Saint Nicholas, also called Nikolaos of Myra, was a historic 4th-century Christian saint and Greek Bishop of Myra, in Asia Minor (modern-day Demre, Turkey). Because of the many miracles attributed to his intercession, he is also known as Nikolaos the Wonderworker. His legendary habit of secret gift-giving gave rise to the traditional model of Santa Claus, through the Dutch Sinterklaas. Saint Nicholas is the patron saint of everybody from sailors and merchants to archers, repentant thieves, children, brewers, pawnbrokers and students in various cities and countries around Europe. The best-known legend associated with him is his secret nightly gift of money to a pauper whose daughters would have had to remain unmarried if their father had not been able to pay their dowry. According to one version of the legend, in order to remain undetected, St. Nicholas dropped the final bag of gold down the chimney. According to another one, the daughter who was the intended recipient had washed her stockings that evening and hung them over the embers to dry, and that the bag of gold fell into a stocking. – Gifts that children find in their shoes (or stockings) on Sinterklaas / St. Nicholas Day include tangerines, walnuts, chocolates and cookies.


In German and parts of Central European folklore, St. Nicholas has a companion variously known as Knecht Ruprecht or Krampus. While Knecht Ruprecht is a human, Krampus is a horned, anthropomorphic figure, half-goat, half-demon, possibly of pre-Christian origin. During the Christmas season, this companion punishes children who have misbehaved, in contrast with Saint Nicholas, who rewards the well-behaved with gifts. Children can avoid punishment by, inter alia reciting a short piece of memorized poetry to St. Nicholas as a sign of good behavior.

The Reading Tasks:
Read a story involving children or a young adult book, or a book with oranges on the cover, or whose cover is primarily orange (for the Dutch House of Orange) –OR– with tangerines, walnuts, chocolates, or cookies on the cover.

–OR–

Other Tasks:
Write a witty or humorous poem to St. Nicholas –OR– If you have kids, leave coins or treats, like tangerines, walnuts, chocolate(s) and cookies [more common in Germany] in their shoes to find the next morning and then post about their reactions/bewilderment. ;) If you don’t have kids, do the same for another family member / loved one or a friend.



Bodhi Day (December 8th)
Bodhi Day is the Buddhist holiday that commemorates the day that the historical Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama, experienced enlightenment, also known as bodhi in Sanskrit and Pali. According to tradition, Siddhartha – an ascetic born as a prince in the Northern part of the Indian Subcontinent, in an area today partly in Nepal and partly in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh (India) – had recently forsaken years of extreme ascetic practices and resolved to sit under a peepal tree and simply meditate until he found the root of suffering, and how to liberate oneself from it. As the morning star rose in the sky in the early morning of the third watch of the night, Siddhartha finally found the answers he sought, became enlightened, and experienced Nirvana (in Buddhist belief, the ultimate state of release from the cycle of birth-and-pain-and-death). As a result, he became a Buddha or Awakened One.

The Reading Tasks:
Read a book set in Nepal, India or Tibet, –OR– which involves animal rescue. (Buddhism calls for a vegetarian lifestyle.)

–OR–

Other Tasks:
Perform a random act of kindness. Feed the birds, adopt a pet, hold the door open for someone with a smile, or stop to pet a dog (that you know to be friendly); cull your books and donate them to a charity, etc. (And, in a complete break with the Buddha’s teachings, tell us about it.) –OR– Post a picture of your pet, your garden, or your favourite, most peaceful place in the world.

The Seventh Square: International Human Rights Day and St. Lucia's Day


International Human Rights Day (December 10th)
Human Rights Day is celebrated annually across the world on December 10 every year. The date was chosen to honor the United Nations General Assembly's adoption and proclamation, on December 10, 1948, of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), the first global enunciation of human rights and one of the first major achievements of the new United Nations. The day is usually marked by high-level political conferences and meetings and by cultural events and exhibitions organized by governmental and non-governmental organizations dealing with human rights issues. The Nobel Peace Prize is also awarded on this day. -- Note: The 2017 award went to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), as announced on October 6, 2017. You can read the Award Ceremony Speech on the Nobel Prize website.

The Reading Tasks:
Read a book originally written in another language (i.e., not in English and not in your mother tongue), –OR– a book written by anyone not Anglo-Saxon, –OR– any story revolving around the rights of others either being defended or abused.
–OR– Read a book set in New York City, or The Netherlands (home of the U.N. and U.N. World Court respectively).

–OR–

Other Tasks:
Post a picture of yourself next to a war memorial or other memorial to an event pertaining to Human Rights. (Pictures of just the memorial are ok too.) –OR– Cook a dish from a foreign culture or something involving apples (NYC = Big Apple) or oranges (The Netherlands); post recipe and pics.



St. Lucia’s Day (December 13th)
St. Lucia’s Day is a Christian feast day celebrated on December 13 in Advent, commemorating a 3rd-century martyr under the Diocletianic Persecution, who according to legend brought food and aid to Christians hiding in the catacombs using a candle-lit wreath to light her way and leave her hands free to carry as much food as possible. Her feast once coincided with the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year before calendar reforms, so her feast day has become a Christian festival of light. Falling within the Advent season, Saint Lucia's Day is seen as an event signaling the arrival of the Light of Christ on Christmas Day. Saint Lucia’s Day is celebrated most commonly in Scandinavia, where it is a major feast day, and in Italy. In Scandinavia, where the saint is called Santa Lucia in Norwegian and Sankta Lucia in Swedish, she is represented as a lady in a white dress (a symbol of a Christian's white baptismal robe) and a red sash (symbolizing the blood of her martyrdom) with a crown or wreath of candles on her head. In Norway, Sweden and Swedish-speaking regions of Finland, as songs are sung, girls dressed as Saint Lucia carry rolls and cookies in procession, which symbolizes bringing the light of Christianity throughout world darkness.

The Reading Tasks:
Read a book set in Scandinavia (Denmark, Norway, Iceland, Sweden - and Finland for the purposes of this game) or a book where ice and snow are an important feature.

–OR–

Other Tasks:
Get your Hygge on -- light a few candles if you’ve got them, pour yourself a glass of wine or hot chocolate/toddy, roast a marshmallow or toast a crumpet, and take a picture of your cosiest reading place.

Bonus task: Make the Danish paper hearts: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jur29ViLEhk

Addendum: Lillelara shared another set of instructions here and explained:

 "You can find a link for a pfd file with a lot of different patterns here: http://www.altomhobby.dk/jul/flettede-julehjerter/sadan-fletter-du-julehjerter/

 Klick on the link called "52 gratis skabeloner til flettede julehjerner". They do mean julehjerter - christmas hearts. A julehjerne is a christmas brain. I had to chuckle quite a bit at that :)."

The Eighth Square: Hanukkah and Las Posadas


Hanukkah (December 12th - 20th)
Hanukkah is a Jewish holiday commemorating the rededication of the Holy Temple (the Second Temple) in Jerusalem at the time of the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucid (Macedonian Greek) Empire (167 to 160 BC). Hanukkah is observed for eight nights and days, starting on the 25th day of Kislev according to the Hebrew calendar, which may occur at any time from late November to late December in the Gregorian calendar. It is also known as the Festival of Lights and the Feast of Dedication. The festival is observed by the kindling of the lights of the nine-branched menorah, one additional light on each night of the holiday, progressing to eight on the final night. The typical menorah consists of eight branches with an additional visually distinct branch. The extra light, with which the others are lit, is called a shamash (Hebrew: שמש‎‎, "attendant") and is given a distinct location, usually above or below the rest. Other Hanukkah customs include playing dreidel and eating oil-based foods such as doughnuts and latkes.

The Reading Tasks:
Read a book whose main character is Jewish, any story about the Jewish people –OR– where the miracle of light plays a significant part in the stories plot.

–OR–

Other Tasks:
Light nine candles around the room (SAFELY) and post a picture. –OR– Play the Dreidel game to pick the next book you read.

Assign a book from your TBR to each of the four sides of the dreidel:

נ (Nun)
ג (Gimel)
ה (He)
ש (Shin)

Spin a virtual dreidel: http://www.torahtots.com/holidays/chanuka/dreidel.htm – then tell us which book the dreidel picked.

–OR–
Make your own dreidel: https://www.activityvillage.co.uk/make-a-dreidel, –OR–
Play the game at home, or play online: http://www.jewfaq.org/dreidel/play.htm and tell us about the experience.–OR– Give some Gelt: Continue a Hanukkah tradition and purchase some chocolate coins, or gelt. Post a picture of your chocolate coins, and then pass them out amongst friends and family!



Las Posadas (December 16th - 24th)
Las Posadas is a novenario (nine days of religious observance) representing the nine-month pregnancy of Mary, the mother of Jesus, celebrated chiefly in Mexico and by Mexican-Americans in the United States. Las Posadas – Spanish for lodgings or accommodations, which in this case refers to the inn in the story of the nativity of Jesus – was introduced into Mexico when Spanish missionaries brought the custom of the religious pageant to Mexico, where they used it to teach the story of Jesus' birth to Mexico's people. In 1586, a papal bull ordered that a Christmas Mass was to be observed as novenas on the nine days preceding Christmas Day throughout Mexico. – Las Posadas is a procession going from one house designated as “inn” to the next, during which either individual participants play the various parts of Mary and Joseph with the expectant mother riding a real donkey, and with attendants such as angels and shepherds acquired along the way, or the pilgrims carry images of the holy couple instead. Children may carry poinsettias. The procession is followed by musicians, with the entire procession singing songs asking for lodging at the inn. At the end of each night's journey, there are Christmas carols (villancicos), children break open star-shaped piñatas to obtain candy and fruit hidden inside, and there is a feast.

The Reading Tasks:
Read a book dealing with visits by family or friends, or set in Mexico, –OR– with a poinsettia on the cover. –OR– a story where the main character is stranded without a place to stay, or find themselves in a 'no room at the Inn’ situation.

–OR–

Other Tasks:
Which was your favorite / worst / most memorable hotel / inn / vacation home stay ever? Tell us all about it! –OR– If you went caroling as a kid: Which are your best / worst / most unfortettable caroling memories?

Bonus task: Make a piñata (https://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Pi%C3%B1ata), hang it from a tree, post, basketball hoop, clothesline or similarly suitable holder and let your neighborhood kids have a go at breaking it.