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Show FOLK LORE OF DAY' BELGIAN CHRISTMAS CUSTOMS THAT ARE DYING. OUT. Celebration of Festival Still Presents Much That Is Interesting Old Customs Cus-toms Traceable to Heathen Rites and Practltxrt. ?LTHOUGII not s keenly followed up as In Gormnny and Englnnd, tho festival of Christ-mnn, Christ-mnn, as celebrated celebrat-ed in Dolgium, still prcsentB a certnln amount of interest, especially especial-ly In roBpect to Its traditional aa-poct. aa-poct. Many of tho old customs, which today are but a mera mockery mock-ery of their original orig-inal selves, are traceable to old heathen rites kad practices. Tho priesthood, rosASttng taw ves-ration ves-ration In wales the cuttosM ars stMl held, not only' refrain from discountenancing dis-countenancing practices which ths holy church regards as heretical on account of their origin, but even en-Joins en-Joins tho due observance on the people. peo-ple. Wherever possible, details o time customs have been modified with a view of bringing them Into as close obedience as possible with the Instructions of the Vatican. , Ono of tho easiest tasks In this re-spoct re-spoct was the encourngoment of tho old custom of ceasing work for 12 dayB after Christmas and postponfng tho discussion of nil differences and logal disputes for tho samo period. Among Uie "scasonablo customs and bollefs" which have for tho most part ben dying out, If thoy aro not already dead In many parts or tho country, aro tho following: Christmas ovo bolng dedicated to Adam nnd Eve, boys born on that day woro christened Adam, and girls Evo. Fbrtuno telling on Christmas day was indulged In; at IJrussols, for example, ex-ample, tho burghers assomblcd around the fire and roasted chestnuts; listening listen-ing to their "fortunes" moanwhltc. At Spa, a handful of salt was cast upon tho tablo by tho host; if it melted thoro would be a death in the family or olso a wot year In tho country, though If tho salt romained hard a guest would die, if, by chance, ono of the lights went out at tho critical moment. province of) plnngeC lntopjW WM produced by im jffi Pa m mm iLbH posed to roprwJfcj IgsH lifo of tho 'piuWMmBMX5&5 In tho Ardcnnosfy Tr-nrft! gH coming year was 6 MPl lng lighted candles' , .. , which woro allowed Cfs iat ar0 'H sin of water. If tho . 'H out the year would 1jo "csf,pliy- agriculturally speaking; If4- ;' A cd alight until the end It w au good year. jgaH Nuts thrown on the Aro byHor"? iH focotold joy If they burnod wvju N H sputtering; sorrow, It thoro was t jH nolso. V- , According to an existing boll'ij everything living changes Kb position .H at tho hour of midnight on Chrlstmsuf t day. Evorythlng sown in tho flolda that dny Is bound to boar fruit ovon. though It bo sown on tho snow It- Whllo It is considered unlucky t( jH pin flax on Chrlstmns day, a shirt mado from flax on that night Is "goof for many ills." Christmas day eggs always produco fine chicks. A fana- , sr could ensuro good crops from hU fruit trees by striking them with. m. ax on Christmas day, always provided that nobody went near tho trots) i with a spinning wheel within M sours, In tho province of Antwerp tho p4H gg! ants say that a "hellwagea" or otas SLIifl lot of blood is driven through ths gas. jjH at full gallop on Christmas night, tfc !H explanation being that some Imptotss lgg! peasant dared to go out wood gather ' 4ggal lng with his wagon one Carls tausi ll night, nnd that, by way of punishmeasV he Is condemned to drive h rough lt jH sky year by year. WM |
