History

DICTIONARY LOVE

Posted on by vlaw759

Given the season, I was tempted to write about New Year’s resolutions. Not wanting to repeat myself, I reviewed my blogs from 12/30/16, 1/1/19, and 1/3/23. And then I realized that all sorts of commentators and media were talking about how many people make resolutions (between 34 and 62%), who makes them (younger people), how many people keep them (fewer than half), what the resolutions are about (fitness, finances)… I decided I have nothing to add this year.

In the meantime, the Wall Street Journal recently (Dec. 20-21, 2025 issue) had a long article about the Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary. I venture to suggest that when asked about a dictionary, that’s the one most people think of. For generations, a copy has been a go-to gift for high school and college graduates, as well as miscellaneous other gift-giving occasions. In the late 1980s, Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary was on the Times best-seller list for 155 consecutive weeks; 57 million copies were sold, a number believed to be second only to sales of the Bible in the U.S.

Merriam Webster Collegiate Dictionary

And people hold on to them! My husband still has one from his last year as an English professor, the 9th edition, published in 1983.

Partying with half a dozen other writers, I asked whether they still use physical dictionaries. NO! Not one. They all look online (as do I). Still, physical dictionaries haven’t yet gone the way of the dodo bird: last year Merriam-Webster sold nearly 1.5 million physical dictionaries (according to that WSJ article).

I love dictionaries, so I researched their history for this blog. They have a fascinating (to me) history that reflects the evolution of language, literacy, and knowledge organization.

Dictionary History

Dictionaries have had a long run!

Pages from the Erya, in the Chinese Dictionary Museum

The earliest surviving monolingual dictionary is the Eyra, which Chinese scholars wrote in the 3rd century BCE. Translators have interpreted the title characters (爾雅) as “Progress Towards Correctness”, “The Semantic Approximator”, and “Approaching Elegance.”

Modern dictionaries evolved from early glossaries and bilingual word lists. Renaissance glossaries and later works like the Catholicon (1287) and Covarrubias’s Tesoro de la lengua (1611) paved the way for modern single-language dictionaries and standardized national lexicons. By the 18th–19th centuries, publishers were offering monolingual dictionaries, including comprehensive English dictionaries.

Early Beginnings

The earliest known attempts at word lists and glossaries date back to ancient Mesopotamia (around 2300 BCE). Scribes learning languages created Sumerian and Akkadian bilingual word lists.

Classical Antiquity

In ancient Greece and Rome, scholars compiled lists of difficult or rare words, often to assist with understanding classical texts. For example, Philo of Byblos and Aelius Donatus created early glossaries. Philitas of Cos wrote Disorderly Words to help his fellow Greeks decipher odd and archaic vocabulary, particularly in the works of Homer.

Medieval Period

During the Middle Ages, dictionaries were often glossaries—lists of difficult words with explanations—in Latin and vernacular languages. They were primarily tools for scholars and clergy.

The rise of vernacular languages in Europe led to more dictionaries aimed at explaining Latin terms or translating between Latin and local languages.

Renaissance and Early Modern Era

Close-up from the 1755 edition of Samuel Johnson’s Dictionary of the English Language

The invention of the printing press in the 15th century revolutionized dictionary production.

In 1604, Robert Cawdrey published the first English dictionary, titled A Table Alphabeticall, containing about 2,500 words with simple definitions.

The 17th and 18th centuries saw the rise of more comprehensive dictionaries. Samuel Johnson’s Dictionary of the English Language (1755) was a landmark work, combining definitions with literary quotations and shaping English lexicography.

19th and 20th Centuries: The Oxford English Dictionary

Once upon a time, when asked what one book I’d want to have if stranded on a desert island, I didn’t even have to consider: “The Oxford English Dictionary, not in the condensed form.”

Actually, that answer could be challenged. I have the compact edition, and even that is two big, fat volumes (boxed, with a magnifying glass). The hard cover edition had 20 volumes, 21,728 pages. The OED is now being completely revised to produce an updated Third Edition.

What appealed to me was both the comprehensiveness of the listings and the inclusion of the history of each word.

The 19th century brought the creation of historical and etymological dictionaries, like the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) I discussed above, which began publication in 1884 and aimed to document the history and development of every English word!

Dictionary Types

Dictionaries expanded to cover specialized fields, slang, and dialects. The 20th century saw the rise of bilingual dictionaries and learner’s dictionaries to support language education and globalization.

I started collecting dictionaries when I started writing fiction. I have shelf after shelf filled with them!

When one thinks of specialized dictionaries, medicine and law come immediately to mind. But for my purposes, I needed the common language.—i.e., slang. To seem authentic—real, if you will—the thoughts and dialogue of characters are crucial.

One of my favorite dictionaries is Talk the Talk: The Slang of 65 American Subcultures. Groups from stamp collectors to people living in Antarctica, from Birders to con artists, to Wiccans, witches, and neo-pagans are included. It’s a fun read even if you aren’t a writer!

If you are a fan of Patrick O’Brien, Aubrey and Maturin series, there’s a dictionary for you!
I’ve published half a dozen short stories set during the American Civil War, and the Civil War Dictionary was invaluable for everything from what women’s underwear was called to what prostitutes were called, to … whatever.
I even have a dictionary of South African English—which I’ve never actually used but love having!

The Dictionary in the Digital Age

The late 20th and early 21st centuries introduced electronic dictionaries and online databases, making dictionaries more accessible and interactive. Platforms like Merriam-Webster Online and the OED Online offer constantly updated entries and multimedia content.

Artificial intelligence and corpus linguistics have enabled dictionaries to be more descriptive and data-driven, reflecting real-world language use. But when looking for a word, a meaning, or a spelling online, that is what you will get: that one word. By contrast, according to the WSJ article cited above, “One of the pleasures of having a dictionary at hand is the serendipity of idle browsing—of progressing from ‘crankshaft’ to ‘cranky’ to ‘cranbog’…” Online, you don’t get more than you ask for.

Bottom Line: For some of us, online searches will never replace physical dictionaries in our hearts.

TRACKING THE YEAR

Posted on by vlaw759

What did people do before calendars? Clearly, they were always aware of seasons.

Architectural Calendars

Stonehenge solstice calendars

I’m amazed by the sophisticated calculations and understanding of ancient cultures.

Stonehenge, for example. It is 4,000 to 5,000 years old, and consists of a ring of massive standing stones, some weighing up to 25 tons (which speaks to amazing engineering achievements, as well). Stonehenge is widely believed to have been used for ceremonial or religious purposes. It aligns with the solstices, especially the summer solstice sunrise and winter solstice sunset. This may hint at its use as an ancient astronomical calendar.

Intihuatana stones calendars

The Inca people also tracked the solar year. They built intihuatana stones (meaning “hitching post of the sun”), such as the famous one at Machu Picchu. Incas used these as solar clocks or calendars to mark solstices and equinoxes. The solstices (around June 21 and December 21) were critical for marking agricultural cycles and religious festivals. The Inca calendar was primarily solar, with 12 months of 30 days each, plus 5 extra days to complete the year. Each month was linked to specific agricultural or ritual activities, often dictated by astronomical observations. For example, the rising of the Pleiades star cluster (known as Qollqa) marked the time to begin planting potatoes and other crops.

Varieties of Native American Calendars

Native Americans tracked the year in numerous ways. I’m especially interested in Native American life, so I’ll go into a bit more detail.

Many peoples tracked the year using moon-based and seasonal cues/events, starting in spring, sometimes counting 4, 5, 12, or 13 moons, and occasionally adding an extra moon every few years to align with solar years. The Lakota also used winter counts (waniyetu wówapi) with pictographic records of notable events and environmental observations to mark each year.

waniyetu wówapi calendars
Waniyetu Wówapi Winter Count by Yanktonai Sioux Lone Dog

Cycle Tracking

Native American groups tracked the year by observing natural cycles.

  • Changing seasons: They noted the progression of spring, summer, fall, and winter through environmental changes like plant blooming, animal migrations, and weather patterns.
    • The Ojibwe divide the year into five seasons: Ziigwan (spring), Niibin (summer), Dagwaagi (fall), Biboon (winter), and Minookimi, a season between midwinter and spring.
  • Phenology: The timing of natural events, such as when certain plants flowered or when specific animals appeared or migrated, served as natural calendars.
    • Members of the Menominee tribe are using historical phenology to study the effects of climate change on fruit ripening speed and amounts.
  • Harvest cycles: Key agricultural events like planting and harvesting corn, beans, and squash marked important yearly milestones.
    • The Mississippian people mark the New Year with fasting and feasting at the Green Corn Puskita Ceremony.

Lunar Counting

Many tribes used the phases of the moon to mark time.

  • A lunar cycle (about 29.5 days) was often counted, with 12 or 13 lunar cycles roughly corresponding to a year.
  • Each full moon often had a specific name reflecting the time of year or natural phenomena. For example, the “Strawberry Moon” in early summer when strawberries ripened, and the “Harvest Moon” in autumn during the main harvest period.
    • The Anishinaabe people named each moon to correspond with natural events: January, Moon of the Hardening Ice; May, Flowering Moon; October, Falling Leaves Moon.
    • The Mashantucket Pequot people have thirteen moons, often named for activities performed during that month. For example, the Corn Planting Moon and the Gift Giving Moon.
  • These moon names helped organize activities and ceremonies.

Solar Counting

Some tribes created calendars by observing the sun’s position and its cycles.

  • Solstices and equinoxes were important markers. For example, many people have celebrated the winter solstice as the rebirth of the sun.
  • The Mississippian people constructed a series of timber circles in Illinois. The red cedar posts at Cahokia line up with summer and winter solstices as well as both equinoxes.
  • Some people built structures like medicine wheels or stone alignments to track solar events.
    • The Big Horn Medicine Wheel (Annáshisee) in Wyoming is at least ten thousand years old. According to the Crow people, it was already present when they came to the area. Archaeologists theorize that prehistoric ancestors of the Assinniboine people may have constructed it to mark solar alignments.

Some tribes used counting systems based on days or moons. For instance, the Lakota counted years by the number of winters or summers passed.

Chinese Calendars

The Chinese calendar is a traditional system people have used in China and many East Asian cultures. It combines both lunar and solar elements, making it distinct from the purely solar Gregorian calendar commonly used worldwide today.

The Tung Shing almanac details both the Gregorian and Chinese lunisolar calendar as well as auspicious dates for big occasions.

Modern-day China uses the Gregorian calendar for most purposes. However, for holidays and selecting auspicious dates, people still use the traditional Chinese lunisolar calendar.

Key Features of the Chinese Calendar:

In Beijing, a vertical pole and a horizontal ruler, aligned north and south on the ground, marks the winter solstice and the length of the tropical year by measuring the length of the shadow cast.

Chinese New Year: The most famous date, the Lunar New Year, falls on the second new moon after the winter solstice, typically between January 21 and February 20.

Lunisolar System: It tracks months based on the moon’s phases (lunar months) but also aligns with the solar year to keep seasons consistent.

Months: Each month begins with a new moon and lasts about 29.5 days. There are 12 months in a normal year.

Leap Months: To synchronize the lunar months with the solar year (about 365.24 days), the calendar inserts an extra (leap) month every 2-3 years, resulting in a 13-month year.

Solar Terms (节气, Jiéqì): The year is divided into 24 solar terms based on the sun’s position along the ecliptic. These mark important seasonal changes and agricultural periods.

Zodiac Cycle: The calendar features a 12-year animal cycle—Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, Pig—each year associated with an animal sign.

Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches: A 60-year cycle combining 10 Heavenly Stems and 12 Earthly Branches creates a complex naming system for years, months, days, and even hours.

Non-Gregorian Calendars Today

Whether called calendars or not, people have used multiple systems to align days, months, and years with the solar cycle.

Today, when we talk about a calendar, no one doubts that we mean the Gregorian calendar. It is the calendar in use in most parts of the world. It went into effect in October 1582 following the papal bull Inter gravissimas issued by Pope Gregory XIII, which introduced it as a modification of, and replacement for, the Julian calendar. The principal change was to space leap years slightly differently to make the average calendar year 365.2425 days long (rather than the Julian calendar’s 365.25 days). This more closely approximates the 365.2422-day “tropical” or “solar” year that is determined by the Earth’s revolution around the Sun. Tiny tweak, but apparently really significant.

Although the Gregorian Calendar is virtually universal for civic purposes, people continue to use many other calendars for religious or cultural purposes.

Here are some of these calendar comparisons, and how they would have marked the same date:

And sometimes people use calendars in idiosyncratic ways. A well-traveled friend of mine said, “When I lived in Georgia [the country], people took advantage of the difference between the Gregorian and Julian calendar to celebrate Christmas twice: on December 25th and again on January 7th!”

Bottom Line: People have always tracked the progress of the year in whatever ways served their times and lives.

CHRISTMAS DAY IS FOR EVERYONE

Posted on by vlaw759

As a National Holiday, when hardly any businesses are open, nearly everyone in the US has a day off. What do non-Christians and non-religious people do on Christmas Day?

Other Religious Traditions

Many religious traditions include a midwinter holiday, and those celebrations occasionally fall on December 25th. Even when they don’t, many faith communities take advantage of a day off from work and school to celebrate together.

Being Jewish or Buddhist on Christmas Day

In 2024, Hannukah and Christmas fell on the same day. However, this synching only happens about five times in a century.

I have a Jewish friend whose family tradition was to go to the movies. Most major U.S. theater chains are open on December 25th with early-afternoon showtimes and full or modified schedules. However, some have holiday surcharges.

One year when viewing Christmas decorations in the neighborhood, my Chinese-American granddaughter said, “We’re Buddhists and we don’t have holidays, but we celebrate Christmas as a cultural tradition.” Her family decorates a tree, exchanges gifts, etc.

Another family I know who practice Buddhism, and do not subscribe to any particular religion, traditionally go to a Chinese restaurant. Virtually all Chinese restaurants are open and Christmas Day is among the busiest days of the year for many.

Although the family I mentioned is Buddhist, eating Chinese food on December 25th is a widespread tradition among Jewish Americans. This practice began as far back as the 19th century, often attributed to the proximity of Jewish and Chinese American communities in Manhattan’s Lower East Side. Today, the tradition has spread across America. One Chinatown restaurant in Chicago reported that in 2003 “I think we had the entire Jewish community here”, with their 350-seat restaurant being completely booked on December 25.

Being Muslim on Christmas Day

What about Muslims? Although Jesus and Mary are central to the Muslim faith, Christmas isn’t necessarily treated as a religious holiday. As far as I could find, there is no stand-out tradition in the Muslim community. Some treat it as a normal day, and rest or attend to personal matters. Others participate in celebrations or visit family, with many emphasizing maintaining good relations and respecting others’ traditions.

According to Fawzia Mirza, celebrations on the day often involve “auntie and uncle” parties with other U.S. South Asians. And also bowling! “The favorite Muslim pastime is bowling. Not on the day itself, but it’s like everyone else is visiting family and opening presents—we’re going bowling.”

Not every bowling alley is open on December 25th. Typically, hours are shortened and may vary by date, so check local hours and reservations if you’re interested.

Secular Traditions

Atheists and agnostics often celebrate Christmas non-religiously as a cultural holiday—focusing on family, friends, feasting, gifts, and togetherness, sometimes attending Unitarian services or enjoying secular traditions.

With this huge emphasis on family, what if you are alone—by choice or otherwise?

Consider spending Christmas Day alone as an opportunity for self-care and personal activities you enjoy, such as treating it like any other day, embracing solitude, and doing a mix of reflective, enjoyable, or meaningful tasks you choose. A friend is planning to spend the day alternately sewing dance costumes and playing video games.

And if you want ideas, there are many suggestions online!

Bottom Line: Christmas Day is coming, no matter what. Find a way to make the most of it—maybe start your own tradition!

WHAT PEOPLE WILL DO FOR MONEY

Posted on by vlaw759

It’s the time of year when many—most?—people would like to have a bit more money. Or a lot. Besides taking another job, selling their souls to corporate overlords, hustling for more tips, or panhandling, what are people doing?

There’s Always Selling Something

Lots of people sell online, everything from “pre-owned” clothes to collectibles of all sorts (think depression era glass or carved wooden pigs).

Selling Parts of Yourself

Of course, your first thought would probably be for selling items you’ve found or made. But you might start a bit closer to home.

  • More personally, if you have good hair, you could sell that. Estimates suggest that several million people worldwide participate in hair selling annually, but exact numbers vary. But the human hair market, which includes hair extensions, wigs, and other hair products, is a multi-billion-dollar industry.
  • Really personally, you could sell spare organs.
    • Although selling human organs is illegal in the U.S. and most other countries, some estimates indicate that trafficked organs account for up to 10% of organ transplants performed around the world.
    • Kidneys, lungs, and liver come to mind. Humans can live with one kidney or one lung, and a healthy liver will regenerate from the part remaining after a transplant.
  • Sell your plasma ($150-700/mo according to online sources).
  • Sell sperm to a sperm bank
  • “Rent” your womb as a surrogate mother
  • With no medical intervention, you could sell feet or hand images, posting pictures on sites like Instafeet or Feetify

Turn Trash into Treasure

by Jane Perkins

It’s amazing what people throw away!

  • Haunt the neighborhood on trash collecting day or visit dumps. Salvage sellable items, clean, and resell.
  • If you are artsy/crafty – turn found items into works of art and sell them at local fairs, etc.
  • If you garden, sell plant cuttings, cullings, and seedlings.
  • Collect cans and bottles and sell to a recycling center.
  • Sell cockroaches or crickets to pet stores as food for larger animals.
  • Check the change in your pocket for rare coins that might be worth more than their face value.

Essentially, if you have it, you can (try to) sell it.

Sell Your Services

If you don’t have things to sell, you might be able to sell your time and skills.

Talent Required

  • This time of year, help people decorate for Christmas (or do the whole job).
  • Help with course materials via OneClass
  • Participate in online mock juries
  • Beta test video games, phone apps, and computer programs
  • Act as a Notary Public (for spending cash, it won’t pay your bills)
  • Substitute as a teacher at local schools
  • If you are mechanically inclined, you could hire out your handyman services
  • Create websites for independent businesses or freelancers
  • Be a photographer or videographer for weddings and parties
  • Work temporary gigs for events, such as catering, DJ-ing, set-up and break-down, or security
  • Be a professional hugger
    • In CA and NYC, you could earn over $150/hour!
  • Phone sex operator
  • Model for art classes
  • Referee seasonal sports—if you have the skill and stamina! (And the patience to stand up to upset players or coaches)

Time Required

Even if you feel you have no marketable skills, there are still ways to make a quick buck.

  • Be a “line sitter”
    • When there’s a high demand ticketed event, go to the venue and offer to wait in line for someone—for whatever fee the traffic will bear.
  • Take drugs!
    • Participate in paid clinical trials for pharmaceuticals or other treatments. If you’re relatively healthy and not taking med/drugs, you can qualify for some drug trials. You’ll have to review them carefully because some things you just don’t want to mess with while others are relatively similar to drug trials.
  • Volunteer for testing medical devices/smartwatches that measure blood pressure and/or blood oxygen.
    • Each session generally lasts 60-90 minutes, could pay hundreds of dollars, and only requires giving a small amount of blood. Participation is typically limited to 2x per month.
  • Dog/cat/house sitting
    • If you stay at peoples’ houses with their animals, you could be paid more, up to $80/night.
  • Take paid surveys
  • Remove lice from peoples’ heads
  • Move things to/from storage units
  • Garbage can cleaning—or other basic but gross jobs
  • Deliver local magazine monthly (could be $150-250/month)
  • Sign your kids up for research studies (e.g., get paid for letting a researcher watch your kids play)

…Other

And then there are a few options that I just couldn’t categorize:

  • Watch for class-action lawsuits and join when you qualify.
  • Rent out your backyard for campers.
  • Found a new religion and demand tithes from all your new followers.
  • Compete in interesting competitions (eating, writing, shooting basketballs, etc.) for cash prizes.
  • Create community/local nude calendar. Lakeview, OR, did this to raise money for snow removal (Wall Street Journal,12/11/25).
  • Sell tickets to your wedding. (Personally, I’d label this incredibly rude, gross, and financially stupid!) YouTube had a viral posting about a couple who invited 350 people to their wedding at a cost of $333 per person—including family! Only 60 people attended.
  • Closely related: The Wall Street Journal (again,12/9/25) featured an article, The Lavish Weddings Where Crashers Are Welcome—for a Fee. Apparently there is a website that invites tourists (or others) to attend an Indian wedding, $150 for one day, $250 for multi-day celebrations.

Check out this Buzzfeed article for more suggestions and personal stories.

Bottom Line: Where there’s a will, there’s a way! Search online for novel ideas that suit your situation and inclinations.

GIVING THANKS AROUND THE WORLD (Part 3: The West and Beyond)

Posted on by vlaw759

In this last blog of the giving thanks series, I’ll focus mainly on the Americas and nearby islands, but with a P.S. related to American history.

Indigenous North Americans

Centuries before Europeans landed at Plymouth Rock or Newfoundland, agricultural communities along the Eastern seaboard held annual harvest celebrations every year. Though the details varied among tribes and climates, all involved giving thanks for a successful harvest and making preparations for the coming winter.

People preserved food they’d grown or gathered, such as cattails, corn, pawpaws, pumpkins, and fish. They also repaired and reinforced structures to face the coming winter weather. Festivities included music, dancing, and games.

Puerto Rico

After Puerto Rico became a territory of the United States in the late 19th century, its residents adopted many of the traditions of the American holiday, blending them with Puerto Rican culture. The focus is on a Thanksgiving meal that fuses flavors from both cuisines, with large family gatherings. Puerto Ricans celebrate Thanksgiving on the same day as Americans (the fourth Thursday in November).

But Puerto Ricans have put their own twist on the traditional Thanksgiving Day feast: there’s usually turkey—whether a roasted, seasoned pavochón or a turkey stuffed with mofongo (a mashed plantain dish)—but roast pork is also often on the menu, accompanied with more plantains, rice, and beans. Many Puerto Ricans embrace the same Black Friday shopping frenzy on the following day, and Christmas preparations also start around then.

Canadian Thanksgiving

Like its US counterpart, the first European Canadian Thanksgiving brought Canadian pilgrims together to give thanks for their new lives in the New World. This celebration took place in 1578, when English explorer Martin Frobisher held a feast in what’s now Nunavut to give thanks for the safety of his fleet. This feast actually pre-dated the first American Thanksgiving. (Historians believe that the first American Thanksgiving took place in 1621, over 40 years later.)

Many Canadian communities hold harvest fairs at Thanksgiving.

Today, Canadian Thanksgiving takes place on the second Monday of October. (First officially recognized in 1879 (November 6), it was moved to the second Monday in October in 1957.) Much like the U.S., it’s a time for gratitude, reflection, and delicious food shared with loved ones.

While Indigenous peoples had long celebrated harvest festivals, it was Loyalists who moved to Canada from the American colonies during the Revolutionary War who introduced turkey, along with some of the other customs from the American Thanksgiving we’re familiar with today. Pumpkin pie, stuffing, and sweet potatoes would certainly be familiar, though traditional poutine (french fries topped with cheese curds and gravy) sometimes appears as well.

Of course, Canada’s Thanksgiving comes with a Canadian twist—think butter tarts and the Canadian Football League’s Thanksgiving Day Classic.

Mexico: Día de Acción de Gracias

Many communities in Mexico gather to distribute food on Día de Acción de Gracias

With a regional twist on traditional American Thanksgiving dishes, such as mole poblano and tamales, apple pie empanadas and turkey enchiladas, many Mexicans embrace the spirit of giving thanks while spending time with family and friends. Because Mexico is so close to the United States climate-wise, Día de Acción de Gracias usually occurs on the same day as American Thanksgiving. 

While not widely celebrated throughout Mexico, some cities host small community events and tourists-targeted activities, while others observe religious services and harvest celebrations. Traditions may include Mexican elements such as piñatas or pan de muerto, reflecting a non-traditional but increasingly observed blend of customs. As more families travel to and from Mexico during the holiday season, Thanksgiving observances are spreading to more parts of the country.

Brazil: Dia de Ação de Graças  

Brazilian Thanksgiving (Dia de Ação de Graças in Portuguese) follows the American tradition of a harvest feast on the fourth Thursday in November. It became a national Brazilian holiday in 1949 as a way to unify the Brazilian people. The Brazilian ambassador to the U.S. saw Americans enjoying a day of eating delicious food and giving thanks and decided that Brazilians should do the same. It’s been an unofficial holiday ever since.

Brazil is the only country in South America that celebrates Thanksgiving.

Though still not widely celebrated in Brazil, Dia de Ação de Graças is catching on each year. A Thanksgiving feast in Brazil includes many American staples, including turkey (known as peru in Portuguese), mashed potatoes (purê de batatas), and apple pie (torta de maçã). Brazilian specialties, such as the country’s national dish, feijoada, might make an appearance as well. Besides food and family, there are parades and church services to give thanks.

Thanksgiving in Barbados

Dancer “wukking up” at Crop Over

The people of Barbados celebrate Thanksgiving with a Crop Over festival at the end of the sugarcane harvest. This is typically held at the end of July through early August. This is a 300-year-old tradition that goes back to those who worked on sugarcane plantations and celebrated the harvest season. The celebrations include dancing, eating, and games.

Crop Over festivities begin with a ceremonial delivery of the Last Canes and crowning the Festival King and Queen. During Cohobblopot, Kadooment bands showcase their skills, and calypsonians perform to huge audiences. Local businesses offer their wares at the Bridgertown Market and sponsor calypso tents. Kadooment Day, the final day of the celebration, culminates in a carnival parade, with huge floats, elaborate dance troupes, and competing calypso bands.

Grenada West Indies

Every October 25, people on this West Indian island celebrate their own Thanksgiving Day, which marks the anniversary of a joint Caribbean and U.S. military invasion of Grenada in 1983. The troops’ arrival restored order after an army coup ousted and executed Maurice Bishop, Grenada’s socialist leader, and put the island under martial law.

While stationed on the West Indian island that fall, U.S. soldiers told local citizens about the upcoming American holiday and some of its traditions. To show their own gratitude, many people in towns and villages hosting the soldiers invited them to dine and celebrate with them, even surprising the soldiers with such non-native island foods as turkey, cranberry, and potatoes. Today, the Grenadian Thanksgiving features formal ceremonies of remembrance in the cities, but largely goes unmarked in more rural areas.

Liberian Thanksgiving

In the 1820s, free Blacks from American purchased Cape Mesurado and settled in the new colony of Liberia. In the 1880s, the Liberian government adopted the first Thursday in November as Thanksgiving, to express gratitude for the year’s blessings. (Unlike Thanksgiving events in other parts of the world, Liberian Thanksgiving isn’t a harvest festival; their harvests are often over by November.) Because English is the primary language of Liberia, celebrants greet each other with “Happy Thanksgiving!”

Students at a religious Thanksgiving service

Liberian Thanksgiving combines American traditions with religious rituals to thank God for blessings from the year, including food, health, and good weather. Today, it’s a largely Christian holiday. After services, churches auction off baskets filled with local fruits like papayas and mangoes.

The typical meal consists of a bird (sometimes chicken) with plenty of spices as well as mashed cassava and other traditional West African foods like jollof rice (similar to Cajun jambalaya) or fufu (cassava dough served with meat stew).

Celebrations are lively, marked by food but also music, dancing, and a deep sense of community.

Bottom Line: As these examples attest, giving thanks isn’t the province solely of the United States. Try pursue the topic of giving thanks in Israel, Ghana, Rwanda, and any other locations that interest you.

GIVING THANKS AROUND THE WORLD (Part 2: Europe)

Posted on by vlaw759

Giving thanks is everywhere, even though others call their thanksgiving by other names, and celebrate on different dates. This blog will focus on our European cousins.

(Check out last week’s blog on how people in Asia celebrate giving thanks!)

United Kingdom: Harvest Home

Baking, canning, and flower contests at a Harvest Home celebration in Chew Stoke

The UK celebrates a harvest festival, also known as Harvest Home. People, particularly in rural villages, celebrate on the Sunday closest to the Harvest Moon – usually in late September or early October. The tradition dates back centuries, with origins in pagan rituals, when communities gathered to celebrate the successful bringing in of crops. In the past, the timing of the festival varied depending on when the harvest was ready, with the whole community, including children, helping until the last load of crops arrived.

“In 1957, there was 120lb cheddar cheese to be consumed and a 6’ x 2’ harvest loaf, which was borne aloft on the shoulders of six men” in the Somerset village of East Brent.

Modern Harvest Home festivals feature a feast of autumn crops and vegetables, as well as food donations and church services, keeping alive the spirit of gratitude for the season’s bounty.

Some say both US and Canadian Thanksgiving have roots in the United Kingdom’s annual Harvest Home. At the least, this tradition has to have influenced the origins of Thanksgiving in both the US and Canada, brought over by British immigrants.

Netherlands: Dankdag

Before leaving for the New World, English immigrants lived and worked for several years in the Netherlands, in the town of Leiden. About 40% of the Mayflower passengers spent over a decade (1609 to 1620) living in this Dutch city before heading to Massachusetts. Some even believe the Pilgrims’ first Thanksgiving was inspired by Leiden’s annual celebration of breaking the Spanish siege in 1574.

Harvest table at a church in Van Halland

They brought many of their customs to their new (temporary) home, including the practice of expressing gratitude for a successful fall harvest.

While Thanksgiving isn’t an official holiday, many restaurants offer special meals. Dankdag is still celebrated in Leiden. Citizens enjoy an American-style Thanksgiving dinner after a church service at Pieterskerk. The city of Leiden also honors its historic ties by holding non-denominational church services at Pieterskerk every fourth Thursday of November!

And if they live near Beschuitsteeg, they can explore the Leiden American Pilgrim Museum as a tribute to their long friendship with the pilgrims.

Germany: Erntedankfest

Like Britain and many other European countries, Germany celebrates the first major harvest of the season with a big festival. Erntedankfest (“thanks for the harvest fest”) doesn’t have an official date. This religious holiday often takes place on the first Sunday in October, which is often also the first Sunday following Michaelistag (Michaelmas) on September 29. Different places celebrate the occasion on various dates in September and October, but it typically takes place between early October and late November depending on the region, sometimes coinciding with Martinstag (St. Martin’s Day).

Erntedankfest decorations at a church in Oberösterreich

Erntedankfest is a community affair, often held outdoors or in churches rather than homes. It’s a lively gathering filled with parades, music, and tables laden with such hearty fare as die Masthühnchen (fattened-up chickens) or der Kapaun (castrated roosters), geese, hearty stews, fresh-baked bread, and local brews. There are plenty of traditional foods and seasonal produce. Colorful decorations like cornucopias are typical. There are also church services to begin the celebration, with lantern parades planned for the evening.

Though rural areas tend to take the harvest festival more literally, many churches in German cities also join in on the celebration, giving thanks for the good fortune their congregations experienced that year. During a typical Erntedankfest, celebrants carry an Erntekrone (“harvest crown”) of grains, fruit and flowers to the church in a solemn procession.

Though it’s more common in rural areas, many Germans observe Erntedankfest through televised events, connecting to their agricultural roots from afar.

Other German-speaking countries, such as Austria and Switzerland, also celebrate Erntedankfest to observe the autumn harvest. Erntedankfest traditions include parades, church services, concerts, fireworks, and a harvest feast, where turkey (Truthahn) is a holiday dinner favorite.

Poland: Dożynki

Harvest wreath parade in Milówka

The Polish harvest festival, Dożynki, dates back to the 16th century when landowners shared the bounty of the harvest with the land’s workers. The historical celebration included dancing, feasting, and crafting harvest wreaths to ensure fertility for the next harvest.

The word Dożynki literally means “last sheaves.”

Today, the festival still includes feasts and harvest wreaths. Modern Dożynki celebrations incorporate religious elements, including a pilgrimage to Jasna Góra in Częstochowa. Many Polish celebrants dress in traditional outfits as they share in the harvest.

Thanksgiving in Rome

Italians do not have a national holiday that celebrates American Thanksgiving.  However, plenty of Italians toast the holiday with their expat friends and family at a home or restaurant. 

Not a modern depiction of Cerealia, but the sentiment is the same!

In addition, Rome celebrates a harvest festival known as Cerealia. This honors Ceres, the goddess of agriculture, grain, and the love a mother bears for her child.  (FYI: In ancient Greek religion Demeter is the goddess of the harvest and agriculture, presiding over crops, grains, food, and the fertility of the earth. She also appeared as a goddess of health, birth, and marriage.) Cerealia occurs every year on October 4th. Roman custom is to present fruits, grains, and animals to the goddess in appreciation. Parades and music are also part of the celebration.

Bottom Line: Celebrations of giving thanks in Europe share roots of giving thanks for food, much like our Thanksgiving.

GIVING THANKS AROUND THE WORLD (Part 1: Asia and the Pacific)

Posted on by vlaw759

In the United States, Thanksgiving is a significant celebration. But we are far from alone, even though others call their celebration of giving thanks by another name, and celebrate on a different date.

Mid-Autumn Festivals

Many countries in Asia have a harvest celebration in the autumn, such as Cambodia (Bon Om Touk), Laos (That Luang), and Vietnam (Tết Trung Thu). The lunisolar calendar determines the precise date every year, setting it on the 15th day of the 8th month. This corresponds to mid-September to early October of the Gregorian calendar. When the Harvest Moon appears in the eighth month of the lunar calendar, it’s time for giving thanks.

Giving Thanks in China

Chinese Thanksgiving, the Chung Chiu Moon Festival or Mooncake Festival, lasts 3 days. In parts of China and other countries, celebrants mark the Mid-Autumn Festival with feasts, parades, and family celebrations.

Giving thanks Chinese Chung Chiu Moon Festival

Food is a major focus, especially mooncake, a round pastry that typically contains duck egg yolks, lotus seed paste, and sesame seeds. The yolk represents the full moon, and the cakes usually have the baker’s logo embossed on top. Sometimes, mooncakes (made with sweet dough) have fillings of lotus seed paste, red beans, or ice cream. Family and friends share mooncakes with one another to signify unity and peace to come.

Lanterns and moonlight also are a big focus of the Mid-Autumn festival. People write wishes on decorative lanterns and float them in the air or display them in their homes.

Giving Thanks in Korea

Food, family, and tradition are the focus of the Korean thanksgiving festival, known as Chuseok (autumn evening). The origins of this three-day holiday celebrating family, food, and ancestors traces back to ancient Korean celebrations of Chuseok (often called Hangawi or Korean Thanksgiving). South Koreans travel to their ancestral hometowns to perform charye, a memorial ceremony offering newly harvested foods like rice and fruit to honor their ancestors.

The night before Chuseok, families often gather to prepare songpyeon together. Together, people form finely ground rice flour into small balls, fill them with sesame seeds, chestnuts, red beans, and other ingredients, and shape these into cakes. The traditional cooking method includes steaming songpyeon on pine needles. This time-honored tradition fills homes with the fragrant smell of autumn.

Gift-giving is a modern tradition, with exchanges of fresh fruit, beef, and even Spam gift sets! Crowds pack the roads and crowd stores in the days leading up to this important holiday.

Chuseok predates the division of Korea, but people in North Korea celebrate a little differently. Rather than gathering with family, North Koreans try to visit the gravesites of their ancestors. Those who are able might also visit the graves of founding members of the Kim dynasty.

Giving Thanks in Japan

The Thanksgiving holiday known as Kinro Kansha no Hi (Labor Thanksgiving Day), takes place on November 23rd each year. But even though it’s close to American Thanksgiving on the calendar, it dates back much farther—over 2,000 years!

Historians date the first Japanese Thanksgiving celebration to the 7th century B.C.E. It began as a harvest festival known as Niiname-sai (新嘗祭 Imperial Harvest Ritual) that celebrated the first rice crop of the year. 

The modern tradition of Labor Thanksgiving Day began in 1948. After World War II, people dropped the imperialist roots of Niiname-sai, and the holiday became Kinro Kansha no Hi. Today, the holiday expresses gratitude toward Japan’s laborers, focusing on honoring workers’ rights and contributions (similar to combining Thanksgiving and Labor Day in the U.S.).

Today, the holiday means a day off work or school, writing thank-you notes to laborers, and crafts from schoolchildren for community workers such as policemen, firefighters and other municipal workers. There are no big meals or parades except the Nagano Labour Festival. Local organizations sponsor the Nagano Labour Festival to bring awareness to environmental and human rights issues. Such events are meant to encourage citizens to celebrate the principles of hard work, unity, and community involvement.

The evening ends with the Nagano Ebisuko Fireworks Festival (長野えびす講煙火大会).

Giving Thanks in South India

The Tamil people in South India hold a four-day festival called Pongal to thank the sun god, nature, and humans and animals that support agriculture. This is usually held in January or during the Tamil month of Thai. People get together with families and friends to decorate, offer prayers, hold craft fairs, and enjoy traditional foods.

The holiday features Sakkarai Pongal, a traditional Pongal dish made with milk, ghee (clarified butter), and rice. The Tamil culture regards it as a symbol of prosperity, connected to abundance and wealth.

Many people use rice flour to make kolam decorations. They mix it with dyes and draw complex geometric patterns on the ground. A kolam in front of a home’s entrance serves as a welcome sign and invitation to enter.

Giving Thanks in Malaysia

In Malaysia, several ethnic groups celebrate the Kaamatan harvest festival, a two-day public holiday on 30 and 31 May.

The festival is in tribute to the goddess Huminodun, who was sacrificed to save people from famine. Rice is the main ingredient in dishes served during this festival, along with rice wines. The festival ends with a Humabot ceremony complete with games, songs, and dance.

Celebrations include symbolic decorations, family and social gatherings, and activities such as beauty pageants (for both women and men), dance performances, singing competitions, and other art and craft performances.

Giving Thanks on Norfolk Island

New Zealanders and Australians don’t typically celebrate Thanksgiving—unless they live on Norfolk Island, a small Australian territory northeast of Sydney. This remote island is a former British penal colony.

Thanksgiving on Norfolk Island is a holdover from 19th-century American whalers who celebrated the holiday during their stay on the island. In fact, this Thanksgiving tradition dates back to the mid-1890s, when the American trader Isaac Robinson decided to host an American-style Thanksgiving service in the All Saints Church in Kingston in order to attract some visiting American whalers to the celebration. Thus the American roots.

Today, the people of Norfolk Island celebrate the holiday on the last Wednesday in November. People bring fruits, vegetables, and cornstalks to decorate the church and sing American hymns. After the Thanksgiving Day church service, people enjoy a lunch of American Thanksgiving dishes, plus banana pilaf and fish salad.

Celebrants often decorate with corn stalks, pumpkins, and other items reminiscent of American fall, even though November is springtime in their part of the world.

Bottom Line: Giving thanks is everywhere! Look for more next Tuesday.

HALLOWEEN 2025

Posted on by vlaw759

Halloween spending was expected to reach a record $13.1 billion in 2025, according to the National Retail Federation’s (NRF) annual consumer survey conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics.

Halloween By the Numbers

Why a record-breaking year? For one thing, more people are celebrating. Katherine Cullen, vice president of consumer insights at the NRF, said, “Whether it’s dressing in costume or carving a pumpkin, more consumers plan to take part in Halloween activities and traditions.” In fact, 73% of consumers are celebrating Halloween in some form, a slight bump from last year.

In addition, per-person spending will reach a record high of $114.45, nearly $11 more than last year and up from the previous record of $108.24 in 2023 (NRF).

What isn’t clear is whether individual people are buying more, or paying more for what they do buy. For example, chocolate prices have surged nearly 30% since last Halloween due to inflation, tariffs, and a global cocoa shortage. Most Halloween shoppers (79%) anticipate prices will be higher in 2025 specifically because of tariffs (NRF).

Consumers are paying more across every category, with nearly 8 in 10 saying they expect higher prices due to tariffs.

Candy: $33 per person; total spending on candy: $3.9 billion; 66% will hand out candy 
Decorations: $45 per person; about $4.2 billion total; 51% will decorate their homes or yards
Costumes: $51 per person; $4.3 billion total; 71% planned on buying costumes
Greeting cards: $21 per person; about $0.7 billion total; 38% buying cards

Other popular Halloween activities:

  • 46% will carve pumpkins
  • 32% will throw or attend a party
  • 24% will visit a haunted house

Like last year, consumers continue to gravitate toward early shopping. More than 49% of shoppers began buying Halloween items in September or earlier, a slight increase from 47% last year. Enthusiasm, careful budgeting, or both? Self-reported reasons consumers are shopping early are because they are looking forward to fall (44%), Halloween is one of their favorite holidays (37%), they do not want to miss out on desired items (33%), and they want to avoid the stress of last-minute shopping (33%).

Beware that shrinkflation and ingredient costs continue to affect package sizes and prices. Overall Halloween costs have trended up in recent years and are unlikely to roll back meaningfully.

Putting Halloween Spending in Perspective

Yes, those are really big numbers, but a few comparisons provide a gut punch. In a Boston University paper about Halloween spending in 2024, “That [$11.6 billion] is roughly the same amount of money as Americans spend on children’s books each year. It’s also about half the amount spent annually on dental care for children under age 17.”

Halloween Trends in 2025

Some Halloween traditions have withstood the test of time, such as carving pumpkins and trick-or-treating. However, some interesting trends have emerged to celebrate Halloween in 2025!

Toilet Papering

This according to a CBS news cast 10-31-25. Every Halloween season, when the sun sets in Heflin, a small Alabama town, students from Cleburne County High School toilet paper a few houses. A few years ago, they upped their game, and toilet papered just about every business in town, too. It was “funtastic” … until they hit the Heflin Police Department headquarters.

“It was up on the roof, the spare cars we had in the parking lot … We had to do something,” Heflin Police Chief Ross McGlaughn said. So the Heflin Police Department then got to work, supported by officers from multiple jurisdictions, all well armed with toilet paper.

The police “rolled” the students’ homes (having received permission from the students’ parents).

The Heflin toilet paper war has become popular all over town. Businesses are now offering support by putting out free toilet paper.

“As long as they’re doing this, they’re not getting into trouble doing something else,” McGlaughn said. “I haven’t seen any types of drugs or alcohol involved. You know, I think they’re spending all their money on toilet paper.”

After that news cast, maybe rolling will become a big trend.

Skeletons

In recent years, life-size (or larger!) skeletons have become a noticeable addition to outside decorations. According to sources across the internet, skeleton sales are in the multi-million dollar range. Home Depot’s $299 12-foot skeleton has attracted viral fame every year since it was first put out by the company in 2020. Some lucky people—I assume really fast people—got a “a special” discount on this skeleton, which sold out at $74.98.

Tater-or-Treat

A recent article in The Wall Street Journal recounted the story of a midwestern farmer who decided to offer potatoes as Halloween treats. As I recall, the trick-or-treaters could choose candy or potatoes. His intended joke went viral, and is spreading across the U.S. At least one household in Richmond, VA, made that offer this year. Children have been known to decorate their potatoes, or keep them for a year or so as “pets.”

My guess is that those adopting the potato option will spend even more for treats than they would have spent on individual pieces of candy.

So, is Halloween the Most Expensive Holiday?

Not by a long shot! In order of expense:

  • Christmas
  • Mother’s Day/Father’s Day
  • Valentine’s Day
  • Easter
  • Halloween

Bottom Line: There’s a lot more to Halloween than candy corn and things that go bump in the night. It’s big business—and getting bigger!

***The NRF survey which was the source of most of the above data asked 8,045 consumers about their Halloween shopping plans. It was conducted Sept. 2-9 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.1 percentage points.

FORTUNE TELLING BONES

Posted on by vlaw759

My first experience with fortune telling bones was wishing bones: making a wish while breaking the turkey wishbone (the breast bone) with my sister, hoping for the longer piece and the wish fulfillment it would bring.

Check out the rest of this bone series: Bone Music, Bones are for Eating, and Bone Appreciation!

History of Telling One’s Fortune with Bones

Breaking a wishbone in The Courtship of Miles Standish (1923)

It turns out that the tradition of breaking a wishbone dates back over 2,400 years. Back then, the Etruscan people believed that chickens had all sorts of powers, including predicting the future and ensuring good fortune. The Etruscans thought that the collarbone of a chicken was sacred. After leaving it to dry in the sun, people would hold the unbroken bone and make a wish for good luck. The “wishbone tradition” originated in this early practice.

Subsequently, the people of Rome adopted the wishing tradition along with other Etruscan customs. They fought over the unbroken bones of chickens. It may be that the phrases, “I need a lucky break,” or “I never get a break,” came from the loser in the tug of collarbone contest.

The wishing bone tradition spread throughout England. When the Pilgrims arrived in the New World, they brought the custom of breaking the wishbone with them. Although there were no chickens in North America then, turkeys were abundant. European settlers transferred the custom from chickens to turkeys.

Painful Fortune Telling Bones

Some people have weather bones. I.e., they can predict changes in the weather by “feeling it” in their bones. Is this a real thing? Yes. Changes in barometric pressure and temperature can dramatically affect arthritic bones.

arthritis fortune telling bones

As many as two-thirds of people who live with chronic joint pain believe there’s a connection between their pain and changes in the weather. In a 2007 study, researchers at Tufts University found that for every 10-degree temperature drop, there was a corresponding increase in arthritis pain—i.e., the colder the weather, the greater the pain. They also reported that increasing barometric pressure increased pain, which makes sense because colder air is heavier. So, for (at least some) people, joint pain is a predictor of colder weather.

What about other methods of bone divination? I don’t have the space to discuss them all here, but many resources online provide more details and examples.

Osteomancy

Osteomancy is an ancient form of predicting the future by tossing a set of animal bones onto the ground and interpreting their positions and orientations. A set of bones for divination can be used repeatedly.

Modern practitioners of osteomancy say one should either use bones found in nature or purchase an ethically sourced set. The ideal bones for osteomancy come from animals who died of natural causes.

Scapulimancy

Deer scapula

Scapulimancy is divination using scapulae (shoulder blades). It is/was most widely practiced in China as oracle bones, but has also been independently developed in other areas, including the West.

Generally, people used scapulimancy in predicting future weather events and personal health status. Some religious practices also required fortune telling through bones.

Historically, scapulimancy has taken two major forms. In the first, practitioners simply examined the scapula of a slaughtered animal. This form was widespread in Europe, Northern Africa, and the Near East.

The second form involves the heating or burning of the bone and interpretation of the results. People practiced this form in East Asia and North America.

Rituals surrounding the reading of scapulae varied widely, and I don’t have the space to go into many details here. Suffice it to say the practice is ancient.

Scapulimancy in East Asia

Mongolians were one of the earliest peoples to use scapulimancy, according to archaeological digs in Inner Mongolia dating scapulae to approximately 3322 BCE. Diviners referred to divination manuals to guide their interpretation of the animal remains, reading the color of the bones and formation of cracks.

Archaeological sites along the south coast and off-lying islands of the Korean peninsula show that people used deer and pig scapulae in divination during the Korean Protohistoric Period, c. 300 BCE – 300/400 CE.

Chinese fortune telling bones from the Shang Dynasty

Archeological discoveries in China have yielded many specimens from a period spanned from 1250 to 1046 BCE. Ancient diviners likely exposed the bones (pig, sheep, cattle, and deer) to heat, deriving meaning from cracks that formed. The reading provided predictions for agricultural and health purposes.

Chapter 5 of the Kojiki, the Japanese Record of Ancient Matters, also mentions fortune telling bones. The heavenly deities used this process of scapulimancy during a consultation by lesser gods.

Scapulimancy in Europe and the Middle East

Scapulimancy is a method of divination among Greek and Serb farmers, even today. The memoirs of several warriors who fought during the Greek War of Independence include references. After feasts of roast lambs or kids, anyone who knew how to “read” a scapula would clean it of any remaining flesh and, lifting it up to the light, interpret the various shadowy bits showing on the transparent part of the bone.

In European Renaissance magic, scapulimancy was classified as one of the seven “forbidden arts”, along with necromancy, geomancy, aeromancy, pyromancy, chiromancy (palmistry), and hydromancy.

Evidence of Arabic scapulimancy is sparse. A Florentine manuscript dated to the 1600s is currently the most referenced source and attributes the practice of scapulimancy in medieval Western European civilizations to the migration of traditions and ideas from the Arabic world. Historians have proposed trade across the Silk Road as a medium through which scapulimantic practices pervaded medieval European traditions from merchant trade with Arabic nomads.

Scapulimancy in South Africa

Zulu diviners in South Africa, known as izangomas, traditionally used bone reading in conjunction with other rituals involving herbal concoctions to communicate with spirits and those who have passed. The izangoma placed treated bones into the medicine, then interpreted aspects of the scapula floating above the liquid as spiritual communication. People within the community will seek out an izangoma if they would like personal questions answered or to communicate with the deceased. Witch doctors in many African communities still use scapulimancy and other bone reading rituals in a wide array of traditional healing ceremonies.

Astragalomancy

Mongolian astragli fortune telling bones
Mongolian astragali

Astragalomancy (also known as cubomancy) is a form of divination that uses dice specially marked with letters or numbers. Historically, the “dice” were usually knucklebones or other small bones of quadrupeds.

Each face of the die bears a symbol to convey meaning either to the reader or the divine powers. The diviner interprets this sequence according to certain rules – usually rules related to a religion (e.g. Tibetan Buddhism and the Mo system of cubomancy).

The practice of determining divine truth via random castings of dice or bones stretches back before recorded history. The Metropolitan Museum of Art displays bone “dice” (hakata) used by the Shona people of southern Africa for thousands of years.

Greek women playing knucklebones

Archaeologists have found marked astragali at many digs around the Mediterranean, including a site in Athens, Greece, dating to about 500 BCE. The Ancient Greeks performed astragalomancy by rolling dice and then consulting “dice oracles”, tables of divination results carved into statues or monoliths. In addition to matching the numbers on the astragali to the dice oracles, practitioners also held that certain numbers corresponded with particular divinities and would bring divine blessings.

The huayru is a dice game people play in South America at funerals. The game is traditionally played with llama bones, as they are believed to have a special power to attract the soul of the deceased. Reasons for playing this game revolve around divining the will of the recently deceased, often to communicate and receive guidance. The players of the game try to influence the results of the dice by offering prayers or pouring libations. (To me, this seems similar to blowing on dice before a roll for luck.)

Today, many people still call dice “bones”—whatever their material—because they were originally made of bone, as outlined above. If you want real bone dice, they are readily available online.

When everything rides on the roll of the dice, it reminds me of the wishbone tradition I started with.

Bottom Line: People have used bones to predict the future since time out of mind. Should you wish to try your hand, you can still acquire the bone ‘tools’ you need.

BONES ARE FOR EATING

Posted on by vlaw759

In October, my thoughts turn to skeletons. But there is much to bones beyond Halloween decor. In this second bone blog of the month, I turn to food, eating bones to keep body and soul together.

Check out the rest of my October bone series: Bone Music, Fortune Telling Bones, and Bone Appreciation!

Bone Marrow

marrow scoop eating bones
English marrow scoop, 1792

Humans have always consumed the marrow found in the long bones of animals. (Long bones are those that are longer than they are wide. For example, animal legs.) Today, marrow is found in bone-in cuts of meat from butchers or supermarkets.

European diners in the 18th century even had a specialized implement for removing marrow from a bone: a marrow scoop (or spoon), often of silver, with a long, thin bowl. Bone marrow’s popularity as a food is now relatively limited in the western world, but it remains in use in some gourmet restaurants and is popular among food enthusiasts.

Bone marrow brings a wealth of health benefits to the table. There are two types of bone marrow: yellow and red. Yellow bone marrow is located in the hollow cavities of the long bones. It is usually found at the center, surrounded by red bone marrow. Red marrow contains more nutrients than yellow marrow. But both contain many essential nutrients that boost the immune system (zinc and vitamin A), promote heart health (Omega-3 Fatty Acids and collagen), enhance skin health (collagen), support digestive well-being (because the gelatin in bone marrow has soothing properties) and support joint health (collagen). Bone marrow can even give you an energy boost: high in vitamin content and healthy fats, it provides a steady source of energy throughout the day.

This information may be of interest to cannibals!

Besides the above, collagen is especially important because, (according to WebMD) it also:

  • Helps your blood clot
  • Helps replace dead skin cells
  • Creates a protective cover for your organs
  • Allows new skin cells to grow

While bone marrow offers many benefits, it’s essential to be mindful of its source.  If it’s from healthy, well-raised animals, the risks are minimal. However, bone marrow from animals treated with antibiotics or hormones poses potential health risks.  Always opt for high-quality, grass-fed sources to ensure the best nutritional value.

Eating Bones and Marrow Around the World

International cuisine is rife with recipes using bone marrow:

Nalli Nihari
  • Vietnam: the soup base for the national staple dish, phở.
  • Philippines: the soup bulalo, made primarily of beef stock and marrow bones, seasoned with vegetables and boiled meat. Kansi, or sinigang na bulalo, is a sour variation of bulalo flavored with jackfruit.
  • Indonesia: bone marrow (sumsum) is especially popular in Minangkabau cuisine. Cooks often prepare sumsum as soup or as gulai (a curry-like dish).
  • India and Pakistan: slow-cooked marrow is the core ingredient in the dish nalli nihari.
  • China: pig tibia (with one or both ends of the tibia chopped off) make slow-cooked soup. Diners scoop out the marrow with chopsticks or suck it out with a drinking straw.
  • Hungary: tibia, chopped into 10–15 cm pieces, is a main ingredient in húsleves beef soup. Cooks cover the ends with salt to prevent the marrow from leaking from the bone while cooking. Diners often spread the marrow on toast.
  • Germany: thick slices of whole beef shank with bone and marrow, available in grocery stores, supermarkets, and butcher shops. Cooks use markklöβchen marrow balls in beef soups or beef in horseradish cream sauce.
  • Italy: ossobuco (braised veal shanks); cross-cut shanks served bone-in, with the marrow still inside the bone.
  • French: pot-au-feu, a traditional dish of cooked bone marrow on toasted bread, sprinkled with coarse sea salt.
  • Iran: lamb shanks are usually broken before cooking to allow diners to suck out and eat the marrow when the dish is served. Many South Asian and Middle Eastern cuisines have similar dishes.
  • Native Alaskans: the bone marrow eaten here is of caribou and moose.
  • Kathmandu, Nepal: a buffalo leaf tripe bag stuffed with bone marrow (Sapu Mhichā) served during special occasions. Diners eat the entire boiled, fried bag.
  • United States: pemmican (which I think of as the Native American version of jerky).

Bone Meal/Bonemeal

eating bones bonemeal

Historically, people have used bone meal as a human calcium supplement. Research has shown that calcium and lead in their ionic forms (Ca 2+ , Pb 2+) have similar atomic structures and so create a potential for accumulation of lead in bones, sometimes leading to death.

An accumulation of lead in the human body causes lead poisoning (plumbism, saturnism). Researchers believe lead poisoning is behind 0.6% of the world’s disease burden. Symptoms of lead poisoning include abdominal pain, constipation, headaches, irritability, memory problems, infertility, numbness and/or tingling in the hands and feet. In the 1970s, the EPA developed more stringent importation rules for bone meal.

Many farmers still use bone meal, and a variety of other meals, as a dietary/mineral supplement for livestock. However, the improper use of bone and meat meal products in animal nutrition can contribute to the spread of transmissible spongiform encephalopathy, commonly known in cattle as Mad Cow Disease. Proper heat control can reduce salmonella contaminants.

Bone Broth

If you research bone broth online, you will find claims such as, “Bone broth is the ultimate solution to holistic health. Learn more about the reasons why you should incorporate bone broth into your daily routine. Collagen-Rich. High Protein. No Preservatives.”

Or, “Bone Broth Protein is a nourishing, concentrated bone broth that is 3x as potent* as homemade broth and makes it easy to get healthy gut and joint support. Beauty, Joint Support, Gut Support.”

The current popularity of bone broth is sometimes attributed to celebrity and other popular online influencers.

What’s the real scoop? Who better to ask than scientists? In April of 2025, the Feds published a review of relevant research by Ayah Matar, Nada Abdelnaem, and Michael Camilleri.

“Bone broth is a traditional nutrient revered by different people from ancient times to the modern era as a remedy for various illnesses. This review investigates the nutritional components of bone broth…

“Through comprehensive reviews of animal and human studies, this research highlights that bone broth includes amino acids (glutamine, glycine, proline, histidine, arginine), minerals (Ca, P, K, Mg, Zn) that are beneficial…

“The benefits documented for components in bone broth support the enhancement of gut health, alleviate inflammation in the intestinal barrier, improve intestinal barrier function in health and disease states, particularly in inflammatory bowel disease, as well as enhancing nutrient absorption. Bone broth offers a nutrient-dense option for enhancing overall health and may offer an alternative to dietary supplements with claims for enhanced gut health. We aim to foster interest in and provide evidence to substantiate claims for bone broth as a potential remedy, particularly for maintaining remission in conditions like IBD [inflammatory bowel disease] and possibly functional diarrhea and to encourage further research.”

Bone Broth Benefits: How Its Nutrients Fortify Gut Barrier in Health and Disease by Matar, et al.

In short, it’s a great source of nutrition. But is there a down side?

Dangers of Eating Bones

According to medicinenet.com, bone broth, if not prepared with standard manufacturing protocols, may contain heavy metals and harsh chemicals that can harm the body.

  • Lead is a heavy metal that may settle on vegetables and plants grown on lead-contaminated soil. Cattle may graze on such contaminated vegetables or plants. Therefore, there is a danger of lead contamination in several varieties of bone broth, as well as a risk of lead poisoning. Lead build-up in the bones may leach into the bone broth.
  • According to some studies, bone broth may be high in glutamate, which may cause adverse effects such as anxiety, restlessness, low energy, mental exhaustion, sleeplessness, and concentration problems, although there is no scientific evidence to prove this.

Other potential side effects:

  • Stomach upset
  • Increased bowel movements
  • Inflammatory bowel syndrome (IBS) flare-ups
  • Bloating
  • Constipation
  • Nausea

Gelatin

Gelatin desserts from  Isabella Beeton‘s Book of Household Management, 1861

Surprise! (Or maybe not.) Most gelatin is made from the byproducts of meat and leather industries, usually bones and skin. In its purest form, it’s 98 to 99% protein, tasteless and odorless. Gelatin was around as far back as the Middle Ages. Because it was hard to make, it was reserved for the wealthy.

Though making gelatin is still a complicated endeavor, modern industry has streamlined the process. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, making gelatin from cattle bones is a 20-week process: bone crushing, cooking, spinning in a centrifuge, drying, degreasing, treating with a weak hydrochloric acid solution, several water washes, treatment with a lime slurry to remove everything that isn’t collagen, more washing, filtering, neutralizing the pH, sterilizing, cooling, and hot air drying.

Who created this process anyway?

Besides candy and supplements in gummy form, gelatin stabilizes, thickens, and adds texture to a wide variety of foods.

Fun (non-food) fact: Gelatin has been used in photography from early daguerreotypes to modern silver film.

How Bones Help Us Eat

  • Eating utensils: No doubt our long-ago ancestors made them, but today you can buy bone place settings (knife, fork, and two-sizes of spoons), as well as bone spoon/fork serving utensils and miscellaneous bone spoons in various shapes and sizes. Bone handle flatware is more common now.
  • Bone china: Unlike porcelain, which contains only minerals, bone china includes bone ash. It originated in England in the 1700s. For a long time, virtually all bone china was made there. Historians generally recognize Josiah Spode I as the one who standardized bone china production. The Spode family’s business—Spode—is still making bone china. Today, bone china is made around the world by companies such as Lennox, which has made numerous pieces for presidents since 1918.

Bottom Line: From ancient times to today, bones have nourished people, often with the aid of bone eating utensils.