FOLKLORE LINKS
How real Catholics lived their lives - and how you, too, may achieve the Catholic mood.

Christendom was not only the institutions of Church and State. Alongside altar and throne was the cottage, the place where people lived the Faith. As we know all too well, "the Church is in ruins, the State is in jars." Despite that, life goes on. In many places, customs left-over from Catholic days (particularly centring around the Church Year) survive. Included under this heading are Protestant and Orthodox areas whose roots are Catholic. Studying these and perhaps adapting some customs to our own lives can help maintain both Faith and Sanity. What follows is a series of links, according to country or region, which feature such things. A word of warning, however!

Given the successive re-paganisation of society, much is often made of the pagan roots of various practises. Before beginning your voyage of discovery, you might start by giving yourself a truly Catholic point of view in this area. A good place to begin is the EWTN on-line library, featured in the religious links section. There you will find the masterful works by Fr. Francis X. Weiser and Helen McLoughlin, as well as a few other. I recommend you begin there. And now, on with the tour!

GENERAL

Christmas Traditions
Romanian, Bulgarian, Slovakian, Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian, American, Argentine, Australian --- very detailed
http://www.sfos.ro/projects/christmas/central.html

Christmas Around the World
http://www.santas.net/aroundtheworld.htm

Holiday Traditions - Mexico, Spain, Austria, Germany, Luxembourg
http://www.californiamall.com/holidaytraditions/

Mystical World Wide Web
http://www.mystical-www.co.uk

ITALY

Planet Italy
Has links to all the Italian regions and towns
http://www.planetitaly.com/

Umbrian Cities on the Internet
http://www.umbrars.com/cittaus.html
 
Genovagando
An on-line tourist magazine with much folkloric info
http://www.ullisse.it/ospiti/genovagando/indice_eng.html

Catania --- "Candlemas"
http://www.mediaonline.it/catania/candelore_en.htm

FRANCE

Francophone Holidays and Traditions
http://fmc.utm.edu/~rpeckham/FETES.HTM

Christmas Traditions in France and Canada
http://www.chin.qc.ca/christmas/

Notre Dame dëOrcival, Auvergne, France --- Procession and Pilgrimage
http://wwwculture.fr/culture/inventai/itiinv/orcival/uk/orci01.htm

SPAIN

Celebrations in Spain
http://www.clark.net/pub/jumpsam/fiestas/fiestas.htm

La Patum, Berga (Corpus Christi in Catalonia)
http://ica.es/www_patum/patum_inicieng.html

Fiestas of Granada
http://tuspain.com/ferias.htm

The Religious Festivities of Andalucia
http://www.andalucia.com/festival/home.htm

Basque Folklore and Traditions
http://weber.u.washington.edu/~buber/Basque/Folklore

Toledo --- Fiestas and Folklore
http://www.red2000.com/spain/toledo/fest.html

Granada --- Fiestas and Folklore
http://www.red2000.com/spain/granada/fest.html

Barcelona --- Fiestas and Folklore
http://www.red2000.com/spain/barcelona/fest.html
 
Burgos --- Fiestas and Folklore
http://www.red2000.com/spain/burgos/fest.html

PORTUGAL

Regions of Portugal
http://www.sapo.pt/regional/

Feasts of Aveiro
http://www.ua.pt/cmaveiro/uk/festas.html

ENGLAND

Arundel: the Carpet of Flowers (Corpus Christi)
http://max.roehampton.ac.uk/link/AandB/cath3.htm

Ghoulies and Ghosties
http://clever.net/quinion/words/bump.htm

Christmas and New Year Traditions in the United Kingdom
http://www.rmplc.co.uk/eduweb/sites/wickland/xmas/xmas&ny.html

ISLE OF MAN

 Dr. John Clagueës Manx Reminiscences
(on-line bilingual book giving intensive coverage of Manx folk-life)
http://www.mcb.net/manxrem/

BRITTANY

Brittany
http://www.bretagne.com/eng.htm

SCOTLAND

Catholicism in the Hebrides
http://194.247.68.7/wi/aaf_subj.htm

Highland Customs and Folklore
http://www.highlanderweb.co.uk/customs/

Folklore and Traditions of the Orkneys
http://www.stowrie.demon.co.uk/folklore.htm

IRELAND

Irish Seasonal Celebrations
http://www.ncf.carleton.ca/~bj333/HomePage.season.html

The Fires of Midsummerës Eve
http://goireland.miningco.com/library/weekly/aa071497.htm

ICELAND

Yule in Iceland
http://www.itn.is/~gunnsi/yule.htm

Icelandic Folklore
http://www.itn.is/~gunnsi/folk/folk.htm

NORWAY

Christmas in Norway
http://www.norway.org/xmas/engelsk

DENMARK

Danish Traditions
http://stores.us.ohio-state.edu/~steen/dk/tradition.html

SWEDEN

Public Holidays in Sweden
http://www.luth.se/luth/present/sweden/public_hollidays.html

Sweden --- Festivals
http://www.smorgasbord.se/sweden/culture/lifestyle/festivals.html

FINLAND

Traditional Finnish Festivities
http://www.vn.fi/vn/um/finfo/english/juhlaeng.html

Christmas with Virtual Finland
http://virtual.finland.fi/finfo/english/xmas.html

BELGIUM

Belgium Travel Network (includes folkloric info for the different towns)
http://209.41.63.136/

The Holy Blood Procession in Bruges
http://www.interknowledge.com/belgium/bxgen03.htm

The Great Procession of Tournai
http://c267b.chor.ucl.ac.be/typroc/acren.htm

Ville de Namur --- Traditions et Folklore
http://www.ciger.be/namur/folklore/htm

LUXEMBOURG

Institut Grand Ducal (lots of folkloric info)
http://www.igd-leo.lu/

Luxembourg Legends
http://www.luxembourg.co.uk/legends.html

Major Traditional Events
http://www.luxembourg.co.uk/events.html#folklore

NETHERLANDS

Being a Catholic throughout the Year (in Dutch)
http://www.kdc.kun.nl/roomsch/roomsch.html

GERMANY

Customs, Traditions, Origin of Holidays (exhaustive)
http://www.serve.com/shea/germusa/customs.htm

Celebrating Christmas in Germany
http://www.christmas.com/html/germany.html

 
Holiday in Allgau --- Folklore Events
http://www.allgaeu-schwaben.com/folklore.html

Prost, May
http://www.munichfound.de/issues/1997/5/articles/TLW.html

Slaying the Dragon (Corpus Christi)
http://www.drachenstich.de/p11e.htm

SWITZERLAND

Processions in Mendrisio, Switzerland
http://www.bosslab.ch/mendris/proc/procen01.htm

CZECH LANDS

Holidays in the Czech Republic
http://www.prague.org/listings/holiday.html

SLOVAKIA

Encyclopedia of Folk Culture in Slovakia
http://sauba.sauba.sk/logos/books/elks/customs.html

Slovaks and Christmas Traditions
http://www.slovak.com/xmas_traditions/index.html

Slovak Folklore
http://www.slovak.com/folklore/

RUTHENIA

Carpatho-Rusyn Knowledge Base
http://www.carpatho-rusyn.org/

HUNGARY

Hungarian Folklore
http://www.glue.umd.edu/~hungaria/Folklor

Introduction to Hungarian Settlements (survey of villages and towns in Hungary)
http://testver.sednet.hu/e_home.html

POLAND

Polish Traditions
http://www.pgsa.org/traditions.htm

Christmas in Poland
http://ncsu.edu/unity/lockers/project/midlinknc/holidays/ligon.holiday./Poland/Poland.html

Christmas in Poland
http://www.polishworld.com/christmas/

Krakow Traditions
http://www.cyf-kr.edu.pl/KRAKOW/UM/ang/culture/traditions/index.shtml

LATVIA

Latvian Traditional Culture and Folklore
http://www.lanet.lv/members/folklore

LITHUANIA

Lithuanian Cultural Heritage
(includes on-line book "Lithuanian Roots," which covers the Lithuanian folk-year)
http://neris.mii.lt/heritage/cultura.html

In Your Pocket
(Series of on-line guide-books covering Vilnius, Kaunas, and Klaipeda, Lithuania; Riga, Latvia; Tallinn, Estonia; Minsk, Belarus; and Kaliningrad; eaach with extensive feast-day and folklore
coverage)
http://www.inyourpocket.com/

RUSSIA

Russian Folk Holidays and Traditions
http://www.moscow-guide.ru/Culture/Folk.htm

GREECE

Greece --- Holidays
http://www.wnnow.com/reports/topical/region/europe/greece/holidays.html

ROMANIA

Romanian Legends and Traditions
http://www.ersat.kuleuven.ac.be/~cozma/Romania/legends.html

Romanian Spring Customs
http://risci.ici.ro/docs/paste.html

MACEDONIA

Maledonka (an all inclusive site on Macedonia)
http://www.interlog.com/~macy

BULGARIA

Bulgarian Traditions
http://www.travel-bulgaria.com/explore/tradition.html

MALTA

Festa --- A Colourful Tradition
http://www.fred.net/malta/festa.html

Christmas in Malta
http://www.fred.net/malta/milied.html

Old and Modern Customs
http://www.fred.net/malta/folkleg.html

Birth Customs and Saint Protectors
http://www.fred.net/malta/birth.html

L-Imnarja (the Feast of Ss. Peter and Paul)
http://www.fred.net/malta/festas.html

INDIA

Goan Culture
http://www.goacom.com/culture/

EAST ASIA

Christian Nagasaki
http://www.nagasaki-gaigo.ac.jp/nagasaki/5.html

Singapore Eurasian Customs
http://home1.pacific.net.sg/~troi/eurcust.html

LATIN AMERICA

Feliz Navidad
http://www.mexconnect.com/mex_/christmas.html

Celebrating Christmas in Mexico
http://www.mexonline.com/xmas.htm

Mexico City --- Traditional Feasts and Holidays
http://www.mexicocity.com.mx/celebrat.html

Arte y Cultura Mexicana
http://www.vdg.mx/cultfolk/mexico.html

CLNet Folklore/Customs/Traditions
http://latino.sscnet.ucla.edu/research/folklore.html

Music and Folklore of Brazil
http://www.maria-brazil.org/page2.htm

When I want to relax, here are a few sites I turn to for pleasure (not that I don't enjoy all the others, but these are amusing).

Mythology and Folklore
A seemingly endless repository of info and links, ranging from Medieval legends to modern folklore.
http://pibweb.it.nwu.edu/pib/mythfolk.htm

The Perry Mason Pages
An excellent site dedicated to what has become my favourite T.V. show; it features cast bios, plot outlines for each episode, and much more.
http://www.ozemail.com.au/~jsimko/index.html

LëOrdre des Chevaliers de St. Hubert
An organisation in Quebec who have dedicated themselves to the hunt in a Catholic and chivalric spirit.
http://www.polyinter.com/Commanderie/

Criswellës Homepage
Imagine my shock when I found that my old landlord, the fake prophet made famous in Ed Wood (over a decade after his death!) now has his own homepage! Well, if you want to know more about the master, here is the place.
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/andy_crickett/homepage.html