December 16th.
Nine more days until Christmas.
Fifteen more days until the end of the year.

A lot of us around the globe look very forward to the month of December, what it holds as meaning, the general holiday spirit, family reunions, new beginnings...

Today is the 16th of December, and yet it could have been the 16th of march and i would have felt the same. Weirdly enough, this year I'm not very much excited for the end of year festivities... Usually i would have been as giddy as a kid...

Here in Lebanon you start the month of celebrations on the 3rd. The 3rd of December is St Barbara's day, a day celebrated very actively by the Lebanese Christian community in a feast day similar to that of North American Halloween.

Saint Barbara was the daughter of a rich pagan named Dioscorus. She was carefully guarded by her father who kept her shut up in a tower in order to preserve her from the outside world. Having secretly become a Christian, she rejected an offer of marriage that she received through him. Before going on a journey, he commanded that a private bath-house be erected for her use near her dwelling, and during his absence, Barbara had three windows put in it, as a symbol of the Holy Trinity, instead of the two originally intended.

When her father returned, she acknowledged herself to be a Christian; upon this he drew his sword to kill her, but her prayers created an opening in the tower wall and she was miraculously transported to a mountain gorge, where two shepherds watched their flocks. Dioscorus, in pursuit of his daughter, was rebuffed by the first shepherd, but the second betrayed her and was turned to stone and his flock changed to locusts.

Dragged before the prefect of the province, Martinianus, who had her cruelly tortured, Barbara held true to her faith. During the night, the dark prison was bathed in light and new miracles occurred. Every morning her wounds were healed. Torches that were to be used to burn her went out as soon as they came near her. Finally she was condemned to death by beheading. Her father himself carried out the death-sentence. However, as punishment for this, he was struck by lightning on the way home and his body was consumed by flame. Barbara was buried by a Christian, Valentinus, and her tomb became the site of miracles.

The general belief among Lebanese Christians is that Saint Barbara disguised herself in numerous characters to elude the Romans who were persecuting her, and hid in a wheat field, feeding on that cereal. We commemorate the day she fled from captivity.
Traditionally, on the night of the 3rd, children dress up in costumes and tour the homes of their neighborhood, singing songs in honor of the Martyr Saint, knocking on every door. People usually invite you in and offer you food (and symbolic shelter) as they would have for the fleeing Saint.

Traditionally you prepare (and distribute) a form of wheat sweet soup. It is mainly wheat, the water it cooks in, infused with aniseed and with some sugar added. You savour it hot (and are grateful for it when you're touring outside and it's freezing )
You also prepare two types of sweets which are called macarons and ouwaymat. here are their respective pictures

wheat



macarons



ouwaymat



Tradition wants that you put up your tree on the 3rd of December. On that same day you also plant lentil and wheat seeds over cotton balls and place them in front of your empty nativity scene (hope it makes sense, couldn't translate it very well.. basically it's the setting but without the figures). The lentils and wheat will slowly grow, until the 24th, when they become about 20 cm high. They represent fertility, birth, the cycle of life. After Christmas celebrations those were planted at the corner of your field. They always look so beautiful

the planted seeds





This post is turning out to be huge, and I'm not even half way yet! in the meantime it is almost midnight here, so i bid you all goodnight...
The rest will come soon