Oh, I see! moments
Travel Cultures Language

World Views:

Topics

01

Dec

Culture Smart: How Did Thanksgivukkah Happen?

by Sheron Long on December 1, 2013

The hands on the dial of Prague's astronomical clock feature the Moon and the Sun, which are also the basis for calendars created by different cultures. Image © Lucertolone/iStock.

The Moon and the Sun figure prominently in the way different cultures mark time, serving as the
basis for their calendars and gracing old clocks like this one on City Hall in Prague.
© Lucertolone/iStock

Hanukkah and Thanksgiving Day converged in 2013, both falling on November 28 per the Gregorian calendar, creating Thanksgivukkah. And it all happened because of a once-in-a-lifetime calendar mash-up.

Different cultures and religions have created unique ways of marking the passage of time, basing the calendar on the Sun, the Moon, or both.

  • Solar Calendar:  Gregorian

The Gregorian calendar, sometimes known as the western or Christian calendar, is the most commonly used internationally. It is tied to the time it takes Earth to make a revolution around the Sun, which is 5 hours, 48 minutes, and 46 seconds.

Most years on the Gregorian calendar have 365 days. Since almost 6 hours are lost in these years, one day is added to the calendar almost every four years (Leap Years) to keep the calendar in alignment with Earth’s revolutions around the Sun.

  • Lunar Calendar: Islamic 

The moon takes 29.5 days to go from a new moon to a full moon and back again to a new moon. Following this lunar cycle, the Islamic calendar has 12 months which add to a 354-day year.

  • Luni-Solar Calendars:  Hebrew and Chinese 

A luni-solar calendar is based on the cycles of the moon with periodic corrections that bring the calendar in line with solar approaches. For example, both the Hebrew and Chinese calendars add a month every 2-3 years. Even with the periodic corrections, though, the number of days in a year on a luni-solar calendar and a Gregorian calendar do not match.

But days can coincide, and so it happened that in 2013 Hanukkah on the Hebrew calendar occurred on the same day as Thanksgiving on the Gregorian calendar.

A rare connection, not expected to occur again for 77,000 years. But, as so often happens when cultures meet up in celebration, it was a joyous occasion!

◊

You can submit photographs of your Thanksgivukkah celebration here. 

Learn more about different calendars at InfoPlease: Chinese, Hebrew, Islamic. Hebcal offers lists of Jewish holidays for any year, a date converter between Gregorian and Hebrew calendars, and more. 

Time and Date offers printable Gregorian calendars with holidays and observances for any year and most countries. You can vary the display to show a combined selection of holidays and events from different cultures and religions.

Comment on this post below, or inspire insight with your own OIC Moment here.

 

Cultural Diversity/Cultural Heritage & Traditions

24

Nov

Culture Smart: The Musical Scale Across Cultures

by Your friends at OIC on November 24, 2013

Children learning to play the violin, symbolizing the different musical scales across cultures

Learning to play different styles of music

Tonal Patterns and Changing Intervals

When you first learn to play an instrument, the first series of notes taught is called a scale. A scale is a series of ascending pitches, usually ending on the octave, the same note, at a higher pitch. Music from different cultures uses different intervals between the notes of an octave.

If you’ve seen The Sound of Music, you know the Western music major scale: do, re, mi, fa, so la, ti, do. It consists of 7 unique notes, with the 8th note being the octave. Listen to a C Major Scale:

 

In the Middle East, the scale is also 7 unique pitches plus the octave, but it differs by several notes from the Western scale. A common song using the Middle Eastern scale is Hava Nagila. Listen to a C Middle Eastern scale:

 

Unlike the other two, the Chinese scale has only 5 pitches. Most Chinese folk tunes can be played using just the black keys on the keyboard. Listen to a C Chinese Scale:

 

Starting on C, the middle key of the piano, typically called Middle C, this chart shows the actual notes played on each scale:

Music-Chart-2

There are several theories on why different musical scales were devised in different cultures. One is that scales are derived from the sounds made by the language spoken and the tonality of pronunciation. Another has to do with religion and superstition determining the number of notes (5 being lucky in Asian culture and 7 in Greek) and the intervals.

Hear music from all over the world at the World Music Network.

Comment on this post below.

 Image © iStockphoto
 

China/Cultural Diversity/Middle East/The World's Music

20

Oct

Culture Smart: How Much Power’s in a Flower?

by Sheron Long on October 20, 2013

Yellow rose, a cultural symbol whose meaning varies in different cultures

In the language of flowers, what does a yellow rose mean to you?

The Yellow Rose, Cultural Symbol of . . .

Friendship and joy. Jealousy and infidelity. New starts and love’s end. It all depends on when and where you live.

 

Cultural Diversity/Cultural Symbols/Worldwide Sites

Copyright © 2011-2025 OIC Books   |   All Rights Reserved   |   Privacy Policy