Barbaratag The feast day of Saint Barbara is December 4th.
Barbara -- one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers -- was the beautiful daughter of a rich and powerful merchant. She grew up in the 4th Century in Nikomedia (now Ismit, Turkey). To keep her protected, her father locked her in a tower when he was away, a tower with only two windows. Upon his return from one journey, he found three windows in the tower instead of two. When he asked Barbara about this, she confessed that she'd become a Christian after being baptized by a priest disguised as a physician, and that she'd asked that a third window be made as a symbol of the Holy Trinity.
She was then denounced by her father, who was ordered by the local authorities to put her to death. She escaped from her tower, but her father caught and killed her. When he dealt the death blow, he was immediately struck by lightning.
St. Barbara is the patroness of artillerymen, fireworks manufacturers, firemen, stone masons, against sudden death, against fires, and against storms (especially lightning storms). She is usually depicted in art standing next to or holding the tower in which she was imprisoned, with a chalice, the palm of martyrdom, a feather, and/or cannon.
During her time in the tower, she kept a branch from a cherry tree which she watered with water from her cup. On the day she was killed, the cherry branch she'd kept blossomed. From this comes "Barbarazweig," the custom of bringing branches into the house on December 4 to hopefully bloom on Christmas.
Of course, the branches might not bloom at all, but if the temperature outside has been around 32 to 40 degrees for six weeks, they most likely will. Apple, chestnut, pear, peach, forsythia, plum, lilac and jasmine branches will work also, but cherry is the tradition.
To make your own Barbarazweig, cut the stems (the milder the weather, the better), looking for thinner branches with swollen buds. Mash the ends and put the branches in a vase of cool, not icy, water with a little sugar in it for several hours or overnight (in a bathtub). Leave branches for a few days in a cool place. As soon as the buds appear to swell bring them into a warm room (not too close to the source of heat). Spray them from time to time with lukewarm water, and when the blooms appear, place the branches on a window sill to give them lots of light and keep them in cooler air so that the blooms will stay fresh longer. Change water every day. Once they are in full bloom, re-cut the stems and put them in water with a little sugar, a tiny bit of bleach, a penny and a dissolved aspirin. If the branches bloom exactly on 25 December, it is a sign of "good luck”.
She was then denounced by her father, who was ordered by the local authorities to put her to death. She escaped from her tower, but her father caught and killed her. When he dealt the death blow, he was immediately struck by lightning.
St. Barbara is the patroness of artillerymen, fireworks manufacturers, firemen, stone masons, against sudden death, against fires, and against storms (especially lightning storms). She is usually depicted in art standing next to or holding the tower in which she was imprisoned, with a chalice, the palm of martyrdom, a feather, and/or cannon.
During her time in the tower, she kept a branch from a cherry tree which she watered with water from her cup. On the day she was killed, the cherry branch she'd kept blossomed. From this comes "Barbarazweig," the custom of bringing branches into the house on December 4 to hopefully bloom on Christmas.
Of course, the branches might not bloom at all, but if the temperature outside has been around 32 to 40 degrees for six weeks, they most likely will. Apple, chestnut, pear, peach, forsythia, plum, lilac and jasmine branches will work also, but cherry is the tradition.
To make your own Barbarazweig, cut the stems (the milder the weather, the better), looking for thinner branches with swollen buds. Mash the ends and put the branches in a vase of cool, not icy, water with a little sugar in it for several hours or overnight (in a bathtub). Leave branches for a few days in a cool place. As soon as the buds appear to swell bring them into a warm room (not too close to the source of heat). Spray them from time to time with lukewarm water, and when the blooms appear, place the branches on a window sill to give them lots of light and keep them in cooler air so that the blooms will stay fresh longer. Change water every day. Once they are in full bloom, re-cut the stems and put them in water with a little sugar, a tiny bit of bleach, a penny and a dissolved aspirin. If the branches bloom exactly on 25 December, it is a sign of "good luck”.
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