December 4: Saint Barbara

December 4 is the feast day of Saint Barbara. 10 things you might not know about Saint Barbara.

1. Who was Saint Barbara? She was a young girl with an over-protective father who locked her in her room to keep men away from her. However, one man did manage to get in by disguising himself as a doctor. The man was a Christian, so he was more interested in converting her than ravishing her. She became a Christian and asked for a third window to be put in her bedroom to represent the Trinity. It was the third window that alerted her father to the fact she'd become a Christian. Her father was angry and wanted to kill her. She jumped out of the third window and ran away to hide in a mountain cave. A shepherd betrayed her, and in due course her father had her head cut off. Immediately he was struck dead by Lightning. The shepherd was turned to stone.
2. She is the patron saint of Santa Barbara in California, firemen, architects, military engineers, armourers, artillerymen, hatters, masons, brewers, mathematicians, Firework makers, saltpeter workers, smelters, miners, sailors; against lightning strikes, Fire, explosions and sudden death.
3. Her emblems are lightning and a tower with three windows.
4. St Barbara is honoured by German miners with the burning of an underground light.
5. She was said to be so holy that the water in her swimming pool had curative powers.
6. St. Barbara has been identified with Pallas Athena.
7. There is a fair bit of folklore associated with St Barbara's feast day. Some of it involves putting a twig from a fruit tree, such as cherry, in a glass of water. If a young unmarried woman does this, and the twig flowers before Christmas, she is certain to marry in the next year. In Germany, each member of a family will have a twig. The child whose twig has the most flowers on Christmas Day is said to be the favourite of The Virgin Mary. In other traditions, blooms by Christmas mean good luck. These legends all originate from a tenth century belief that all trees flowered on the day Christ was born. The vase or glass containing the St Barbara twigs may be placed on the family altar.
8. It's also a day for predicting the weather. In Poland, they say if it rains today there will be ice by Christmas. If it is icy, there will be rain. As well as working out whether a woman will marry or which child is favoured, the blossoming twigs can also be used to predict the weather from the amount of flowers there are and the date they bloom.
9. In Provence, wheat grains are soaked in water, placed in dishes and allowed to germinate. The quicker the wheat germinates, the better the crop yield will be in the coming year.
10. In Lebanon, St Barbara's Day marks the beginning of the Christmas season. A special dish made from Wheat is served. As it is being prepared, the head of the household will tell the family the story of St Barbara.

My Christmas Novella!

A Very Variant Christmas

Last year, Jade and Gloria were embroiled in a bitter conflict to win back their throne and their ancestral home. This year, Queen Jade and Princess Gloria want to host the biggest and best Christmas party ever in their palace. They invite all their friends to come and bring guests. Not even the birth of Jade's heir just before Christmas will stop them.

The guest list includes most of Britain's complement of super-powered crime-fighters, their families and friends. What could possibly go wrong?

Gatecrashers, unexpected arrivals, exploding Christmas crackers and a kidnapping, for starters.

Far away in space, the Constellations, a cosmic peacekeeping force, have suffered a tragic loss. They need to recruit a new member to replace their dead colleague. The two top candidates are both at Jade and Gloria's party. The arrival of the recruitment delegation on Christmas Eve is a surprise for everyone; but their visit means one guest now faces a life-changing decision.

Meanwhile, an alliance of the enemies of various guests at the party has infiltrated the palace; they hide in the dungeon, plotting how best to get rid of the crime-fighters and the royal family once and for all. Problem is, they all have their own agendas and differences of opinion on how to achieve their aims.

Not to mention that this year, the ghosts who walk the corridors of the palace on Christmas Eve will be as surprised by the living as the living are by them.

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