You can always be thankful, carrying a smile on your face and showing your gratefulness to another for his or her concern towards you.
But, celebrating Thanksgiving Day is a special way of giving appreciation on a particular day with festive celebrations.
You also revive the historical importance of Thanksgiving by celebrating on this particular day.
There can be a long debate regarding the fixed day for Thanksgiving. The cultures that have adopted this celebration have one thing in common, as you will see, even if the day of celebrating the occasion differs.
So, before settling on a fixed date, we must know how it all began.
The inception of Thanksgiving Day
In brief, the Americans have taken the Plymouth pilgrims celebration of their safe survival and harvesting a great yield in Massachusetts as the first Thanksgiving Day.
The season was, of course, the harvest season, and autumn had already approached. Keeping this in mind, in 1941, the fourth Thursday of the month of November, became the official day to celebrate Thanksgiving.
The US citizens celebrate this particular day every year to remember this great event. This also has become a particular time to gather together with one another.
Days differ but the philosophy remains the same
Food and human existence are at the core of this celebration. You may think, how? It is very simple. Why did the Europeans celebrate Thanksgiving?
Why did the Americans keep the same trail and what made the Canadians follow the same idea? If you track down the answers for all, you will find the common element.
And that is the harvest season, which relates to one of the mans primary needs – food. One reason people wanted to pay their reverence to God was that the almighty would take care of their good living.
In Canada, Thanksgiving Day is celebrated on the second Monday in October. This could have been November as well.
One likely reason that October became the most convenient month of celebration was that November arrived at the end of the fall season.
Harvesting was conducted earlier. The traditional way of celebrating Thanksgiving Day has its root deep into the harvest.
Therefore, when the season is over, what would be the meaning of celebrating the day? The essence would have been lost.
Another official reason is also important. The Canadian Parliament found that Thanksgiving in November and Christmas in December would be too close and wouldn’t leave enough breathing space in between.
So, to celebrate both the occasions at their best, Thanksgiving was shifted a month earlier than the American convention.
In Eastern Asia, it is a month earlier than the Canadian day. Officially, the Koreans celebrate Thanksgiving Day on the 24th day of September every year.
The reason is, again, associated with the harvest month and the movement of the moon. The lunar position of the moon has an important role to play in deciding upon this day. For the convenience of all, they have fixed on this particular date to celebrate it.
In each of these regions, the festive season is observed through feasts and parties with individual special cuisines to be enjoyed together at a warm gathering.
This can be seen as a way to celebrate the essence of human existence. Do you agree? Then, get ready to celebrate in the very best way this year.
