Featured Stories in Culture

What do you get when you cross Celtic Halloween traditions, French cream puffs, traditional carol singing, piñata-like sweets-filled barrels, and large, large amounts of food? The answer is three Icelandic holidays, celebrated in the days leading up to Lent: Bolludagur, Sprengidagur and Öskudagur.

Nowadays a popular Christmas ornament, the Yule Goat was once a Scandinavian version of Santa and, for centuries before that, he was a dying-and-rising deity bringing good luck and fertility to those who celebrated it. Join us as we try to trace back his origins—and resurrect his fascinating history!

Traditional nativity scenes show the Three Wise Men visiting the infant Jesus on the night of his birth in an animal-filled manger. Catalan nativity scenes are somewhat different: they also include a red-hatted farmer, squatting, with his pants around his knees and his bare buttocks exposed. Meet the Caganer, a saintly defecator!

Every great romantic comedy—from The Graduate to Shrek—features a melodramatic “I object” wedding scene. There’s a reason why real life rarely does. It’s got nothing to do with love—and everything to do with law.

A pagan wedding is commonly known as handfasting, but the handfasting is only a part of it. They also include circle closings and Claddagh rings, elemental invocations and off-the-wall vows. Oh, yes, broom-jumpings too!

In Christianity, Kikimora is undoubtedly a demon. But in pre-Christian Slavic mythology, although Kikimora is considered evil, there are exceptions.

Tracing the origin of the phrase ‘on the lam’ is tricky. But we get a sense of it’s roots via Babylon, Victorian children and Prohibition era gangsters.

Militaries have many nicknames for their troops, but none are as pervasive as G.I. in the United States. How did US troops get their name?

The first rule about Skinwalkers in Navajo culture is don’t talk about Skinwalkers. Regardless, the story holds a fascination for many non-Native Americans.

A murder of crows. The collective term is not endearing. So why? Thank medieval hunting tradition and the expansion of the English language.

The sleep paralysis demon has haunted us for millennia. More recently, science has overcome entrenched supernatural explanations for the devil of dreams.

Everyone’s heard of Batman. How about a bat god? Camazotz was a Mayan deity associated with death and sacrifice whose name translates as “death bat.”

The history of the condom has not always been associated with comfort. We’ve tried linen, tortoise-shell (yes really), and latex. What does the future hold?

Popeye and spinach have fueled a great deal of nutritional nonsense. One thing is sure, spinach is good for you, but not as much as you first thought.

Ikebana, the ancient Japanese art of flower arranging is making a comeback. Read about the symbolism and culture behind these living sculptures.

Why is there a worm in Tequila? Or is there? Who would even consider a drink with a worm in it and how and why did it get there? Find out all the answers

Meet Lulu Hashimoto, the doll who won a human beauty pageant and developed a huge following as a fashion model and human-like character