المواسم والأعياد في حمص ٨_a .. كتاب حمص

Their shouting grows louder until the round ends, according to the time estimated by the owner of the swing, the dawkha, or the flip-flop. The rotation of the diwakha is horizontal, while the rotation of the tipper is vertical. Such gatherings are held in the Bab Palmyra plain and in the Al-Marija area in Bab Al-Duraib.

One of the picnic places that people used to frequent on such occasions is Al-Qumandar Garden. It was originally a large garden occupying the space on which the automatic telephone and post office buildings, the teachers’ union, the officers’ club, and the military police now stand. Its name was Al-Mansheya, and it was a café and a park.

2 - Eid al-Adha: or Eid al-Kabir, and in the language, Eid al-Adha is the plural of the awakening days. It is the sacrifice, and the Day of Sacrifice is the Day of Sacrifice. In addition to the sacrifices offered by pilgrims in Mina, which is one of the rituals of Hajj, some people on this holiday sacrifice sheep or cows according to their ability and distribute most of their meat to the needy and relatives. that it . It seems that its celebration was taking place in the manner that we mentioned in Eid al-Fitr/it was called the Great because the number of its days is four days, while Eid al-Saf is three, as we have seen. It was, like the Little Eid, people would perform Eid prayers, visit cemeteries, present Eid gifts to those who deserve them, and watch the games and joys of Eid, the most important of which was the horse racing that was taking place on Al-Hamidiyeh Street now, before the new neighborhood was built.

3 - The birth of the Prophet:

As for the Prophet’s birthday, it was celebrated in a very noisy manner. The neighborhoods would go out with their parades towards the Khalid bin Al-Walid Mosque and after the noon prayer was performed there, and the story of the Prophet’s birthday would be recited and the accompanying religious poems and prophetic praises would form the parades again and consist of a man standing on the shoulders of another man holding his legs to steady him. In his stance, the men take turns carrying him on their shoulders every few steps. He usually wears black trousers and an open waistcoat, and wears a black scarf on his waist with a dagger in the middle. On his head is a brocade cord, either black, red, or a white patch. He chants some songs, and the people of his neighborhood around him clap and clap. They jump and bounce, filling their throats with something that makes them laugh. In front of the Arada, people might make room for sword and shield players, and arguments often occurred between the neighborhoods as a result of a dispute over who should walk in front. If reasonable people did not intervene in the matter, the Arada would turn into a fight between the two neighborhoods in which some people might be injured.

These processions were parades after leaving the mosque. They were Hama’s way towards the city, each heading towards her love. Some neighborhoods would hold their own celebrations in one of the squares of their neighborhood, where arches would be erected and chairs would be placed. They would invite some of the men of their neighboring neighborhoods, and the neighborhood that would accept the invitation would come. In an arada, its members recite the following chant with their harp on their shoulders before they arrive in the neighborhood: The first part of the harp is chanted by the harp, and the participants repeat the refrain:

O people of Thebes, we have come to you by protecting you: we have come to you. Arrange the chairs: we have come to you according to our number: we have come to you. It is customary for the people of the host neighborhood to respond to them with a similar hostility to receiving their guests, and they joke with their humour:

Taiba cheered and said welcome to Zairina
Welcome to all our visitors and generous people

Then everyone sits on the chairs prepared for them, and whoever does not find a chair squats on the floor.

They welcome their guests, saying: Welcome, welcome, guests, and they take them down to the chest / and / the stage / 1), and they serve them bitter coffee, and games of sword and shield take place.

On the occasion of sword and shield games, remember that parents used to prepare their children from the age of ten to prepare for them by first teaching them to play shamalat, which is a shield made of leather stuffed with wool or something else that the player carries in his left hand to avoid his opponent’s blows, and in the other hand he carries a pomegranate rod or bamboo that serves as a sword. In the future, every young player must have a teacher. The questioner will assign him to him in the same position as his father in terms of his respect and obedience. If one of them learns without having a known teacher, he will be called: “Bunduqa” / meaning he has no father, meaning his father is unknown.

4- Christmas:

December 25 is preceded by fasting for Christians. Before fasting, they make cakes and sausages, then fasting begins and ends with the coming of Christmas. The duration of the holiday is only two days, and the Christmas food is turkey/turkey, and the family takes care before the holiday to buy clothes, shoes, and what everyone needs, young and old. The congratulatory phrases said on this occasion are very similar to what Muslims say, with the exception of phrases that have a religious nature.

5- Easter:

Its definition differs between the Eastern and Western churches. The former links Resurrection with the Jewish Passover, and its argument for that is that Jesus Christ ate from the Jewish Passover, and therefore Resurrection must be after the Jewish Passover, and it has a complex method for calculating it.

As for all other Christians, they determine the beginning of fasting with “Monk’s Monday,” which is the Monday following the first moonrise in the month of February, which is the beginning of the Great Fast that precedes Easter or the Feast of the Resurrection of Christ.

Since the moon was crescent at the beginning of February, in the middle, or at the end of February, therefore, the date of Easter varies from one year to another due to the difference in the beginning of Great Lent. Easter for Christians is like the great holiday for Muslims. Easter has three days of celebration, while Christmas has only two days. Likewise, the days of Eid al-Adha are one day longer than the days of Eid al-Fitr. The food they break their fast with on Easter is lamb meat.

There are other holidays for Christians, including the Feast of the Cross on September 14, then the Feast of the Epiphany in the first week of January. The immersion ceremonies in Homs took place in the public baths, in Al-Sakia, or in the Orontes River, in commemoration of the resurrection of John the Baptist, Yahya bin Zakariya, who baptized Jesus Christ. In the Jordan River.