Many people know St. Nicholas by the name Santa Claus. And yet while the modern figure of Santa derives from St. Nick, you’d hardly find this patron saint of children making toys in the North Pole. So Who Was St. Nicholas? The real man behind the fictitious modern day Santa Claus was St....
When arriving in America, English colonists were frightened by the medicine of the Native Americans, whom they referred to as the ‘Redskins’. The Natives’ use of medicinal and aromatic plants played a role in shamanism, healing rites and other forms of religious practices, which of course frightened the colonists, who claimed...
Rhodiola: The Stuff of Myth, Legends and Science Fiction For 2,000 years, scholars and healers have pored over the texts of Greek epic poems searching for clues to the identity of the mysterious Charm of Prometheus. What is the herb that gives that type of strength? The myth of Jason, the...
All around the world, the Polynesian vahine became iconic in terms of beauty thanks to their beautiful hair and golden glow tanned skin. Today, we reveal the beauty secrets behind their looks and their use of traditional beauty oils, which has been a tradition passed down from mothers to daughters...
Queen Nefertiti and other ancient Egyptian royals were renowned for their stupendous gazes and legendary beauty, and most notably their dark-outlined eyes. The ancient Egyptians regarded beauty as a sign of holiness, and profusely used lead-based substances as cosmetics, including an ingredient in their black eye make-up. But asides using...
During the most important transitional periods of their lives—entering adulthood, before marriage, after childbirth and finally as a burial shroud, Bambara women of Mali wrap themselves in the ritual cloth—the bògòlanfini. Derived from the terms bògòlan, meaning, 'made from mud', and fini, meaning 'cloth', the mud cloth is an artful...
Although ikat weaving has emerged from different parts of the world, with its original source still unclear, it is the silk ikat from Central Asia, defined as abrabandi, meaning “bound-cloud”, that is certainly the most striking. These ikats are made using a resist dye technique whereby the warp yarns (vertical threads)...
NOSE PIERCING Nose piercing was first introduced to the Indian subcontinent by the Mughal Empire during the 16th century. Nowadays, a stud, phul, or a ring, nath, is generally worn in the left nostril, at times joined to the ear by a chain. The left side of the nostril, as believed by...
Cleansing soaps, as we know them today, date back to ancient Babylon (2800 B.C.E.), whose citizens were the first to master the art of soap making, combining animal and vegetable fats with ash. The ancient Mesopotamians, Egyptians, as well as Greeks and Romans followed this trend, and all had produced soap...
The toothbrush might be a recent phenomenon in Europe however its ancient counterpart, the chewing stick, has been used for thousands of years by countless civilisations including the Ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans. It was however the Babylonians who were its earliest users, with records dating back to 3500 B.C.E. Derived...