On 2013-12-17 06:41, Vlad_77 wrote:
What I like is the significance of the candy cane as you also have an opportunity to explain a little about what it's supposed to represent. It surprises me how few people know the storey of the candy cane. I think you have a GREAT routine there and obviously a great message.

Great idea!!

On 2013-12-18 02:02, Payne wrote:

Quote:

On 2013-12-17 06:41, Vlad_77 wrote:
What I like is the significance of the candy cane as you also have an opportunity to explain a little about what it's supposed to represent. It surprises me how few people know the storey of the candy cane. I think you have a GREAT routine there and obviously a great message.

Great idea!!

While I too really like the candy cane idea, the association of this form of confection with Christian (or any other religion for that matter) symbolism is yet another myth http://www.snopes.com/holidays/christmas/candycane.asp

On 2013-12-18 04:54, Vlad_77 wrote:

Payne,

I read the article and the article itself makes no definitive conclusion beyond the "FALSE" heading and then the conjecture which follows.

There are many other legends and beliefs surrounding the humble candy cane. Many of them depict the candy cane as a secret symbol for Christianity used during the times when Christian were living under more oppressive circumstances. It was said that the cane was shaped like a "J" for Jesus. The red-and-white stripes represented Christ's blood and purity. The three red stripes symbolized the Holy Trinity. The hardness of the candy represented the Church's foundation on solid rock and the peppermint flavor represented the use of hyssop, an herb referred to in the Old Testament. There is no historical evidence to support these claims, quite the contrary, but they are lovely thoughts.

And it turns out that white candy sticks were actually quite common at Christmas. One story says that they turned into J’s because one choirmaster bent them to look like a shepherd’s staff for children during the nativity scene. There’s no evidence that that’s true either, of course. Today I Found Out writes, ” Given that it has been a time honored church tradition to try to associate as many Christmas season traditions’ “origin stories” as possible with Christianity, usually just for symbolism’ sake but often getting morphed into being believed as fact, color me skeptical on this one.”

But back to the topic at hand, there simply isn’t any evidence to support any of the above, though of course there’s nothing wrong with creating such symbolism around existing traditions. We just need to stop short of calling it fact, which sadly seems to not happen very often with these sorts of stories.