Word: customs
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...contemplation of such seemingly simple mantras as the headings for the first four Torah readings in the book of Genesis. A meditation conference organized by the Bay Area group Chochmat HaLev drew 500 people. Spiritual life at Rabbi Rami Shapiro's Temple Beth Or in Miami features a custom-built meditation garden. All told, Omer-Man believes, there are some 200 "small scale" programs of experiential mysticism countrywide...
...society so that everyone knows she is now wife material. It generally happens during a woman's first year of college. However, most social beings have spent many a night doing the Harvard social scene. Does a woman's ability to romp around late at night render this custom less necessary? Perhaps. Even so, there is no shortage of Harvard debutantes. Unfortunately, as debutante balls have been the victims of quite extensive criticism, last names are omitted to protect those sources who have attended deb balls as either debs themselves, friends or escorts (the guys conned into being dates...
...doesn't cost anything [to stop at Harvard], and that's big attraction," says Dan Finn, whose New World Tours designs custom tours of the Boston area. "It's also a good lunch stop because everyone can go into Harvard Square...
...ancient Chinese custom that turns patients into human pincushions, acupuncture is surprisingly popular these days. America's growing interest in alternative medicine and the quasi endorsement of the Food and Drug Administration (which last year took acupuncture's extra-fine needles off its list of "experimental" medical devices) have helped create a sharp spike in demand for the prickly procedure. About a million Americans spend $500 million a year on acupuncture for complaints ranging from gallstones to migraines to low-back pain; today even dogs and horses are trotting off to see their acupuncturists...
...medieval times, a series of customs developed around "Hallow E'en" (Hallow Evening), many deriving at least in part from the holiday's earlier pagan incarnation. It became traditional to eat nuts and apples; the nuts were especially important because young girls were encouraged to watch them as they roasted, interpreting their behavior as an omen of the faithfulness or inconstancy of their beloveds--if the nut cracked or jumped, one was thought to be in trouble. The relationship between this custom and the Celtic belief in the power of New Year prophesies seems clear enough. Other traditions of note...