One of the biggest holidays is Thanksgiving and it’s just around the corner. It is a holiday that started out as a day of giving thanks for the blessing of the harvest and of the preceding year. There are several traditions that have been around for years while there have been some modern additions.
Breaking a Turkey wishbone is one of the historical traditions. Just like the celebration, every tradition in it also has some significance and a story behind it. So let’s try and find out how the wishbone-breaking thing started and what it exactly is. Keep on reading.
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How Did Breaking A Wishbone Become A Thanksgiving Tradition?
One of the most loved holidays in America is Thanksgiving. It is also full of several traditions, with some modern additions. One of them is breaking the wishbone of a turkey.
Two people each grab a side of the wishbone which is situated inside the turkey’s carcass. Once the meal is completed, they break the bone apart while making a wish.
Whoever breaks off the larger part of the wishbone will have their wish granted, according to the tradition. There are two accounts as to how and where this tradition originated.
It started thousands of years ago in the ancient Etruscan civilization. The Etruscans were a civilization in ancient Italy (around 800 BCE) that practiced bird divination. They used birds as oracles to predict the future.
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Where Did It Start?
During this time, Chickens were allowed to peck at Etruscan letters on the ground to divine the answers to queries about the future. When a bird was killed, they laid the wishbone in the sun for people to touch it and continue to use its power.
Those who touched the bone made wishes and that is how the name wishbone came into existence. Later, the Romans copied some of the Etruscans’ cultural traditions, including the wishbone wishing.
Over time, instead of wishing on bones on the ground, the Romans broke off the larger part of the bone for their wish. This tradition was carried with them to the British Isles, and the wishbone tradition eventually spread elsewhere.
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