Day of destiny: St Barbara's Day

In Georgia, December 17 is St Barbara's Day (Barbaroba), celebrated on December 4 in other countries. This is due to Georgia's Orthodox calendar.

The traditional festive food is lobiani - bread baked with bean stuffing. Other traditional foods served on St Barbara's Day include barley, pomegranate, and raisins. Today I had lobiani and pomegranate.

Most Georgians celebrate at home or stay at home because they believe that whoever visits them on this day will give them either good luck or bad luck for the following year - therefore, it's often known as the Day of Destiny.

St Barbara is a 3rd century (286-305) patron saint of artillery officers, military engineers, and miners - in fact, anyone who works with explosives, due to the legends associated with lightning. Babara was the daughter of the wealthy pagan Dioscorus. Legend has it that she secretly became a Christian, which enraged her father. He tried to kill her several times, but she miraculously escaped death. Eventually, her father beheaded her. He was struck by lightning after the deed and died in a ball of flames.

Even now, many artillery regiments in defence forces around the world honor St Barbara as their protector.

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