National Beheading Day ~

Thanks to Southern Girl Ramblings, I am now aware of some holidays that might not be on the top of the old celebration list. National Beheading Day is today, September 2nd. Well, that is a heartwarming holiday, isn’t it? How exactly would one celebrate National Beheading Day anyway? Does this call for a drink? Do you buy the recipient a gift? I am really just not sure what proper protocol is. Regardless, the real question is, who will YOU choose to celebrate this esteemed holiday with? Might I suggest, NOT me?

I am not sure who the jokester is that came up with this “holiday” but I doubt the main characters are pleased. As Santa Claus is to Christmas and the Easter Bunny is to Easter, so is Marie Antoinette to National Beheading Day.

A Brief History of Decapitation

Anyway, according to Wikipedia {the internet’s leader on reliable information as proven by The Office’s Michael Scott}, decapitation was considered an honorable form of death for an aristocrat in many countries. It was assumed that an aristocrat would die by the sword anyway, so this was the preferred death, naturally. Dishonorable death would be by burning at the stake, among other unsavory and torturous choices. Did any of these people ever hear of just keeling over peacefully in one’s sleep? I pick that one, myself.

Not all beheading methods were considered honorable, though. In Scandinavia, nobleman were beheaded by sword to symbolize their war heroism, while commoners were beheaded via ax, to symbolize their low social status {and to probably inflict more pain *gasp*}. Decapitation is *assumed* to be a relatively painless form of death – unless, of course, if more than once whack of the old weapon is required or the beheader has poor aim. Margaret Pole, 8th Countess of Salisbury required up to 10 attempts for her beheader to fully finish the job. *double gasp*

Arguably the most famous decapitee would be Marie Antoinette. Her story is long and interesting. I wrote a giant paper on her in college and feel that she mostly got an undeserved bad rap. She is even said to have apologized to the executioner as she accidentally stepped on his foot before her beheading. How bad could she really be?

Have you ever heard of this “holiday”? Are there any other unusual holidays that you would like to share?