The holiday season is upon us in many parts of the world. Whether you celebrate Christmas or Hanukkah, Winter Solstice or Muhammad’s birthday, it’s a time for families and friends to come together and celebrate or simply get a few days of rest from their labours.
So today I wanted to ask you to share with us some of your own local traditions for celebrations at this time of year, or perhaps your personal family traditions (which may or may not be related to cultural background).
My family, for example, is a bit of a mongrel. We have lived in different countries and so we’ve absorbed many traditions and created a hybrid mix of our own. My children clean their boots on the eve of St. Nicholas’ Day (6th December) and in the morning they find them stuffed with nuts and sweets if they’ve been good or with sticks if they’ve been bad. The Krampus (in Austria), Père Fouettard (in France) or Zwarte Piet (Black Peter) in the Netherlands accompanies St. Nicholas and is the one who punishes children – good cop, bad cop. My children only received sticks once – and they really pulled their socks up and behaved impeccably in the run-up to Christmas, so it acts as a good early warning…
Advent Crown.
We also celebrate the Advent – a German/Austrian custom, whereby we light an additional candle each of the four Sundays preceding Christmas and add one extra bit of decoration around the house. We don’t set up the tree until the fourth Advent Sunday (which this year falls on the 20th) and we have to take all the decorations down on the 6th of January, the Festival of the Three Kings. We have also adopted the American custom of having an electric train going round the tree, with trees and houses and other fun rural landscapes. We enjoy searching for one extra bit of ‘landscape’ and one additional bauble for the tree each year.
However, when it comes to opening presents, we did not follow the Central European (and French) custom of doing it on Christmas Eve, nor the Greek custom of receiving them just after midnight on New Year’s Eve. Instead, we leave a platter of mince pies for Santa and a carrot for Rudolph and his reindeer friends by the fireplace (very English) and sleep intermittently until the morning of Christmas Day. This invariably means a VERY early morning start, lots of wrapping paper scattered all over the floor and staying in pyjamas until midday.
From info-Pitesti.ro
We don’t often dare to do this when we are in foreign countries, but when we are in Romania for Christmas, the children go round to all the houses in the neighbourhood with a star attached to a wand and sing carols, for which they receive nuts, dried fruit and candy. On New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day grown-ups come around with Capra – the Goat – someone dressed up in a goat mask, with singing and dancing. This ritual of possibly pagan origin symbolizes fertility, but also getting rid of all evil spirits which beset you the previous year and filling your house with fresh energy.
I’d love to hear some of your own traditions, whether they form part of your cultural heritage or are very personal interpretations. What do you like doing at this time of the year, when it’s cold and grey, when the nights are so long (at least in the Northern Hemisphere)?
dVerse 
Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, step up, step up and forget the jingle-jangle of the Christmas market tills. Think instead of mulled wine and spiced apple juice, of cinnamon and clove biscuits and other treats. For those of us stuck in the colder climes, it’s the time to be cosy, warm and dry in front of a wood fire, and doing lots of reading, writing and playing board games. Well, that’s my definition of a heavenly holiday season, anyway!
Mulled wine served with raisin and almonds.. some saffron buns and maybe gingerbread, figs and nuts… 🙂 Do you have any traditional Christmas poems?
You’ve made my mouth water, even though I make a delicious mulled wine myself. I don’t know about traditional Christmas poems – it’s more like carols, songs, wishes.
In the US, we have The Night Before Christmas. It starts:
’twas the night before Christmas
and all through the house,
Not a creature was stirring –
Not even a mouse!
My favorite Christmas poem is the long poem “Tomten”
Translated the first stanza is (translated)
Deep in the grip of the midwinter cold
The stars glitter and sparkle.
All are asleep on this lonely farm,
Deep in the winter night.
The pale white moon is a wanderer,
snow gleams white on pine and fir,
snow gleams white on the roofs.
The tomte alone is awake.
Oh, I think I know that: I have an illustrated version of that somewhere. I think translated into German. Was that Astrid Lindgren by any chance?
I like this poem…but not sure what a tomte is, Bjorn! I recorded myself reading”The Night Before Christmas” for my grandchildren (an Usborne audio book).
Tomten is a kind of gnome, living in the farm, helping out. He should be fed porridge to stay good.
Good to know… as we live on a farm 🙂
Tomten is a Swedish tradition – yes? And the glug (served hot with almonds that have been steeped in the alcohol)….and Santa Lucia….
I like saffron buns and even make some to eat for breakfast during the Christmas season.
Personally we do not have a lot of traditions.. but there are many traditions to keep up with in Sweden… 🙂 We do light an additional candle every Sunday of Advent… Christmas gifts are opened on Christmas Eve (if we are together then)… There are a lot of traditional food (especially for Christmas Eve)… ham glazed with mustard, sausages, salmon, herring, pate’s and in some places we still dip bread in broth… and then of course we should fit in rice porridge and lutefisk among all this… Mulled wine to drink, and then many think we should dance around the Christmas tree singing traditional songs… Many still believe it should look like in Fanny and Alexander:
Ah, what a lovely link, I remember that film well. Sounds very much like the Germanic/Dutch/other Scandinavian tradition – which then spread over to the US with the immigrants. And even to Britain with Prince Albert, the husband of Queen Victoria.
Hi to you MarinaSofia and everyone else! Here in Richmond, we have a unique tradition: The Tacky Light Tour. People around the city and the three surrounding counties part of the metro area, go way-y-y-y-y over the top with outside decorations, lights, animated characters, ice blue electric palm trees, Santas of all descriptions from Chinese to Hawaiian to Traditional. Really. All kinds of things – trees, reindeer, Santas, Christmas Ornaments outside and inflated with hot air fans. One average house and yard may have over 3500 lights and at least 100 figures. Incredible. I may do a post on my blog and have pics from the tour. The newspaper lists them in different parts of the city with addresses. Some people pile into their own car and go visit but several companies have tour buses that go around complete with music, bar, and other fesitivities on the bus. People in casual, formal, costumes….wow. Truly. Traffic will be lined up to go past the Tacky Light House. You can often see the glow from several blocks away. some neighborhoods go with everyone decorating on a block or in a cul de sac. Music will be playing at the house and many have a drop off for collection of toys for tots or the Salvation Army or the Food Bank. So fun and goodness at the same time!
Love it. We go way out decorating, too. David took photos last night after the snow we had. I do intend to post one sometime this week…maybe tomorrow.
Wow, that sounds quite… spectacular. Or tacky. In any case, probably not super-ecologically friendly. I think I’ve heard about this, but never realized it was where you live. Please do write a post about it with pictures – it sounds so unbelievable!
LOL it isn’t about being ecological or anything like that – it is all about flat out rip roaring fun. 🙂
I remember the same from the year I lived in Mesa Arizona… there where streets that where so over the top… and yes we drove trough just like everyone else.
Good for you! It amazes me people do it, all the time and such involved. I’m happy with my small real tree with colored lights and the Manger scene on our mantle surrounded with fresh greens and candles.
Fun post to consider, Marina. Our celebrations for Christmas are quite simple as we don’t have children or family close by. Christmas eve we blend our cultureal backgrounds. It used to be lutefisk (for David’s Norwegian heritage) and gnocci for my Italian, though it is my adopted heritage. Finally after years of gagging through the fish, I confessed my aversion to David and he fixed me another option. We then have a champagne toast and open presents. Often we watch “The Christmas Story” on Christmas eve. We used to go to Mass Christmas eve but since my kidney transplant and poor immune system I go sometime during the week instead to avoid the crowd. (Growing up, we couldn’t dream of even looking under the tree until after church on Christmas morning.) We share a meal on Christmas day with another couple who don’t have family nearby…swapping the event with Thanksgiving since both husbands are gourmet cooks.
Whatever, however each of you celebrate the holiday, I wish you light, happiness and good health in the year to come.
Thank you, Victoria – and I love your comment about lutefisk. Sounds like it is a bit of an acquired taste…
Or not! :0) David has given up on it, too. It is so hard to get in Reno and you just about have to take out a mortgage to pay for it….usually comes from Minnesota.
Ha… I can almost bear it after years of training.. but you might wonder why Scandinavians insisted on bringing the worst of the old world… If somebody says they love lutefisk it’s lye. 🙂
Then again, there are Brits who love marmite and Malaysians who love the durien fruit…
We have surströmming (fermented herring) here as well… and lutefisk us much better…
Oh, I tried that once. I’ll try anything once, or so I boast, but that very nearly killed me.
A colleague of mine was given surströmming by a Swedish teacher. When his family opened the can, the smell was so strong that they could not eat it.
Bwahaha…that’s exactly the truth. Every now and again you get smacked with a taste of ammonia. Shudder. I think I went about 14 years without acquiring the taste.
And Southerner who love chittlins……yuck to the 100th degree. Never ate them. Just smelling them cook is enough to make anyone eat bread and butter for a month.
I had to look that one up – friend intestines, right? Yum -not! Mind you, I have to admit I do like fried breaded brain, which we sometimes eat in Romania. Not human, I hasten to add.
No. the chittlins come from hogs. Horrible things. I enjoy a nice pork roast or ham or bacon but I’d jump off a tall building before cleaning, cooking or eating chittlins. Now some of the old timers in our family enjoyed a dish of pork brains cooked with eggs for breakfast – not me!
Ha, gnocci sounds SO much better. I would definitely steer clear of lutefisk, but there are a lot of Norwegians in this area; and sometimes they hold “lutefisk suppers.”
Hello! While we celebrate the various holidays with our friends, we are Baha’i and our celebration period comes up in February. We honor all the diverse practices of all religions and cultures and send good wishes to all. Our time for celebrating and service to others is called Ayyam’i’Ha meaning Intercalary days. Four days except in leap year when there are five. I am anxious to read about all of your traditions too!
Thank you for your good wishes – and I’d love to find out more about your celebrations in February.
We offer service where ever we can. We gather together and exchange gifts. It’s also a time for preparation for the upcoming 19 day fast. From sunrise to sunset we abstain from food and drink. It’s a very spiritual time of renewal. Ayyam’i’Ha is a joyous time of giving and fellowship. Often we plan service projects to share with the less fortunate or the troubled. Thanks for this opportunity to share.
That sounds like a really spiritual celebration (and dare I say it, what the original message of Christmas was all about, rather than consumption?).
I agree! These holy days can be so fortifying when they are centered on the spirit but who doesn’t enjoy a few refreshments? 😀
Very nice! Maybe a haibun during the time to share it with us. Some aspects remind me of Yom Kippur – fasting, atonement, spiritual cleansing, good deeds for the needy or troubled. I am always amazed by such universality of actions in the various religions and denominations through out the world.
Yes, exactly. That’s one of the primary tenants of the Baha’i Faith. “God is one; man is one and all the Religions are one”. We are basically united. We just need to wake up to that. 🙂
Yes we do. Love, light, peace and sharing.
So glad you shared. I agree that there is such a similar thread in all traditions–the celebration of light–and each to be honored. If we could do that, how different our world would be.
So true. Honoring each person’s spiritual journey! Thank you!
When I was living at home and before our family split to live other places, we always had our big Christmas dinner on Christmas eve and opened presents. Christmas morning we all enjoyed “Santa Claus” – brought there during the night and set about the tree and then we went to church and Christmas afternoon and evening, visted friends and had visits from friends and from out of town family. Being Southerners, we always had turkey and ham and then, from our garden vegetables canned or frozen from the summer, all kinds of side dishes and pies and my grandmother’s special fresh orange cake along with fruitcake – don’t make a face! Full of glaced fruit, pecans from our pecan trees, nutmeg, orange marmalade and bourbon. A small piece was enough!
I have done quite a few posts about Christmas with special recipes from our family and also, two true stories about family, love, and spirit of giving and love.
https://kanzensakura.wordpress.com/2014/12/23/christmas-memories-cocquito-and-friendship/
https://kanzensakura.wordpress.com/2014/12/16/the-smell-of-home-a-true-christmas-story-3/
But I miss my family. That was always the best part of Christmas. Being with my loved ones.
Ah, I miss the OLD family get-togethers when I was a kid. With parents and aunts and uncles and cousins. And games of either “bridge” or “sheepshead” played after we ate dinner!
That’s one thing I miss too…I am halfway around the world from my parents and my siblings are all over, so its a joy to be together during Christmas. Now its been years since we have been together…
I do too. Although in retrospect, if I’m honest, those big family Christmases that I seem to remember are not actually true (or maybe it happened once, certainly not every year), because even as a child, we were living abroad and far away from family. So maybe that’s why I crave to replicate something for my children which exists more in my imagination…
Yes, being with family makes holidays extra special! We enjoyed celebrating St. Nick’s Day on Dec. 6 with our children and grands…they love to see what is in the stockings! We keep our gifts and decorations simple. We have another party with extended family later this month. Our church lights Advent candles each week and we worship on Christmas Day. A small town nearby is known for their lovely Christmas lights so we like to drive through. I’m looking forward to The Nutcracker performance next week by a professional group with local dancers too.
My husband and I (and the dogs!) light the Advent wreath every night and read a short meditation taken from the liturgy of the following day (Catholics have Mass daily) to remind us of the spiritual aspects of the season. I’m not sure the dogs get it exactly. :0)
They do. Animals get more than you think. I am not Catholic but enjoy mass at a nearby church. The priest is a Franciscan and blesses the animals every year. He is such a kind person and prays for anyone’s pet who asks him. He says they are without sin and can teach us much.
Franciscans are so real…I’ve had a close connection with them throughout my life. Ergo, my favorite character in my second novel.
🙂
I like that tradition, Victoria! I think it celebrates the true meaning of Christmas.
Ah, the Nutcracker is a wonderful Christmas tradition to have – I’ve watched it so many times. And a few years ago, when we were still living in the UK, I took my children to London to watch it at the Covent Garden Opera House. They were enchanted back then, not so sure they would appreciate it now!
Speaking of entertainment traditions, the huge tradition for New Year’s Eve in Vienna is to watch Die Fledermaus (the operetta by Johann Strauss – the Bat is that the translation). I think I can still repeat every song, every word.
Christmas and New Year are very popular in Australia although religious and other festivals are a year long event, some of which are shared and others are not. Chinese New Year is increasingly shared in our country which just adds to the fun.
And while the non-religious Christmas is something which those who celebrate a religious Christmas decry, the fact is that it is something which draws the world together regardless of religion.
Christmas Trees and Santas go up in the Middle East, Hindu India, Moslem Indonesia, Buddhist Asia, and across the world. This celebration which draws upon so many ancient traditions, dubbed pagan, by the Christians, has an ability to draw everyone together as a time of giving and sharing.
For us it is a time of blue skies and sunshine and kids playing outside until late at night with twinkling stars and twinkling Christmas trees, and brightly wrapped presents and Christmas Carols.
And yet most that we associate with Christmas, is pagan in origin….perhaps that is why it has become so popular and morphed into something beyond religion.
http://www.livescience.com/25779-christmas-traditions-history-paganism.html
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to everyone. I look forward to having time for poetry in 2016 as we come to the end of this very busy time of settling back home and getting sorted, which, when combined with the Christmas season, means not much spare time is left.
Australia, like the U.S., I think, is pretty much made up of a diverse population…so it’s similar here. Many cultures are represented. A few years ago I had the opportunity to celebrate Kwanza with an African American friend–again, “light” right at the center. Definitely they tie into the pagan traditions related to the sun god. We NEED light.
Yes, we are diverse in the same way as the US although Christmas is still Christmas for everyone – we don’t call it holidays. For us, holidays is what you call vacation anyway, so it is confusing.
But generally people see no need to call Christmas anything else. I also think as probably the most secular country on the planet, people are happy to just call it Christmas whether they are Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Atheists, Agnostics or Wiccan because it is the non-religious Christmas which is generally celebrated and it draws people together.
Not that we miss a chance for a party.
We don’t have many African immigrants, although Ethiopian and Sudanese refugee numbers have increased, and the one’s we have are Christian or Muslim.
Kwanza is a particularly American tradition,( as is calling Christmas, Holidays,) invented because you have many people whose ancestors were African although it is not an African tradition in any way I have experienced during many decades living in a number of African countries…. Christmas is what is celebrated more universally.
I wonder how many Americans celebrate Kwanza given the broad embrace of Christianity by those with African ancestors, for quite some centuries now. I imagine it might be more popular in some places than others.
And Africa is so diverse and so divided tribally that the Swahili origin is unlikely to have universal appeal. Tribes still won’t intermarry in many places although Christianity and Islam play a part in drawing them together.
I haven’t come across ‘light’ being celebrated particularly in Africa although I also lived in India and am well acquainted with Diwali.
But it’s a bit like religion really – at core they are all about the same things, as indeed, they must be. 🙂
I was about to say: ‘What African tradition?’ since Africa is such a diverse continent, but I see you addressed the issue yourself. It is sad, isn’t it, that although religion is at heart about the same things (and generally about good things), we find so many ways to disagree about it?
I suppose the curse in the gift of our individuality is such difference.
I love it: CHRISTMAS!
And in Japan, believe it or not, Kentucky Fried chicken is THE Christmas meal, ordered months in advance – specially decorated buckets, special plates, wine, ice cream, cake – all packed into the bucket – it is an amazing thing to see. Lots of fun. I celebrated Christmas years ago in Japan and learned about this – very big deal, really.
How fun. When I went to El Salvador after a huge earthquake in 1986, the big celebration meal the night before we left was KFC…
That’s really interesting to know Toni ~
Ah, well, but Christmas is a very recent invention in Japan, much like Halloween is in Europe (at least, the American version of it). Of course, the Japanese have a lot of traditions associated with the New Year, so this is just the icing on the cake… or should that be the barbecue sauce on the chicken?
Sorry to be so late in the discussion, but I was so busy writing a poem (smiles) that time got away from me. Marina Sofia, I really enjoyed learning about the diversity of your traditions! Your children are lucky to have so many traditions as they grow up.
I think as time goes on I get further and further away from the VERY commercialized Christmas we have here in the U.S. It appalls me really when I see or think about people buying so much at this season, and I can’t help think of all the bills they will receive in the new year. Sometimes I think it would be a very good thing if people exchanged gifts on December 6 (St. Nicholas Day) and left December 25 as a religious holiday.
Toni mentioned the decorations of homes in her area. This is the same where I live as well. Some years I drive around and am amazed at the elaborate displays people have put up. I haven’t done this yet because we don’t have ANY snow on the ground; and somehow it doesn’t inspire me to go and look at decorations when there is not one iota of snow.
As far as presents, they can be exchanged either Christmas Eve or Christmas morning. When I was a child, I always got ONE present from parents on Christmas Eve and the rest from “Santa” on Christmas morning. I always left cookies and milk out for Santa before I went to sleep, of course.
Great topic, Marina Sofia. Thank you!
I share your view, Mary, on the commercialization of Christmas. As we’ve aged, our gifts have become more and more things we need for the house. I feel so sad to see people overdo it and end up in debt in January. Of course, advertising is such a strong influence, too. And now there are all the e-mail marketing campaigns. My mom loves popcorn and one year I got her a gift from The Popcorn Factory. If I get one more e-mail from them, I’ll scream. Especially since I unsubscribed weeks ago.
There is often a gift in any curse and while over-commercialization is a problem, I feel that the commercialization of Christmas is what has created the secular version and that is the version which can be and is, celebrated around the world, regardless of religion.
When I lived in India I observed that people delighted in their Hindu and Muslim festivals, but also loved Christmas and it was something which could be shared by everyone. India is a very divided country in terms of religion even though mostly Hindu and anything which can be shared by Muslims, Hindus, Parsis, Jains, Buddhists, Christians, Jews etc., is good. I am sure the same applies to China but I have not lived there.
The secular version of Christmas does mean it gets celebrated everywhere in the world and regardless of religion, and anything that brings people together is fine with me. However, I can’t help feeling a little disappointed that it’s buying things rather than love, peace and charity which brings people together. But then, maybe I am too much of an idealist!
Sorry I am late myself Marina ~ For my family, we try to keep up with our tradition – going to mass then opening our gifts on night of Dec. 24 midnight until the morning and then celebrating Dec. 25 together with other families and close friends, with either lunch or dinner ~ During our early years in Canada, it was terribly lonely without our parents and siblings, but we managed to keep it simple, memorable and fun with our children ~ We cook a lot during the holidays so we also gain weight during this time. I would rather we focus on meaningful gifts, nothing expensive, but one that brings joy too ~ Thanks for the great discussion as I have learned a lot from reading the comments here ~
See you tomorrow for Poetics ~
With family and friends scattered all over the globe, I too find myself missing that the most over Christmas. I used to envy neighbours who would visit one set of parents on Christmas Day and the other on Boxing Day – it would be hard to do that with different countries involved!
When I was a child, we had a late evening meal on the 24th. This was by far my favorite. I liked it better than the lunch we had on Christmas Day.
When my children were younger we took up the European tradition of doing gifts and a meal on Christmas Eve. It made the next morning less busy and lunch a more relaxed affair although generally there was lunch with one set of parents and then dinner with the other, so it was a long day.
I enjoyed reading about everyone’s tradition. This was a great idea, MarinaSofia. My mother’s custom regarding her tree was very similar to your own tradition. She put a real tree up quite late and took it all down after January 6th.
Apparently something bad happens to you if you leave the tree up after Twelfth Night – it was probably to discourage laziness. Maybe a Protestant tradition?
In Australia, because it is summer and often hot, we have now Christmas eating traditions which suit our climate in ways we did not when I was a child. Lunch is often cold with lots of seafood – prawns, oysters, salmon – but generally also turkey or goose and ham.
I often make my puddings in a cloth and hang them for a couple of years but I have done Christmas pudding ice-cream some years and this year I am planning to make Trifle with fresh summer berries as moving back has kept us very busy and I did not get around to making puddings.
I do have fruitmince from last year, soaking in whisky, for mince pies which I always make with my favourite shortbread pastry. Christmas cake did also get made and is brewing away in a tin.
But really, the best thing about Christmas is the smiles on the faces of children.
I’m glad to hear that there have been some seasonal adaptations to make concessions to the fact that it’s summer in Australia for Christmas! Stodgy winter food simply wouldn’t do. Then again, the French tend to go for Buche de Noel for dessert, an ice-cream based concoction in the shape of a log. I love the sound of your trifle! I think I might not go overboard with cooking and baking this year, as I have done in the past, because a) we have no guests staying over and b) I spent hours and days in the kitchen and my children barely touched anything. So I don’t want to have to eat the remains myself for the next week or so!
Yes, fussy kids. Jelly for them. But the trifle is because I have not had time to do pudding and change is good. I made chocolate and plain sponges today and will freeze. Will do a chocolate and blackberries trifle and a plain and red berries. I can make the crème patisserie a few days ahead and the meringues to crumble on the top well ahead …. let’s hope people like it.
Mmmmm, can I come over?
I am finally taking up Bjorn’s invitation to join this site — I met you Bjorn, in Friday Fictioneers.
Christmas traditions in my home: My husband’s grandfather, Hjalmar Siegfried Hallberg, immigrated to the US when he was 22. Our home carries on some of the Swedish traditions: we have two Dala horses we put out this time of year….also the Jule Bokken (sp? straw donkey) sits below our tree. Our God Jul sign hangs in our kitchen, next to a Santa Lucia wooden candle holder (candles in her crown). Our grandaughter dressed last halloween (!) as Santa Lucia and will do so on Christmas Eve. For me, not Swedish, I love these traditions. But for me, our “memory tree” is what is most special. The ornaments on our tree all have a meaning attached: most special are the very fragile bell that was my mother’s as a small girl, the airplane with broken wings that was my father’s as a child, a red glass ball with my name painted on it from first grade (I am 68) and a very special handmade Santa from my brother made when he was in first grade — he was 9 years older than me and sadly he became an angel far too young at the age of 51. I love to sit with the white lights turned on in the early morn, and just look at our tree.
Thank you for this post — thank you for the opportunity to savor my memories!
So glad you are here, Lillian. My husband is of Norwegian descent (from North Dakota) and we have incorporated some of his traditions. This year we visited Minot and attended the Hostfest–saw many of the decorative features of which you speak. How fun. Hope to see you soon.
So fascinating how these traditions have survived.. the straw goat is something also incorporated in all this traditions.. we had them all.. Santa Lucia is also very special here (past weekend)… and I think even the Nobel festivities have been integrated into Christmas..
Welcome to the Pub, Lillian, and thank you for sharing your family traditions with us. I do like the straw goat and the horses, but, as you say, it’s the memories associated with each Christmas decoration that makes it all special. That’s why I try to add one new bauble each year (some, as yours, were made by the children at nursery, others were inherited from my parents).