Anaelle Jutras-Plante
God Jul! Hyvaa Joulua! Gledelig Jul! Fröhliche Weihnachten! Feliz Navidad! Happy Christmas! Joyeux Noël! Buon natale! Srozhdestvom Kristovym! Kala Christouyenna!
Every year on December 25th, millions of people across the globe celebrate a special holiday in hundreds of different ways. How do you spend this day?
While I would love to tell you all about the different ways Christmas is celebrated across the world and in the places from all the languages above, I will stick to the one we know. The traditional Christmas we (mostly) know comes from the honoring of Jesus’ birth and celebrating the blessings He has brought us and this world. Although it is not specified in the Bible that Jesus was actually born on December 25th, it was Pope Julius l who chose this date. This is also why we have Christmas cribs and that people attend mass on Christmas. For Christian families, the holidays are a sacred and spiritually important time of the year, but of course, as time would go on people would commercialize Christmas (like any other holiday) and many people celebrate it without any religious meaning. Nevertheless, for about everyone, Christmas is a time of happiness and joy.
For whichever reason you may celebrate it, there are some traditions that stay the same for almost everyone. Let’s take a look at a few of those…
Christmas Trees…
Christmas trees are the very first thing that come to mind when we mention Christmas traditions. In Canada alone, in 2016, 1 872 farms grew Christmas trees and in 2017 the total number of exports was 2 270 627 trees for a worth of 49 423 148$. Quebec is in the top of the list for the number of trees exported and shipped all over the world. It’s crazy keeping in mind that a tree usually grows for approximately 15 years before it gets cut down and sold.
As for where the tradition started, we’ll start off by saying that trees that stayed green/alive all year round were meaningful to people back in the days and were believed to protect them from illness, ghosts, and all that kind of bad stuff. The green plants (like palm rushes in Egypt) could mean life over death, or the start of the sun coming back. If we go back to Saturnalia for example, the Romans knew this meant that the sun was coming back and that soon green and life would be plentiful. To celebrate this, they would decorate their home with evergreen boughs. All across the world, evergreens meant similar things. The vikings believed it to be a special plant from the sun of God; Balder and the Druids decorated their temples with them to signify eternal life. So as for the very origin of the Christmas tree, there was already symbolism in the plain tree itself all across the world long before we started decorating it.
Now that this has been explained, we can start by saying that Germany has been known for starting the real tradition. It was Christians who brought trees into their homes during the 16th century. It is believed that the tradition of lighting trees came from a man who was so in awe at the beauty of the stars shining amidst the evergreen trees that he went home in hopes of recreating it for his family, and would add little candles to his tree. German immigrants would soon adopt the tradition in America, although it took them a little while to accept that tradition. Although coming from the same religion, the States had a mentality that anything other than church that celebrated Christmas was pagan. A rise of popularity for the Christmas tree was when Queen Victoria and Prince Albert (from Germany) were drawn with their children standing around a Christmas tree. This would happen in 1848 at Windsor castle and it was adopted by Canadians who had also seen the arrival of German immigrants. To this day, it is still one of the most popular Christmas traditions, no matter how you decorate it, from popcorn, apples and oranges, candles, to the more popular decorations now, there is no bad way of decorating your tree because it already has such a beautiful meaning and history on its own.
Eggnog…
Like it or not, and alcohol or not, eggnog is another holiday classic. It is said the first eggnog can be traced all the way back to the 13th century and that it was medieval monks from Britain that drank it. Over the centuries, different recipes or mixtures have been made as it traveled through the world. I don’t know about you, but I’d take a glass of it right now.
Poinsettia…
Poinsettias are a beautiful and popular flower used to decorate houses around Christmas time. They are named after the American minister in Mexico, Joel R. Poinsett (don’t know why the 'a' was added to his name) that brought the flower to the States in 1828. Nearly 2000 years later, we still use these flowers and it is safe to say we are grateful that they were brought over.
Rudolph the Rednosed Reindeer…
Hate to break it to you, but there is no proof of Rudolph being real but there is rather proof of him being fictitious. It was Robert L. May who created the most famous reindeer of all in 1939. He wrote a poem with Rudolph in it to help attract visitors to the Montgomery Ward department store for whom he was the advertising copywriter. The character gained a lot of popularity and is now very well known. But to refresh your memory and make it fair, let me remind you of the other ones; Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Dunder, and Blixem. (The last two are often said to be Donner and Blitzen, depending on your preference.) It is also interesting to know that in certain parts of the world, such as France, it was a donkey named Gui who pulled the sleigh rather than our traditional reindeers.
Christmas Carols…
It is no secret to anyone that Christmas carols originated from Christianity. The first carols are said to have been in the 14th century. The oldest (popular) carol is from the 18th century; O Come All Ye Faithful. There is not much to say on them, because they truly haven’t changed much. Nowadays, different people across the world sing Christmas carols in different ways, but it remains a tradition that brings people together. Carols can be heard at midnight mass, a very old, rich, sacred, and still popular tradition.
Santa Claus…
Santa Claus, St.Nicholas, Kris Kringle, Sinter Klaas, Père Noel, however you may call him, one thing is certain, you know him. St. Nicholas is a Turkish monk from all the way back to 280 A.D. He was greatly known for his exemplary work in helping the sick and poor. Throughout the years, certain details would be added to him like his round tummy and signature red suit. Now people leave out snacks for him and children stay awake hoping to catch a glimpse of his sleigh or perhaps hear him come down the chimney as he brings gifts to the kids who have been nice that year and fill the stockings (or boots or socks depending on which tradition you have) with treats.
Père Fouettard…
Not the Grinch, even meaner… Père Fouettard, or Krampus, or father slog, etc. are the mean sidekicks of Santa Claus. Instead of rewarding nice children like his partner did, he left a lump of coals or beatings to the naughty ones. He also physically looked the opposite of Santa Claus being skinny with a black beard and a dark, dirty robe.
Mistletoe…
The tradition that traumatized some of us as kids, created awkward moments multiple times, or brought people together… the mistletoe. It comes from the Druids and is from as far back as the 1st century. For Greeks, mistletoe was a cure to pain or illnesses but for the Druids it was symbolic due to its blooming during winter, it meant life during death. Therefore, they saw it as a sign of fertility. Why the kissing started, I don’t really know. But mistletoes remain a cute (or not, you choose) tradition as well as a cute plant (this there is no debating).
Ice and Snow…
To finish it off, I wanted to talk about an aspect that isn’t necessarily a Christmas tradition but can be so important to many of us (at least it is for me). A white Christmas. Some of my best holiday memories are coming in from a long day of playing hockey outside with my brothers to sit by the fire or the tree while sipping some hot chocolate and staring at the snow outside. There is something inside of me that simply would not accept a Christmas without snow, it would be like a snow globe with no snow… pretty, but not as magical. All of that to say, here in Canada, we are blessed with snow that gives us the opportunity for our classic activities such as skiing, snowshoeing, ice-fishing, sledding, and (my favorites) ice-skating and hockey. How about you? Do you like snow, cold, and ice during the holidays?
There are so many more things to talk about such as the traditional Christmas food, elves, the advent calendar, the gingerbread houses, and so much more. But the traditions are so ample and vast that it is hard to mention them all. How do you celebrate Christmas? What does Christmas mean to you? These are interesting questions to ask yourself this holiday season. This holiday season, perhaps you would like to give back to someone in need, try a new Christmas tradition from somewhere else in the world (or one from here that you’ve never tried), and remind the people around you that you love them. Whatever it is you do to celebrate this magical season, I hope you remember to be grateful for all you have and to spread love, kindness, and happiness during these times. I wish you the merriest of Christmas and much, much joy this holiday season.
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