Once again we approach that time of the year in which we wish each other peace on Earth and good will toward men, we walk around saying “Happy Holidays” to all, or if we’re ignorant enough to think everybody is Christian, we dare to say “Merry Christmas”. So does that mean only Christians have holidays? Of course not. Since the time when humans realized that the ground froze under their feet once a year and nothing would grow for a couple of months, they turned to superstition and later to religion to explain the phenomenon of life coming back to Earth after the cold dead winter. Most cultures gave the phenomenon a name, they attributed it to deities. Following I’ll exemplify with a few traditions about winter celebrations around the world.
The Persians and Hindus have a Deity that was born on December 21st and his name is Mithra. For many centuries, Mithra’s worshiping was wide spread along the provinces of the Roman Empire, suffering regional alterations and blending with the deities worshiped by Romans and those of the other conquered peoples. Till this day, Mithra is part of a system of beliefs called Zoroastrism, Zoroastrians have existed since around the 6th century of our era.
The Romans celebrated Saturn’s festivals the week of the 15th to the 20th of December, these festivals involved great feasts and on a particular night, a piglet in honour of the gods, in Italy and Latin America people still eat roasted pig for the winter holidays.
But Saturn was not the only one celebrated during winter by the Romans, Bona Dea, goddess of fertility and virtue had a celebration in the same month during the Roman Republic, particularly during Cicero’s turn. Of course, both the Saturnine festivals, and Bona Dea’s rites have been long abandoned since the fall of the Roman empire.
Another tradition that dates to those ancient times is the Festival of Lights, Hanukkah. During eight days, or evenings rather, the Jewish communities commemorate the re dedication of the Temple in Jerusalem (second Temple) and the miracle of oil burnt for eight straight days at the temple. This holiday begins on the 25th day of Kislev (this could fall any day between the end of November and December in the Gregorian calendar). The eight candle Menorah is lit in a specific order, one candle a night for eight nights as the whole family gathers around and recites special blessings.
But Eurasian traditions are not the only ones to celebrate vernal festivals. There are many peoples around the world that have different celebrations.
We can go to Japan and join in the celebration of Toshi no Se ( Toshi no Ichi) that begins on December 13th and goes on till December 31st . All is preparation for the coming of the Ney Year. The Festivity begins with house cleanings and decorations that include tree springs by the entrance way to the house.
In the US, African-Americans celebrate Kwanzaa from December 26th to January 1st. The spirit behind this holiday is to bring unity to the African-American community and a reminder to them of the good in being from African origin. Messages of hope and family bring togetherness to the communities during this time. Since there are people that have African origins all over the world, this has become a holiday celebrated by African-Americans since Maulana Karenga of the US Organization first celebrated it in 1966–1967.
There are some traditions that were celebrated in Northern Europe before Christianity that have been adapted to fit into Christian celebrations, like the Christmas tree, the wreaths, the colours used during winter.
Wreaths were used to worship the unconquered sun during the times of the Roman Empire.
Pine branches were cut and brought inside the house to adorn the hearth in honour of Hertha, Norse goddess that descended trough the chimney and brought gifts to the children and placed them inside the stockings hung by the fire to keep warm. Sounds familiar? Of course, this myth lives now as part of the myth of Santa Claus.
The tradition of hanging a bit of mistletoe at the entrance of the house dates to the Norse times as well, it was their belief that a god inhabited the plant and it had curative powers, and hung by the door, prevented evil from entering.
As with anything that existed in the topic of religion before Christianity, vegetable and greens decorations were prohibited in the early days of Christianity, but were eventually adopted since it was impossible to eradicate the tradition; of course, the church required that the branches be blessed before being used.
I could go on and on with different traditions around the world, but I have to finish writing sometime. What I leave with you is this: next time you are out shopping in this, the most expensive month, remember that we celebrate as humans differently but we all wish for a great season and a fantastic new year (If you follow the Gregorian calendar), so don’t wish people for a Merry or Happy whatever, wish for them to enjoy the holidays, we all got a different one to celebrate.
