Hohoho! (Part II)
This is the last part of my Blog on Christmas. Wishing you and your loved ones a very Merry Christmas 2024!
Some Christmas traditions
- The classic Advent wreath, made of fir branches with four candles denoting the four Sundays of the Advent season, began in the 19th century but had roots in the 16th. Originally, it involved a fir wreath with 24 candles (the 24 days before Christmas), but the awkwardness of having so many candles on the wreath reduced the number to four. An analogous custom is the Advent calendar, which provides 24 openings, one to be opened each day beginning December 1. According to tradition, the calendar was created in the 19th century by a Munich housewife who tired of having to answer endlessly when Christmas would come . The first commercial calendars were printed in Germany in 1851.
- The modern Christmas tree originated in western Germany. The Germans set up a ‘paradise tree’ (a fir tree hung with apples, that represented the Garden of Eden) in their homes on December 24. They hung wafers on it, symbolizing the eucharistic host. In a later tradition, the wafers were replaced by cookies of various shapes. Candles, symbolic of Christ as the light of the world, were often added. In the same room was the ‘Christmas pyramid’, a triangular construction of wood that had shelves to hold Christmas figurines and was decorated with evergreens, candles, and a star. By the 16th century, the Christmas pyramid and the paradise tree had merged, becoming the Christmas tree.
- Santa Claus has some pre-Christian roots. Though he represents St. Nicholas, the 3rd century Turkish Bishop who famously left gifts in people’s shoes, other parts of the lore surrounding Santa come from more ancient traditions. When one looks at traditional imagery of Santa, and not the modern Coca-Cola version, similarities to the Norse God Odin can be found. For instance, in many Norse myths Odin takes the form of an old, white-bearded traveler clad in a hooded cloak, and riding on horseback. Odin was also known to ride an eight-legged horse through the sky, named Sleipnir. The original Santa rode a horse before he was given his eight tiny reindeer in the 1823 poem, A Visit from St. Nicholas.