In England he is known as Father Christmas. In Russia he is Grandfather Frost. To us, he is Santa Claus. Welcome to one of the best folk stories every told.
The legend of Saint Nicholas is much older than I ever knew! In 280 A.D. in modern day Turkey, Saint Nicholas was born. He was well known and highly regarded as a generous man who sold all he had to help the poor and the needy. Over the years, the kinds acts continued and the legend grew. St. Nicholas became known "as the protector of children and sailors". (Source)The legend of St. Nick has grown to fill the world and is now a central theme of celebrating Christmas. As we think about Christmas time and all that it encompasses, I am sure that happy memories flood our minds as we ponder on the traditions that we have in our families. Those traditions are passed on to us and we will most likely carry those with us to our future families.
My grandma is from South Africa and she brought some traditions with h
er that have become a part of our Christmas celebrations. Two weeks before Christmas, we line our shoes by the fireplace in hopes that the elves, who have been watching us throughout the year, will fill them with sweets and treats. If we received candy and treats, it was a good omen for what was to come for Christmas Day.I could spend hours sharing about my family traditions surrounding Christmas-time. I absolutely love Christmas at my home. I know that as I begin my own life, those are days that I will greatly miss. The magic and happiness that surrounds Christmas is hard to compete with. The folk knowledge that is involved with that holiday is immense. It ties us to our families and brings us closer together. What are some of your favorite traditions? I would love to know.
What? Talk of Christmas before Thanksgiving? Not allowed!!! (Even though I had Hark, the Herald Angels Sing in my head the other day)Christmas is my favorite time of year and I love how families take their favorite traditions, whether ones they learned from their culture or ones they made up, and pass it on through the generations. It's a kind of folk knowledge in and of itself. The shoe tradition sound like a lot of fun! So, if you don't get anything in your shoe, I guess you don't look forward to Christmas so much? My family's tradition for Christmas was sewing a different button for every year on our stocking and then, on Christmas Eve, my dad would read us a poem about three bad little boys who wouldn't go to bed on Christmas Eve and scared Santa away. He would substitute girls for boys,(I have 2 younger sisters) but we've had to change that since I have a little brother now! Traditions are a great way to draw closer to family and friends.
ReplyDeleteScott, I'm writing this after witnessing BYU get dominated by Utah 54-10, but I'll still try to keep my thoughts wrapped around the spirit of Christmas. I can't really remember any holiday traditions at my house, but of course, like all families, we set out milk and cookies for St. Nick and carrots for his reindeer. We usually tried to set up the tree the weekend after Thanksgiving, and oftentimes we would go caroling around my neighborhood. My Mom would always bake little sugar cookies in the shape of candy canes, and every night in December we would build a fire and watch Christmas specials on ABC. Being at college for the first year, it'll definitely be different celebrating Christmas. Even though I'll be home two weeks before Christmas Day, I'm not able to put up a tree in my apartment, I don't have a fireplace, and I don't have a tv, so watching Christmas specials will be different. Nevertheless, when I have a family of my own I'll probably keep up a few of the same holiday traditions and of course, add a few to make them special to my wife and my children because they will be a part of my family. Although Christmas is a few months away, I'll probably start listening to a few Christmas songs tonight. Hopefully they'll get me in the Christmas spirit and keep me from crying myself to sleep after watching that game.
ReplyDeleteWorst. Game. Ever.
ReplyDeleteOkay back to the topic. Personally, I listen to Christmas music all the time. It's kind of a part of my repertoire of church/spiritual music that I have on my computer. I think it's a nice way to keep the more important things in mind. I've noticed that as I get older, I care a lot less about the presents. I mean, sure, it's always been exciting to me. But even though this might sound kinda cliche, I've started to notice how I never really remember what I got on Christmas very well. I just remember being with my family. I remember waking up when I was little, and my Mom had already set out a glass of milk for me. I remember my Dad always reading "'Twas the night before Christmas" and the passage in Luke 2 about the Savior's birth. I remember having fun decorating and just getting into the spirit of even the traditions that kinda seemed silly. It's always a fun time of year, but I think it changes with age - you can enjoy giving gifts to your kids when you're a parent, and that has its own kind of magic beyond the belief in Santa Claus.
I know this is a bit long already, so sorry about that, but I also wanted to note again how much these traditions have changed for society, and between societies. In England and Canada, for example, they have certain different traditions at and around Christmas than we do in America (What on Earth is Boxing day, anyway?)and the further you go, it'll be slightly strange to you, though all countries with a Christian influence seem to have some similarities, branching back to the original inspiration for Christmas.
Hey Scott, I also just came from that murderous onslought the BYU cougars suffered through and am also not in much of a cheery mood. But thinking of Christmas makes me feel a little bit better. Aside from all the usual mormon/christian traditions our family has such as acting out the nativity scene and reading "Twas the Night Before Christmas" with the family. But we also created a few of our own such as opening one gift that one of our cousins gave us on Christmas Eve. We also have a tradition in my family were my brother and I always had to eat breakfast before opening our presents. It was murder! But my parents always wanted to get ready to film (and do last minute checks on things santa may have forgotten...) before we went in the family room to open presents. These specific traditions were created as folk knowledge years ago in the Whittle family and my dad has passed it on to my brother and I just as we will pass them on to our kids!
ReplyDeleteSam, I can answer your question about Boxing Day. My fiance is ffrom England so I know a little bit about it. Despite what might many think, it isn't a day when you strap on the boxing gloves and go throw a few hooks. It is actually a day when you can give back to those in need. You "box" up some of the gifts you are willing to part with and you give them to charities and to those in need. Pretty cool.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite Christmas tradition is doing the Twelve Days of Christmas with my family. Sometimes we choose one family to take a gift or treat to each night leading up to Christmas, and sometimes we go to different people each day, but always it's an anonymous thing. It's super fun because everyone wants a turn to knock and run. Also, on Christmas Eve or sometimes just on a Sunday sometime before Christmas, we make treats, and our whole family carols to the friends we take them to. I love that my family has made service a really important part of the folk knowledge surrounding our Christmas tradition.
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