December brings a bunch of holidays, different ones in different cultures and parts of the world. Even for those who celebrate Jesus’s birth with Christmas, customs vary widely. Many places associate the season with snow, St Nick in his red fur-trimmed suit with his dashing team of reindeer, brightly decked evergreen trees and so on. So many Christmas cards feature a snowy scene. But in many parts of the world, there’s nary a snowflake in sight. or sleighbell to hear. The palm trees in Florida and southern California and in Central and South America etc. are also part of a holiday scene for many, even beaches and barbeques!! “Down Under” in Australia and New Zealand, summer is coming in and the longest day will be December 21 there! That makes for a very different kind of Christmas!
The first holiday of the season is the Jewish Hanukkah which begins at sundown on December 9. I am really not too well versed on the customs and story behind this holiday. Will one of our guests here please enlighten me? I know there are menorahs–the nine taper candlabra–what is the significance of the nine? I know it is a power number to many but not sure what it stands for here. So please someone share and if you know of a book or story with a Hanukkah background tell us about that too! Actually there is a community in New Mexico of Jewish people who came from Spain with the early European settlers and made a home here. They have some interesting customs that they have kept for several hundred years. I want to learn more about them and am tracking down some books.
The next holiday I know of is the winter solstice which is celebrated by many pagan people including members of Wicca, Druids and others. A number of customs from ancient times found their ways into some of the more modern Christmas tradtions. More on that in a bit!
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