What makes Christmas so special?
Christmas has been part of our society for a very long time. You may wonder what keeps it so special? Well we think Christmas is all about its meaningful traditions. Such traditions preserve it to be one of the most loving and wonderful time of the year. Whats more, just like magic people come together from all over to celebrate this joyish occasion and even frosty winter weather becomes cosier.
Although each country has its own proud, loud and fun traditions, a thing that is consistent is: sharing. It appears that everyone gets together to embrace Christmas as one, sharing and giving to honour the day. Whether you’re celebrating Christmas or Hanukkah, the important part of it, is to keep those tiny unique rituals and customs that make it so special to you.
Worldwide Christmas Traditions
Hence the meaning of Christmas is so different within countries, it sounds relevant to illustrate it with some examples. For instance in Germany, Nikolaus travels by donkey in the middle of the night on December 6th. During his journey, he leaves sweet treats or toys in the shoes of well behaved children. Thus, in exchange each child must recite a poem, sing a song or draw a picture to offer to Nikolaus. Yet in Austria, the tradition seems to be the opposite. Krampus, is the devil-like spirit of Christmas and he is represented in many parades around the country. He’s a reminder that children should behave well, otherwise the Santa Claus won’t rewarded them with presents. Instead, the scary Krampus, will take them away with him in his sack.
Whats more in India, people decorate a banana or a mango tree instead of the traditional Christmas tree. Meanwhile in the Philippines, the main focus is on the Christmas lights. In fact, they light up the whole city during the biggest Christmas lantern festival, hosted on the Saturday before Christmas day. Whereas in Czech Republic, it’s all about the superstition of throwing a shoe over one’s shoulder on Christmas Day. Since it is believed that if the front of the shoe ends up pointing towards the door, you will soon get married. Yet in Zimbabwe, they prefer to use the festive season to sing Carols as well as attending services at the church.
We all share the same Christmas tradition:
In spite of such diverse customs and rituals during this time of the year, all Christmas traditions are focused on one thing: food! Perhaps this is due to the fact that the festive season is all about love. ‘There is no sincerer love than the love of food’. Proving this to be true, Christmas is pretty much all about having a fully loaded table of delicious goods. Food is also another way of showing care to your family and friends.
Actually most countries in Africa take this festive season as the perfect opportunity to indulge in more expensive foods. Zimbabwe’s special treat around this time of the year is chicken with rice, an expensive yet delicious feast served only for Christmas dinner. However in England, this special dinner involves traditional roasted turkey followed by a Christmas pudding (and also a mince pie of course!). Meanwhile in Portugal the tradition is to serve Cod Fish as the main course. Although their speciality around this time of the year is their sweet handmade desert. Such as ‘filhós’ and ‘rabanadas’ both fried dough, one dipped in honey and the other sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon.
Regardless of your nationality and tradition, it is proven that we all know how to make the most out of this time of the year. Therefore, we hope you have a lovely Christmas, surrounded by the ones you love with a delicious table of traditional goods waiting for you. May this Christmas be bright and filled with love, health and happiness.
Merry Christmas Everyone!
Posted on December 12th, 2019, by the Traditional Punting Company
