It's the Holiday Season
Thanksgiving (at least in the United States) is the beginning of what we call the Holiday Season. In recent years, there have been very staunch opinions on whether to say Merry/Happy Christmas or Happy Holidays. Believe it or not, this is not the type of blog to really enter into that sort of debate. However, there is nothing that can add to a story like knowledge and--since the last post--three holidays from three religions/cultures have all begun. And tomorrow is New Year's Eve, just to add another to the mix. I am sure there are plenty more holidays celebrated around the world that I don't even know about (though I would love to!) that have also had their celebrations. I also find it interesting that each of these three holidays is a season in and of itself. I am familiar with each of the holidays to varying extents, but it has been a true pleasure doing a bit more research on each.
The holidays in question are: Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa. I was going to list them by order of the dates they fall, but Hanukkah begins on the same day as Christmas Day this year (at sunset) so I decided to go with alphabetical order. There is SO MUCH MORE information on these holidays than I will be providing. I am just giving a little blurb of the most popular traditions and basic need-to-know facts. Links are provided at the end of each section for further readings.
What does any of this have to do with story telling? The stories we hear in our childhood directly impact those we tell later in life. Holidays that we celebrate every year are a part of our story and each is part of a story that we don't always think about because it is so rote to us. There are some great stories to be told in beliefs and cultural practices...where else do stories come from? So, let's begin!
Christmas
Christmas, like many other holidays, has both religious and secular celebrations. They are not mutually exclusive and some are even related, but they are separate. The religious part of Christmas does not start on December 25th, which is Christmas Day*, but on the fourth Sunday before Christmas with the observation of Advent. It is then followed by Christmas Day and/or the Twelve Days of Christmas and finally Epiphany. The four Sundays of Advent each celebrate a different ideal of Christmas: Hope, Peace, Love, and Joy, respectively. This is observed by the lighting of an Advent Wreath which has five candles, three purple, one pink, and one white which sits in the center of the wreath. Each candle represents a different ideal and a new candle is lit each Sunday leading up to Christmas. The white candle, or the Christ candle, is lit on Christmas Eve or during the Christmas Eve/Candlelight Service or Midnight Mass. This candle represents the coming of the Christ Child and the love, peace, hope, and joy that this coming brings.
Advent is followed by the observance of Christmas which takes place on December 25th. For some, this is the only day of Christmas though the season does continue until Epiphany. However, the song The Twelve Days of Christmas is more than just a song: it is a tool to teach children of the Twelve Days of Christmas and Christian (specifically Catholic) doctrine. It is a fun song no matter how you look at it, though. The twelve days of Christmas are December 25th through January 5th, the day before Epiphany. Twelve is a pretty important number in the New Testament, especially in the four Gospels, and the adoption of the number twelve for the length of celebration for Christmas is almost necessary. The end of the Christmas season is Twelfth Night/Epiphany which is the celebration of the coming of the three wise men, or magi, who brought gifts to the Christ Child. This is considered Jesus's entrance into the world as the Son of God and the anticipated Christ.
The secular part of Christmas seems to start about the same time as Halloween. However, there has always been a little bit of a secular element to Christmas. The Christmas trees, the wreaths, the candles, the gifts--all of this has its roots in a religious aspect of the Christmas holiday, but it is often considered purely secular. The evergreen trees are symbolic of eternal life as is the wreath, the candles are an omnipresent symbol of the holiday (i.e. Advent) beyond their obvious aesthetic qualities. Gifts were begun by the magi and then made even more popular by St. Nicholas who became Santa Claus (whom you can read all about in last week's post). By the end of the 1700s, stockings and gifts on the tree were a widespread part of Christmas. Decorating the house, putting out milk and cookies for Santa Claus, watching the movies and singing the songs are all just as much a part of people's Christmas celebrations as the religious parts.
*The dates of Christmas are different across religious calendars and different cultures. There is no way to understand or even cover them all in so short a space, but I have given a little bit of information below:
The West follows the Gregorian Calendar which places Christmas Day on December 25th, as was first set by Sextus Julius Africanus in 221 C.E., and Epiphany on January 6th. Why these dates? See the links. This is the same calendar that is used worldwide for international business. However, some Eastern Orthodox sects use the Julian Calendar which is 13 days behind the Gregorian Calendar. This places Christmas Day on January 7th, and Theophany (Epiphany) on January 19th of the common, Gregorian Calendar. Armenian Orthodox Churches use a different calendar all together so they celebrate Christmas on January 6th, which is different from the Oriental Orthodox Church. Follow the links below for more information.
Links:
Advent-Encyclopedia Britannica
Christmas-Encyclopedia Britannica
Epiphany-Encyclopedia Britannica
Hanukkah/Chanukah
Don't let the two names worry you--they are pronounced the same, they are just different spelling. Like Christmas, Hanukkah is a multi-day festival. The 8 days of Hanukkah celebrate the Maccabean victory of Seleucid king Antiochus IV Epiphanes (r. 175-164 B.C.E.). It is also a celebration of the rededication of the Second Temple. The festival begins on 25 Kislev of the Hebrew Calendar which is based on the cycles of the sun and the moon which is why dates of Jewish holidays float on the Gregorian Calendar which is a solely solar calendar. In 2024, this sets Hanukkah to begin on December 25th, at sunset.
The Talmud speaks of the miracle of oil and serves as the earliest reference for some religious observances of early Hanukkah. Judas Maccabeus, the leader of the Maccabean revolt against Antiochus, entered the temple only to find that all of the consecrated oil had been defiled by the Seleucids save for a single small jar with enough oil to burn for one night. Miraculously, the small bit of oil burned for eight nights instead of just one, enough time for new consecrated oil to be brought to the temple. The rededication of the Second Temple speaks of this miracle and that it should be remembered through a celebration for eight days. The Apocrypha, though not a part of Jewish canon, tells of the desecration of the Second Temple by Antiochus and its restoration and rededication which took place on Kislev 25, 164 B.C.E., hence the date for the holiday.
The menorah, one of the most recognizable symbols of Hanukkah, is also called the Hanukkah Lamp and holds eight candles for each day of the celebration and the servant candle (shammash) from which all the other candles are lit. The candles replaced the oil that was originally burnt. The candles are placed in the holder from right to left but lit from left to right, an additional candle being added each night of Hanukkah.
Secular traditions for the holiday are popularized in songs sung by children (and adults) and are similar to the makings of any good holiday. Excellent food is cooked and shared, games are played, songs are sung, and sometimes families exchange gifts. Potato latkes (one of my favorite things ever) and donuts are popular foods, but anything fried in oil is traditional for the holiday to commemorate the miracle of oil. Children play games and get little gifts, often times in the form of golden foil-wrapped chocolate coins which is the modern Hanukkah Gelt. Actual gold coins used to be used, but this is a bit impractical now. Some families exchange gifts very similarly to the way gifts are exchanged at Christmas; others do smaller gift exchanges or none at all.
Many are familiar with the game of dreidel having heard of it through the popular holiday song "Dreidel, Dreidel, Dreidel." Children and adults alike play with a four sided top called a dreidel and gelt is used here as well to make game play more fun (who doesn't want to win a chocolate prize?). Most people don't make their own dreidels anymore, but I am sure you can find someone who does!
Links:
Hanukkah-Encyclopedia Britannica
Festival of Lights-Encyclopedia Britannica
Kwanzaa
Kwanzaa is an annual holiday that originated in 1966 with Maulana Karenga, a professor of African Studies at California State University. The celebration draws on the first fruit celebrations of Southern Africa and celebrates African family and social values. In fact, the name Kwanzaa comes from the phrase matunda ya kwanza which means "first fruits" in Swahili. It takes place each year from December 26th, to January 1st. Unlike Christmas and Hanukkah, Kwanzaa is not a religious holiday at all but a cultural and social one. In fact it is decidedly non-religious and non-political. Many families use Kwanzaa as a time to celebrate their culture and heritage as well as to teach upcoming generations these values and customs.
Kwanzaa is a seven day holiday with seven principles and seven symbols to accompany them. The principles are taught and explored each day of the holiday. They are: 1. unity/umoja 2. self-determination/kujichagulia 3. collective work & responsibility/ujima 4. cooperative economics/ujamaa 5. purpose/nia 6. creativity/kuumba and 7. faith/imani. These seven principles are known as the Nguzu Saba and are all expressed in the Swahili language. The seven symbols of Kwanzaa are (in no particular order): 1. crops 2. mat 3. candleholder 4. corn/maize 5. gifts 6. communal cup and 7. the seven candles (red, black, and green). The symbols are used to teach the seven principles as well as represent them. The seven candles sit in the candleholder, which is called the kinara, and represent each of the principles. The kinara holding the candles represents the peoples' roots in Africa. Many of these symbols go back to the concept of first fruits and the fruits of labor, understanding that working together makes everything easier.
The candles of the kinara are lit one at a time, adding another each day until they are all lit on the seventh day. The black candle, which is in the middle of the kinara is lit first, representing the first principle. The red candle next to the black candle is lit on the second day, representing the second principle. The green candle next to the black candle is lit on the third day, representing the third principle. The rest of the candles are lit in the same way, alternating between red and green until the seventh day. There are many traditions that can accompany the lighting of the candles, such as naming family members, reciting the principles, etc. Each family has their own set of traditions that make the celebration personal and meaningful. On December 31st, a communal feast is held, known as the karamu. Families come together, bringing food to fill the table in a community celebration. Children play together, adults converse together, and everyone celebrates the link that ties them all together.
While Kwanzaa started in the United States and is still a mainly American holiday, its popularity has spread across the world to many countries with a large population of African descent. Kwanzaa is particularly popular in the Caribbean.
Links:
Kwanzaa-Encyclopedia Britannica
Kwanzaa-The Official Kwanzaa Website
I learned so much writing this! I had to leave out so much information, so please use the links to do more research and continue on your own.
The holidays are very different, it is obvious that they are, but the core values of each--faith, family, love--are very much the same. And each has a symbolic way to bring light into the world during the darkest time of year.
Happy Holidays, everyone! Peace and Goodwill to all.
The holidays can be hard. If you or someone you know is struggling this holiday season, or any time throughout the year, please reach out to one of the resources in the link below. The world is a better place with you in it.
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