Christmas is a world-wide celebration. Each year millions
of people celebrate Christmas, carrying a message of peace, comfort and joy. We
all have special traditions that we participate in every year for Christmas.
Well known traditions range from decorating the tree on Christmas Eve or buying
your tree the day after Thanksgiving to special meals. Not all celebrations are something we are used
to seeing. As the old saying goes: What we may think is bizarre, is perfectly
natural to someone else. Some Christmas traditions around the world are
drastically different from what we may be used to. Some can be seen as being
funny, others that are thought to be a little on the strange side and a couple
are downright terrifying.
Parrandas
Cuba rings in Christmas with a bang, beginning on
Christmas Eve. Every year of Remedios becomes the site of Parrandas. This
religious carnival started well over 200 years ago. Legend has it that a priest
was tired of people missing midnight mass because they were falling asleep. So he
sent his altar boys into the street, carrying with them pots and pans. The altar
boys were told to bang on pots and pans as they walked up and down the streets to
keep people awake for midnight mass. So every year, people take to the streets
banging pots and pans on their way to midnight mass.
Krampus and
Perchta
We’ve all heard the warning about a lump of coal in our
Christmas stocking as punishment for being naughty. In the Alpine countries,
they take it to a whole new level. Dear Santa Clause is accompanied by two
demonic characters named Krampus and Perchta. These terrifying demons are to
keep little children on the straight and narrow throughout the year. If little
kiddies have been bad they are told that Krampus will drag them to hell in an
old sack. This is for the ‘mild’ offenders. For truly bad children there is Perchta.
She makes Krampus look like a picnic. Perchta comes with tales of disemboweling
children and then stuffing them full of straw. A human scarecrow if you will.
Roller Skating and
Toe Strings
Many people make a yearly pilgrimage to their local
church for Christmas mass. Every thought of making the trip easier with
roller-skates? In Caracas, Venezuela early on Christmas morning this is exactly
what happens! The streets are closed to car traffic as hundreds of people
roller skate to mass. And that is not the end of the tradition. There is more
fun to be had! Sometimes children will even tie a piece of string or rope to one
of their toes. The piece of string is long enough so that it can dangle out the
window while the child is sleeping. The
next morning, as skaters roll their way to mass, they will give all the strings
or ropes they see a good tug. The sleeping children are awakened so they can
watch the show roll by their windows.
Bavarian Mortars
In the Bavarian Highlands, they greet Christmas in an
explosive fashion. Every year Bavarians give a booming welcome to Christmas by
setting off explosives. They dress in traditional garb and ignite handheld
motors.
Kallikantzaroi
Here’s another tradition that sounds more like something
for Halloween. The Greeks have a legend involving goblins that live underground
for most of the year and only venture out for the twelve Days of Christmas.
These goblins, somewhat resembling monkeys, spend the year underground playing in
the World Tree. They shake the World Tree, trying to knock it over and end the
world. Legend goes on to say that just when it looks like the goblins might
succeed in their devious plan, Christmas time arrives, distracting them from
their evil plot. Instead, they climb to the surface to wreak havoc and
terrorize humans. A sure-fire way to
keep these beasties at bay is to hang a pig’s jaw just inside the chimney.
Mother’s Day
No, it’s not a typo. It’s not the day in May when
Mother’s around the world are celebrated for being awesome. This is a day when
kids in the former Yugoslavian Republic tie their mother to a chair. That’s
right, 2 weeks before Christmas children sneak up on their mother and tie her
to her chair. They then dance around singing, “Mother’s Day, Mother’s Day, what
will you pay to get away?” Negotiations for her release involve giving the kids
presents.
Shoe Throwing
Tired of spending Christmas alone, ladies? Are you
looking to get married? Christmas Eve in the Czech Republic is supposedly a
single lady’s chance to find out what her future holds. The legend says that
you have to stand outside your front door and launch one of your shoes
backwards, over your shoulder, towards the door. If it lands with the toes
pointing towards the door you’ll be married within the year.
Mari Lwyd
Meaning “gray mare” in English, this Welsh tradition
involves a person covered in a sheet while holding a horse’s skull on a pole.
The jaw is usually spring loaded so as they walk around town the Mari Lwyd
snaps at people and wreaks havoc. If it “bites” someone, that person is
obligated to pay a fine.
Kiviak
Most Christmas meal traditions revolve around dinner. In
Greenland, they have a Christmas lunch with a main course that is not for the
faint of heart – or gut. Christmas lunch usually consists of Auk, which is a type
of bird. The preparation of the bird goes way beyond bizarre. The bird carcass
is wrapped tightly in seal skin and buried in the ground, in the forest, for
more than six months. At Christmas time, the putrid bird is dug up, the rotten
innards are pressed from the body and then the meat is eaten.
KFC
Christmas is the time for traditional meals. We are all
familiar with the Christmas Ham or Turkey with all the fixings. But what about
chicken for dinner? What about KFC to be more specific? Well, if you happen to
be in Japan for the Christmas holidays, chances are pretty good your Christmas
dinner will be KFC. In the 1970’s, KCF hatched a marketing scheme that took off
and launched buckets of KFC onto Christmas tables across Japan. Today the
tradition is so popular that unless you reserve your bucket of chicken months
in advance, you may not get any.
El Caganer – The
Great Defecator
This one is almost too bizarre to believe…almost. In many
Latin, Central and South American countries there is the tradition of El
Caganer. El Caganer is a little figurine of a peasant that goes in the nativity
scene. He can usually be found in a far corner, away from the manger. Traditionally
he wears a little red cap and blue pants, which are pulled down around his
knees. Why? Because the phrase El Caganer literally translates to: The Great
Defecator. His pants are around his knees because the little figurine depicts a
man…shall we say…taking care of business. Now before people start raising their
eyes to the Heavens above and crying foul and that it is sacrilegious, let me
clarify the belief behind El Caganer. Because El Caganer is providing
‘fertilizer’ it’s a good omen for the coming year to be bountiful, with good
harvests, wealth and prosperity.
Walnut Boat
One tradition in the Czech Republic has ties to fortune
telling. The tradition involves members of the family making little wooden
boats and loading the boats up with walnut shells. Once the boat is loaded a
candle is placed in the boat and lit. The little boats are then sent to sea, as
it were, across a large bowl of water. If the boat makes it across the bowl
then that particular boat owner will have a year of good health and prosperity.
You can figure out what it means if the boat sinks.
Safe and Happy Holidays!
