Children laughing, Christmas shopping, gingerbread cookies, and plum cake; THE HOLIDAY CHEER IS HERE!
Christmas is just around the corner.” It feels like just yesterday that we were making plans for 2018, and here we are talking about the last festival of the year. Time does fly! Soon you will be shopping till the fat lady sings…or maybe will your wallet cries.
But Christmas is more than that, there are a ton of traditions that we follow even today. This Christmas, why not try something different and bring back the traditions of yesteryears. Don’t know any? Well, here is our list to help you there…
Christmas Traditions
The beautiful thing about traditions is that you know that they hold a lot of meeting and have been shared, preserved, and passed on for generations…the great-great-grandmother you never met to the nephew you love…traditions bring them all together!
Celebrations Start From
The preparations for Christmas start from the sixth Sunday before Christmas leading up to 6th of January. The sixth Sunday is the beginning of the Advent season wherein Christians prepares themselves for Jesus Christ’s birthday. Usually, decorations are removed only after the celebrations of The Three Kings Feast, that is the 6th of January.
What exactly is The Three Kings’ Day? Remember the three kings who followed the star of Bethlehem that led them to baby Jesus. Well, the 6th of January marks the day that Baby Jesus was found and worshipped by The Three Kings. Hence it is an important day for Christians.
The Perfect Christmas Tree
You folks would have seen this tradition in movies. In olden days people mostly used pine, fir, or spruce trees to decorate their homes. But then different countries used different trees or the way they decorated the trees were different. Like Georgia, had their traditional tree made from dried hazelnut or walnut branches. It was shaped to form a coniferous tree. Poland hung a branch of the spruce, pine or fir from the ceiling and decorated it with nuts, apples, ribbons, and more. There isn’t a right or wrong, it is all about one’s belief. But maybe, investing in a reusable tree this year will save our green!
From My Family to Yours
Remember the good ol’ postcards, photo-cards, and letters that people used to send in for Christmas? Bring them back this year, it’s a great way to spread some holiday love to the family! Did you know that the Christmas cards were used to inform your loved ones of your family and what’s been happening… so maybe this year, add a little letter of LOVE!
Carol Singing
Did you hear them in your neighborhood? You would see them in a group singing Christmas carols door to door, spreading the joy of Christmas. The most famous carol being The Silent Night.
There are a few other carols that are well known. Angels we have heard on high, Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, Joy to the World, Mary’s Boy Child, and a few others. The carolers sing and collect funds which they use to help the needy, how beautiful is that?
Carol this year? After all, Christmas is all about the joy of giving.
Did You Hang Your Christmas Stocking yet?
This tradition is said to be started by Saint Nicholas.
So, along time ago, there lived a poor man and his three daughters. The man couldn’t get his daughters married because he didn’t have any money to do so. Saint Nicholas wanted to help the man, but he wouldn’t take money from anyone so Saint Nicholas came up with an idea to secretly help the man.
One night, he threw in some coins into the man’s house and the coins fell into one of the stockings which were drying by the fireplace. The next morning when the man and his daughters woke up, they were happy to find the gold coins with which he could now get his daughters married.
If you google, you will find other equally captivating stories for why people hang the sock up for Christmas, but this story seems to be popular! After this incident, kids started hanging their stockings on Christmas eve.
Celebrate it Different This year
So those were the traditions during Christmas that people followed and few families follow them even today. Years passed by and things changed. Traditions changed! While growing up, a girl child naturally develops the behavior to put others
These are some of the Christmas traditions worth bringing back but remember that not all ways of the yonder years should stay. Times change and we MUST change with them.
So, this Christmas…ignore the negative voices and gift yourself your restarter journey. Take yourself closer to being who you want to be. After all, as they say, “One has to be happy and content with oneself, to keep others happy and content.” Reassess – Reskill – Restart Your Career!