Different Traditions Of Christmas Around The World

Many families during the month of December are busy shopping for Christmas presents, decorating a Christmas tree, and getting ready for Santa Clause. For those families celebrating Hanukkah this can conclude of preparing Latkes, singing Ma’Oz Tzur, and lighting the candles of the Menorah.

It can be argued that Christmas as a holiday is far removed from the way it was first envisioned. That said, there are certain element that many people share or celebrate making it an arguably complex holiday. As the preeminent children’s author of his generation, Geisel serving heavily on the minds of his young readers helped shape what Christmas means for many people with his narrative How the Grinch Stole Christmas!. Though at the surface the work is a simple morality tale that promotes unity over consumerism, it has subtle nuances that make the work interesting on several

The holiday season is among us. Halloween begins in the fall when the leaves start to change colors and fall of the trees. Christmas begins in winter when the snow hits the ground and the weather gets mighty cold. Halloween is when the spookier things come out. When most people think of Halloween they think of pumpkins and candy. Christmas is a time for giving gifts and being with family. Christmas is usually associated with Santa Clause and his worker elves. Although to most people these holidays may seem very different, there are also some similarities between the two. These differences and similarities can be seen in the dressing up, the celebrations, and the giving.

The central focus and purpose of teaching this learning segment is to educate students about other holidays and cultures, but specifically focusing on Christmas in Italy. While this unit is essentially literacy based, it is also linked to Social Studies when students use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of themes, traditions, and stories in different countries. This unit supports diversity within the classroom and it will expose students to the different ways of celebrating holidays among various cultures. The essential literacy strategy used throughout this unit is to analyze, explain, and describe the similarities and differences between Christmas in Italy and Christmas in their own home in the United States. The students are required to examine the way Christmas is celebrated in Italy in a variety of different ways, through both teacher directed guidance and student centered learning.]

There are similarities and differences between Christmas in America and Christmas in Italy. The Christmas holiday originated with the birth of Jesus Christ on December 25, a day around the shortest day of the year. Therefore, the main reason we celebrate the holiday is to celebrate Christ's birthday. Another reason for celebrating Christmas includes the changing of the seasons and the days that will become short before becoming long again. The shortest day, not necessarily falling on Christmas, is Winter Solstice which happens also to be a Pagan, agricultural holiday to mark the changes is the seasons. Most simply, we celebrate Christmas across the world as inspiration to imitate ethical behaviors of Christ who unconditionally loved all men and women regardless of their beliefs or backgrounds.

An account of a Puerto Rican national Jose Serrano of the traditions related to this day provide a full picture of the holiday. Serrano writes that rather than placing a glass of milk and a plate of cookies, or leave a red stocking for Santa Claus, as many children do in the United States, children in Puerto Rico collect some grass to fit it inside a shoe box. The grass put under the bed is meant for weary camels of horses of the Three Kings. The children want the horses get new energy continue their long journey around the world (Serrano par. 3-4). In the morning, the children get up looking for what the Three Kings have left for them in gratitude and in exchange for food the kids have given for their animals. The author mentions that this tradition is a beloved one for Puerto Ricans and is observed even these days in the United States, where the Hispanic culture is said to be losing its traditions. Importantly, Puerto Ricans remember the religious background of he holiday and their belief regarding it is essentially faith-based. The Three Kings, Serrano admits, are important, since they brought gifts to Baby Jesus and were blessed with understanding that Jesus is the Savior of the World. During this day, Puerto Ricans sing holiday songs and Christmas carols devoted to the Magi (Serrano par.

Cuba’s celebrations are greatly reduced ever since Fidel Castro outlawed it in 1969. Today, it is celebrated with not as much festivity as other countries. Columbia celebrates the Christmas season much earlier than most, starting on December 7th to have “The Day of the Candles.” They also have families gather each night for nine days to perform religious prayers called novenas. In Spain, they start the winter solstice with “Hogueras,” which lets people jump over fires to symbolize that they are going to overcome sickness that winter. Mexico is well known for their Christmas ornaments and for their three holidays, Las Posadas, La Fiesta de Reyes and Las Pastorelas. Each country differs on giving gifts to children. In Spain, children receive gifts from the Three Wise Men as recalled to into the Bible. They leave their shoes outside on January 5th and the next day, Epiphany, children get candy and cakes. Mexico also has the tradition of letting children open their Christmas presents on Epiphany, however, the night before, they write a letter to the Three Wise Men asking for what they want. In Columbia, it is baby Jesus that reads the letter of what children want. They leave the letter under the tree on December 24th and open presents the day after. Sadly, for Cuba, ever since the decline of Christmas in 1969, Christmas isn’t celebrated like other countries. However, before that,

Christmas can have many meaning to different people depending on how they interpret it. However, if looking at the Christian aspect of it. The

Holidays are an important part of every culture in the world. They are times of festivity where friends and family gather together to celebrate special events at different points of the year. Oftentimes these affairs aren’t limited to a single day and each country has their own set of specific rituals that they perform to commemorate the occasion. Many holidays also have religious origins that are a mix of Christian and pagan beliefs.

The first tradition that I want to talk about is the Christmas tree. Every year, Iand my family go into the bush to get a tree. We find one that looks good and chop it down and use the top. It’is a lovely tradition. The history of the Christmas tree is really vast and substantial. A look at the history of the tree only shows how extensive this history actually is. According to History.com Christmas trees used to

The Christmas season was full of general joy and greatness, seeing that it consisted of festivals which contained overall buoyancy. Starting Christmas Eve and ending on Epiphany, this season consisted of celebrations, feasts, music, morris dancing, plays and general merriment. Christmas used to commonly be celebrated with religious connotation, but the Reformation introduced the secular way of celebrating Christmas, which most families adapted into their personal celebrations. Overall, this season was a practical way for families to spend time with each

Christmas was to be a festival to reflect on society in a way to show that it was better than the past. The medieval time periods has perfect models that seemed to bring sheer celebration to christmas. “Merrie England” and the “Olde Christmas” provided the foundation to help build a new Christmas, one that fit the time period, and

In addition, for Hanukkah they light the menorah and play the dreidel. Another difference is the importance of Christmas and Hanukkah. Christmas celebrates the nativity of Christ and it is as diverse as the many countries that observe it, and was a popular subject in the Catholic and Orthodox religious art of the middle ages and Renaissance( The Gift of Holiday Traditions).Hanukkah is celebrated after a miracle occurred when the Jewish people reclaimed their temple from their Seleucid (Macedonian) conquerors Judah ’s men tried to reconsecrate the Jewish temple by lighting its menorah which is a sacramental lamp. The story of the birth of Jesus can be found in the bible.

All around the world individuals of different descents celebrate Christmas with their own custom approach. Although my mothers side of the family is part German and Native American, we don’t celebrate any traditions related to our background. I come from the plain old American family who gets to open one present on Christmas Eve and then sets out cookies and milk for Santa. However, it may be time to learn a little bit and introduce some traditions to my dull family.

The most popular rituals of Easter and Christmas are probably the most changed. Originally, Easter celebrated the resurrection of Christ, with Good Friday being a day of solemn reflection (Q1c). However, in today’s society, Easter has become more about the chocolate – Easter eggs and Easter bunnies have seemingly become common place in every household in contemporary Australia. Hot Cross Buns are big as well, with them being sold in every grocery store as soon as Christmas ends. In today’s society, Easter is celebrated by seemingly everyone, instead of just Christians, as it was in the past. Like Easter, Christmas has also become more secular, with the majority of Australians celebrating Christmas, even if they are from another faith group, or have no religion (Q1b). Social researcher Mark McCrindle writes that Christmas is unique in the Australian Calendar as it ‘simultaneouslygathers familiesandthebroadercommunityin celebration’ (Q1b). Often, religious citizens will celebrate Christmas by attending mass and praying, with 1 in 5 Australians ‘definitely’ attended a service (Q1b). Although, secular celebrations of Christmas have become more popular everywhere – these include Christmas trees and giving gifts. However, in more recent times, debate has occurred over whether Christmas should be celebrated in public places, for example,