Christmas around the world

Posted by admin on Dec 9, 2005 in Community | 0 comments

As Christmas approaches, each family and culture will celebrate in their own unique way. Some eat gold nuggets, others get bitten by a horse head. Bizarre, but true. Each tradition is unique and different, and here are just a few for your reading enjoyment:

Australia
Christmas puddings are often prepared with a small gold nugget baked inside. Whoever finds it knows that he/she will enjoy good luck.

Egypt
On Christmas Eve everyone goes to church wearing a brand new outfit. The Christmas service ends at midnight with the ringing of church bells, and then people go home to eat a special Christmas meal known as fata, which consists of bread, rice, garlic and boiled meat.

Greece
Christmas trees are not commonly seen, but in almost every home the main symbol of the season is a shallow wooden bowl with a piece of wire suspended across the rim. A sprig of basil wrapped around a wooden cross hangs from the wire. A small amount of water is kept in the bowl to keep the basil alive and fresh. Once a day, a family member dips the cross and basil into holy water and uses it to sprinkle water in each room.

Switzerland
The Chlausjagen Festival (a.k.a. the Feast of St. Nicholas) is celebrated at dusk on December 6 with a procession of “lifeltrager,” in which people wear gigantic illuminated lanterns in the shape of a Bishop’s mitre on their heads.

Wales
Caroling is called eisteddfodde and is often accompanied by a harp. In some rural areas a villager is chosen to be the Mari Llwyd. This person travels around the town draped in white, carrying a horse’s skull on a long pole. Anyone given the “bite” by the horse’s jaws must pay a fine.

India
Christians in India decorate banana or mango trees. They also light small oil-burning lamps as Christmas decorations and fill their churches with red flowers. In South India, Christians put small clay lamps on the rooftops and walls of their houses at Christmas, just as Hindus do during their festival of Diwali.

Bethlehem
On Christmas Eve, natives and visitors alike crowd the church’s doorways and stand on the roofs to watch the dramatic annual procession. Galloping horsemen and police mounted on Arabian horses lead the parade. They are followed by a solitary horseman carrying a cross and sitting on a coal-black steed, and then the churchmen and government officials. The procession solemnly enters the doors and places an ancient effigy of the Holy Child in the church. Winding stairs lead to a grotto where visitors find a silver star marking the site of the birth of Jesus. A star is set up on a pole in the village square.

Brazil
Decorations include fresh flowers picked from the garden. Fireworks go off in the skies over the cities and huge Christmas “trees” of electric lights can be seen against the night skies in major cities.

Argentina
The table is covered with sweet things for eating while waiting for the time of the toast. The toast is a drink prepared with different kinds of fruit cut into pieces, which are mixed with juice and cider. The Christmas tree is decorated with colored lights, ornaments and Father Christmas placed on the top.