Summer 2010
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is the Season
Winter celebrations around the world.
Today, Boxing Day is more often viewed as one of the busiest retail days of the year – a chance to exchange gifts and take advantage of holiday sales. This year, take a cue from centuries past and try making December 26th a day of goodwill.
A cultural holiday that smacks of Carnival, Junkanoo is usually celebrated on December 26th and on the first of January. The festival’s main focus is a street parade with elaborately decorated costumes and floats, accompanied by throngs of musicians playing drums, piccolo-like flutes called fifes, coconut graters, and cowbells.
Winter celebrations around the world.
By Lori Archibald & Jill Block
People across America and all over the globe are celebrating this time of year by decorating their homes, lighting candles, and caroling through the streets. Though Christianity and Judaism are often credited as the reason for the season with their well-known religious traditions of Christmas and Hanukkah, devoted communities around the world are honoring holidays with a different raison d'être.
From ethnic festivals to pagan folk rituals, let LPM take you to faraway lands and spice up your season with some cheery diversions and a few tasty tidbits you can even add to your own holiday table.
UK, Canada, New Zealand & Australia: Boxing Day
December 26 is marked as the mysterious Boxing Day on calendars all over North America and elsewhere, leading many a U.S. dweller to question a holiday seemingly devoted to …pugilism? Though the origins of Boxing Day date back to the Middle Ages, and are admittedly a bit muddled, the day itself celebrates not the sport of boxing an opponent, but the act of boxing contributions for the less fortunate.
In feudal times, serfs would gather in the manor house of their lord to receive stipends. On the day after Christmas, the lord would distribute leftover food and allotments of grain and cloth in boxes among his employees and serfs. It was also common for churches to open their donation boxes to the poor on this day.
Today, Boxing Day is more often viewed as one of the busiest retail days of the year – a chance to exchange gifts and take advantage of holiday sales. This year, take a cue from centuries past and try making December 26th a day of goodwill.India & Nepal: Diwali
Diwali, or the Festival of Light, is a major holiday for Hindus, Sikhs, and Jains everywhere. Lasting for six days, several religious and mythological events are commemorated on each day of the festival. Celebrations are marked by the lighting of the diyas – small, earthenware lamps whose lights in the darkness signify the victory of good over evil. Assorted legends are associated with Diwali and vary from region to region. Many Hindus honor the homecoming of Lord Rama, king of Ayodhya, after a 14 year exile, while Jains mark the nirvana of Indian sage Lord Mahavira.
Regardless of religion, many Indians celebrate the social and aesthetic aspects of Diwali, which include hanging colorful lanterns, lighting fireworks, wearing new clothes and sharing sweets. From city to city, the main tenet of Diwali remains the same throughout the continent: the celebration of the inner light inside every human being.
Northern Europe: Yule
On the first day of… Yule? My true love sent to me… The modern English word yule (believed to be derived from its Norse ancestor, J?l) refers to a Germanic pagan feast lasting 12 days. Yule celebration falls on the winter solstice, the shortest day and longest night of the year.
In many northern cultures it was believed that the winter months brought humans in closer contact with the spirit world. Elaborate Yule offerings were passed among all in attendance – living and dead. It was believed that all good house spirits shared in the feast, as well as cats and dogs, which would be brought indoors and fed the same food as the humans!
The Yule period of feasting was later Christianized into the 12 days of Christmas, but many of its early pagan symbols can still be seen, like the Yule log, the Christmas tree, and mistletoe. And of course, what Christmas is complete without an elaborate feast?
West Africa, the Bahamas & Jamaica: Junkanoo
A cultural holiday that smacks of Carnival, Junkanoo is usually celebrated on December 26th and on the first of January. The festival’s main focus is a street parade with elaborately decorated costumes and floats, accompanied by throngs of musicians playing drums, piccolo-like flutes called fifes, coconut graters, and cowbells. Most historians agree that Junkanoo is a derivation of the name John Canoe, an influential West African chieftain whose strong character was celebrated among his people. Pre-emancipation era, slaves were traditionally only permitted a few days off of work each year, usually around Christmastime and on New Year’s Day. This rare opportunity for families to gather and celebrate their ancestry led to the vivid displays of music, art, and dance that are still showcased today.
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