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Christmas-Hanukkah-Kwanzaa-Koleda: once around the world and back

"Christmas is becoming increasingly domineering in France as well", writes a friend of mine in an email from Paris. "It wasn’t like this ten years ago; back then, the first decorations went up just two or three weeks before the 24th of December." One person’s joy is another person’s sorrow: Christmas polarises. Yet most people seem to like the shiny sea of lights and the frenzy of decorations – how else can we explain the increasing popularity of this tradition, with all of its trappings and its geographical expansion (aside from the fact that it’s not just the bells that are ringing, but also the cash registers)?


Why Christmas?

The winter solstice, or the day when the days start to become longer again, was always a reason for people in the northern hemisphere to celebrate. In some ancient religions, people celebrated the return of the sun or the sun-god from the underworld – or just the shift toward life-giving spring. These festivities were associated in most cultures with light and fire. And this has remained so up to the present.

Christmas, the winter festival to which we pay the most attention, has always brought together the Christian faith with different local traditions, some of which are significantly older. The early Church positioned Christ’s birthday near the winter solstice to suppress the popular Roman festival of Saturnalia. This "forerunner festival" – if we may call it that – is where we get the tradition of exchanging gifts.

In general: practically all of the numerous transformations that Christmas festivities have undergone over the years come from the other religions and traditions. The Christmas tree, the Advent wreath and Advent calendar were
originally north German and northern European Protestant traditions that fought long and hard against the Catholic Church, which however eventually subsumed these customs. The idea: "If you can’t beat them, join them!"


And when?

This is why Christmas is celebrated in very different ways from country to country: because today’s Christmas festivity is the cheeky offspring of an (involuntarily) ecumenical patchwork family. It begins with the giving of presents: while we here in German-speaking Europe traditionally receive our presents on December 24th, on Christmas Eve, from the Christ Child or Father Christmas, the English-speaking world does so under the tree or by the hearth on December 25th, on Jesus’s actual birthday. In the Orthodox world, Father Frost and his granddaughter Snegurochka (Snow Maiden) don’t arrive until January 7th because the calendar was not reformed there. In some parts of Italy, the gifts are also brought on the eve of January 6th. They are delivered by the fairy Befana, whose name derives from name of the festival: Epiphany.

And if Nicolo comes by for Advent here in Austria (on December 6th), Swedish children have to wait a week longer for their "major pre-Christmas celebration", because St. Lucia first arrives on December 13th, which was the shortest day of the year before the calendar reform. A procession marks the occasion: Swedish girls wear white costumes and a wreath made of real, burning candles in their hair. Of course, the name Lucia also contains the Latin word lux for fire...


But how?

There are regional idiosyncrasies not just in the ceremonies and rituals, but also in the culinary domain. In Bulgaria, for example, Christmas – called Koleda or Roschdestwo Christowo – takes place on December 25th and marks the end of a fasting period (in the Orthodox Church) that begins in the middle of November. On Christmas Eve, traditional Bulgarians prepare an odd number of dishes, typically seven, nine or thirteen different ones, such as paprika filled with beans, rice wrapped in grape leaves, bean soup and pastries filled with pumpkin (tikvenik). There is a beautiful tradition associated with the meal: at the beginning of the feast, the family shares a special round bread in which a coin is hidden. Whoever gets the coin is supposed to be healthy and very happy in the coming year! In the night of December 24/25, Diado Koleda, the Bulgarian Santa Claus brings gifts for everyone who was well-behaved during the year.


Oh Father Christmas!

In Norway and Denmark, it is the Yule elves or ‘Julenissen’ that deliver the gifts. Julenissen are the descendants of the house gnomes or goblins that once watched over the house, farm and family. To express their thanks, many Norwegians today still put a plate of rice pudding in the barn – and it’s always empty on the next day. Yet Father Christmas and the Julenissen are only similar on the surface: the Norwegian version does wear a red pointy hat and has a long beard. Yet the knickerbockers, the hand-knitted knee-length socks, the Norwegian pullover and the thick pelt that is supposed to make the cold bearable during sleigh rides, are truly special!


Jewish Festival of Lights

It’s no accident that people of Jewish faith also celebrate the winter solstice, at a slightly different time due to the moon-based Hebrew calendar, in their own, much older festival of lights, Hanukkah. Hanukkah, also known as Hanukka or Chanukka, takes place over eight consecutive days. And it’s not surprising that fire and light are central elements of the ritual: on the first evening, one of the candles is lit on the Hanukiah (Menorah), the eight-armed candelabra. Each evening, another candle is lit, each accompanied with its own prayers, until all eight candles are lit. Traditionally, children receive a gift on each Hanukkah evening, or also coins, some of which they are supposed to donate to worthy causes. In the USA, there are chocolate Hanukkah coins that are given to children to nibble on.


Afro-American Festival of Lights

Perhaps the newest winter festival is Kwanzaa. It was created in the 1960s in the USA by an American author in the context of the Black Power and Back-to-the-Roots movements among black Americans, and it is meant to point to the ancestry and traditions of Afro-American citizens. The aim was to give the black population their own holiday, independent of their white fellow citizens, whose ancestry is of course very different.

Kwanzaa, derived from a word in the Swahili language that means "first", has established itself in the meantime, combining African, European and to some extent Jewish elements. It is celebrated from December 26th to January 1st. Each day, one of seven candles is lit – three red ones, three green ones and a black one – in a candelabra called a kinara. (Sound familiar?) The colours stand for Africa, and each day stands for one of the seven principles of Kwanzaa, such as unity or self-determination. During this time, the house is decorated with African art and traditional objects, and African music is played, sung and played on drums. Strictly speaking, Kwanzaa is not a religious festival and many Afro-American families celebrate both Kwanzaa and Christmas. In 1997 and 2004, the U.S. Post Office also printed special Kwanzaa stamps along with its Christmas stamps.


And they really do exist: Christmas caps in China town

Superpower China, with its billions of citizens, doesn’t think much of Christmas. At least not officially. It is only by chance that December 25th is also the memorial day for the creation of the Republic, although it’s not an official holiday (to prevent too many work interruptions during the year). As interest in Western traditions climbs rapidly, many Chinese can not be deterred from holding unofficial "Christmas celebrations". There are light displays in some major cities, and artificial Christmas trees in a few households.

Strict Japan takes it one step further and celebrates Christmas as a secular holiday with colourful Christmas decorations and blinking light garlands. It is a festival for lovers and partygoers; family celebrations don’t begin until the New Year’s holiday.

And: India celebrates Christmas officially – and sort of traditionally ;)! – with decorated palm, banana and mango trees. Christians go to mass and celebrate the festival with dancing and singing. Children and employees receive gifts, and the head of the family receives a sign of respect, a lucky charm: a lemon!


(Research assistance: Christina Hainbuchner, Eva Voycheva)