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from "les bonnes nouvelles", meaning "the good news" (gospel is Greek for "good news"). (The "First Noel" was the
proclamation of the news of Christ's birth.) In France children put their shoes in front of the fireplace so Pere Noel
(Father Christmas) can fill them with gifts. Adults exchange gifts on New Year's Day.
In Spain Navidad (Christmas) is a season that lasts nearly a month, beginning December 8th with the feast of the Immaculate
Conception (the Virgin Mary is the patron saint of Spain) and ending January 6 with Epiphany. The season emphasizes religious
rather than the secular traditions celebrated so much elsewhere. Much time is spent in church. Most homes have mangers.
Festive aspects include special dances, bonfires and a Christmas dinner (featuring seafood). On Epiphany Eve children fill
their shoes with grass, straw or grain for the camels of the Wise Men and place them on the doorstep. On the morning of
Epiphany (Three Kings Day) the children find the gifts left by the Wise Men. The Wise Men play a role similar to Santa Claus
— they visit hospitals, appear in parades and children write them letters requesting special gifts. The Christmas lottery in
Spain is the largest in the world. The winning numbers are sung by orphan schoolchildren on December 22. Another lottery, the
Christ Child, is drawn on January 7th.
In Sweden the Christmas season begins with St. Lucia's Day on December 13. "Lucia" is Latin for "light", and the "festival of
lights" probably has its roots in pagan solstice celebrations. Saint Lucia is said to be a third century Roman Christian
woman who refused to marry a pagan nobleman. The nobleman reported her adherence to the illegal Christian faith to the
authorities, who killed her in prison as a result of her intransigence. Swedish girls dress in bridal white to honor Saint
Lucia. St. Lucy's Day is also observed in Finland & Italy (especially in Sicily).
Italy, like Spain, emphasizes Nativity scenes and religious aspects of the season in its Christmas observances. People fast
and pray prior to Christmas dinner. Epiphany is similarly the day for gifts, but the gifts are left by an elderly woman (La
Befana) who had intended to help the wise men find the young Jesus — but had been busy cleaning. Children write letters to La
Befana requesting toys. Dressed in black she flies on the broom she had been using for sweeping and slides down the chimney
on Epiphany Eve to fill the good children's stockings with gifts and to leave a lump of coal in the stockings of bad
children. A large Christmas tree is ceremoniously presented at the Vatican by the Pope, much the way the National Christmas
tree presented by the American President.
In Russia Babouschka is the name of the elderly woman who failed to provide food & shelter to the Wise Men. She wanders
searching for the Christ child, leaving gifts for children. Christmas dinner is a meatless meal eaten on January 6th
(Christmas by the Julian calendar) following a period of fasting. In Ukraine the meatless Christmas dinner is served in
twelve courses to honor the 12 apostles.
In Egypt Christians belonging to the Orthodox Coptic Church constitute about 7% of the population. Religious holidays are
determined by the Coptic calendar, which puts Christmas at January 7th. Christmas is preceded by a 43-day Advent fasting
period which prohibits eating between midnight and 3pm, and in which meals are vegetarian or fish. Advent ends at Midnight
Mass at Christmas. A basilica is built on a cave in which the Holy Family were believed to have stayed upon fleeing
Bethlehem.
The Armenian Orthodox Church (the world's oldest national church) not only refused to move the Nativity from January 6 to
December 25, it continues to use the Julian calendar as the basis for determining religious holidays. Thus, Christmas in
Armenia is celebrated on January 19th. Armenians fast on the week preceding Christmas, avoiding meat, eggs and dairy
products. On Christmas Eve children climb to rooftops where they sing Christmas carols.
Bethlehem is five miles south of Jerusalem in the Israeli-held Palestinian West Bank. There an Eastern Orthodox Shrine, the
Church of the Nativity, is built on the site where Jesus was reputedly born. A cave underneath the church (the "Grotto of the
Nativity") has a large silver star on the floor marking the spot where Mary was said to have given birth. The Grotto is
shared by the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Armenian Church, which celebrate the Nativity on
December 24, January 7 and January 18, respectively. (Although the Eastern Church accepted December 25 as the date of the
Nativity in the first millennium AD, it retained the Julian calendar for calculating religious holidays, which places the
Nativity on January 7th by the Gregorian calendar.)
In Latin America Nativity scenes rather than Christmas trees are the decorative centerpiece of Navidad — often containing
elaborate ornaments, figurines and electric lights (although Christmas trees are popular in Argentina). In Chile Old Man
Christmas climbs through open summer windows with his bag of toys. In Brazil Papai Noel arrives in a helicopter at a large
soccer stadium in Rio wearing a fir-trimmed red suit. In Mexico children break cardboard or paper mache pinatas hung by rope
to be rained-upon with candies & small toys. In Guatemala Midnight Mass is followed by a Christmas dinner featuring tamales,
and the occasion is marked by firecrackers.
People in the British West Indies have a Christmas celebration called Jonkonna, which is a combination of English mumming and
African traditions. The festival involves elaborate costumes, music, dancing and mumming.
Christmas in Australia & New Zealand is celebrated with beach parties & outdoor barbecues — along with caroling and other
religious observances. Christmas marks the beginning of summer holidays at the end of the school year, so students have an
additional reason to celebrate. The Christmas tree in New Zealand is the Pohutukawa, which has brilliant red flowers prior to
Christmas.
Christmas is a national secular holiday in India, where the Hindus & Muslims celebrate in the secular traditions. Poinsettias
& tropical plants are used for decoration and mango & banana trees receive Christmas ornaments. Tribal Christians in the
Northeast & West go to church & sing carols. In the South clay oil lamps are lit on roofs and the tops of walls in the
evening.
The Philippines is the only Asian nation with a Christian majority. The five-pointed Star of Bethlehem (parol) is seen
everywhere at Christmastime. At the San Fernando lantern festival some parols are so large they are transported on trucks.
Philippinos follow the Hispanic tradition of pranks on Holy Innocents' Day and the Mexican tradition of Posados.
In most Middle Eastern countries signs of fellow Muslims celebrating Christmas are viewed with scorn, so forms of Christmas
celebration are rarely found among the non-Christians. Christians from all over the world come to Israel & Palestine to visit
the Church of the Nativity in the West Bank town of Bethlehem and other sacred sites of historical significance to
Christians. The St. Nicholas festival is celebrated in Myra, Turkey.
The Ethiopian Orthodox Church follows the Coptic calendar in celebrating Christmas on January 7th and Epiphany twelve days
later. About 40% of Ethiopians are Christian. Christmas is celebrated by playing genna (a game resembling hockey) rather than
by exchanging gifts.
In Zimbabwe Kisimusi (Christmas) church services feature feasts & the singing of gospel songs. Fathers give gifts to wives &
children, usually clothes & candy. Wearing new clothes to church on Christmas day is a common tradition among African
Christians.
About one-tenth of the population of Vietnam is Roman Catholic. Catholic children enact Nativity scenes at Christmastime.
Christmas is increasingly celebrated in China, where coastal factories are the largest suppliers of Christmas paraphernalia
to the American market. In China, the Communist Party does not regard Christmas as a religious threat because it is
celebrated entirely as a fun occasion for exchanging gifts and for partying with family & friends — against a backdrop of
Christmas trees, greetings, and melodies. China is adopting Christmas in much the way it has adopted Western music, clothing
and videos.
The Japanese traditionally celebrated oseibo, a gift-giving season in December, but the main holiday season is around the New
Year. Although gifts were given to friends, coworkers and relatives, expensive gifts were given to bosses, seemingly as
tribute. Less than 1% of Japanese are Christian, but many of the secular aspects of Christmas celebration have become
increasingly popular, especially in cities. Images of Santa Claus & decorated Christmas trees have become very common, along
with Western Christmas holiday music. Christmas gift-giving is less family-oriented and more romantic, like Valentine's Day
(possibly related to the fact that younger people are quicker to adapt foreign customs as a fad).
Conveniently, December 25th was the date of the signing of the Constitution of the Republic of China in 1947, so December
25th is an official holiday in Taiwan — which is celebrated like Christmas.
Lists of ways to say "Merry Christmas" or "Season's Greetings" in different languages can be found on InfoPlease and
Christmas in Hawaii.
Hanukkah(Chanukah, the Festival of Lights) is not a major Jewish holiday like Passover (celebrating the Exodus) or Yom Kipper
(celebrating God's forgiveness in the second Tablet of Commandments). In 167 BC the Jewish people were horribly oppressed by
a descendent of a general of Alexander the Great. Observance of Jewish faith was punishable by death and Jews were forced to
adopt Greek names & practice Greek culture. Although greatly outnumbered, the Jews rebelled (led by Judah Maccabee) and by
165 BC were able to capture Jerusalem. The Temple of Jerusalem (which had been defiled with the sacrifice of pigs on a pagan
altar) was rededicated to Judaism. Although there was only had enough oil to burn for one day, their lamp miraculously burned
for eight days. Hanukkah is celebrated for eight days conveniently close to the Christmas season — involving exchanging of
gifts, house decorations and family feasting. The exact dates are determined by the Hebrew calendar, so the first day of
Hanukkah varies year-to-year on the Gregorian calendar — ranging from November 25 to December 26. The most distinctive
ceremony is the lighting of an additional candle on the menorah (candelabra) each evening of the holiday. Increasing numbers
of municipal court cases have been fought over the right of Jewish organizations to place a menorah in public places
alongside Christmas trees and other holiday displays. Some orthodox Jews take offense at the idea that "Happy Hanukkah" is a
way to wish a Jew "Merry Christmas". Less orthodox Jews have attempted to merge Christmas and Hanukkah into "Chrismuuka".
(The pressures & temptations of Jews to celebrate Christmas might be reminiscent of the pressures & temptations of early
Christians to celebrate Saturnalia.)
Eid (Eid Ul Fitr) is a time of feasting, celebration and gift-giving (to children or the needy) that is sometimes taken as an
Islamic equivalent of Christmas. The date of the holiday, however, is not constant on the Gregorian calendar because it is
celebrated on the first three days following the ninth Islamic month (ie, following Ramadan, when Muslims fast from dawn to
dusk to honor the month in which the Koran was revealed). The Islamic calendar year consists of 12 lunar months and is
therefore about 11 days shorter than the Gregorian calendar year. The holiday only begins when the crescent of the new moon
of the tenth month is sighted — and this can be a matter of regional difference or controversy among Muslims. (The crescent
only became became a symbol of Islam with the founding of the Ottoman Empire and the conquest of Constantinople by the Turks
in 1453. The crescent had appeared on the city's flag from before the time of Christ, but the symbol was adopted by the
Ottoman's and subsequently by all Muslims.)
In the 1960s an activist California professor of Black Studies created the holiday of Kwanzaa in reaction against Christmas
as an institution of commercialism & exploitation not relevant to African-Americans. The word "Kwanzaa" comes from a phrase
meaning "first fruits" in Swahili, the most widely spoken African language. In the seven days from December 26th to January
1st the seven communitarian African values are strengthened & celebrated: Unity, Self-determination, Collective Work and
Responsibility, Cooperative Economics, Purpose, Creativity and Faith.
Some non-religious people have attempted to combine conformity and rebellion by celebrating Isaac Newton's birthday —
Newtonmas (emphasizing apple decorations, particularly for people who have outdoor apple trees). Newton was born on December
25, 1642 according to the old Julian calendar, but by the Gregorian calendar (the one in current use) his birthday was
January 4, 1643. Both calendar systems were in use during Newton's lifetime. As a birthday gift, Newton was made Master of
the British Mint on December 25, 1699/January 4, 1700. (According to one legend Isaac's Anglican parents listed December 25th
on the birth certificates of all their children as a protest against the anti-Christmas Cromwell government.) The selection
of Sir Isaac Newton as an icon for atheism has a certain irony insofar as Newton read the Bible every day and wrote more
about scripture than he did about science. Some secularists have suggested the word "Giftmas".
Other non-Christians who celebrate the Winter Solstice are Pagans — including Wiccans (witches), Druids and followers of
Norse traditions — honor Solstice celebrations. (But the most important Pagan ceremony is the new year at Hallowe'en.) Some
pagans protest that Christians have stolen their seasonal festivities.
