Many people do not realize that there is more to the holiday season than Christmas. There are many traditions from around the world, including the more well known holidays, like the winter solstice, and the lesser known ones, like Three Kings’ Day or Saint Nicholas Day. All these holidays have their own unique traditions.
For some Christians the holidays don’t end until Three Kings’ Day is celebrated on the Jan. 6. This day celebrates the journey of the three kings who traveled to Bethlehem, to present gifts to the baby Jesus, as told in the Christian Bible. They are said to have brought gifts of gold to acknowledge his royalty, myrrh to represent his mortality and frankincense to show the divine nature of the baby. To celebrate this holiday, children in Spain and Latin America children leave their shoes by the door so the three kings can come and leave them gifts.
Another holiday known for its feasts, families and festivals is Saint Nicholas Day. This is celebrated in western countries on Dec. 5 and 6 and on Dec. 19 in eastern countries. Saint Nicholas Day is commonly seen as a festival to celebrate Saint Nicholas. It is usually celebrated by buying gifts and writing humorous tags to people. Big dinners often accompany this old tradition.
Another more well-known holiday is Hanukkah. This is a Jewish festival celebrating the second temple in Jerusalem. Hanukkah is observed for eight days and nights starting on the 25th day of Kisev. The festival is observed by lighting all of the nine branch candles of the candelabrum. The center candle is usually placed above or below the rest and is used to light the other candles. Once all of the other candles are lit, there are often celebrations centered around family and tradition.
Then there are the holidays that are well known to many, like New Year’s. New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day are the celebration of the end of our Western yearly calendar and preparation for the year to come. The new year is often commemorated by staying up on New Year’s Eve until 12 a.m. with family and friends, watching the ball drop in New York City, making lists of things that one wants to do in the coming year or writing new year’s resolutions.
The final holiday is the winter solstice. It is not commonly celebrated in a holiday fashion, but it is still an important part of December and the beginning of the winter season. The winter solstice is seen as the shortest day and longest night of the year which occurs on Dec. 21 or 22 in the Southern Hemisphere and on Dec. 20 or 21 in the Northern Hemisphere. Though the solstice itself only lasts for a moment, it is often observed throughout the day. This holiday has Pagan roots and it is a celebration of the start of the new solar year.
