Visit this online Advent Calendar to find out more about Christmas around the World. Table Points for any interesting facts posted as comments!
http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/Xmas/calendar/index.html
Visit this online Advent Calendar to find out more about Christmas around the World. Table Points for any interesting facts posted as comments!
http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/Xmas/calendar/index.html
On Christmas Eve the house must be thoroughly cleaned, all the bed linen changed and all the members of the family must bathe and put clean clothes on before the evening meal. The table is prepared as follows: a handful of fine hay is evenly spread on the table. The table is covered with an entirely white tablecloth. All the members of the family make efforts to come home for the Christmas Eve supper, even those who are in the distance.
ReplyDeleteNot only the meal, but namely the Sacred Family ritual draws the family members closer. If a family member died that year or cannot attend the meal, an empty place is left at the table.
Long ago, the principal dish was "kucia", a mixture of various cooked grains: wheat, barley, oat, peas, and beans. It used to be eaten with honey diluted in warm boiled water. The word "kucia" comes from the White Russia (now Bielorussia) and means a porridge of dried grain.
Preparation for Christmas Eve takes all day. The house is cleaned, food prepared not only for the special supper called “kucios” but also for the first day of Christmas. People fast and abstain from meat.
ReplyDeleteLithuanian Christmas Decorations
ReplyDeleteThe practice of decorating the Christmas tree is relatively new to Lithuania, though evergreen branches have long been used to bring color to homes during the long winter. If you visit Vilnius during the Christmas season, it's possible to see the Christmas tree on Vilnius' Town Hall Square.
Handmade straw ornaments are particularly traditional. They can decorate Christmas trees or be used as decoration for other parts of the house. Sometimes these are made with plastic drinking straws, but the more traditional material is the yellow straw usually used for farm animals.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.baltictimes.com/news/articles/24048/
ReplyDeleteplease Miss Spiers go on it please
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ReplyDeletehttp://ausis.gf.vu.lt/eka/customs/christmas.html
In Germany, preparations for Christmas begin before December falls. But the real celebration starts from 6th December, St. Nicholas Day, known here as "Nikolaustag". On the night of 5th December (St. Nicholas Eve) children put their shoe or boot outside the door, a tradition practiced in many other European countries. According to a German legend, the spirit of St. Nicholas, the patron saint of children, goes from house to house on this night carrying a book of sins in which all the actions of the year of all children are written. It is said that St. Nicholas fills the shoes of all good kids with delicious treats and places twigs in the shoes of all naughty children
ReplyDeleteThe Christmas tree is an integral part of German Christmas celebrations. It should be kept in mind that the Christmas tree actually originated in Germany. A unique aspect of the German Christmas decorations is that, kids can not take part in the beautification of the Christmas tree. It is believed that the tree has some mysterious spell for all young eyes that rest on it before Christmas Eve. Hence, the
ReplyDeleteChristmas tree is decorated on Christmas Eve, prior to the evening feast. The father usually keeps the children in a seperate room while the mother brings out the Christmas tree from a hidden place and decorates it with apples, candy, nuts, cookies, cars, trains, angels, tinsel, family treasures and candles or lights. The gifts are kept under the tree. Nearby, beautiful plates are laid for each family member and filled with fruits, nuts, marzipan, chocolate and biscuits. The decorations finished, a bell is rung as a signal for the children to enter the room. The Christmas story is usually read during this time and carols are sung. Often, sparklers are lit and gifts opened too.
While children in Canada have Christmas parades to assure that Santa is on the way, in Germany the magic of Christmas starts with the December arrival of the advent calendar. Advent starts on the first Sunday after November 26th. This time is devoted to preparations for Christmas. After the four Advent Sundays are over, there follow Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Advent calendars with their bright Christmas pictures hang alongside children's beds. If you look more closely, you discover small numbers in this picture. One, two, three, and so on up to 24. Wherever the numbers are, there are small paper windows. When you open these windows you find a little picture on transparent paper: a candle, a ball, a snowman-whatever children like. The children open a new window every morning, and then they know that there are still twenty three days to Christmas, twenty two, twenty one, and so on. Every day Christmas Eve, so much longed for and charged with wishes, comes a little closer.
ReplyDeleteCHRISTMAS IN GREECE
ReplyDeleteChristmas was never considered much of a holiday in Greece compared with Easter, but things have slowly changed and now it's finally become a much cherished. For instance, now you'll find Christmas in Greece celebrated with lavish decorations and lights strung across most of the streets in major cities and towns. Athens in particular has responded to the revival of Christmas where its flamboyant mayor, Dimitris Avramopoulos, has added new colour to the festivities by erecting the largest Christmas tree in Europe. This tree can be seen towering above busy Syntagma (Constitution square), where Athens now also hosts exciting 'live' stage acts and shows featuring many of Greece's popular entertainers.
But the beginnings of Christmas in Greece go back to the time of St. Nicholas, who was known as the patron saint of sailors. According to Greek tradition, his clothes were soaked with brine, his beard drenched with saltwater, and his face is covered with perspiration because he had been fighting the storms and waves to reach sinking ships and rescue drowning men from the sea. Even today there is still an old custom where many ships never leave port without a St. Nicholas icon carried in the boat.
In Greece, there are many Christmas customs that are similar, yet slightly different from the West. Such as the custom on Christmas Eve where village children travel from house to house offering good wishes and singing 'kalanda', the equivalent of Christmas carols. The children often accompany the songs using small metal triangles and little clay drums. Afterwards, the children are usually given sweets or coins in appreciation.
In Greek Christmas, the feast itself becomes the main attraction by both adults and children alike. Lamb and pork are roasted in ovens and open spits, and on almost every table are loaves of 'christopsomo' ('Christ bread'). This bread is usually made in large sweet loaves of various shapes and the crusts are engraved and decorated in some way that reflects the family's profession.
In Greek homes, Christmas trees are not commonly used, but recently have become more popular. In almost every house though- the main symbol of the season is a shallow wooden bowl with a piece of wire is suspended across the rim; from that hangs a sprig of basil wrapped around a wooden cross. A small amount of water is kept in the bowl to keep the basil alive and fresh. Once a day, a family member, usually the mother, dips the cross and basil into some holy water and uses it to sprinkle water in each room of the house. This ritual is believed to keep the 'Killantzaroi' (bad spirits) away. There are a number of beliefs connected with these spirits, which are supposed to be a species of goblins who appear only during the 12-day period from Christmas to the Epiphany (January 6). These creatures are believed to come from the center of the earth and to slip into people's house through the chimney. More mischievous than actually evil, the Killantzaroi do things like extinguish fires, ride astride people's backs, braid horses' tails, and sour the milk. To further repel the undesirable sprites, the hearth is kept burning day and night throughout the twelve days. Gifts are finally exchanged on St. Basil's Day (January 1). On this day the "renewal of waters" also takes place, a ritual in which all water jugs in the house are emptied and refilled with new "St. Basil's Water." The ceremony is often accompanied by offerings to the 'naiads', spirits of springs and fountains. All in all, Christmas is an enjoyable part of Greece toady and one that should be experienced by all.