Pondering the Season

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    The month of December, in my opinion, is the busiest, happiest and in some cases the saddest month of the year.

For me it is the culmination of a very long year. It is a very busy and stressful time for me. I want to give my family everything they want, but I know that is impossible. Since all of my children are adults I think the best gift to give them is the gift of my time.

I give them the gift of my time as often as I can, but feel I need to make it a more concentrated  priority.

In pondering this season, my thoughts turned to the many traditions from around the world. I searched and found quite a bit of information about holidays around the world, below is what I learned. 

Saint Nicholas  Day (Christian)

Saint Nicholas' Day is observed on December 6 (in Western Christian countries) and 19 December (in Eastern Christian countries)\. Nicholas was born during the third century in the village of Patara. At the time the area was Greek and is now on the southern coast of Turkey. His wealthy parents, who raised him to be a devout Christian, died in an epidemic while Nicholas was still young. Obeying Jesus' words to "sell what you own and give the money to the poor," Nicholas used his whole inheritance to assist the needy, the sick, and the suffering. He dedicated his life to serving God and was made Bishop of Myra while still a young man. Bishop Nicholas became known throughout the land for his generosity to those in need, his love for children, and his concern for sailors and ships.http://www.stnicholascenter.org/pages/who-is-st-nicholas/

Fiesta of Our Lady of Guadalupe (Mexican)

The Blessed Virgin Mary revealed herself to St. Juan Diego in the 16th century near Mexico City in Mexico, and this apparition became known as Our Lady of Guadalupe. Juan Diego saw an apparition of the Blessed Virgin on the Hill of Tepeyac on December 9, 1531, the feast day of the Immaculate Conception in the Spanish Empire during that time. After a request to prove her identity, Our Lady asked Juan Diego to gather roses (which were neither native to the area or in season) that were growing on the hill and take them to the archbishop. Juan Diego did so and placed the roses in his tilma (or cloak). Upon opening the tilma to reveal the miraculous roses to the archbishop, instead there was something even more miraculous present in the tilma--an image of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

In the image Our Lady wears traditional Aztec garments of royalty and a black sash around her waist, which indicated pregnancy in the Aztec culture to which she was revealed. A mass conversion of millions of Aztecs to the Christian faith soon followed, ending the human sacrifices, especially child sacrifices, that they practiced. A church was built on the Hill of Tepeyac to mark the apparition site and today it is one of the most famous Catholic pilgrimage sites in the world. In this cathedral on display is the original tilma of Juan Diego that still displays the miraculous Our Lady of Guadalupe image. The image has been subjected to scientific testing to prove its miraculous authenticity. Today there are a number of Our Lady of Guadalupe books and gifts to honor this special and unique apparition of Our Lady, including rosaries, prayer cards, crosses, and jewelry. Our Lady of Guadalupe is the patron saint of the Americas, and also patroness of unborn children. The feast day of  Our Lady of Guadalupe is December 12.

https://www.catholiccompany.com/our-lady-of-guadalupe-c2857/

St. Lucia Day (Swedish)

Around Christmas time in Sweden, one of the biggest celebrations is St. Lucia's Day (or St. Lucy's Day) on December 13th. The celebration comes from stories that were told by Monks who first brought Christianity to Sweden.

St Lucia was a young Christian girl who was martyred, killed for her faith, in 304. The most common story told about St Lucia is that she would secretly bring food to the persecuted Christians in Rome, who lived in hiding in the catacombs under the city. She would wear candles on her head so she had both her hands free to carry things. Lucy means 'light' so this is a very appropriate name.

December 13th was also the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year, in the old 'Julian' Calendar and a pagan festival of lights in Sweden was turned into St. Lucia's Day.http://www.whychristmas.com/cultures/sweden.shtml

Hanukkah (Jewish)

Hanukkah is the Jewish Festival of Lights and it remembers the rededication of the second Jewish Temple in Jerusalem. This happened in the 160s BCE/BC (before Jesus was born). (Hanukkah is the Jewish word for 'dedication'.) Hanukkah last for eight days and starts on the 25th of Kislev, the month in the Jewish calendar that occurs at about the same time as December. Because the Jewish calendar is lunar (it uses the moon for its dates), Kislev can happen from late November to late December.

http://www.whychristmas.com/customs/hanukkah.shtml

Christmas Day (Christian)

In the Christian religion, Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ by the virgin Mary, which is observed on December 25 by Roman Catholics and Protestants.

http://www.religionfacts.com/christmas

Three Kings Day/Epiphany (Christian)

Three Kings’ Day in the United States, is on January 6. It celebrates the three wise men’s visit to baby Jesus and also remembers his baptism, according to the Christian Bible’s events.

https://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/us/epiphany

Boxing day

Boxing Day takes place on December 26th and is only celebrated in a few countries; mainly ones historically connected to the UK (such as Canada, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand) and in many European countries. In Germany it is known as "Zweite Feiertag” (which means 'second celebration') and also “Zweiter Weihnachtsfeiertag” which translates as Boxing Day (although it doesn’t literally mean that)!

It was started in the UK about 800 years ago, during the Middle Ages. It was the day when the alms box, collection boxes for the poor often kept in churches, were traditionally opened so that the contents could be distributed to poor people. Some churches still open these boxes on Boxing Day.

It was also traditional that servants got the day off to celebrate Christmas with their families on Boxing Day. Before World War II, it was common for working people (such as milkmen and butchers) to travel round their delivery places and collect their Christmas box or tip.

http://www.whychristmas.com/customs/boxingday.shtml

Kwanzaa (African American)

Kwanzaa (/ˈkwɑːn.zə/) is a week-long celebration held in the United States and in other nations of the Western African diaspora in the Americas. The celebration honors African heritage in African-American culture, and is observed from December 26 to January 1, culminating in a feast and gift-giving.^[1] Kwanzaa has seven core principles (Nguzo Saba).

Each of the seven days of Kwanzaa is dedicated to one of the following principles, as follows:^[8]

• Umoja (Unity): To strive for and to maintain unity in the family, community, nation, and race.
• Kujichagulia (Self-Determination): To define and name ourselves, as well as to create and speak for ourselves.
• Ujima (Collective Work and Responsibility): To build and maintain our community together and make our brothers' and sisters' problems our problems and to solve them together.
• Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics): To build and maintain our own stores, shops, and other businesses and to profit from them together.
• Nia (Purpose): To make our collective vocation the building and developing of our community in order to restore our people to their traditional greatness.
• Kuumba (Creativity): To do always as much as we can, in the way we can, in order to leave our community more beautiful and beneficial than we inherited it.
• Imani (Faith): To believe with all our hearts in our people, our parents, our teachers, our leaders, and the righteousness and victory of our struggle.
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kwanzaa

                                                                      Omisoka (Japanese)

Ōmisoka (大晦日^?), New Year's Eve, is the second-most important day in Japanese tradition because it is the final day of the old year and the eve of New Year's Day, which is the most important day of the year.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C5%8Cmisoka

Yule (Pagan)

The date varies from December 20 to December 23 depending on the year in the Gregorian calendar.  Yule is also known as the winter solstice in the northern hemisphere and the summer solstice in the southern hemisphere due to the seasonal differences.
Yule, (pronounced EWE-elle) is when the dark half of the year relinquishes to the light half. Starting the next morning at sunrise, the sun climbs just a little higher and stays a little longer in the sky each day. Known as Solstice Night, or the longest night of the year, the sun's "rebirth" was celebrated with much joy. On this night, our ancestors celebrated the rebirth of the Oak King, the Sun King, the Giver of Life that warmed the frozen Earth. From this day forward, the days would become longer.
Bonfires were lit in the fields, and crops and trees were "wassailed" with toasts of spiced cider.  Children were escorted from house to house with gifts of clove spiked apples and oranges which were laid in baskets of evergreen boughs and wheat stalks dusted with flour. The apples and oranges represented the sun.  The boughs were symbolic of immortality (evergreens were sacred to the Celts because they did not "die" thereby representing the eternal aspect of the Divine). The wheat stalks portrayed the harvest, and the flour was accomplishment of triumph, light, and life. Holly and ivy not only decorated the outside, but also the inside of homes, in hopes Nature Sprites would come and join the celebration. A sprig of Holly was kept near the door all year long as a constant invitation for good fortune to visit tthe residents. Mistletoe was also hung as decoration.  It represented the seed of the Divine, and at Midwinter, the Druids would travel deep into the forest to harvest it.

The ceremonial Yule log was the highlight of the Solstice festival. In accordance to tradition, the log must either have been harvested from the householder's land, or given as a gift... it must never have been bought. Once dragged into the house and placed in the fireplace it was decorated in seasonal greenery, doused with cider or ale, and dusted with flour before set ablaze by a piece of last years log, (held onto for just this purpose). The log would burn throughout the night, then smolder for 12 days after before being ceremonially put out. Ash is the traditional wood of the Yule log. It is the sacred world tree of the Teutons, known as Yggdrasil. An herb of the Sun, Ash brings light into the hearth at the Solstice.

A different type of Yule log, and perhaps one more suitable for modern practitioners would be the type that is used as a base to hold three candles. Find a smaller branch of oak or pine, and flatten one side so it sets upright. Drill three holes in the top side to hold red, green, and white (season), green, gold, and black (the Sun God), or white, red, and black (the Great Goddess). Continue to decorate with greenery, red and gold bows, rosebuds, cloves, and dust with flour.
Many customs created around Yule are identified with Christmas today.  If you decorate your home with a Yule tree, holly or candles, you are following some of these old traditions.   The Yule log, (usually made from a piece of wood saved from the previous year) is burned in the fire to symbolize the Newbornhttps://wicca.com/celtic/akasha/yule.htm Sun/Son.


Saturnalia (Pagan)

Saturnalia was an ancient Roman festival in honour of the deity Saturn, held on 17 December of the Julian calendar and later expanded with festivities through to 23 December. The holiday was celebrated with a sacrifice at the Temple of Saturn, in the Roman Forum, and a public banquet, followed by private gift-giving, continual partying, and a carnival atmosphere that overturned Roman social norms: gambling was permitted, and masters provided table service for their slaves.^[1] The poet Catullus called it "the best of days".^[2]

^{https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturnalia}

Around the world the month of December is filled with holidays, no matter where you go you will find traditions being enjoyed. It is a time when we think about our family and plan to spend time with them. Some people concentrate their efforts in doing good for their fellowman. Others try to escape it all.

For me it is a time that I enjoy being with my children and grandchildren.

Since I am Christian I believe in Christmas as the time of Christ's birth and that is what I remember and celebrate. It is not the lights, the tree, Santa and his reindeer, or the gifts it is about Christ's Birth and the atoning sacrifice he made for all mankind. I am thankful for that and living in a free country where I am allowed to believe these things.
I found this poem and really liked it's message.

This
Christmas
end a quarrel.
Seek out a forgotten
friend. Dismiss suspicion,
and replace it with trust.
Write a love letter. Share some
treasure. Give a soft answer. Keep
a promise. Find the time. Forgo a grudge.
Forgive an enemy. Listen. Apologize if you
were wrong. Try to understand. Examine your
demands on others. Think first of someone else. Be
Be kind; be gentle. Appreciate. Laugh a little. Laugh a
little more. Express your gratitude. Gladden the heart of a
child. Welcome a stranger. Take pleasure in the beauty and the
wonder of Earth.
Speak your love.
Speak it again.
Speak it yet
Once again.

Gary Hopkins, Education world

I wish you all a Merry Christmas, and a happy new year as well as,

Happy St. Nicolas day, Fiesta of Our Lady of Guadalupe, St Lucia, Hanukkah, Three Kings Day/Epiphany, Boxing day, Kwanzaa, Omisoka, Yule and  Saturnalia day,

which ever of these holidays you celebrate, enjoy. Pull your family close and remember all the things you love about each other.