Winter Traditions.

So today is the 6th of January...just to state the obvious. To many of us, it is the end of Christmas. The majority of us are back to school and work regretting not spending more time doing what we should have done over the holiday! In my family Christmas is very important. We put the Christmas tree up on the 1st December and take it down today. My mum collects a decoration every time we go on holiday so we have some interesting ones! However this is just one winter tradition out of many.

For example:

Chinese the New Year: is a large festival as only about 2% of the Chinese population celebrate Christmas. The main colours are gold and red. Red being known to be lucky and gold representing wealth. For them this is the time to celebrate with family and friends.



Chinese new year
(http://www.inkingrey.com/uploads/images/1271615960-chinesenewyearlightup.jpg)



Christmas: is celebrated differently throughout the world. In Ghana it is that that Santa come out of the jungle, in Australia he uses water skis and in Hawaii he uses a boat. The most exciting mode of transport he is known to use is a horse in Holland. This may not sound interesting, but the children have to leave out their shoes with presents for the horses and Santa will give them presents in return, which I still thought taught the children about giving back.

The Three Kings Day: This is the end of the twelfth night when the Kings arrive to give their gifts to Jesus. In Spain on January 5th the children put out a box of hay to receive the gifts and King Cake is baked with a present in it, ready for them to wake up to.



Eid Al Adha, the Festival of the Sacrifice: this is celebrated by Muslims, remembering how Abraham sacrificed his son to God. Present day Muslims sacrifice an animal such as a goat on the tenth day of the month on the lunar calendar to commemorate it.





Eid Al Adha- sacrifice of the goat.
( http://nimg.sulekha.com/others/original700/philippines-eid-al-adha-festival-2010-11-15-23-41-57.jpg)

Hanukkah: Jewish people celebrate Hanukkah; this celebration remembers the Maccabees victory against King Antiochus, who forbid Jews to practice Judaism. For eight nights, Hanukkah is celebrated with prayer, the lighting of the menorah (9 candles), and lots of amazing food!

Kwanzaa: On the 26th December this day used to celebrate the African heritage. It lasts a week and a series of candles are lit to remind themselves of the African-American values of family life: self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity, and faith

The Kwanzaa Candles
(http://www.officialkwanzaawebsite.org/images/Pic2_001.JPG)

Winter Solstice: 21st December is the shortest day of the year so all around the world bonfires and candles are lit to coax the sun back.

In nearly all these celebrations I have noticed how candles and light is used in all of them Light is such precious thing as has been ever since our ancestors discovered it. It brings light, comfort, warmth, cooked food and security. Wherever and whoever you are in the world everyone s linked through the dependency on light.