The December holiday breakdown

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The December holiday breakdown

Your guide to the most wonderful time of the year

ANDREEA BURLACU

Both Hannukah and Kwanzaa have traditions that involve lighting candles during the holiday season. CREDIT: PIXABAY

The holidays are here! For many that means Christmas trees, presents and old Saint Nick. However, there are a plethora of holidays that take place in December that you might not know about and might even want to celebrate!

Historically, the middle of winter was when the world celebrated the winter solstice, around December 21. This time meant the worst of winter was behind them and they could look forward to longer days with more sunlight. Now we have holidays that gather us together and make the cold a little more bearable. Here’s a breakdown of some of the most popular December holidays that are sure to warm your heart.

Christmas – December 25, 2022, or January 7, 2023 Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus, the spiritual leader of Christianity. The name comes from “Cristes maesse”, which means “Christ’s mass” in Old English. Christmas can also be a time to gather with family or friends for those who are not religious. The date December 25 was chosen by Pope Julius I to coincide with the winter solstice, while Eastern Orthodox faiths observe the holiday on January 7. Before Christmas on December 6, Saint Nicolas Day is celebrated with gifts left inside children’s shoes.

How to be festive:

• Gifts from Secret Santa gift exchanges or from Santa himself, who is said to come on Christmas Eve and leave gifts under the Christmas tree • Watching Christmas movies such as Elf or Home Alone • Singing carols like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer • Decorating a Christmas tree or Christmas cookies • Going to religious celebrations such as Midnight Mass

Las Posadas – December 16 - 24, 2022 In the Latin American community, Las Posadas (“The Inns”) is a nine-day religious festival that commemorates the journey Joseph and Mary made from Nazareth to Bethlehem to give birth to the baby Jesus. Families re-enact Mary and Joseph’s nine-day journey to Bethlehem and their search for shelter in a posada, or inn. The holiday ends on Christmas Eve, when Jesus was born, and Christmas festivities begin.

How to be festive:

• Breaking open piñatas filled with candy, toys, and money • Reading passages of scripture and singing Christmas carols • Decorating with poinsettias, whose nine leaves represent the nine-day journey • Enjoying Latino dishes such as bacalao biscayne Hanukkah – December 18 - 26, 2022 Also spelled Chanukah, which means “dedication” in Hebrew, Hanukkah celebrates the rededication of the Holy Temple after the Jewish people reclaimed it from the Syrian Greeks. The Jewish faith was banned entirely until the Maccabees liberated the temple, winning Jewish people the right to practice their religion. After, the Jews used one day’s supply of oil to provide light, but miraculously, the oil burned for eight days. Now, Hanukkah is a festival of lights where the menorah is lit for an eight-day celebration. Hanukkah also coincides with the winter solstice to celebrate light in the darkest of winter.

How to be festive:

• Playing dreidel, a spinning top game with Hebrew words that determine how many gelt coins you receive • Lighting a menorah, usually in front of a window • Eating fried foods such as potato latkes and sufganiyot to celebrate the oil burned • Singing celebratory songs and exchanging gifts with loved ones • Observing Hanukkah at a temple meaning "first fruits," celebrates African family, community, and culture each year. The first Kwanzaa was celebrated in 1966-1967 after race riots in the Watts area of Los Angeles in 1965. The seven-day celebration, from Dec. 26 to Jan. 1, celebrates the seven values or nguzo saba: Umoja (unity), Kujichagulia (self-determination), Ujima (collective work and responsibility), Ujamaa (cooperative economics), Nia (purpose), Kuumba (creativity), and Imani (faith). Kwanzaa spread to Canada by 1993 and can be celebrated alongside other winter holidays such as Christmas.

How to be festive:

• Capturing mambo yote mazuri, or “all things beautiful” by making memories with your loved ones • Decorating your home with a mkeka (a woven mat) and fruits and vegetables • Lighting the kinara, a special candle holder with room for seven candles • Giving sentimental gifts, often with meaning behind them • Honouring African culture with traditional recipes like jerk chicken and Jollof rice

New Year The New Year rings in a fresh start in our lives with unique cultural traditions. Here are some of them: • Americans watch the ball

drop in Times Square • The Spanish eat 12 grapes to symbolize each strike of the clock at midnight • Haitians celebrate the New

Year and Haitian Independence Day by eating pumpkin soup because it was a delicacy that enslaved Black people were not allowed to have • Romanians sing the Sorcova with a decorated twig used as a magic wand to transmit health and youth

New Year’s is especially important in Asian cultures. In Japan, their New Year’s is called Omisoka, which entails a deep cleaning of the home and kadomatsu decorations using pines. The Chinese New Year, which occurs in January, has celebrations with fireworks, red clothes and decorations. Also, young people are given money in red envelopes.

Not Celebrating It’s also okay to not celebrate the holidays! Take the winter break as a time to relax and see some friends. There are many great ways to celebrate the season, such as ice skating, building a snowman, or making a warm cup of hot chocolate.

However you choose to enjoy the holidays, the winter season has something for everyone. Even if you just want to stay home and watch the snow fall with your dog.