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Tuesday, December 17, 2013

WEP_IS THAT HOW YOU CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS?

 
 
Photo By Ozchin (flickr)
 
1.) THAT'S SANDERS NOT SANTA FOR CHRISTMAS!
 
Japan: KFC for Christmas dinner

In many Japanese homes a KFC bucket with fried chicken is the main dish at Christmas. Thanks to a lack of turkeys and smart marketing by KFC the fried chicken is so popular you have to order weeks in advance for the holidays.

2.) GOING BANANAS FOR CHRISTMAS

In India, only about 2.3% of the population are Christians, but because of the large population they have, we are talking about 25 million people here!

Christians here celebrate Christmas with midnight mass and gift-giving like the rest of the world, but with the absence of fir trees or pine trees to decorate, they usually made do with banana trees and mango trees instead.



3.) CHRISTMAS LOG ... JAM:

Christmas log

The bizarre Catalonian tradition of caga tió (or "defecating log" in English) involves creating a character out of a small log -

often complete with a grinning face and hat –

which sits on the dining room table during the two weeks leading up to Christmas.

It has to be fed every day with fruit, nuts and sweets, and then

– on Christmas Eve –

the entire family beats the log with sticks, while singing traditional songs, forcing the log to excrete its treats. You couldn't make it up.

4.) SHADES OF CHARLES DICKENS!

The ghost of Christmas past

During "consoda", the traditional Christmas feast in Portugal, families will sometimes set extra places at the dining table for deceased relatives.

It is thought that the practice will ensure good fortunes for the household.

5.) TOSS YOUR FATE AND YOUR SHOES AT CHRISTMAS:

If you don’t want to celebrate another Christmas single, then try this:

stand with your back to the door and throw a shoe over your shoulders on Christmas day!

If the shoe lands with the toe pointing to the door, congratulations, you’re going to get married soon! There’s no clue as to how long before you meet your prince charming though.



6.) LET THE GOAT LIVE!

In 1966 a 13-metre tall goat figure made of straw was erected in the town square of Gavle, Sweden.

 At the stroke of midnight, Christmas Eve, the goat went up in flames.

But the town never stopped building it year after year, and vandals never stopped trying to burn the goat down!

By 2011, the goat has already been burned down 25 times.

The burning of the Gavle goat happened so often that bookmakers began taking bets for the survival of the goat since 1988.

7.) AH, YOU ARE AWARE YOU ARE TERRIFYING CHILDREN?

Krampusnacht

As watchers of the TV show, GRIMM, know ...

 St Nicholas's evil accomplice in Austrian tradition, Krampus, is a demon-like creature that punishes bad children. Men dressed as Krampus roam the streets during the festive period, frightening the little ones.

8.) DON'T CALL ORKIN!

In Ukranian homes, people hide a (hopefully artificial) spider and its web inside their Christmas tree.

The person who finds the eight-legged creature is granted good luck.

The tradition comes from an old folk tale about a widow who was too poor to decorate the family tree.

A spider spun its web around it. When the Christmas day sun touched the threads, they turned to gold and silver making for a very happy and prosperous holiday.

9.) WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?

Don’t expect to find a broom in a Norwegian household after Christmas Eve dinner.

Families hide them so that witches and other mischievous spirits won’t steal them to terrorize the town.


{Photo courtesy R. fiend -- that's what he wants to be called.}


10.) JANUARY IS THE MONTH FOR CHILDREN AND PSYCHOTHERAPISTS!

Mari Lwyd

Christmas carols in some Welsh villages take a twisted turn during the ritual of Mari Lwyd.

Donning a decorated mare’s skull (sometimes with a spring-loaded jaw so the mouth can snap at children) and white sheet,

a person parades the streets with a group singing songs hoping to be granted admittance into stranger’s homes for food, fun, and drink.


19 comments:

  1. Customs seem strange when we don't know the background. I wonder why the intent was to scare the children? Was that supposed to make them more obedient?

    Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays! Don't work too much. Hope the writing work is going well, Roland.

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  2. D.G.:
    Yes, to make the children good little girls and boys. Forget about lumps of coals -- getting carried away by a demon is pretty stiff motivation to be good!

    Merry Christmas to you, too!

    I'm finishing up on the final edits of the last 20% of my novel. Would you consider doing a post of an interview about it?

    Have a healing Christmas week!

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  3. Interesting customs. I can get on board with that Japanese KFC thing. I'm a big fan of fried chicken. :)
    I suspect my holiday will be a quiet one spent avoiding the Krampus and listening to holiday music.

    Hope your Christmas shines bright with joy and happiness of the season, Roland.

    Happy holidays!
    VR Barkowski

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  4. In answer to your question, of course, I'll post about your new work. I'm anxious to see it like many others. Email me the info.

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  5. Hi Roland .. what an interesting post about other traditions - the KFC thing horrifies me!

    I love the bit about the Vatican not believing in Santa, yet able to uphold witches ..

    I decorated aloe branches in South Africa - but they were bare branches... so looked quite festive.

    Banana trees - that's a good one though ..

    Cheers, good luck with those edits and then I hope you can get some time off - but I appreciate many need your helping skills at delivering their life blood. Thanks for this - Hilary

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  6. I've heard about the goat and the Krampusnacht.
    I started the tradition of watching the Doctor Who Christmas special with my family.

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  7. Such interesting and different ways of celebrating Christmas.

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  8. VR:
    Yes, KFC and I are old buddies!

    Yours sounds like my kind of Christmas. I am a private person and listening to Chistmas carols and just flowing with the music is just fine with me.

    I hope both our Christmases are healing and happy.

    D.G.:
    Thanks! I am just starting my work week so it may take me awhile to get my thoughts collected. :-)

    Hilary:
    Wasn't the Vatican thinking on Santa and on witches instead odd?

    Aloe branches when you were in South Africa, huh. I bet you made them beautiful.

    If you want to help me shine a light on my latest book, I would be deeply appreciative and happy.

    David:
    I have the strange holiday tradition of watching the 1st DIE HARD (it happens at Christmas) and the 1st HOME ALONE. What a pair to match, right?

    Sally:
    We are a varied world even in how we celebrate the same thing. Have a great Christmas!

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  9. This was very interesting Roland. Some scary traditions indeed. Fairy tales were written with the intent of scaring kids into being good so I can see these traditions following that same idea.

    Happy Christmas Roland. I hope you get some time off. Happy writing too. I'm not getting much done as I travel.

    Thanks for posting for WEP !

    Denise

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  10. Denise:
    Grimms Fairy Tales Christmas traditions for sure!

    Christmas off is iffy for a rare blood courier~!

    I wouldn't expect you to get much writing done traveling -- even John Steinbeck had to write of his travels with his dog,Charlie, AFTER the fact!

    Glad to post for WEP. Do you think you could do a post for me sometime in January on DEATH IN THE HOUSE OF LIFE my 1895 Egyptian thriller?

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  11. Fascinating. Love posts like this. Thanks, Roland :)

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  12. This was a great post, Roland - thanks for sharing. It certainly gave me a few giggles. :)

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  13. Wendy:
    Sometimes I do posts that are just fun and hopefully fascinating. When my book comes out, do you think you could do a post or interview?

    Trisha F.:
    Thanks. I'm glad you enjoyed my post and it made you giggle. :-)

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  14. Trisha F:
    Would you be interested in doing a post on my 1895 Egyptian supernatural thriller?

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  15. I would be delighted! Send me an email with what you'd like me to do.

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  16. Wait...that caga tió thing...it's like Mr. Hanky. Wow. Just wow.

    No spiders for me either. I will burn down the house to kill it, I don't care if it's fake.

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  17. Wendy:
    Will do. I down to editing the last 20% now.

    J E:
    caga tió is certainly a mind blower. Spiders are really gruesome is you ever see a close up of one's "face." Ugh!!

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  18. Fantastic tradition trivia Roland. Not sure I'd like the "defacating log" though. That one is just too weird.

    .........dhole

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  19. Donna:
    The defacating log was just too weird for me to pass up. I know you have too much on your plate to even browse my new novel and write on it, but if I am wrong, just let me know. :-) Happy Holidays! Roland

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