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In predominantly Christian countries, Christmas has become the most significant holiday of the year, and it is also celebrated as a secular holiday in many other countries. It is largely character-ized by exchanging gifts within familes, and by gifts brought by Santa Claus or other mythical fig-ures. Local and regional christmas traditions are still rich and varied, despite the widespread influence of American and British christmas motifs through literature, television, and other media . Most of the familiar traditional practices and symbols of Christmas, such as the Christmas tree, the Yule Log, holly, mistletoe, and the giving of presents, were adopted by Christian missionaries from the earlier pagan midwinter holiday of Yule. Gift-giving is a near-universal part of Christmas cel-ebrations. The concept of a mythical figure who brings gifts to children derives from Saint Nicholas, a good hearted bishop of 4th-century Asia Minor. The Dutch modeled a gift-giving Saint Nicholas around his feast day of December 6. In North Ameri-ca, English colonists adopted aspects of this celebra-tion into their Christmas holiday, and Sinterklaas be-came Santa Claus. In the UK, whilst this name is widely known, "Father Christmas'' is more common, and is also used in many west African countries. In the Anglo-American tradition, this jovial fel-low arrives on Christmas Eve on a sleigh pulled by reindeer, and lands on the roofs of houses. He then climbs down the chimney, leaves gifts for the chil-dren, and eats the food they leave for him. He spends the rest of the year making toys and keeping lists on the behavior of the children. In many countries, children leave empty contain-ers for Santa to fill with small gifts such as toys, can-dy, or fruit. In the United States, children hang a Christmas stocking by the fireplace on Christmas Evs, because Santa is said to come down the chimney the night before Christmas to fill them. In other countries, children place their empty shoes out for santa to fill on the night before Christmas, or for Saint Nicholas on December 5. Gift giving is not re-stricted to these special gift-bringers, as family mem-bers and friends also bestow gifts on each other. |
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12/22/2008 2:19 am |
thank you. May this occasion bring you all happ-iness and prosperity.
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12/20/2008 12:15 am |
Have a Happy Holiday Henry..... Mele Kalikimaka aloha...(Merry Christmas in hawaii) *****Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened*****
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