Christmas Superstitions

The holiday season is here with trees, lights and cheers all over.

Christian or non-Christian, Christmas time is the most celebrated time of the entire year. Christmas has been around for quite a long time. It is a day which is celebrated by millions of Christians all over the world which commemorates Jesus Christ’s birth.

This great day attracts both cultural and religious celebrations from people all over the globe and the celebrations come with so much tradition, customs, and superstitions attached to it.

Here are some of the traditions, superstitions, and customs which you should know about Christmas.

25 December

Though in the entire world Christmas is celebrated on 25th December, there is no mention in the bible that Jesus Christ was born on that specific date. Most researchers believe that, according to the happenings in the bible, he must have been born in the spring. 25th December was made the official celebration of Christmas in the 3rd century. Some associate the date with the Saturnalia, a pagan festival which celebrated the agricultural god Saturn and they do it by gift-giving and partying.

Santa Claus’ Red Attire

In the 1930s, coca cola used an advert of Santa Claus wearing their red brand colors, and that is the beginning of the modern red attire. Before then, Santa Claus used to be dressed in various colors including green, yellow, white, blue.

Origin of Christmas Tree

It is believed that the Christmas tree has an origin to the Saturnalia festive whereby during winter branches were used to remind us of the spring and, thus became a symbol during Christmas celebrations which happens during the winter. The Germans are the first ones to put it into use whereby they brought the branches inside the home to decorate - as a tradition, the USA followed suit in the 1830s. It became popular when Queen Victoria, received it as a gift from his German husband, Prince Albert. Due to the superiority of the Queen of England, a photo of her and her husband standing in front of a Christmas tree made it be accepted all over the world. This happened in 1848.

The Origin of Santa Claus

Santa Claus is an imitation of St. Nicholas, who was a Christian bishop who lived in the century AD. He was born to rich parents who died while he was still young. He dedicated his entire life to serving in the Christian faith and remained celibate without children. What would he do with the the vast wealth left behind by his parents? Due to his love for children, he started distributing gifts to children, the needy, and the sick in his home country. He used to do it at night so that those he gave the gifts to - didn’t know who had sent them. He was just generous and not seeking any recognition. Due to his kind deeds, he was given various names; in Dutch, they referred to him as Sinter Klaas which is the current name, Santa Claus.

The Best Box Office Movie About Christmas

It is hard to decide which Christmas tree is the best of them all or which Christmas carol beats them all, but when it comes to movies, the Christmas movie of all times is the one which Jim Carrey stars in “How Grinch Stole Christmas”. It has been voted the best, over and over again.

History Behind Some Favorite Christmas Carols

Some of the greatest Christmas carols have a history behind them. For the “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” this song was written by James Taylor, a songwriter. When he was writing the song - he was jobless, just lost a brother, and was broke. When asked to compose a Christmas song, he did so to overcome his grief by uncovering inspirations in the Christmas memories that he had shared with his brother.

Silent Night has a history linking it to Father Josef Mohr of Oberndorf, Australia. While writing the song his organ was broken, the organ was the main musical instrument of this time. Suprisingly, because it broke on top of him it was a miracle that he survived. A priest composed a poem to that effect and when the father transferred to another church he asked a composer to help him write - which led to the song “Silent Night”.

Americans Beat all other countries when giving Christmas Gifts

Americans top the list of countries which like giving out gifts during Christmas. In 2015 by December 22, they recorded a 28.2 million package which was a record breaking number of gifts sent in one day. It shows how Americans value gift giving and especially during Christmas festivities.

Ham is The Festive’s Favorite Food

During the month of December, searches on google for both turkey and ham is high, but the most interesting fact is that ham surpasses turkey! It was recorded that, every year, Americans prefer boiled Ham on the table rather than turkey. We all think that Turkey is the most popular meat, which used to be the finest delicacy on Christmas day. Things change, so do Christmas Day menus!

Santa Mails

Every year, children around the world write letters to Santa Claus. In Canada, some workers in the post offices were tempted to open and reply to them, but still more kept on coming in. It made the Canadian post office actually create a zip code for Santa Claus – H0H 0H0 for Santa Letter-Writing Program.

The Illegal Christmas Festivities

Christmas used to be illegal between 1659 and 1681 in America. They considered it a pagan celebration and if one was found to be celebrating Christmas a fine was imposed of $5.

Share this information with others in your circle through social media so that others can learn of some strange facts about Christmas. Happy Holidays!