This article was written by Anastasia Kutselik of Richard Montgomery High School
Winter is full of various holidays from all parts of the world. Whether they are related to religion or New Years, each holiday helps bring people together through celebration. While there are many major and minor winter holidays, some of the most popular ones are Christmas, Hanukkah, St. Nicholas Day, Las Posadas, and Kwanzaa. Lots of people celebrate holidays, but they don’t always know the origin of it.
Christmas is one of the most common holidays during the winter. Many celebrate it with presents, Christmas trees, stockings, fireplaces and the children's favorite, Santa Claus. But that's not how it was celebrated before, it didn’t even start with the name Christmas. According to History, Christmas first began when early Europeans celebrated after the harshest part of winter during the winter solstice. Then, in Scandinavia, from the winter solstice to January, men would bring large logs and burn them, feasting until the logs ran out. The Norse believed that each spark from the logs represented a new pig or calf that would be born. In Germany, they honored the god Oden out of fear that he would come to decide who will prosper and perish. During Roman times they had a holiday called Saturnalia where they feasted with the social order being flipped for a whole month, starting at the winter solstice. The Romans feasted while celebrating the young, which was known as Juvenalia. Adding onto their celebrations, they celebrated the birthday of the goddess Mithra on December 25. Christians later decided to celebrate Jesus’s birthday on December 25, although no one knows when he was exactly born.
Hanukkah, one of the most popular winter holidays, but not the most important holiday for Jews. According to Reform Judaism, the background of this holiday dates back to 168 BCE. A Syrian King had taken over one of the holiest temples of the Jews. He converted most of the people in that temple to his religion, who submitted because they did not want to die. As Jewish people were forced to convert, the Maccabee family went against them, fighting for their religion. Hanukkah, meaning “dedication,” celebrates the regaining of their temple. Along with the holiday Hanukkah, many think of the word menorah with it, but this wasn’t the case until the 19th century. A menorah is a nine-branched candelabrum, with one candle being lit every night during Hanukkah. This candelabrum represents how long the jar of oil stayed lit while the Syrians were being fought off. That is why they have nine branches on the candles, but each branch also has its meaning. As people celebrated Hanukkah they decided to add present giving, which creates the “Jewish Christmas” nickname for Hanukkah. Some say that this holiday celebration evolved due once the Jews got to North America and got influenced by other religions there. As the celebration evolved, so has the meaning, as North American Jews started celebrating family along with the history of the Temple.
St. Nicholas day, a holiday with some overlaps with Christmas, is celebrated December 6 or sometimes December 5. Britannica mentions how similar Santa Claus and St. Nicholas are, as both give presents and/or sweets to the good children and coal to the bad children. They both have red clothing; one wears a suit and the other a robe. In both holidays children leave out food or sweets, write and leave letters and get candy canes. In the older times, children would leave hay and carrots for the donkey or horse. One major difference is that Santa has reindeer and St. Nicholas has a singular ride either a horse or donkey. Some more differences include that St. Nicholas has a free slave helper or a Moor. St. Nicholas Day inspired the idea of Santa Claus in North America; it started in Holland, then the Dutch took the idea and brought it to the U.S.
Another winter holiday associated with Mary, Joseph and Jesus is Las Posadas. It is a Mexican religious holiday that marks Mary and Joseph’s journey to find a shelter to give birth in. In the article on Britannica.com, it specifies that the journey to find a shelter was from Nazareth to Bethlehem. Once they got there they couldn’t find any housing, so Mary had to give birth in a stable. This whole celebration is celebrated with young children, dressed in silver and gold clothing, walking down the streets with lit candles following an angel-dressed child. Following the children are the adults. As a whole group, they travel to certain houses asking for lodging, as a tradition they are always denied. They sing carols and read scripture passages before moving on to the next house. After the houses, they hold a mass. In concluding the mass, children hit star pinatas, which symbolize the stars that guided the three wise men to the newborn Jesus. Unlike Christmas, which is also related to Jesus, this celebration happens every night from December 16 to December 24. As mentioned in the article by spanish.academy, this whole celebration dates back to around 900 AD. As many holidays were originally just a celebration, Las Posadas was meant to teach those who could not read the Christmas story. But now it varies by person and group, as to some it still has a deep religious meaning while others consider it a winter holiday.
Unlike the other holidays, which are related to religion and originate very far back in time, Kwanzaa was created in 1966. According to History, it was all about bringing the black communities together after the Watts riot in Los Angeles, California. Dr. Karenga founded a whole organization dedicated to bringing black communities together. Celebrations vary from the household but share the following commonalities: singing, dancing, African drums, storytelling, poetry, and large traditional meals. Similar to a menorah, they have what is called a kinara; each candle represents a different principle every single night for a week. Each principle relates to Kwanzaa by relating to the community or individually. The seven principles are unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity, and faith. Along with each day, there’s a symbol associated with it—either a type of food or an object such as a mat or a cup. With a lot of food relations, this holiday was inspired by the Ashanti and Zulu tribes and their harvest celebrations in Africa.
These are just a few of the holidays that happen during the winter season; all with different origins that could overlap. But the whole point of all holidays is celebrating with people or family who you love.
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