This Static Spot is open for sponsor

Click Here to Sponsor MCT Eric Post in Full Page

Afrikaans Afrikaans Albanian Albanian Amharic Amharic Arabic Arabic Armenian Armenian Azerbaijani Azerbaijani Basque Basque Belarusian Belarusian Bengali Bengali Bosnian Bosnian Bulgarian Bulgarian Catalan Catalan Cebuano Cebuano Chichewa Chichewa Chinese (Simplified) Chinese (Simplified) Chinese (Traditional) Chinese (Traditional) Corsican Corsican Croatian Croatian Czech Czech Danish Danish Dutch Dutch English English Esperanto Esperanto Estonian Estonian Filipino Filipino Finnish Finnish French French Frisian Frisian Galician Galician Georgian Georgian German German Greek Greek Gujarati Gujarati Haitian Creole Haitian Creole Hausa Hausa Hawaiian Hawaiian Hebrew Hebrew Hindi Hindi Hmong Hmong Hungarian Hungarian Icelandic Icelandic Igbo Igbo Indonesian Indonesian Irish Irish Italian Italian Japanese Japanese Javanese Javanese Kannada Kannada Kazakh Kazakh Khmer Khmer Korean Korean Kurdish (Kurmanji) Kurdish (Kurmanji) Kyrgyz Kyrgyz Lao Lao Latin Latin Latvian Latvian Lithuanian Lithuanian Luxembourgish Luxembourgish Macedonian Macedonian Malagasy Malagasy Malay Malay Malayalam Malayalam Maltese Maltese Maori Maori Marathi Marathi Mongolian Mongolian Myanmar (Burmese) Myanmar (Burmese) Nepali Nepali Norwegian Norwegian Pashto Pashto Persian Persian Polish Polish Portuguese Portuguese Punjabi Punjabi Romanian Romanian Russian Russian Samoan Samoan Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic Serbian Serbian Sesotho Sesotho Shona Shona Sindhi Sindhi Sinhala Sinhala Slovak Slovak Slovenian Slovenian Somali Somali Spanish Spanish Sundanese Sundanese Swahili Swahili Swedish Swedish Tajik Tajik Tamil Tamil Telugu Telugu Thai Thai Turkish Turkish Ukrainian Ukrainian Urdu Urdu Uzbek Uzbek Vietnamese Vietnamese Welsh Welsh Xhosa Xhosa Yiddish Yiddish Yoruba Yoruba Zulu Zulu

 

 

Article Navigation

Back To Main Page

 

Click Here for more articles
Google
Do You Know The Origins of Christmas traditions ?
by: Adam Lenk
There are many traditions and symbols that we associate with Christmas including the Christmas tree, leaving cookies out for Santa Claus, and sending Christmas cards and Christmas presents. If you're like most, you observe all of the traditions which are sacred to your family without a thought about where they originated or why they became so popular in the first place.

While you don't need to know why you celebrate the Christmas holiday the way you do, it makes for interesting conversation when you're sipping egg nog in front of the fireplace. So, if you're ready to wow your family and friends with your knowledge of the Christmas holiday, bring up these interesting facts about the most widely celebrated holiday.


The modern term Christmas originates form the Olde English "cristes masse," which means "Christ's mass." The name Christ finds its origins in the Greek tongue, which was the language spoken by Christ himself. The Greek form of the work was Khristos, which means "anointed one."


The origins of the Christmas tree actually predate Christ and the history of Christianity by thousands of years. The tree finds its beginning during the time of the Druids, a society made up of sorcerers, prophets and priests. During the time of the Druid winter solstice, which fell on December 21, the Druid priests decorated outdoor trees with apples and lit candles to show their appreciation to their god Odin. The candles represented the eternal light of their sun god Balter. Christians later adopted the practice widely and decorated their fir trees with apples to represent Adam and Eve's gall from grace.


The first Christmas tree has been credited to a warrior of the Crusades, Winfried of England, who had traveled to the Northern forests to covert the Pagans, according to legend. When Winfried came upon an unruly mob getting ready to conduct a human sacrifice before the sacred Oak of Geismar, he chopped down the detestable tree and a fir tree immediately sprang from where the Oak tree formerly stood. Winfried claimed the tree was the three of Christ which represented the love and kindness that should be in everyone's home.


Santa Claus is a lively, jolly and fat old fellow who tours the whole world on Christmas Eve delivering presents to deserving children. The modern-day Santa Claus finds his origins in Saint Nicholas. This patron saint was shown in paintings to look like the ordinary person that he was, but was given a makeover by the Coca-Cola Company in the 1930's. That's right; our beloved Santa Claus is nothing more than a clever marketing ploy. And you thought it was hard when the kids on the playground told you Santa Claus didn't exist.


Christmas cards were introduced during the 1840s in Britain with the introduction of the postal service and the penny stamp. While a penny was a lot of money during those days, sending Christmas cards still became very common by the 1860s.


Holly and mistletoe are also attributed to the Druids. The ancient Druids were the first society known to have worn sprigs of holly and mistletoe. The druid priests believed that holly was able to remain green and vibrant the entire year because it possessed magical properties. We may have also picked up some other significant traditions from the Druids. Do you think that it's a coincidence that the colors of holly, green and red, are the colors associated with Christmas today? Mistletoe, on the other hand, represented fertility and was looked down upon by the Christian church for its association with non-virginity.


Gift giving came to us from the Romans. The Romans exchanged holly wreaths as gifts during their Saturnalia festival, which coincided with the Druid's winter solstice. The wreaths were a symbol of eternal life. Later, many Christians would take to adorning their homes with holly during the Saturnalia festival to avoid persecution from the Romans. Eventually adornment with holly was absorbed into Christian practices as well.

So, now that you know a little more about why you do the things you do during the Christmas season, why don't you see what other tidbits of historical knowledge that you can uncover to share during your next holiday gathering.

About the author:
By Adam Lenk
For more Christmas articles and information visit http://www.makingchristmas.com


Circulated by Article Emporium

 


©2005 - All Rights Reserved

This Static Spot is open for sponsor

Holiday Planning

Read Articles:


 Keep Seniors Independent and Involved -Practica...

 How To Save Money On Your Holiday Gift Shopping

 Do You Know The Origins of Christmas traditions ?

 Holiday Baking Tips: Dessert won't be humble pi...

 How To Be A Good Dog Owner

 Motorhome Rental – How and Where to Find the Be...

 Shoppers Beware - 'Tis The Season

 Make the Winter Fashion Trends Work for You

 Teaching Kids to Understand the True Meaning of...

 Honeymoon

 Your Winter Wedding

 Tips for Christmas Shopping for Babies and Infants

 Holiday Shopping with Online Auctions

 Press ReleaseLingerie Fashion Trends For Fall 2...

 6 Family Christmas Vacation Tips You Must Know

 It's Not Just About Christmas Trees and Christm...

 Christmas Tree Ornament Tips

 5 Christmas Movies For The Whole Family To Enjoy!

 Comfort Comes From Unexpected Places

More Article Pages 1 - 2

 

 Holiday Planning Tips For Busy Moms
 by: Aurelia M. Williams

Ahhh, the Holidays…… The Thanksgiving turkey comes out of the oven golden brown, with an enticing aroma that fills the entire house. All the china is in pristine condition and not a single piece in the set is missing. The family is gathered for holiday pictures, the children are poised perfectly; hands to themselves, not a hair out of place and their smiles are shining brightly for the camera. Then just as the photographer is about to capture the shot… you wake up!

Let's be realistic ladies. Without proper planning, the holidays are anything but a holiday. Just look at the list of things that need to be done: Shopping, cooking, cleaning, decorating, sending holiday mail, the list goes on and on.

Let me clue you all in on a few key questions that you should ask yourself in order to have a holiday season free of stress and worry, and instead filled with fun and laughter:

What types of holiday celebrations do you want? For example: Do you want to have an immediate family only holiday affair or an extravaganza including immediate and extended family plus a few friends? Once you've thought everything through and decided on the type of holiday gathering you would like, you can then start making your plans.

If you are ready to get a head start on organizing yourself, your family and your holiday check lists, then keep reading:

Holiday Cards: Start early! I use a holiday card list that I derive from saving names and addresses from holiday cards my family has received in past years. I created a simple, computerized list that is easy to edit and print onto address labels. Be sure to stock up on stamps so that when you have your cards signed, stuffed and addressed you can affix a stamp to them and make one, simple trip to the Post Office.

Holiday Gifts: There's nothing like getting a HUGE credit card bill in the mail at the start of the New Year. Many of us tend to want to be generous when shopping for holiday gifts. While your generosity will be appreciated at gift giving time, keep in mind that it is very easy to succumb to "impulse buying" and go all out on your holiday shopping. While your intentions may be good, your pocketbook may be singing a different song. Set a budget and stick to it – your bank account will thank you for it after the start of the New Year.

Wrap it up: Wrap your gifts and place nametags on them immediately after you bring them home, then store the gifts in a secure spot. This will cut down on those late night wrapping sessions that I am sure we ALL have experienced a few times, if not every year.

Baking & cooking: If you will be cooking during the holidays, it is important to plan your meals ahead of time. Be sure to stock up ahead of time on all the necessary non-perishable baking ingredients such as flour, sugar and spices. Create a list of your holiday menus and a list of the ingredients you will need to prepare each of those meals. Also, try to think of a few dishes that can be prepared ahead of time and then frozen as an extra timesaving measure

Delegate: This is one of my favorite tips. Be sure to enlist the help of your family or friends. Sit down and discuss what needs to be done then ask for volunteers. If no hands are raised, simply assign small tasks to each of them. Whether it is arranging for a babysitter so that you can escape for a child free day of shopping, passing the shopping list onto another family member or friend so that they can pick up the items for you, or letting the children decorate your home. Be sure to get the whole family involved in the holiday preparations so that you will not be overwhelmed.

Enjoy: Whatever you decide to do, remember to relax and enjoy yourself. You and your family will have much fonder memories of this holiday season if you are not spending it pulling your hair out.


©2005 - All Rights Reserved

JV Blogs Visit free hit counter