Winter Holidays Around the World

During the holiday season, do you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or the Winter Solstice?

Chances are your family, friends and loved ones near or far may observe more than one of these special occasions, starting in late fall and continuing through the new year. From religious to secular, pagan and every tradition in between, the infinite number of festivals and celebrations may have you extending your holiday season from one spectacular event to the next! Here are just a few:

Christmas

One of the most celebrated holidays around the world, Christmas falls on December 25 each year to commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ. The word means “Christ’s Mass” and is a feast central to the Christian liturgical year. Celebratory decorations typically include a Christmas tree decorated with lights and ornaments and exchanging presents, particularly in the United States, “decking the halls” with holm, ivy and other greens. Nativity scenes are popular in several countries. Related Christian celebrations include Advent (the fourth Sunday preceding December 25), Christmas Eve (December 24), Twelve Days of Christmas (December 25 – January 6) and Epiphany or Three Kings Day – the arrival of the Three Magi (January 6).

Hanukkah

Hanukkah is a Jewish holiday that celebrates the rededication of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem after the Maccabean Revolt (2nd century BCE). Also known as the Festival of Lights, it is observed for eight nights and days, starting on the 25th day of Kislev of the Hebrew Calendar, which can fall anywhere from late November to late December on the Gregorian calendar. This year, Hanukkah begins the evening of December 4 thru December 14. Rituals include the lighting of the Menorah, where one candle is lit on each of the eight nights of Hanukkah; the center candle is used for lighting the others, singing Hanukkah songs, reciting Psalms, and, exchanging presents, especially in North America and Israel.

Kwanzaa

Kwansaa is a week-long holiday that honors African heritage in African-American culture and celebrates seven core principles that include unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity and faith. Created by Maulana Karenga in 1966, it is observed in the United States, Canada and Western Africa from December 26 thru January 1, ending with a feast and the exchange of gifts. Celebrations include decorating with colorful art and African cloth, readings and reflection of the African Pledge, and a candle-lighting ceremony with a kinara.

Las Posadas

Las Posadas is a nine-day holiday with origins in Spain, now celebrated in Mexico, Guatemala and parts of the Southwestern United States from December 16 thru 24. Its roots are in Catholicism but several different branches of Christian Latinos follow the tradition. During the celebration, a procession (or novena) moves from house to house (posadas is Spanish for “lodgings”), with a candle inside a paper luminaria, stopping at each home to pray and usually ending at a church or similar place of worship, where the celebration continues with caroling, feasting and opening star-shaped piñatas to reveal the treasures inside.

Eid-al-Adha

Eid-al-Adha is an important Islamic holiday celebrated worldwide to honor the willingness of the prophet Abraham to sacrifice his first-born, Ishmael, on God’s command. Also known as the Feast of the Sacrifice, the celebration takes place based on the Islamic lunar calendar; in 2015 the dates are September 23 and 24. Families traditionally dress in their finest clothing and pray together at a mosque. They also sacrifice their best halal domestic animals as a symbol of Abraham’s sacrifice, and prepare a community feast that is shared with family, friends, neighbors and the poor.

Diwali

“Diwali” is a contraction of a word meaning “row of lamps” and is an official holiday in India, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Myanmar, among others. Based on the Hindu Lunisolar calendar, this year the five-day festival begins on November 11. Diwali celebrates the attainment of nirvana by Indian sage Mahavira and the anniversary of Hindu religious leader Swami Dayanand’s death. People light small clay lamps or paper kites and set them free in water or the sky to symbolize the victory of good over evil.

Bodhi Day

Bodhi Day celebrates the day that the historical Buddha (Siddhartha Gautama) experienced enlightenment, or bodhi in Sanskrit. Bodhi Day takes place on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month of the Chinese calendar, or December 8. Also known as the Day of Enlightenment, it is celebrated by Buddhists worldwide through additional meditation, study of the Dharma, chanting of Buddhist sutras and performing kind acts towards. Some Buddhists celebrate with a traditional meal of tea and cake.

Winter Solstice

Winter Solstice is an astronomical event that takes place in the Northern Hemisphere on December 21 (or 22 in some texts). In many cultures, it signifies the turning point, as the longest night of the year and the beginning longer days meet. For instance, Yaldā or Shabe Chelle is a Persian festival that signifies the victory of light and goodness over darkness and evil, celebrated by staying up late or all night and feasting on nuts, pomegranates and watermelons –the red color invokes the crimson hues of dawn. In Neopaganism tradition, this ancient celebration is called Yule – the word yuletide is first used as early as 1475.

New Year’s Eve

New Year’s Eve is celebrated all over the world on December 31, the last day of the Gregorian year. Most celebratory traditions revolve around evening gatherings with family and friends, reveling, singing, dancing, feasting and watching fireworks at the stroke of midnight, when the year moves ahead by one.

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