Christmas Traditions Around the World

When you get so wrapped up with your own holiday traditions, it can be hard to think that anyone could possible do things any other way. I can attest to this with first hand experience. My grandmother refuses to put her Christmas tree up too early. She believes that it goes up six days before Christmas, and it must be taken down exactly six days after. Those of us in my family that like to avoid holiday confrontations (all of us) quietly put up and take down our trees without telling granny when we did it. She (a Canadian) also has strict rules on what foods we eat at Christmas dinner. We live in the south, and we sometimes invite friends over for our holiday feast. Someone once brought macaroni and cheese (an item my grandmother considers a southern dish), and dear old granny flipped. While everyone (except her) ate and enjoyed the macaroni and cheese, she refused to allow us to put it on the table with everything else.

While my experiences are a bit extreme, most of us have certain rituals that we wouldn't want to do any other way. That doesn't mean we shouldn't try to understand the rituals of other. Here are some interesting ways that Christmas is celebrated around the world.

In Finland, many visit the graves of their deceased relatives.

Norway is the home of the yule log. Yule is the derivative of the Norse word for wheel. Before Christmas was a holiday, they celebrated the winter solstice. They burned yule logs as a symbol of the sun.

The people of Germany have been decorating trees for centuries as part of their winter solstice celebration.

In Mexico, believe it or not, poinsettieas were not originally a symbol of Christmas. Not until they were intorduced to America, did they gain holiday popularity. However, a big part of their holiday tradition is the pinata.

In France, many burn a fire from Christmas Eve until New Year's. This was done for a good luck blessing for the harvest.

In Australia, Christmas occurs in the middle of summer. Aside from gifts, a traditional holiday party includes a barbeque.

In Greece, gifts aren't given until January 1st. They also believe that goblins (kallikantzeri) perform mischevious acts during the Christmas season.

In Central American countries, Nativity scenes are displayed instead of Santas.

The English stated the custom of caroling. The Celts believed that mistletoe possessed magical healing powers.