CHRISTMAS TRADITION

The Tradition of Christmas festival has gradually evolved from times that long represented the Christian period. All the traditions and customs performed on this day are only the extension of Roman Pagan to Christian ceremonial. The tradition of Christmas include the 12 days of Christmas, the bright fires, the yule log, the giving of gifts, carols, the feasts, and the church processions, can all be traced back to the early times.

With the passage of time, the nature of Christmas celebration has undergone tremendous change and every year a new tradition begins. Christmas, celebrated to remember and honor the birth of holy Jesus, has evolved from a staunch religious affair into a merry hearted event that include carnivals, cookies and off course Santa Clause.

The Traditional Elements Of Christmas:

Yule Log
The burning of the Yule Log was taken from ancient sun worship rituals. Yule Logs are supposed to be cut from red oak trees and burned all of Christmas Eve and into Christmas Day.

Snow
Christmas has been widely associated with snow fun activities such as skiing, snowboarding, sled riding, snow mobile riding, or hiking with snowshoes.

Wreath
To worship evergreen holly is taken as a sign of eternal life because it did not brown or die in the winter. Some religious groups say that the crown of thorns placed on Jesus' head was made of holly. The berries were supposedly white but turned bright red from Jesus' blood.

Mistletoe
Mistletoe is rarely used in churches because it comes from the ancient Druid ceremony celebrating winter solstice. This once pagan tradition started when a girl would stand beneath the hanging plant and a boy would walk up, pick a berry and then kiss her.

Cookies
There is no exact date recorded but the idea of leaving cookies for Santa started sometime in the 1930's. Naughty kids use them to bribe Santa at the last minute and nice kids use them as a way of thanking him for all his hard work on Christmas Eve.

Santa Claus
Santa' has been around since the 4th century. Originally known as Saint Nicholas, the patron of children and sailors, the bishop was immortalized because of his generous and loving nature towards children.

Lights
The very first person to have Christmas lights on their tree was Edward Johnson who worked for Thomas Edison. The use of decorative light has been imperative on the Christmas Day.

Christmas Tree
The tradition of the Christmas tree comes from Germany. The very first trees were oak, the same tree used for the Yule Log. Trees have been a symbol of good luck since the Middle Ages.

Caroling
The custom of singing Christmas carols is said to have come from 13th century Italy where a man named St. Francis of Assisi led songs of praise. It is very bad luck to send carolers away empty handed. It is customary to offer food, drink or even a little money.

Rudolph
The invention of Rudolph was an advertising gimmick. The red-nosed reindeer was born in 1939 when a 34-year old writer for Montgomery Ward named Robert L. May was asked to invent a Christmas story. The company gave copies of the story to customers during the holiday season as a promotion for their stores.