Happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas, and have a super Kwanzaa! These holiday greetings are heard most often in the United States at the onset of winter. But, why limit ourselves? The more holiday traditions we learn from other races and cultures, the more fun we offer to our family and friends! Why not practice an ancient Finnish fortune-telling tradition on New Year’s Eve, or maybe enjoy a Polish Christmas Eve tradition that features a fish dinner followed by the trading of nativity wafers and good wishes with friends and family.
In Jamaica, the Jonkonnu Festival, held during the Christmas Sehncanoe.shtml">ason is seen as a show of strength and pride amid adversity. First celebrated in West Africa in the early 1700s, the Jonkonnu Festival arrived into the United States and the Caribbean by slaves. In costumes made from found objects and rags, men and women paraded through town, chanting, singing, and dancing to the beat of drums and other instruments. Wouldn’t that be a fun tradition to start on your campus or in your neighborhood?
Swedish parents enjoy the Irish New Year’s Eve tradition of lighting a candle at midnight, then flinging the door open in hopes that a dark haired man will be the first to cross the threshold. If indeed the brunette man enters, it signals good luck for the coming year.
Alternatively, another Celtic tradition involves banging on the doors and walls of your house with Christmas bread to chase the bad luck out and invite the good spirits in.
With a variety of ancient traditions available to expand your celebration of the holiday season, try to introduce at least one of these rituals to your family and friends this year. Joyous winter celebrations are common to every culture on the planet. Be inclusive during this season of gratitude and giving, and think outside the box of your own culture.
Invite another tradition of celebration into your heart and home, and here’s hoping that the blessings that accompany the fun be yours in the coming year.