CENSOR THIS! - Kelowna Secondary School

Seasonal
Christmas around the world
by Danielle Beleutz
All year 'round, people are counting down the days to Christmas. It's the same all over the world, except for the different date at the end of the count
down. Christmas isn't always celebrated on December 25 as we have gotten used to, and even then the celebrations differ tremendously.
In Russia, Christmas is being replaced by the Festival of Winter, though in some parts of the country traditional Christmas celebrations continue
on. Instead of Santa Claus, the traditional Christmas figure is Babushka, her name meaning grandmother, who comes around to distribute presents to the
children on their Christmas Day, January 7th.
Only 1 percent of the Japanese population actually believe in Christ, however nearly all Japanese decorate their stores or homes for Christmas. A
Buddhist monk named Hotei-osho acts as Santa Claus and brings the children their gifts. However, most children don't like the thought of Hotei-osho, so
they receive their gifts from Santa instead. Instead of spending Christmas Day with family; the Japanese spend the day doing nice things for others, especially
the sick people in hospitals.
In Holland, Father Christmas is known as Sint Nicolaas or Sinterklaas. He arrives on the last Saturday
of November by steamboat from his workshop in Spain. Instead of elves he's got helpers named
Zwaarte Piet, or Black Peter, and instead of reindeers, he rides a snow white horse through the streets
and on top of houses. December 5th is the Eve of Sinterklaas, where families receive and give gifts.
December 25th is celebrated only by the religious Dutch and they spend most of the day singing carols
and hymns.
Christmas may be celebrated differently all around the world, but the thought behind it is always
the same. The meaning of Christmas is to celebrate with your family and to give to and help people in
need. Merry Christmas! Feliz Navidad! Joyeux Noel! Zalig Kerstfeest! Frohe Weihnachten!
CHRISTMAS
CANCELLED!
by Lauren Boyd
Christmas is one of the most important holidays
in modern times with a large religious and
commercial following. But it could shock some to
know that Christmas hasn't always been this popular.
In the beginning of the 17th century Oliver
Cromwell, a puritan and leader of a group in favor
of religious reforms, took over England with
the help of his followers and banned Christmas
because he didn't believe in the custom. Although
Christmas was celebrated differently in that time,
people still wanted to have their celebration, which
resulted in Christmas being re-instated in 1660.
The early pilgrims in America from England
were again strongly Puritan in their beliefs,
making Christmas not an actual holiday
in early America. In Boston between the years
of 1659 and 1681 the whole Christmas celebration
was outlawed and anyone who ignored the
law was fined five shillings, valued at around
25 pounds in today's time 40 dollars Canadian.
That was quite a bit of money at that time.
After the American Revolution the English
life style was completely out and that included
Christmas. Christmas wasn't declared a federal
holiday in the United States until June 26, 1870.
The modern Christmas holiday
is thought of as being a time to celebrate
with family and friends and feel real love.
A Different Christmas...
by Julia Roigk
Days are getting shorter, commercials more obnoxious and cheesy Christmas songs become
more prevalent on the radio. All of this can only mean one thing: Christmas is fast approaching!
Every year, we celebrate this holiday, get days off school, give and receive presents and have
too much to eat. But it seems to me that we are more and more forgetting why we are celebrating December
25, depending on your background.
Christmas is a Christian holiday, signifying the birth of Jesus, son of Maria and Joseph, more
than 2000 years ago. But the origin of the holiday is even older than that. Long before Christianity
evolved, people all around the world in different cultures celebrated the winter solstice, which usually
occurs around December 21 and 22. They held feasts in honor of their gods, like the pagan god
Oden in Germany or Saturn, god of agriculture, liberation, and time, and Mithra, god of the children,
in Rome. Around Solstice the Romans also celebrated Juvenile in honor of the children. Since Western
and Northern Europe was greatly influenced by its old traditions when they were Christianized, they
most likely adapted their already existing holiday, as Christmas had not been celebrated at all in the
beginnings of Christianity.
The earliest reference of December 25 as the Jesus’s day of birth dates back to the Chronography
of 354, an illuminated manuscript compiled in Rome. As Protestant England didn’t want Pope Gregory
XIII, who made the reform on the Julian calendar,
to dictate “what day it was,” they continued
to use the Julian calendar. Since this calendar is
eleven days ahead of our current calendar, people
used to celebrate Christmas on what is now January
6. This day is in some parts of England still
known as Old Christmas Day.
In America, Christmas has a rocky history
(see “Christmas Cancelled”) but it was Washington
Irving, American author, who re-invented
Christmas with the publication of his book The
Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon, gent. in 1819,
in which he tells short stories about a fictional
Christmas celebration in an English mansion.
It is him we have to thank for celebrating
Christmas as we do today!
Illustration of a 19th century Christmas celebration.
Photo by saturdayeveningpost.com
CENSOR THIS DECEMBER 12 2012 7