Merry Christmas to us, one and all! Of course we all know that the Reason for the Season is the Holidays, but what about some Holiday History? Well, what about it?
- The word holiday is derived from the Roman, meaning "A day in the Holiday Season."
- The first Christmas was celebrated in December of 224 AD. December was chosen, of course, not because of Jesus's birthday (which was in March) but to replace the pagan holiday of Saturnalia, the feast of the Vernal (Autumn) Equinox.
- GOD REST YE MERRY GENTLEMEN: Santa Claus, aka Jolly Old Saint Nick, was originally St. Nicholas. This 6th century Irish monk was also the inspiration for St. Patrick's day when he illegally brought 17 snakes to Ireland. This was the first recorded instance of snake handling, and according to some, the origin of the term "Secret Santa."
- Christmas was not celebrated in the years 1629,1630, or 1704 by Decree of Law.
- MARCO... The first Christmas presents were of course gold, frankincense, and myrrh, which is Roman for "the sea." However, gift-giving did not become a Christmas tradition until the 18th century when adventurer Marco Polo brought back Persian rugs from Iraq and exotic spices from the West Indies.
- Americans spend more money on Christmas gifts each year than the rest of the world spends on food.
- SHALOM! Menorah means "the festival of lights" in Jewish. Every year Orthodox Jews gather to eat, drink, and celebrate the liberation of the Jewish ghetto in Prague by the Golem. Hannukah, or Channukah, or Shannukah, is the third-highest religious holiday of the year after Ross Hashanana and the Jewish New Year, which is also the Lunar or Chinese New Year.
- Kwanzaa is also a holiday of some note.
- A MAJOR ACTOR: If a recent survey is to be believed, 53% of Americans prefer Brian Dennehy in the role of Santa Claus, even though he has never played it in a movie or TV show.
- There is no such animal as a "reindeer."
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4 comments:
Isn't a reindeer some sort of mythilogical gay moose?
There are no known reliable sources for the birth date of Jesus .
St Nicholas and St. Patrick are two entirely different characters. St patrick was a missionary in the said to have driven the snakes out of Ireland not imported them as I'm sure importation laws had not been enacted or thought of in 451AD. Snakes actually have never existed naturally in Ireland so it is a myth and had nothing whatsoever to do with snake handling as we know it in the rural Baptist traditions of N. America. Myrrh is a dried frgrant resin of Semitic origin meaning "sweet Cicily"not Roman origins.Marco Polo lived during the 12th century so if he indeed started the tradition of Christmas gift giving (which he didn't).Your statemnt of 18th century tradition is off by 500 years.Marco Polo never went to the West Indies which are the islands discovered by Columbus in the 14 th century,Polo explored the orient(China etc.. and possibly the East Indies and India (which is not where American Indians came from as incorrectly stated in your other posts on this site.
Mennorah is hebrew meaning 'lamp" not "festival of Lights" which is used to refer to many different events and celebrations around the world.
Reindeer is indeed an animal also known as a domesticated caribou of the deer family .No matter the name it is still a distinct animal.
Reindeer is indeed an animal also known as a domesticated caribou of the deer family .No matter the name it is still a distinct animal.
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