Humax

The concept of exchanging gifts on the day of Christmas is a custom and tradition adopted from the west. Gifts are exchanged between family members, friends and other loved ones. Certain gifts are also given to us by a person called the Father Christmas. He has many other names as well like Saint Nicholas, Pere Noel, Babbo Natale, Saint Basil, Weihnachtsmann, Father Frost, Joulupukki, Kris Kringle, and Sinterklaas. But we best know him as Santa Claus. The person behind the creation of the image of Santa Claus was Thomas Nast. He was a american – german cartoonist.

Nast used to draw a new image every year. Every year he used to make certain changes and finally in the beginning of the year 1880, the Santa had taken a look of the way we know him at present. In the 1920’s this image of Santa was confirmed, standardised and adopted by various advertisers. Santa’s wife is often thought of and is given the name Mrs. Claus. In the 15th century the Father Christmas who comes before Santa Claus was thought to be associated with drunkenness and merry making. Later in the Victorian Britain, his image was changed so much so that it could match the image of Santa. Later even Pere Noel also followed the same steps and started adopting the image of Santa eventually. Babbo Natale is the one who acts as Santa Claus in Italy. And it is thought that the person who comes on the eve of the festival epiphany and gives gifts is La Befana. La Befana brings gifts for all children and it is said that she was supposed to get the gifts given by Jesus, but she lost them on her way. It is also believed that in some cultures Black Peter or Knecht Ruprecht accompany Santa Claus. In some cultures, it is said that the toys are made by elves.

The one who brings gifts that is Sinterklaas and the Dutch holyman are considered as the basis for the image of Santa Claus in North America. In many American Latin countries like Colombia and Venezuela, the tradition at present is that Baby Jesus delivers the gifts to all the children in their homes. But actually the toys are made by none other than Santa Claus. The issue is that this story is torn between the globalisation that exista today and the traditional, old religious thoughts and beliefs. In the 19th century a native plant in Mexico called the poinsettia is said to be very much associated with Christmas. Other plants that are very popular and famous and are used during the christms festive season are mistletoe, holly, Christmas cactus, red amaryllis.

People decorate a christmas tree on Christmas which is the trademark for Christmas. Apart from that people also decorate their homes from insides with evergreen foliage and garlands along with the above mentioned plants. In many countries in North and South America and Australia, it is a custom to illuminate houses with lighting and also have Christmas figures like snowmen and sleighs.

In 800 on the day of Christmas Charlemagne was throned as the emperor. After this event the prominence and the prevalence of the celebration of Christmas increased gradually. In 855 on the day of Christmas King Edmund the Martyr was anointed. Similarly, in 1066, on the day of Christmas William I of England was crowned and appointed as king. The prominence of the festive holiday of Christmas was so much that during the high Middle Ages people started noticing on daily routine basis where the various magnates celebrate the festive season of Christmas. It started becoming of much importance to the chroniclers.

A king of England namely King Richard the Second in 1377 hosted a big party and feast on the occasion of Christmas. At this feast in England you will not imagine that three hundred sheeps and twenty eight oxens were eaten by the people. A very common feature and part of the medieval Christmas feasts and celebrations was the yule boar. Soon after that the concept of caroling also came in to the picture. The entire thing became very poular soon and originally caroling was performed by a group of great dancers who coulf sing as well. In the group of people who performed caroling there was a lead singer and a chorus. The chorus generally consisted of a ring of dancers. People or rather writers who composed songs or wrote the lyrics thought of the concept of caroling as very lame. They indirectly wanted to say that this is the continuation of one of the number of traditions and customs that have been passed on by Yule and Saturnalia. Later another aspect got involved along with the celebration of Christmas. The bad things that also came with the numerous good things associated with Christmas were gambling, promiscutiy and drunkenness.

There was very special and beautiful Christmas ale in England. At the time of Middle Ages Christmas became a public festival that involved holly, ivy and other evergreen trees. Gift giving during Christmas was prevalent even then but it was only restricted between people having legal relations for example a landlord and tenant. Christmas celebrations at one stage have also been referred to as the rags of the beast and the trappings of popery. This was stated by some Puritans during the time of reformation. The promotion of the festival then came under the Roman Catholic Church. The promotion of Christmas by the church was done very religiously and systematically in a very oriented form. After the English civil war in which King Charles the first was defeated by the parliamentarian, Christmas was banned in the country by the Puritan rulers in the year 1647.

There were riots which started in many cities just before the arrival of the Christmas festival. Canterbury was under the control of the people who were conducting the riots for many weeks. The rioters decorated the hallways and doorways with holly and shouted many slogans. In the year 1660, the ban of not celebrating Christmas was lifted.

Earlier the Christians in the east celebrated Christmas that is the birthday of Christ on the 6th of January. On the 6th of January Christians also celebrate epiphany. But like Christmas is the festival which is celebrated because it is the day on which Jesus was born, similarly Epiphany is the day when people are busy celebrating the baptism of Jesus Christ. In 378, there was revival of Catholicism. This revival of Catholicism took place after a war was waged. The battle was Battle of Adrianpole. In this battle there was the death of the emperor Valens.

The emperor Valens was a pro Arian. After his death there was revival of Catholicism in the east. The basic thing to revive this was by the promotion of Christmas in the east. The promotion of the festival of Christmas brought a new feeling of joy among everyone, Christians as well as non – Christians. There was a fresh air of relief, joy and love all around. The customs and traditions of the festival of Christmas were first brought to Antioch around 380 and it was also introduced in Constantinopole in 379. But there was sad news. In 381, Gregory of Nazianzus resigned from the post of bishop. His resignation caused a lot of hue and cry and the celebration of the festive season of Christmas was abolished. Christmas was no longer celebrated there. People were very unhappy about the way things were going. But after around twenty years things came back to the way they were. The feast and the festive season of Christmas were again celebrated with equal fervour and happiness as before. This custom and tradition was again introduced by John Chrysostom. People were very thankful to him for what he did and they didn’t get tired of thanking him for his contribution in their lives when it came to the celebration of the festival season of Christmas. But there was another problem as well. Earlier that is during the early Middle Ages, the festival of epiphany gained more importance and it started to overshadow the celebration of the Christmas festival.

All this happened in the west. But the holidays related to Christmas dominated the calendar of the medieval times. The 11th of November was celebrated as the festival of St. Martin of Tours, who was also popularly and commonly known as Advent. A special festival was celebrated known as the forty days of St. Martin which started forty days just before the day of Christmas. Some old saturnalian traditions are believed to be attached and connected to advent. This happened in Italy. The traditions and customs of Christmas again came back to the old traditions. During the twelth century, the traditions and customs were shifted back to the celebration of the twelve days of chrisstmas. The twelve days of Christmas starts from the day of Christmas itself that is 25th of December to 5th of January. This time period in many calendars is referred to as twelve holy days or Christmastide.

Christmas is the most popular winter festival which is celebrated all over the world. It is celebrated not only by Christian population but by people of other religions also. Christmas is also a one of the festivals that are celebrated at a very high and big level because of some reasons. The reasons being that in the winter season people are generally free and not much agricultural work is done during the winters. The important reason is that people also wait for a better weather that is they wait for the spring season that just follows after the winter season.

Customs that are followed now for celebrating Christmas mostly include merry making from Roman Saturnalia, gift giving, lighting, greenery, various foods from the German feasts, and charity from the Yule Logs and Roman New Year. Yule, a winter festival was earlier celebrated in Pagan Scandinavia during late December. This festival Yule went on till early January. The pagan traditions prevalent in the northern side of Europe had a very large influence and impact on the customs of Christmas. This was because north Europe was the last part in the world that was yet to be christinized at that time. In English language and literature the word Yule has the same meaning as the word Christmas. Both are synonymous to each other.

Christmas Jul is what scandinavians still call Christmas. The exact date for the birth of Jesus is not confirmed and is not given by the the New Testament. Clement of Alexandria around AD 200 wrote that a group of people celebrated nativity in Egypt on Pachon 25. The day that corresponds to this is 20th of May. In the Church of Roman Africa, Tertullian says that Christmas is not a major festival and that Christmas is not a major feast there. In a refernce work published in 221 called Chronographai, it was said that Jesus was born on the spring equinox. This piece of information was suggested by Sextus Julius Africanus. On the roman calender it was stated that the equinox was 25th of March. So this information told or implied that there will be a birth in the month of December. 28th of March is considered as the date of the nativity. This piece of information is shared by a calendar produced in 243.

This calendar is a calendar of feats called as the De Pascha Computus. Arnobius, who is a Christian writer, put forward a ridiculous idea in 303 that birthdays of gods should not be celebrated. He said that there is no need for that and that according to him Christmas had no meaning for him. Christmas was not a time for him to celebrate or spread happiness. It was not a feast for him. A theologist named Origen of Alexandria, in 245 also said that people who believe that they have committed some kind of sin like Herod or Pharaoh celebrate their birthdays, others dont. In 354 there was a chronography which referred December 25th as the date of nativity.

Christmas is a holiday that is celebrated with much joy and fevour every year on 25th December. The christmas day celebrates the birthday of Jesus of Nazareth. Christmas is also known as the christmas day. The christmas day also marks the beginning or the start of a larger season ahead which lasts for twelve days. This larger season is known as the Christmastide. In today’s time, the festivity of Christmas is celebrated with sharing of gifts with family and friends. Every year on the christmas day there are special celebrations in evry church around the world. There is a wonderful, beautiful and colorful display of Christmas trees all around.

Christmas trees are an important part of celebrating Christmas. Theset evergreen Christmas trees are beautifully decorated and there is illumination all aorund the city. The houses, streets, public and commercial buildings all are decorated and illuminated. One and all celebrated the festival. The day of Christmas that is 25th December is not the exact day when Jesus was born. This date has been chosed just because it may correspond to a winter solstice or some kind of roman festival. Along with the Christmas trees there other things that are very much a part of Christmas. These are the nativity scenes, holly, mistletoes, lights and Santa Claus. Santa Claus is also famous and popularly known as the Father of Christmas.

Santa Claus is more famous among the children as it is believed that he brings toys and gifts for one and all in the family. Even though Santa Claus and Jesus have two entirely different origins, Santa Claus is still considered as a mythological figure. It is believed that Santa Claus is the result or end of the syncretisation of elements from Christian mythology and pagan Nordic and Saint Nicholas. It is also believed that the appearance of Santa Claus goes back to the 19th century. Christmas is a festival that is not only celebrated by the Christian population but also by other races and religions all over the world. On the day of Christmas people forget to which religion they belong and celebrate the festival together by sharing gifts and spreading love and happiness all around them. Children are the most excited lot when it comes to Christmas.

As for children coming of Christmas means that they will get a number of gifts from their parents and family members. Christmas, the word has originated from a word that means Christ’s mass. Christmas is a word that comes from a word from the Middle English and Cristes mæssefrom the old English. Xmas is the used as an abbreviaition for the word Christmas. The letter chi or X in Greek is the first letter of the word Christ. Similarly in the roman literature, since the mid 16th century, the letter X is used an abbreviation for Christ. For many years it was believed by many peole that Christmas was the day Jesus Christ was born. In the 18th century however there were many propositions that this fact is wrong and is not true.