Everyone anticipates this time of year, the period of joy and celebration. As soon as Thanksgiving ends, we enter the holiday season and indulge in the customs of each holiday. Here are some of the holidays that are celebrated around the world!
Christmas
No holiday list would be complete without mentioning Christmas, a Christian holiday celebrating the birth of Jesus. While based on religion, this celebration has evolved to have a further cultural aspect, with non-Christians celebrating this day as well. On December 25th, kids excitedly wake up and ask their parents if Santa has brought gifts for them. Parents also use Christmas to keep their kids on a leash, telling them about Santa’s “Naughty or Nice” list. Other Christmas activities include caroling around the neighborhood, hanging up Christmas lights around your house, and enjoying the snowy (not in our area of course D:) outdoors.
Hanukkah
Hanukkah is an eight-day Jewish holiday celebrating the rededication of Jewish followers during the Maccabean Revolt. The word Hanukkah itself, meaning dedication, exemplifies the trait Judah’s followers displayed when they persisted in a siege on the Second Temple of Jerusalem, whilst rebuilding the altar and keeping the flame on the menorah lit every night. The miracle described in this historic event was the menorah’s candles burning for eight nights when there was only enough olive oil to keep them burning for a single day. Nowadays celebrators of this holiday symbolize this miracle by lighting another candle n a menorah every day of Hanukkah. Common activities during the celebration of Hanukkah include spinning dreidels, exchanging gifts, and building menorahs.
New Year’s Day
As the clock strikes midnight on December 31st, billions of people across the world celebrate the New Year. This holiday is the celebration of the cycle of time, letting go of the past year and embracing the future. Entering January, named after the Roman god of gateways and beginnings, Janus, we are reminded of moving on and beginning again. A key practice of this holiday is setting a New Year’s resolution, a personal goal you make for yourself to fulfill in this new year. People also light fireworks to set off the new year with a bang! Many other activities also exist in different countries, like watching the ball drop in Times Square in America or visiting a shrine in Japan.
