Okay seriously do you still care about this? Because it contributed to so much drama when I was a kid. “Oh Dear God, no more Merry Christmas? It’s Blessed Yule now?” Bitch please, it was Blessed Yule for close to five thousand years before Christmas just “popped up,” so like, could we not?
This idea that there is only one way to celebrate the winter season is ridiculous, especially in a world with so many diverse and beautiful different Christmas traditions. I found a few that I thought I’d like to share with you because these are pretty friggen cool.
Kwanzaa
Kwanzaa, which means “First Fruits,” is based on ancient African harvest festivals and celebrates ideals such as family life and unity. During this spiritual holiday, celebrated from December 26 to January 1, millions of African Americans dress in special clothes, decorate their homes with fruits and vegetables, and light a candleholder called a kinara.
Mardi Gras
The time of Lent is a solemn one of reflection for Christians, so the Tuesday before Lent begins is a time of merry-making for many people around the world. In New Orleans, people wear costumes and attend huge parades for the festival of Mardi Gras. Brazil’s Carnaval also features parades, costumes, and music. This day is also known as Shrove Tuesday. In England, some towns have pancake contests in which women run a race while flipping a pancake at least three times. Mardi Gras usually occurs in February or March, 47 days prior to Easter.
Diwali
The following paragraphs are written by Mya Jaradat from Deseret.Com
Unlike Hanukkah, which is a relatively minor holiday in the Jewish year, Diwali is India’s biggest holiday. Some liken it to Christmas, not just because of its significance but because it’s marked by non-Hindus, as well. Five days long, Diwali is celebrated by multiple religious groups based in India and Southeast Asia, including Jains, Sikhs, and some Buddhists. (In Nepal, the holiday is known as Tihar; Thailand’s late fall, candle-lighting holiday Loy Krathong probably owes its origins to Diwali, too, according to Fodor’s Travel and others).
In our family, we celebrate Christmas, partially because it reminds us of Catholicism, and also because we enjoy trading presents, and seeing what we got for each other. (I always get lame AF presents for people, I promise, but I do try.)
Yeah Christmas can be complicated, but for the first time in my life, 2 years ago I just got to hang with my family, years before we always did a massive Christmas dinner for the entire neighborhood, so it was really the first time I just got to relax and enjoy Christmas.
My mom worked her ass off by making us a massive dinner, and my brother and I argued over the remote, and you bet your ASS we watched Randy Orton and Test nearly kill each other and it was absolutely perfect, I couldn’t have asked for a better Christmas honestly.
I paused in writing this blog post to tell my mom that, I want her to know that the best Christmas I had was her cooking dinner, because for years she was so buys helping to cook dinner for others, that honestly, we mostly got leftovers.
I’m not complaining, but NOTHING beats mom’s cooking!
What do you do for the holidays? Will you be celebrating with family? Show us in the comments below, we’d love to know what you’re up to.
Sending all my love
Devon J Hall
Loud Mouth Brown Girl 