Celebrations of the Holiday Season
The last month of the year is full of big holidays like Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa, which bring families together to celebrate their faith and culture. Throughout these weeks are also plenty of other important and fun observances that make December a truly special month.
By Samantha Bockoven — December 12, 2022
December can be a wonderful time of year spent with loved ones eating sweets, playing games, and exchanging gifts. During December, I personally love getting together with friends for ugly sweater parties and cookie baking. As a Christian, I celebrate Christmas with my family on December 25 in honor of the birth of Jesus. Yet, only some celebrate Christmas. I became interested in what people from other religions, cultures, and backgrounds might celebrate during December.
Disclaimer: The information I found was from a quick search on the internet and does not include every holiday or festival that takes place in December. If you have a particular holiday tradition you would like to share or want to make a comment or provide more information on the one listed below, please feel free to send us an email. We would love to hear and learn from you!
Hanukkah
Hanukkah is an eight-day Jewish festival in the Hebrew Calendar on the 25th day of Kislev. It typically falls somewhere in December, and this year it will be celebrated between December 18th-26th. In simple terms, Hanukkah commemorates the reclaiming of the temple from the Greeks and the miracle of a candle found in the torn-down temple that burned for eight days even though there was only enough oil for one. Many customs and traditions happen during this holiday — also referred to as the Festival of Lights — including playing with four-sided spinning tops called dreidels, exchanging gifts, and eating yummy foods like latkes, sufganiyot, and brisket. Other traditions include lighting one menorah candle daily, reading scripture, and singing hymns. In Hebrew, Hanukkah means dedication.
Las Posadas
Las Posadas takes place between December 16-24 and is primarily celebrated in Latin America, Mexico, and parts of the United States. This nine-day festival celebrates the journey of Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem, where she gave birth to her son, Jesus. Mary and Joseph were traveling to participate in the census ordered by Caesar Augustus, where it is tradition to return to your ancestral hometown. When they arrived, no rooms were available, and they ended up spending the night in a stable.
In many areas, this festival includes a reenactment of Mary and Josephs journey looking for shelter by having a parade. This procession includes children dressing up as angels or in robes holding candles, with adults following behind with music. The procession goes from house to house, asking for shelter, which is refused. However, the houses will typically give out snacks and drinks. During these nine days, there are also parties most nights with piñatas in the shape of a star, food, music, and prayer. Las Posadas translates to "The Inn."
Soyal Winter Solstice Ceremony
Every year, the winter solstice (the shortest day of the year) happens on December 21 or 22. One way the Hopi and Zuni people, located in the southern United States, celebrate (or historically celebrated) this tradition is a Soyal ceremony held on December 22. Prayer sticks, called Pahos, are used during the ceremony to bless plants, animals, homes, and communities. These prayer sticks have feathers and pinyon needles tied to them. Scared rituals also take place during this time in special chambers called kivas. There is also dancing by the Kachinas during this time, and little carved Kachina dolls are given to the children. This ceremony "bring[s] the sun back from its long slumber, mark the beginning of another cycle of the Wheel of the year and work on purification."
Christmas
Christmas is a Christian holiday that is celebrated on December 25. This holiday is a celebration of the birth of Jesus, who Christians believe was born from the Virgin Mary. Mary gave birth in Bethlehem in a stable because there was no room in the Inn. For Christians, this is a day people celebrate by attending church, singing hymns, and reading the Christmas story in their Bibles. In addition, people will get together with friends and family to open gifts, play games, and eat food. This holiday is also celebrated culturally but non-religiously by many non-Christians around the world who will decorate their houses, exchange gifts, and have celebrations with families and friends.
Kwanzaa
Kwanzaa is a holiday started by activist Maulana Karenga and is a celebration of African American Culture. This celebration takes place from December 26 to January 1 each year and highlights different traditions from parts of West and Southeast African harvest festivals. Each day of this weeklong cultural festival is given a name in Swahili to represent a core principle: Umoja (unity), Kujichagulia (self-determination), Ujima (collective work and responsibility), Ujamaa (cooperative economics), Nia (purpose), Kuumba (creativity), and Imani (faith). During this week, participants give sentimental gifts, cook cultural foods, attend parties, light candles, and reflect on that day's core principle. At the end of the week, people get together for a big feast called Karamu.
Boxing Day
Boxing day is celebrated on December 26 in Great Britain and some other countries, including Australia, Canada, and New Zealand. Historically, this holiday was created with the less fortunate in mind. On this day, citizens participated in charitable giving and gifted the poor people in society presents. In addition to gifts, servants received the day off work and maybe even some leftover food from the day before.
Throughout time, this holiday has lost most of its original meaning. Now Boxing day is celebrated by watching sports such as rugby, football, horse races, and cricket. It is also a big day for shopping because many companies give large discounts in attempts to clear out their stores for new inventory, much like black Friday in the United States.
Samantha Bockoven
Samantha Bockoven graduated from Villanova University in 2019 with a degree in Peace and Justice and a minor in Global Health. She went on to get her master’s in public health with a concentration in disaster health and emergency preparedness. Since then, she has worked in a variety of public health jobs in the United States and around the world.
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