Christmas Traditions

Christmas is undeniably connected to decorating a chopped tree, be it small one at home, or big one on town square, sweets and cookies, and, of course gifts, that are brought, in case of most English-speaking countries, by old man crawling through chimneys. It may be a surprise to you, but this jolly old guy is not the only one doing this great work. So, who are the folk that bring Christmas presents around the world?

Well, the most popular is some variation of jolly old chap, that lives far far away, where there is cold and snow, and once a year he makes a trip around the world to give out presents at some point during the night between December 24th and 25th. While this archetype had been best known as the American Santa Claus, there are many other names and variations, that, perhaps due to the pressure of the Market, are growing more and more alike. Most of these, if translated, are named some variation of Father Christmas, or Santa Claus, but there are other names, such as Grandfather Frost. Most of these old fellows wear a red coat and drive sleigh, but there are exceptions. In Hawaii, their old chap wears shorts and moves around on a surfing board.

Second major traditions is a baby Jesus. It is a mystery how an infant few hours of age can get up and deliver presents, but then again, there are many mysteries of Faith. Be it as it may, baby Jesus delivers presents in Slovakia, Austria, some parts of Germany and Mexico, Lithuania, traditional parts of Portugal, in Guatamala and In Columbia, among other states. It is, however, infinitely less marketable in progressively more atheist world, not to mention a child in a feedthrough is harder to put in shops and malls than a grandpa in red pajamas.

Apart from these two big and popular gift bearers, there are several local figures of lesser fame. The first category is those who are delivering presents during the Christmas eve, or morning thereafter, but they have been at the job for far longer than baby Jesus or Santa. North of Germany, for example, is served by Christmas Man, who, unlike Santa, is a ginger, moves by riding the wind itself, and wears long coat with hood. This guy may or may not be connected to Germanic god called Wotan. Norway has their own Christmas Elf that does their job even without Santa. And Iceland...well, Iceland is a special case. You see, there is a family of trolls there. The mother and father are seeking for bad children to eat them, while their sons are going around, giving gifts to good children, and rotten potatoes to bad ones. In shoes, not stockings. They are joined by a cat, that eats anyone, child or adult, who hadn't been given new clothes during the previous year. So, maybe, just in case, wish for some socks for your birthday.

The second minority group are gift bearers that come after Christmas, on 6th of January, and are connected to the legend of Three Wise Men. That being said, they don't necessarily have to be wise, nor men, and there is usually only one of them. In Italy, gifts are brought by a witch, that moves around on her broom and calls herself Befana. At least she is human. In Argentina, children are not so lucky. Their gifts are brought by a horse named Magi, and instead of cookies and milk, the children leave a bit of water and hay outside as a snack for the hard-working horse. Knowing this, it might not surprise you, that in Syria, gifts are given out by a camel that was originally owned by the three wise men of legend. Whether this camel is sapient and has a name, or is just a camel, is a question that needs more research.

And that's it. Of course, there are some countries that have no supernatural gift bearer (though Santa is rumored to claim those territories), and countries that don't recognize Christmas as a day that is special in any way but sometimes have their own winter festivals. But that's another story for another day. Or perhaps a year.