CHRISTMAS may conjure images of twinkling lights, roast turkey and ham, and festive jumpers here on Shannonside, but not every celebration fits the Irish mould. Across the globe, a world of weird and wonderful traditions are observed that add a little colour, humour, and even mystery to the festive season.
From roller-skating to Mass in Venezuela to feasting on KFC in Japan, quirky Christmas customs are a way of reminding ourselves that there’s more than one way to make the season merry.
In Catalonia, for example, holiday cheer comes with a touch of mischief.
Two very unique – and toilet themed – traditions appear with the season in Catalonia. The ‘Caganer’, a cheeky figurine of a defecating man tucked into nativity scenes, and the ‘Tió de Nadal’ – or ‘pooping log’. Catalan families decorate the hollow log with a painted face and ‘feed’ it treats. On Christmas Eve, singing children beat the Tió de Nadal with sticks until it ‘poops’ out sweets and small gifts.
In Iceland, the ‘Yule Lads’, troll-like characters, visit children on the 13 days leading up to Christmas bearing gifts. Unlike Santa bringing a lump of coal to bold Children in Ireland, the Yule Lads bring misbehaving Icelandic children a potato.
Each ‘lad’ has its own personality and name corresponding to its mischievous antics, including ‘Spoon-Licker’ and ‘Door-Slammer’.
The Yule Lads strike some similarities to the dastardly German ‘Krampus’, a horned figure which accompanies St Nicholas to punish naughty children.
Many regional parades across Germany often feature people dressed as the Krampus in elaborate costumes as they stomp through town frightening onlookers.
Things are a little more retro in Caracas, Venezuela, where roads are closed to traffic on Christmas morning to allow people to rollerskate to early morning mass.
‘Las patinatas’, or ‘the skating’, is a mini-festival where people make use of the gifts they received on Christmas Eve, skating around in public and singing festive songs.
After skating all night, many Venezuelans make their way to ‘Misa de gallo’, an early morning mass which takes place around 5am or 6am.
During the holiday season in Eastern Europe, particularly in Ukraine, you will commonly come across spiders and spiderwebs dangling from Christmas trees. Some remain plain, while others are adorned with jewels or gold and silver.
Far from a neglecting of housekeeping duties or an arachnid infestation, this tradition is the continuation of a holiday ritual that began in the late 19th or early 20th century.
The origins of this practice are said to come from a folktale referred to as ‘The Legend of the Christmas spider‘.
The story follows an impoverished woman and her children after a lucky fall from a pine cone blesses them with a Christmas tree, free of charge. Despite this, so the story goes, the family cries the night of Christmas Eve as they cant afford to decorate the tree. The next morning, however, a kind spider taking refuge in their home responded to their cries and used their own webs to decorate the tree.
A century later, many Ukranians still observe the tradition.
