We Guyanese have certain Christmas traditions that nearly everyone knows of. We make black cake, we imbibe sorrel drink and ginger beer, we make garlic pork, and we of course, are treated to masqueraders on the streets dancing for spare change. Whilst not all Guyanese may be fond of our traditions, I’m here to tell you they could be far stranger!
Around the globe, Christmas is celebrated in numerous ways, some of which can seem completely unrelated to Christianity. This is because the celebration of Christmas coincides with many winter holidays, and these pagan festivals have left behind some curious traditions, which have now become associated with Christmas. We all know of Santa Claus, Saint Nicholas, or Father Christmas. He serves as incentive for children to behave, by rewarding them with gifts. On the other hand, lesser-known Krampus, can be seen as a demon Saint Nick, or perhaps his evil twin. Described as half goat, half demon, Krampus punishes children who have been naughty. Krampus accompanies Santa Claus, and while Santa puts candies in the shoes of good children and birch branches in the shoes of bad ones, Krampus uses the brich branches to beat bad children, and is even believed to snatch them up to take them away to be tortured or eaten. Krampus is claimed to be the son of the Norse God of the Underworld. Despite many attempts to banish Krampus, he still remains a part of Christmas celebrations in most of Europe. There is also an annual parade known as Krampus run, where young men dress up as Krampus and parade the streets. Supposedly, the root of this ritual is that it scares away winter ghosts.
A less frightening tradition is that of Great Britain, where each family member must stir the Christmas pudding in a clockwise direction making a wish, before the pudding can be cooked. The pudding must be made on the 25th Sunday after Trinity, (known as Stir up Sunday), and should be prepared with 13 ingredients to represent Christ and the 12 apostles. The clockwise turning is meant to be from East to West, representing the Magi (three wise men), and their journey. Some people even went so far as to include small silver coins in the mix, and the persons who found them would be blessed with wealth in the coming year.
On the line of Christmas foods, in South Africa, a traditional Christmas feast includes “Mopane” or fried worms. The worm is not really a worm, but is in fact the fried emperor moth caterpillars. Some view it as a delicacy, and others dismiss it as bush meat. In Japan, thanks to an incredibly successful ad campaign in the mid-70s, Christmas has become irreversibly associated with KFC. The campaign “Kurisumasu ni wa kentakkii!” (Kentucky for Christmas!), was inspired by some Americans who were looking for turkey (a staple of American Christmas), and could not find any. They opted for Chicken instead. Now, even though Christmas is not a recognised national holiday, people swarm KFC, some even reserving spots, or ordering their chicken months in advance to avoid the lines which can keep you standing for more than two hours.
There are tonnes of unorthodox Christmas traditions, from the refusal of Norwegians to clean on Christmas (lest their brooms be stolen by witches), to Ukrainians who decorate their trees with fake spiders and webs, to Greece where they believe evil goblins who live underground surface during the 12 days of Christmas, and make mischief. It makes for an incredibly interesting read if you’re a Christmas enthusiast, and in the very least, it makes us appreciative of our seemingly tame traditions.
