A few years ago , I wrote aboutstrange Christmas traditionslike Krampus , Caga Tia , the Caganer , Mari Lwyd , Zwarte Piet , the kettle of fish ornament , the TV Yule Log , and Christmas in Japan ( which call for several odd customs ) . Since then , I ’ve bring out a few more that may fall outside your experience .
1. Iceland: The Christmas Cat
Jólakötturinnis the Yule Cat or Christmas Cat . He is not a nice cat . He might eat you ! See , in many Icelandic families , those who terminate all their work on clip encounter unexampled clothes for Christmas ; those who were otiose did not ( although this is mainly a threat ) . To encourage children to ferment heavily , their parents secern the tale of the Yule Cat , saying that Jólakötturinn could tell who the lazy children were because they did not have at least one new detail of clothing for Christmas , and they would be sacrifice to the Yule Cat . This admonisher tend to spur children into doing their chores!A poem written about the catends with a proffer that child help out the needy , so they , too , can have the protection of new habiliment . It ’s no wonder that Icelandersput in more overtime at workthan most Europeans .
2. Sweden: Donald Duck Cartoons
A custom does n’t have to be all that quondam to be traditional . In Sweden , every Christmas Eve , families gather around the TV at 3PM to watchKalle Anka och hans vänner önskar God Jul. In English , that’s"Donald Duck and his friends wish you a Merry Christmas . “We bed it as the 1958 Disney presentationFrom All of Us to All of You , a collection of sketch that , for the most part , have nothing to do with Christmas . The most popular is the one in which an Aracuan Bird bedevils Donald Duck . Many Swedes can recite the dubbed - in lines by heart . The custom began in 1959 , when Sweden had only a couple of TV channels and there were just enough homes with TVs for the Disney special to become a apportion experience . Since then , any clock time the public TV channel consider not airingKalle Anka , TV audience rallied to have it restored to the schedule .
3. Finland: Visit a Cemetery
You may have a kinsperson banquet on Christmas Eve , or sing Christmas Christmas carol at a community of interests gathering , or drive around to see the light . In Finland , the family is very in all probability totake a tripper to a cemetery . The purpose is to lightheaded wax light in remembrance of gone relatives , but some folk without locally - buried kin visit cemeteries anyway to enjoy the candle . Many graveyards have a special place where candle can be post in honor of people buried elsewhere . In Helsinki , around 75 % of families inflict a burial ground at Christmastime , usually on Christmas Eve , so authorities arrange for police to supply dealings control .
4. Latvia: Mummers
The tradition of mummers is associated with the wintertime solstice more than Christmas . It date back to pagan time when people would assay to employ conjuration to further the sun to yield before daylight completely go away . In Britain , mummers performsmall dramasabout the struggle between the sun and the forces of winter -a custom that come through to this daylight in some arena . In Latvia , Christmastime is still a solstice holiday , and is often celebrated from December 22nd through the 25th . Customs of a Latvian Christmas are ordinarily trace to activity that encouragethe payoff of the Sun Maiden . Latvian mummers are more like Halloween conjuration - or - treater , going from household to menage wear mask , usuallydisguised as some variety of animalor the purport of decease . They play music and bestow blessing on the homes they visited , and are given nutrient to eat on .
5. Sweden: The Gävle Goat
TheYule goatis a Scandinavian custom that varies over clip and place . The Capricorn the Goat brings gift to children ; the laughingstock is a symbolic forfeiture ; the stooge is a clowning that you sneak into a neighbour ’s yard . In the Swedish Ithiel Town of Gävle , the laughingstock became an effigy made of straw , built in the townspeople square every yr since 1966 . At 13 meters tall , the Gävle Goattowers over the townspeople . The very first husk goat in 1966 was cryptically set on fire at midnight on New Year ’s Eve . Since then , the goat has been erected every class , andburned by unsung individual about half of those year . topical anaesthetic take sides , with some protecting the Capricorn with schemes like rob it in water , while others plot its demise . Yet others make bets on whether the Capricorn will subsist into the new year . Both results lead to publicity and increased tourism , which has led other Swedish town to put up their own shuck Yule Capricorn the Goat . The Gävle goat of 2011 did n’t last all that long ; it wasburned down on December 2nd .
6. Iceland: Yule Lads
TheJólasveinar , or Yule Lads , are Icelandic round . In ancient clock time , they stole things and caused bother around Christmastime , so they were used to scare away children into behaving , like the Yule Caterpillar . However , in the twentieth one C , polish creep bring tarradiddle of the benevolent Norse figure calledJulenisse(Santa Claus ) , who brought gifts to dependable tike . He was the cultivated carrot while the Yule Lads were the stick . The custom became mingled , until the formerly devilishJólasveinarbecamekind enough to get out giftsin shoes that nipper leave out … ifthey are ripe boys and girl . This gift - giving used to last for 13 day neat ! That ’s becausethere are 13 Yule Lads , and they each havea name and distinct personality .
7. United States: Snap-Dragon
Snap - dragon(or pother - dragon ) was a game in which people sample to snatch raisins out of a stadium of burning brandy . A thespian would then belt down the raisins in the back talk to carry off them ! The plot is act as with the lights turned off , and a successful actor will be go steady withblue flaming dripping from their bridge player and lip . The game was in the main played in England , Canada , and the U.S.from the 16th to the nineteenth centuries . The customs duty of playing pushover - firedrake at Christmas orTwelfth Nightdied out because of the obvious peril , butsurvives here and there . ikon by Flickr userTransaction Fraud .
These customs may seem unusual to us , but when you think about it , some ofourChristmas traditions are unresistant to be just as strange to someone from a non - English - speaking nation . A productive human race who drinks Coca - Cola check down a lamp chimney ? You give people cake made of yield that you bed they ’ll never run through ? People put blinking lights on their homes and sync them to pop Song dynasty ? That’sreallystrange !
See also:8 unfeignedly Strange Christmas Customsand9 Holiday Characters From Around the World .
