But parents may have to help with the reading.

And, parents are actually encouraged to participate.

Christmas

FAQs

4 Kids

What does the word "Christmas" mean?

*  The word "Christmas" is a compound word.  That means it is made of two smaller words.  They are:  Christ + mass.

*  Christmas happens on Jesus Christ's birthday (December 25th).

*  Mass means a holy Catholic church service.

*  Christmas has evolved into a whole season that lasts a whole month from around November 25th to December 25th.

What is Yuletide?

The word "Yule" was originally a Scandinavian word (in Finnish it is spelled: "Joul", but pronounced the same way).  Scholars say that Yule probably means 'feast', and "tide" means time (as in a period of time).  Therefore, "Yuletide" is the feasting time.

It was originally a Scandinavian winter solstice tradition, but now is part of the Christmas traditions.

Who knows exactly how long the full Yuletide lasted?  But, the most important time was from December 22nd to December 25th.  Solstice means Sol (sun) stands still for three days:  22nd, 23rd, and 24th.

On December 22nd--the winter solstice--when the sun was lowest in the sky (for the Northern Hemisphere), it was thought that the sun was close to death.  It was the tradition to keep a yule log (or yule logs) lit for three days to re-ignite the sun.  On December 25th, when the sun started to appear higher in the sky, it was thought to be the "Birthday of the SUN".  In modern times, for those who actually have fire places, it is a tradition to light the Yule Log on Christmas Eve.

All Finns know that Santa Claus was born in Finland.  Then, he met the gnomes/elves who made toys.  Then, they all moved to the North Pole.

All Scandinavians call Santa Claus "Joulupukki" which literally means "Yule Buck", because his sleigh is pulled by reindeer bucks.

In Russia, Santa is called "Ded Moroz," which means "Grandad Frost".

And he is helped by the Snow maiden to deliver the presents.

Of course, the elves make the presents, but the Snow maiden helps deliver the presents.

The Mongolians call Santa Claus Uvliin Uvgun, which means Grandad Winter.

He delivers presents to the children on New Years day.

In Europe, they call Santa Claus, "Saint Nikolaus" or "Saint Klaus" for short.  He was always good to children.  In fact, he is the patron saint of children.

In English, we call him, "Saint Nick".

In Germany, Santa Claus is called "Krist Kindl".  

In English, we call him "Kriss Kringle."

Yule Traditions
that are
adopted into Christmas Traditions
by Leon

Did you know that most of our Christmas traditions come from the winter solstice traditions of the Northern Hemisphere?  In this article, we shall explore the various winter solstice traditions that have been adopted as Christmas traditions.

What is Winter Solstice?

Winter begins with the winter solstice in the Northern Hemisphere.  That day happens on the 22nd day of December in the Northern hemisphere.  It is the day when the sun is lowest in the sky and daylight is shortest.  The word “solstice” is a compound word from Latin: sol (sun) + stice (stands still).

That means that the sun stays low in the sky for 3 days.   Our ancestors said that the sun was dead (or almost dead) for 3 days.  Then, miraculously it was born again on December 25th and it started to rise higher and higher in the sky.  It keeps rising higher and higher in the sky until June 21st or 22nd.  That's called the Summer solstice.

The Scandinavians had many winter solstice traditions that are called "Yuletide".

The Christmas-Yule Tree's Origin

The Scandinavians are people who live in the Northern countries of Europe, like Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, and Holland.  During winter solstice time they decorated a Yule tree with trinkets of their gods.

Language scientists (called Linguists) say that the Scandinavians probably moved northward from Germany a long, long time ago, because their languages are all related.

And, guess what!  Germany had Yule trees as well.  They just decorated them differently.  The Germans decorated their trees with apples--both red apples and golden apples.

By some accounts, this tradition of putting up a tree and decorating it during Yuletide stemmed from the time when all the people of the Europe and the middle East were one people under the rule of a king named Nimrod.  Nimrod was a great king and when he died, his mother became the ruling queen.  She insisted that everyone remember her son by putting up a tree and decorating it with silver and gold on her deceased son's birthday, which was December 25th.  I don't know if this story is true or not (because it's not in the Bible).  But, it could be true.  The Bible does say not to decorate trees with silver and gold, like the heathen do.

But, if you want to decorate your tree with angels or apples or homemade ornaments or lights, I don't see anything wrong with that.  It's not the tree that is bad, it is the purpose of the tree.  If you have a tree to celebrate Nimrod, that's bad.  If you have a tree to celebrate Jesus, or Santa Claus, that's good.  I decorate my tree with Santa Clauses and stockings; And, I put an angel on the top.

Mongolian Winter Solstice Tree

According to an article by Jade Wah’oo Grigori, entitled:  “A Time of the Shaman’s Gift Bringing;” the traditional Mongol winter solstice is a very, very, meaningful and important time for all Mongols who still follow the old ways (and not many still follow the old ways).  It is written that the Mongol village shaman was very central and important to the winter solstice ritual.  In the past, Villagers would gather at the shaman’s ger, which is a circular tent.  In English, we call it a "yurt" and we get that word from the Turkish language, because the Turks also lived in circular tents.

Mongolian ger

A ger has a central pole which represents the ‘mother tree’, called “Ej mod,” (pronounced 'Edge Mud').  It is called other things too, like the “Tree of Life” and the “Pole of Ascension.”  The ger’s ceiling is supported by 81 ribs, representing the 9-times-9 pillars which hold the heavens apart from the earth.  The ‘mother tree’ points to the North Star, figuratively of course.  So, at the top of the ‘Tree of Life’ sits the ‘Star’.

Is that the origin of our "Christmas Tree" tradition or does it go back even further in time to King Nimrod?  You decide.

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More Yule Traditions

Yule Log

Scandinavian tribes had amongst their Yuletide traditions, they had the Yule Log tradition.  They had to keep a fire going all night long on the night of December 24th, and the fuel for the fire was called "The Yule Log".

Why must one keep the Yule log burning all night on the 24^th of December?  The answer is to re-ignite the Sun.  The fear was that if one did not keep the Yule log burning all night long, the Sun would not be reborn on the 25th of December.  As a result, the world would plunge into eternal darkness.  My question:  If we keep the Yule log burning all night long, how does Santa get down the chimney?  Answer:  In Scandinavia, Santa doesn't come down the chimney.  He knocks on the door, and asks, "Are there any good children here?"

The Mistletoe Tradition

Why do we hang mistletoe at Christmas time?  It is because of the Scandinavian myth about Balder and Loki.  Balder was the god of truth and light.  He represented the sun at winter solstice time.  Loki was the god of mischief and undoing.  He always tried to undo what the other gods had done.

Balder, Loki & Mistletoe

The myth goes like this: Balder’s mother, Frigga (which means "Love") had asked all the plants, animals and minerals of earth never to harm her son, Balder.  However, there was one plant that she overlooked; it was mistletoe.  Frigga said she overlooked it because it was so soft and wouldn't hurt anything.

Over time, Loki became jealous of Balder’s popularity and he was annoyed by the noise devoted to Balder’s praise.  So, he secretly disguised himself as an old hag and visited Balder’s mother and asked her many questions about Balder.  Eventually, he found out that there was one living thing on Earth that she had not made promise never to harm her son.  Loki then made an arrow out of mistletoe; and one day when the gods were hurling various things at Balder, just to see how nothing could hurt Balder.  Loki, disguised as an old hag, gave the mistletoe arrow to Hod (a blind god) to hurl at Balder, and it killed Balder.

Everyone, except Loki, were shocked and greatly saddened by Balder's death.  But, perhaps no one was more saddened than Frigga.

Three days later, Balder’s mother sent Balder's brother, Hermod, to go into the Underworld to rescue Balder, and he was resurrected by Frigga.  Finally, Frigga made mistletoe promise to never harm another living thing.  This is why mistletoe is used as decoration at winter solstice time.  It is the symbol of peace and love and tranquility.

Finally, as we approach the coming winter solstice, may our hearts and souls be purified by the light of the Great Spirit; may Sun be reborn again to give its life-giving light unto the world for another year; and may we all experience eternal love, peace, and tranquility.

X-mas FAQs

A7:  Well, first off, not all elves make toys, just some elves.  But, there is one thing that is common amongst all elves; elves like to help the good humans.  That's just what they do.  But, to bad humans they play tricks on them.  Santa Claus was a very good human and they decided to help him make children all around the world very happy by sharing their toys.

Learn more about the little people all around the world on my "Little People Page".

A9:  There are only a few food that are particularly associated with Christmas.  They are:

          - fruit cake (which I could live without)

          - sugar cookies (which are cut into shapes of X-mas symbols; very delicious!)

          - figgy pudding {...according to the ol' X-mas carol; I've never tried it.  Now, one must understand (if one is from North America) that in the old days (and still in the UK and most of its "commonwealth") pudding was/is a kind of muffin.  Thus, figgy pudding would have been a muffin with fig-treats in it.}

          - goose or turkey (Like Thanksgiving, the main course tends to be a big bird; traditionally a goose or turkey, but duck, or chicken can be substituted;  In our family, turkey was eaten instead of goose.)