If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
There are all sorts of trivia about Christmas so finding things for a Christmas family quiz is not that difficult, here are just a few snippets of Christmas information that you can use.
Poinsettias are a plant that we now associate with Christmas, they are often used as decorations or given as gifts. These beautiful winter plants are native to Mexico. They were named for the first US ambassador to Mexico, Joel Roberts Poinsett, who brought the plant from Mexico to America where they have become a part of the traditional Christmas.
The Twelve Days of Christmas refer to the twelve days between Christmas Day (December 25) and the Feast of Epiphany (January 6), or Twelfth Night. This is believed to be when the Three Kings arrived with their gifts for the baby, Jesus. In many countries this is when gifts are given, rather than on Christmas Day
Mistletoe is hung in many houses over Christmas. It is the plant of Frigga,, the Scandinavian’s goddess of love, and has come to be associated with love and romance. It’s from this that the tradition of kissing under the mistletoe has grown. Mistletoe is also a protector and should be kept in the house all year.
Holly is also another very important symbol of Christmas. In the Christian tradition the red holly berries symbolize Christ’s blood and the sharply pointed leaves stand for the thorns in his crown.
The Yule log is a huge log which was used to keep the fire burning during great festivals. It comes from Northern Europe where the log would be placed in the hearth and continue to burn throughout the festive period, until it turned into ashes. Bringing in the Yule Log was the start of the festival and the tradition goes far back in history.
The tradition of hanging stockings up over the fireplace also goes back to European history. The story of St. Nicholas (Santa Claus) tells that he was a kindly Bishop who left gifts of gold coins in the stockings of three poor maidens, who had no money for their wedding dowries. They hung their stockings to dry over the fireplace, and to their great surprise, they found bags of gold in them the next morning. Now we hope to find little treasures and good things to eat in our stockings at Christmas.
Choirs of Angels are supposed to have sung to celebrate the birth of Christ but it is St. Francis of Assisi who is believed to be the originator of Caroling tradition. The name ‘carol’ comes from the Greek ‘charaulein’, originally a Greek dance, later it also came to imply a song. By the 17th century, caroling was restricted to Christmas time and is often used as a means of raising funds.
The day after Christmas Day has come to be known as Boxing Day, there are two reasons for this. On is that the alms box of the Church was opened on Boxing Day and the contents distributed amongst the poor of the parish. It was also the day on which gifts were given to servants as they were busy preparing feasts for their employers. On Boxing Day the ‘great family’ would eat what was left over and the servants would be given their Christmas Boxes, and if they were very lucky, half a day’s holiday!
You can find out much more about Christmas, with ideas for all your Christmas festivities at Christmas Calling.
