WHAT’S INSTEAD OF CHRISTMAS

What’s instead of Christmas? by Benjamins Oguroks

When hearing the words “December” and “holiday” together, one might be thinking about New Year and Christmas. The first is widely celebrated all over the world, the second, however, is not the only religious holiday that takes place in the last thirty-one days of the year. December, the month of prophets, miracles and winter solstice, is a time of many other religious holidays.

December 8th, Bodhi Day, the day of Awakening

Buddhism as a religion descends from the teachings During the third watch, the Buddha discovered the of Siddhartha Gautama who lived in Ancient India Four Noble Truths, finally reaching Nirvana. somewhere between 5th and 4th centuries BCE. According to Buddhist texts, Siddhartha wanted to find a way to end eternal suffering and break the cycle of death and rebirth. He had addressed many teachings, but did not receive the answers he needed. At last, he resorted to meditation. Siddhartha sat under a fig tree, also known as Bodhi tree. Only then, he was able to achieve enlightenment and become Buddha – the Awakened One. The Pali Canon describes Buddha’s awakening in the following way: Originally celebrated at the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, the Bodhi Day’s date used to vary from year to year. This tradition remains in China and Vietnam, where the Day of Awakening is often celebrated in January. However, in Japan and many Western Buddhist communities the date is set by the 8th of December of the modern Gregorian calendar. This is not a holiday of parades, feasts and loud celebrations. Instead, in these days Buddhists meditate, following the way of their prophet and During the first watch of the night, the Buddha teacher. In Japan Bodhi Day is called Rohatsu, which discovered all of his past lives in the cycle of rebirth, literally means “eighth day of the twelfth month”. realizing that he had been born and reborn countless There, December 8th marks the end of a weektimes before. long evening meditation period. Each evening the During the second watch, the Buddha discovered the Law of Karma, and the importance of living by meditations become longer and longer until one can stay in state of meditation through the night. the Eightfold Path.

December 10th, Hanukkah, Festival of Lights

This Jewish holiday commemorates the and altars from the Temple, but could not find oil rededications of the Second Temple in Jerusalem to light the Temple’s menorah – a seven-lamp after the successful Jewish revolt against Seleucid lampstand. According to Jewish customs, only pure rule in 164 BCE. The Seleucids were a Hellenic olive oil, sealed by the High Priest, could be used dynasty that originated from one of Alexander the to ignite the fire. The legend says, the priests were Great’s commanders, Seleucus Nicanor. According able to find only one cask with enough oil to burn to traditional views, after conquering Judea, the for one day, yet it lasted for seven more days, which king Antioch the IV began to enforce “hellenization” was considered a divine miracle, remembered and policy, which included converting local Jewish celebrated to this day. population to Hellenic Polytheism. Judaism was outlawed and an altar dedicated to Zeus was built in the Temple. Hanukkah’s celebration date is determined by Hebrew calendar, but usually it takes place in December. It is observed by kindling the candles These actions led to an open rebellion, led by of a hanukkiah – a nine-branch menorah One of its Maccabees family. Jews retook Jerusalem and the candles rests above others – its purpose is to light festival of Hanukkah was instituted to glorify this the others. event. Priests and sages removed Greek symbols

Traditions require candles to be lit not later than half an hour after it gets dark. Each day one additional candle is ignited, until all eight are lit on the final night. Religious Jews spend the week in daily prayers and singings of Psalms. During Hanukkah, Jewish families gather to exchange gifts, children usually receive books and/or sweets. There is a tradition of eating foods fried or baked in oil – a way to commemorate the miracle. Traditional foods vary from region to region: Jews of Eastern and Western Europe eat latkes, a fried potato fritter; Israeli Jews prefer sufganiyot, a round jelly doughnut.

December 21th, Yalda, the Longest Night

Zoroastrianism is an ancient religion that originates Food, especially fruits and sweets, plays a key role from teachings of Zoroaster, also known as in the celebration. It is placed on a low table, called Zarathustra. One of its main concepts revolves korsi, and includes watermelons and pomegranates, around light being the representative of Ahura Mazda which were considered “gifts of the summer”, dried – the creator and highest deity of Zoroastrianism. fruit and nuts. The food eaten during Yalda Night That is why there is little surprise in that the winter is believed to bring luck to the eater. Carrots and solstice, the shortest day of the year, is celebrated olives are believed to protect from insect bites and with family gatherings. People believed that at that watermelons – from overheating. In some parts of time Ahriman, the deity of destruction and enemy Central Asia a special sweet, called kaf is prepared. of Ahura Mazda was at his full strength, so people kept to each other in order to remain in safety. As thousands of years ago, Zoroastrians in India, Iran, Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, and all over the world spend the longest night feasting and chatting. One of the key rules of the Yalda was to stay awake all night – one was believed to be most vulnerable to evil spirits in his sleep. That is why people tended to entertain each other with songs, poems, stories and anecdotes – all in order to pass the longest night of the year.

December 22th, Yule, the middle of winter

Ancient Persians were not the only ones who believed for the following year’s log. In England, Germany, in the importance of the winter solstice. Halloween France, and other European countries, the Yule log replaced Samhain the very way Christmas has was burned until nothing, but ash remained. The replaced Yule. Originally a Pagan German midwinter ashes were then collected and either strewn on the festival, it was celebrated in the early Middle Ages. fields as fertilizer every night until Twelfth Night or Christians adopted many of its customs in order to kept as a charm and or as medicine. ease the process of conversion. The children went from house to house with gifts Evergreens were considered symbols of life, rebirth in the form of carnations and apples, which lay in and renewal. Their green never faded, so they were baskets of evergreen branches and stems of wheat believed to be able to defeat winter demons and hold sprinkled with flour. The apples represented the sun, back death and destruction. Yule Tree represented the branches symbolized immortality, wheat stems the Tree of Life or the World Tree and was decorated represented the harvest, and flour meant success, with gifts in order to please the ancient gods. light, and life. Mistletoe and ivy were decorations Another custom was the Yule Log – oak in Celtic and not only from the outside but also inside the houses Ash in Germanic traditions. A piece of the log was to invite natural spirits to participate in the festival. kept as both a token of good luck and as kindling

December 26th, Zartosht No-Diso, Death of Zarathustra

Despite being not mentioned in Avesta – Zoroastrian religious texts, the death of the prophet Zarathustra was believed to happen on the 11th day of the 10th month, which falls on the 26th of December. This is not the day of mourning; rather it is the day of remembrance of life and works of the prophet. Lectures and discussions are organized, people attend fire temples and clerics pray at the Eternal Flame.

In conclusion, it could be said that December truly is a month of many different religious holidays. Some, like Bodhi Day and Zartosht No-Diso, are devoted to a person important to religion, others, like Hanukkah, commemorate divine miracles and some, like Yalda or Yule refer to natural events, like winter solstice.