We all know Christmas is a holiday spent with family and filled with love, food, and presents; but do you know the history behind Christmas? Well, you’re about to find out:
Christmas is a Christian holiday celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ. The very first Christmas celebration was on December 25th in the year 336. Over two millennia, it became known as a religious holiday celebrated worldwide! Throughout the centuries we’ve incorporated many pre-Christian and pagan festivities.
One of the traditions we’ve adapted has been the gift exchange we participate in every year with our loved ones. The celebration of gift exchange started with the story of St. Nicholas.
St. Nicholas was a bishop in a place we now call Turkey. He was very wealthy because his parents left him with a large inheritance when they died. With the money he inherited, he decided to use it to benefit those around him. There was a poor main in his home village of Myra who had a daughter that he could not afford for her to get married. St. Nicholas, hearing of the poor man’s struggles, dropped a sack of money down his chimney in order for his daughter to be married. Because of St. Nicholas’s generosity, the tradition of gift giving had sprung, flash forward quite a few years and now it’s a tradition we all partake in.
Now, let me tell you an old, somewhat "different" German tale:
Krampus is a demoni Santa, demoni being Italian for demonic; he deals with the not-so nice children of the world. Krampus has fangs, horns, and some dark hair, but what makes him unique is what he carries along with him -- a chain that he drags on the ground and a bundle of birch sticks. The whole point of Krampus, who beat the wicked children of the world, was to be a counterpart Santa, who rewarded good children of the world.
Merry Christmas, boys and girls! I hope you have a joyous holiday! ...and I hope that there is no Krampus coming after you!
edited by: Kalley McClure
edited by: Kalley McClure
