Women’s Impact on Christmas Celebrations Around the World?
What would Christmas be without its feminine touch? This can be taken into account, even, since even Santa Claus himself was accompanied by a wife, who became known through the American Katherine Lee Bates poem, Goody Santa, written in 1899.
The Woman Post | Cristian Camilo Ibarguen
Listen to this article
Read more content like this at: thewomanpost.com
Now, within this date, it is women who assume a role of authority within the organization of the multiple activities that take place, playing a vital role in the different cultures where Christmas is celebrated. Which cultures have a feminine influence within their celebrations? Below, we will tell you:
The night of the candles, in honor of the Virgin Mary
In Colombia, Christmas festivities begin when the calendar marks December 7. At nightfall, people go out to light candles and lanterns in front of their homes and surrounding areas, being this a date before the celebration of Christmas Eve; On this night, Catholic families commemorate the moment when the archangel Gabriel announced to Mary her pregnancy, through which Jesus would come into the world. December 8th was made official by Pope Pio IX in 1854 as the day of the Sacred Conception.
Spider webs on Ukrainian Christmas trees
In Ukraine, the Christmas tradition is usually celebrated in a particular way, since, instead of the already known bright lights and balls on the trees, they are replaced by spider webs with which they recall a legend involving particular arthropods.
A poor widow and her children together decided to put spider webs on her Christmas pine tree. When the spiders saw this, they decided to weave golden and silver webs to cover the tree. From that moment on, the family never lacked fortune again and stopped suffering hardships.
Yemayá Day
Although the date of this celebration takes place on February 2nd in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) and Cuba, it is a similar way in which the Orisha culture, practitioners of the Yoruba religion, commemorates Christmas. This celebration is millenary and alludes to the goddess Yemayá, who represents fertility, maternity, and the origin of life, complemented through the figure of water, rivers, and seas. How the population takes part in this ritual consists of dressing in white or sky blue and throwing flowers, fresh fruits, and prayers written on paper into the sea, with which they ask the deity for prosperity, blessings, and lots of love.
In the Czech Republic, shoes decide women's singleness
A very particular tradition decides the love life of single Czechoslovakian women: on Christmas Eve, they must throw back a shoe over their shoulder. If it lands with the toe facing the door, it augurs a great success in love and could end her single days; however, if it lands differently, she will have to wait another year.
In this way, there are diverse and particular ways in which Christmas welcomes women in all traditions and cultures worldwide. However it is celebrated, and however it is celebrated, its importance for this date is undeniable.
