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Celtic Christmas Traditions

Most of us celebrate contemporary Christmas customs of putting ornaments on our Christmas trees and awaiting the arrival of Santa, the Celts on the other hand celebrated the Winter Solstice. The Druids believed that the sun stands still for 12 days from Christmas Eve to the 6th of January. A Yule log was used to burn for light back on those days and the charred relics sheltered the house throughout the year. Mistletoe, which is a sign of fertility, hangs in every house with other plants as a symbol of life in the midst of darkness.

It is the Scots belief that on Christmas Eve, an intense fire would keep impish elves from going down the chimney. On Christmas Day, people would dance around the bonfires while listening to the music of bagpipes and at the same time enjoys oatmeal cake. The major celebrations happened on Hogmanay, at the eve of New Year. These would involve a tradition called "first footing", where the first person to step inside the home in a New Year is said to carry either good or bad luck, depending on the color of their hair. During the Night of Candles, candles brighten the path for the Holy family, the first footers, and the Mummers. Mummers are often clothed in masks and pass through from every home for music and dancing. The household members would have to guess who the mummers were. On the evening of New Year, they would round houses pounding on the walls to force out the old year while chanting a particular rhyme to request entrance for food & drink.

In Ireland, the celebration ends from Christmas Eve up until Epiphany on the 6th day of January. Red candles would be lighted and decorated with holly sprigs on the eve of Christmas. A seed cake would be baked by the women for every person, three pieces of puddings for Christmas, New Year's and the Twelfth Night. On Christmas Eve, milk and bread is placed outside and the door was left unbolted as a sign of generosity. On December 26 which is St. Stephen's Day, every place is filled with football and gatherings. An entertaining even called The Wren Boys Procession is for boys who would put on a costume and hop from house to house singing and playing music while gripping a Holly bush on a stick. They would state that a Wren was concealed in the bush and they needed funds to feed the famished wren, which in reality, the money is for them.

The Welsh which are well-known for their fantastic singing voices and caroling, known as eistoddfodde, is a very famous activity held during Christmas. In some neighborhood, people gather around in a public area to make known who has presented the best music for a new carol. This carol is included to all the rest of the songs that are well-known and frequently sung in Wales. In other areas, a resident is chosen to be the Mari llwyd, who roam around the town in dressed white clothing while carrying a horse's skull on a stick. Any person being bitten by the horse's jaws must pay a penalty. One of the well-liked sweets for the Christmas holiday is called Taffy. Christmas goose is also a traditional food and a must. Santa doesn't have any cookies and milk left for him; instead, mince pies and a bottle of Guinness was left for his taking! They also preserve the English practice of holly, mistletoe, pudding, stockings, and snow.

Read more articles about the most celebrated season of the year - Christmas at Merry Christmas 24. Be oriented with the beginnings of Christmas traditions through our Christmas Traditions section.