Don’t get us wrong – we love to rock around the Christmas tree and deck the halls as much as the next guy. But this holiday season we wanted to share the holiday spotlight with some cultural traditions and customs that don’t always get the media attention they deserve this time of year.
For this feature, we reached out to a handful of local folks from different cultural backgrounds to learn more about their favorite holiday traditions, whether they grew up celebrating Navidad or Kwanzaa or the Chinese New Year. From culinary customs and favorite childhood memories to finding ways to balance both Islamic and Christmas traditions in a bi-cultural household, we hope these multi-cultural musings will leave you feeling merry and bright!
The Lantern Festival is a Chinese festival celebrated on the fifteenth day of the first month in the lunisolar Chinese calendar. Usually falling in February or early March on the Gregorian calendar, it marks the final day of the traditional Chinese New Year celebrations. The lanterns can symbolize the people letting go of their past selves and getting new ones, which they will let go of the next year. The lanterns are almost always red to symbolize good fortune. Photo furnished
Chinese New Year
Special thanks to Dr. Huajing Maske, executive director of the University of Kentucky Confucius Institute and the UK Office of China Initiatives, for sharing holiday traditions, memories and details related to Chinese New Year
Also called the “Spring Festival” (Chunjie), the Chinese New Year celebration signifies the transition from winter to spring – a particularly important time of year for agricultural communities. Starting on the first day of the lunar Chinese calendar, which typically falls somewhere between mid-January and mid-February, the holiday is celebrated for two weeks: from the first to the 15th day of the new year, which is a holiday known as the “Lantern Festival.” The end of the Lantern Festival marks the time when farmers start to work in the fields.
Preparations for the Chinese New Year often start a week before their New Year’s Eve, when people begin cleaning their homes and placing couplets – auspicious poems printed or painted on red paper scrolls – on their doors. The poems adhere to a very specific set of rules and express hopeful thoughts and wishes for the coming year. Traditions for the Lantern Festival, which falls on the night of the first full moon of the spring season, vary regionally but are typically very festive, often including lighting of many lanterns, lion dances, parades and fireworks.
What’s on the Table?
On Chinese New Year’s Eve, families gather to eat a big banquet dinner, which often includes rice cakes, fish, cabbage, dumplings and many other dishes.
“Coins will be wrapped in random dumplings, and those who eat the dumplings with the coins will have good luck in the new year,” Maske explained. “Rice cakes in Chinese are homophonic with the phrase ‘year high,’ meaning that people’s work and life will be improved year by year. There will be a fish dish, as ‘fish’ stands for surplus. In southern China, people will also have a cabbage dish, as the word ‘cabbage’ sounds like ‘prosperous’ or ‘making a fortune.’ For the beverages, people will drink liquor or rice wine. They will propose a toast to elders and wish them good health.”
Some of Dr. Maske’s favorite Chinese New Year traditions:
• Children getting red envelopes containing money and new clothes on New Year’s Day from the grown-ups
• Pasting spring couplets and pictures on walls and doors
• Lighting firecrackers
• Eating dumplings, sugar-coated berries on sticks and other yummy food from the food stands
• Visiting friends and family to exchange New Year’s best wishes
• Going to the town parade and marketplaces for all sorts of fun activities, including puppet shows and Peking Opera
Traditionally in Mexico, piñatas are filled with fruit and candies such as guavas, oranges, jicamas, pieces of sugar cane, tejocotes and wrapped candies. The traditional pointed piñatas, popular at Christmas, are associated with the Star of Bethlehem. Photo furnished
Posadas (Latin American Christmas Tradition)
Special thanks to Monica Calleja, founder and director of local non-profit La Casa Cultura, for sharing memories, traditions and other details related to the Posadas tradition
Christmas tradition that originated in Mexico, the word “posada” translates to “accommodation” or “lodging” in Spanish. Taking place on the nine nights leading up to Christmas (Dec. 16-24), the tradition features a re-enactment of the journey of Joseph and Mary on their way Bethlehem, looking for a place to stay. Each of the nine days signifies one month of Mary’s pregnancy with baby Jesus, and different houses are designated to be a “posada” each night as part of the tradition. Family members arrive at the doorstep of the designated “posada” and sing a two-part song with those inside the house, alternating the parts of Joseph asking to be let inside, with the parts of the innkeeper, explaining they have no room.
The song goes back and forth until the guests playing the role of traveling Mary and Joseph are eventually allowed inside. Once inside, prayer and song are continued, food is shared and a piñata is broken to signify the triumph of good over evil.
What’s on the table? Calleja explained that the food is different in each household – some families make a fancy dinner while some make tamales. However, one beverage is almost always associated with posadas: ‘El Ponche,’ a punch made with cinnamon, tejocotes (a small yellow fruit that resembles crabapples), piloncillo (raw sugar cane), sugar cane sticks and seasonal fruits that can include guavas, apples, pears, oranges and dried fruits.
How do you incorporate these traditions into your holiday celebrations today? Having grown up celebrating these holiday rituals in Mexico, Calleja says they became a part of her and the way she sees her world and her identity. Since moving to the United States 17 years ago, she has tried her best to keep up with some of the traditions to pass down to her own children, even when honoring the actual nine posadas is not possible.
“Although we cannot have the nine ‘posadas,’ it is a great time to get together with friends and family that often you don’t see the whole year – we don’t need to give gifts, just have a good time,” she said.
“They make me feel close to my home in Mexico,” she added, referring to the posadas and other holiday traditions celebrated in the Mexican culture. “I don’t want to see them lost to my next generation.”
Exchanging batches of homemade tamales is a common holiday tradition in Latin America. Photo furnished
Christmas in Honduras
Special thanks to local fashion designer, activist and community organizer Soreyda Begley, who grew up in Honduras, for sharing Latino traditions and childhood Christmas memories
Having grown up in a biracial home on the Caribbean side of Honduras, Soreyda Begley grew up surrounded by many of the same holiday traditions common here in the United States.
“We grew up between two cultures: Latino [mixed natives with Spanish] and Garifuna [Afro-Caribbean],” she said. “Both cultures are highly influenced by Christianity, so there many similarities.”
Some of Begley’s favorite Honduran Christmas traditions and memories:
- Fireworks. Oftentimes not beginning until midnight on Christmas Eve, fireworks are a big part of the Christmas celebration all around Honduras. “We would burn fireworks all night long,” Begley said.
- New clothes. While gifts are traditionally part of the Christmas tradition, it’s generally not on the same scale as in the United States. Giving new outfits to wear on Christmas are common, Begley said.
- Tamales. Each home makes a huge batch of tamales to share with their neighbors. “I loved going around our small village delivering tamales to our neighbors and picking some up to take back home,” she said. “With my siblings, we would set up a tamale testing and decide which neighbor made the best tamales each year.”
How are the holidays different for you here than they were when you were growing up? “Nowadays, for me Christmas represents a bit of a stressful time – the commercialization of it is something that, even after being here for 19 years, I haven’t been able to grow accustomed to,” she said. “But I do love the off time and being able to spend time with the family – and most people are definitely in a better mood around this time.”
With her family spread across the globe, Begley said her fondest Christmas memory from childhood is sitting outside all night, telling stories from past Christmases.
“It is the time of the year that I miss my home country the most,” she said.
Greek butter cookies topped with powdered sugar, called kourabiedes, are a favorite during Christougenna. Photo furnished
Christougenna (Greek Christmas)
Special thanks to Kitty Koniali, a member of Lexington’s Greek Orthodox Church, Panagia Pantovasilissa, for sharing memories of celebrating Christmas from her native country, Greece
While Koniali’s favorite personal holiday memories are in line with many favorite Christmas traditions celebrated locally – time off of school, decorating the Christmas tree, spending time with family not seen often throughout the year, the aromas of traditional sweet treats wafting through her family’s home – she has taken some time to outline some additional favorite and interesting traditions affiliated with Christougenna.
In some rural parts of Greece and especially in the islands, a small boat would be decorated instead of a Christmas tree, in accordance to the country’s financial and cultural dependence on the sea and in honor of the marines and sailors who devoted their lives to the sea for the greater good of their country and families.
The holiday season ends with the feast-day of the Epiphany, one of the most sacred Greek Orthodox celebrations, when Orthodox Christians celebrate the baptism of Jesus Christ. “The most important ritual is the blessing of the waters with the Holy Cross by the Greek Orthodox priest. In seaside or lakeside areas, the priest throws the holy cross in the water, and swimmers – usually young men – jump in the water to recover it,” Koniali explained. “The one who catches the Holy Cross and returns it to the priest will be blessed for the whole year. Since this takes place in January, when the weather and the water is cold, this is considered an act of great piety and bravery and a great honor to be able to retrieve the cross.”
What’s on the table? Pork or lamb are the traditional holiday roast meats in many parts of Greece, but Koniali remembers fondly the oven-baked turkey her mother would make on New Year’s Day, “covered in bacon and with a stuffing made of ground beef, pine nuts, chestnuts, dried apricots or dates and warm spices such as cinnamon and nutmeg.”
Traditional holiday sweets include “Vasilopita” (or “Basil Pie”), a vanilla-type cake topped with icing sugar that usually also contains nuts; buttery mini kourabiedes (Greek butter cookies topped with plenty of sugar); diples (cripsy fried dough roll-ups, drizzled with honey syrup and dusted with cinnamon and ground walnuts); spicy melomakarona (honey cookies with walnuts and spice).
On each of the seven nights Kwanzaa, families gather to discuss one of the seven principles, with a child lighting one of the candles on the Kinara. Photo furnished
Kwanzaa
Kwanzaa is a weeklong holiday celebrated in the United States and other countries of the African diaspora from Dec. 26-Jan. 1. Founded by Dr. Maulana Karenga during the civil rights movement, the holiday was established as a means to “reaffirm the communitarian vision and values of African culture and to contribute to its restoration among African peoples in the diaspora,” according to Dr. Karenga.
“This holiday represents an openness that is not tied directly to religion,” Mason said. “In my life experience, there have been people in my life not welcomed into the church, and Kwanzaa allows for those people to feel embraced.”
The holiday is based on the following seven principles, one for each day of observance. Principles observed are: umoja (unity); kujichagulia (self-determination); ujima (collective work and responsibility); ujamaa (cooperative economics); nia (purpose); kuumba (creativity); and imani (faith). On each of the seven nights, families gather to discuss one of the seven principles, with a child lighting one of the candles on the Kinara (candle holder). Celebrations often include large feasts, song, dance or poetry readings; on Dec. 31, families gather for the great feast of karamu, which can take place at a home, community center or church. Red, black and green are colors commonly associated with the holiday.
What’s your favorite aspect of the holiday? “My favorite part [of Kwanzaa] is seeing young people interact with the elders of the community in a shared spirit,” Mason said.
What’s on the table? Gourds and fruits are traditionally affiliated with Kwanzaa, and many Kwanzaa menus are filled throughout the week with a variety of favorite African-American dishes, as well as traditional African, Caribbean and South American recipes – anything from jerk chicken and collard greens to black-eyed peas and peanut soup.
The Lyric Theater will host its annual Kwanzaa celebration on Dec. 26 at 7 p.m. As the event nears, visit the organization’s website, www.lexingtonlyric.com, for more information.
Blending Islamic and Christian Traditions
Thanks to Suraya Shalash and Helue Shalash for sharing memories of growing up in a multi-cultural household that celebrated both Christian and Islamic holidays. The Lexington-based sisters are both active in the local non-profit industry and are integral parts of the management team for Smiley Pete Publishing’s annual festival Crave Lexington Food & Music Festival.
Born in the United States to a Palestinian father and Nicaraguan mother, the Shalash sisters and their other siblings grew up celebrating Christmas as well as the Islamic holidays Ramadan and Eid.
“Our Muslim father respected and celebrated Christian holidays with my mother and us kids,” the Shalash sisters said. While the two religions were celebrated harmoniously within the household for the most part, the sisters recall some challenges arising when the holy month of Ramadan – during which strict fasting is observed – would fall in December, overlapping with the bounty of holiday foods that Christmas tends to bring.
“Observing a full fast for up to 30 days was not easy while being surrounded by all the traditional holiday goodies,” the sisters said. “Our mom wouldn’t let us eat dinner until midnight on Christmas Eve – by that time, we had snuck half of the food out of the kitchen…but still managed to eat plenty when the clock struck.”
Favorite holiday memories growing up? We would open one present on Christmas Eve and spend Christmas day eating, playing cards and enjoying visits from friends and family. Everyone was welcome at our house, and they knew good food awaited them!
What does the holiday represent to you on a personal level? The holidays are a time of love and laughter. Seeing family we may not see on a regular basis. Our immediate family is quite a mixture, comprising a Southern Baptist, Mexican Catholic, Muslims, Jehovah Witness, Mennonite faiths and agnostic.
What’s on the table? We eat a lot of standard American holiday fare but include stuffed grape leaves, lamb and Mom’s amazing baklava.