Tis the season from home and abroad

"Tis the season to be jolly," and we are all caught up in the contagious atmosphere of the holidays.
These are some tidbits about Christmas that I hope you will find interesting.
If we are Moravians, we might be cutting cookies in the shapes of animals to decorate our Christmas tree.
If we were French-Canadians, on Dec. 24 we would go to extra pains to feed all the cats in the neighborhood, for their tradition holds that a cat crying out of hunger on Christmas Eve is an omen of no gifts from Santa.
Instead of stockings above the fireplace, the Scandinavian descendants of Wisconsin and Minnesota have the children leave their shoes out for Santa to stuff with goodies.
And on the British Isles people give gratuities, not on Christmas Day, but on Boxing Day (the day after Christmas) to all the people who serve them during the year — the postman, the delivery person, the boy who helps them with their groceries.
The French on Christmas Day bring in the Yule Log (large enough to burn from Christmas Day until New Years Day).
The Germans will decorate their trees with candy and the Swiss will drink three sips from each of nine fountains and believe that on that Holy Day the animals are capable of speech.
There was indeed a very real St. Nicholas. About 300 A.D. he was the bishop of Myra, a city in Asia Minor.
Centuries later he was made the patron saint of the Netherlands, and from that recognition stories of his love for children began to grow into the figure whom we today call Santa Claus (saint-ni-chlaus).
I am certain that you can readily see the transition of the pronunciation. But in France they call him Father Noel, and in Switzerland he is Christkindle (from which one can easily see the derivation Khris Kringle).
For our liberated women, I would like you to know that in Italy, he is not a he but a she. The Christmas figure there is the fairy queen by the name of La Befana.
However, the jolly ole elf was not a well-known person until 1823. During the preceding year an American clergyman by the name Clement Moore wrote a poem about Christmas for his own children entitled "A Visit by St. Nicholas." A friend was so persuaded by its beauty that he in turn persuaded Moore to publish it the next year. And so 185 years later we know of it by the newer title of "The Night Before Christmas."
Many of us are familiar with the story of Martin Luther walking home on a Christmas Eve night and seeing fir trees silhouetted by a starry black sky. Thus was born the notion of placing lights on the Tannenbaum.
But let me inform you that the Christmas tree itself had a history of popularity for hundreds of years before Luther envisioned its bright presentation. The saga goes back to about 800 A.D. when an English missionary traveling to Geismar, Germany, came upon a pagan ritual of human sacrifice to their god Thor.
Luckily for the intended victim, the missionary was able to intervene and save him. Instead of the person losing his life, the missionary cut down the "blood oak" that would have been used to fuel the fire in the ritual.
Tradition has it that a fir tree immediately grew where the pagan tree had been. Thus it became known as the "tree of life," our Christmas tree.
One last tradition with which I have only recently become familiar is of the bells. Early in the Christian tradition, someone asked the question: if Christmas was the birth of God, should it not also be the death of the devil?
This is how bells were introduced into the Christmas theme, not to celebrate the birth of the Savior but to toll the death knell of Satan.
As I began to do this little bit of research for the purpose of writing, I found it increasingly fascinating and enjoyable. I hope that you have found this Christmas trivia interesting as well, but let me conclude by reminding you of this all-important fact. The trivia is just that —- trivia. All the little facts, traditions and tidbits of information are only curiosities.
The real value of the Christmas celebration is to be found in the love that you have to share with others and to let them share their love with you.

Johnny A. Phillips is the Clinical Chaplain of the J. Iverson Riddle Developmental Center.