Beautiful Christmas traditions from Europe

[Romeo Rovagnati]

Greetings Americans.


Since we are closeto the period of the year, I’ve wanted to share with you some ofthe most beuatiful Christmas traditions around the world, whichconsists in gift-bringers and other stuff.


Befana (Italy)



A kind witch who brings candies to good kids and coal to bad kids during Epiphany (which is technically not Christmas, but still part of the Holidays).


Caganer (Catalan Spain)




His name means "Pooper" in Catalan. He is part of the Catalan Nativity Scene.


Tio de Nadal (Also in Catalonia)




A Christmas log which releases candies from his back after being hit enough with sticks.


Yule Goat (Scandinavia)



A goat made of straws that can be found in various part of Scandinavia. In Sweden, there is a giant one that gets burned every year.


Christkind or Baby Jesus (Germany)




Every Christmas our Lord and Saviour ages back to his child years to bring gift to kids.


Father Christmas (England)




Giftbringer popularized by both J. R. R. Tolkien and Charles Dickens. He brings presents but on a goat.


The Jolasveinar (Iceland)




Also called "Yule Lads", they are a group of 13th giants who brings pranks and presents to kids.


Saint Nicholas of Bari with Knecht Ruprecht (Germany)



The Godly Saint Nicholas brings candies to kids during the 5th of December. He is accompained by many assistants in different areas of Europe. One of them is Knecht Ruprecht, a monk who pranks kids who misbeaved.


Krampus (Italy and Austria)




Goat-like creatures who are St. Nick assistants in the border between Austria and Italy. They love beating random people.


Saint Lucy (Sweden)




Altought this Virgin Saint who was blinded before death originated from Sicily, she became more popular because of her Scandinavian version. On December 13th, Women in Sweden makes a contest and the best one will be Saint Lucy while wearing candles on her head.


Nisse or Tomte (Once again, Scandinavia)




Small gnomes who manifests in some homes and brings presents to children.


Grandfather Frost (Russia)




Another old bearded giftbringer. Since Russian celebrates Christmas on January 7th because of Orthodoxy, he brings the presents along with his niece a bit late.


Olentzero (Basque Countries in France and Spain)




Pagan Giant who converted to Jesus and brings presents to the kids of these regions in the border of Spain and France.


Zwarte Piet (Netherlands)




Blackfaced Saint Nicholas assistants who mocks Spaniards and brings presents to the children.


Papa Noel (France)




Yet another gift bringer, this time in France. Like Saint Nicholas, he also is accompained by some mad monks.


I know that you at Freehold might be sad that you don't have a giftbringer, but if you want it i can send one in your town.

[Johny Joe Hold]

Re: Beautiful Christmas traditions from Europe

Thanks to God we U.S. Baptists know the true meaning of Christmas. Europe is no longer able to read the Bible. A pox on that entire continent.

[Joanna Lytton-Vasey]

Re: Beautiful Christmas traditions from Europe

Thanks to God we U.S. Baptists know the true meaning of Christmas. Europe is no longer able to read the Bible.

That's because they mostly don't speak American. So any Bible they do see is written in some foreign gibberish. I mean, would Jesus really have said this?

Duaje Zotin, Perëndinë tënde me gjithë zemrën tënde, me gjithë shpirtin tënd dhe me gjithë mendjen tënde.

It might as well be an instruction on how to slaughter an aardvark.

[MitzaLizalor]

Re: Beautiful Christmas traditions from Europe

"Beautiful ⌷⌷⌷⌷⌷⌷⌷⌷⌷ traditions from Europe" really, fill in just about anything, all seem much the same. Demonic. Claims that European equivalents of The Bible would be the infinitely more accessible so-called fairy tales (so accessible, we're informed, that they need no exegesis) are equally "out-there" as Rovagnati's post makes plain. I was so disappointed.

Another wash out is the heathen whatshername ..hang on ..I'll look it up ..Harsha Shah, although superficially mild and certainly interesting, be in no doubt that her servitude to the Jain demon has our worst interests behind it: the destruction of Christianity: the annihilation of God.

Not all fairy tales are the same age. Some are very old from a time before writing when populations were small and everything was frozen. European societies clung on in The North, fire was essential and woodcutters were essential to the project. Although not isolated as such, settlements were relatively self-contained but moving between them required caution with occasional wolves (now befriended as dogs to our mutual benefit) and evidently marauding witches with suspicious-looking bags of flora and dubious cottages where certain specific benefits were available provided you could manage an introduction without her eating you. One of those stories is One Eye, Two Eyes and Three Eyes. It starts off ridiculous and goes downhill from there, much as if one were blind and chose to hang around elephants. Imagine what would happen if these two started producing children? The first sentence is:

There was once a woman who had three daughters, the eldest of whom was called One-eye, because she had only one eye in the middle of her forehead,

https://archive.org/details/grimmsho...e/168/mode/2up

Patently absurd. And this is supposed to be accessible? As the story continues down the the toilet, various events occur, until we reach:

Next morning, when they all awoke, and went to the house-door, there stood a strangely magnificent tree with leaves of silver, and fruit of gold hanging among them, so that in all the wide world there was nothing more beautiful or precious. They did not know how the tree could have come there during the night, but Two-eyes, saw that it had grown up out of the entrails of the goat,

After you've stopped laughing and checked out Genesis 1:11 remember – this is a European story and they depict devils as goats. How is this different from the wacko traditions listed by Rovagnati? Eventually, Two Eyes marries a prince and enjoys a live of luxury. What they leave out is where that lifestyle option takes place. Somewhere even more unpleasant than Europe: no, not Arabia: worse than that. Hell. Forever after.

https://archive.org/details/grimmshouseholdt2grim/page/168/mode/2up
https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Grimm%27s_Household_Tales,_Volume_2/One-Eye,_Two-Eyes,_and_Three-Eyes

[Romeo Rovagnati]

Re: Beautiful Christmas traditions from Europe

Fairy Tales are indeed a beautiful thing to hear, even C. S. Lewis knew it. However I wouls prefer that parents told their children the lives of the Saints.

[MitzaLizalor]

Re: Beautiful Christmas traditions from Europe

Fairy Tales are indeed a beautiful thing to hear, even C. S. Lewis knew it. However I wouls prefer that parents told their children the lives of the Saints.

My point was that fairy tales are demonic. Perhaps the imagery you're familiar with (you did not mention whether you grew up as a catholic child) predisposes you to see beauty in idols?

Isaiah 52:7 How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!

The next sentence contains the word "making" which I'll put in bold type for you. Idols are defined by God and are manifestations of demons who, if they had anything to do with Christ, would prevent you from making such images whatever you call them and however you describe their use in worship. The good tidings of good very specifically addresses removal of all such statues and icons and additionally that that happens in the here and now—as it will be then—to everyone yoked to such abominations. God uses the words beautiful, good tidings, peace, tidings of good, salvation. Peace results when everyone worships God in the way He would like. Some things are not important, whether the grass where you meet should be mown to ½” or ¾” for example.

Other things are CRITICAL 1 and top of the list is idols.

Would you be interested in attending a Baptist service? There you can hear The Truth supported by Scripture, something virtually impossible in Europe least of all at Christmas.