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Speaker 1: Christmas ideas and celebrations from everywhere. Many of us would

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like new and affected ways of celebrating Christmas befitting the

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new order of peace and good will that has come

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to mankind. Sometimes in the last few decades it has

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been with Christmas celebrations a case of the world is

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too much, with us late and soon getting and spending,

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we lay waste our powers instead of so much gift giving.

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A revival of some of the beautiful and dignified old

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time ceremonies that make the significance of the season more

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vivid might have our consideration. The various customs of foreign

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lands at different periods of history perhaps will suggest new

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ways to us of borrowing or adapting an idea that

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will celebrate Christmas this year, either at home or in

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public places, with such picturesque beauty that a new spirit

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of service rather than gift barter, will appeal to us. Christmas,

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as the holiday celebrates the Nativity of Christ, was originally

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celebrated in very early spring, but as most all the

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nations of medieval Europe, regarded the winter solstice as the

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turning point of the year, when nature began a renewed life.

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The custom gradually developed of celebrating this Christian holiday in

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the period during what is now the last of December

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and the first of January. In Norway, the winter solstice

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was the time for holding a Yule feast, originally in

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celebration of a pagan god, and among the Scandinavians the

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Yule log and the Yule cake were among the observances

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of Yuletide that was a season of rejoicing and visiting.

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In England, Christmas celebrations of three or four hundred years

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ago charm us with their quaint and simple jollity. The

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English always remembered everyone, from their neighbors down to their

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servants in the country. An English gentleman always invited his

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neighbors and tenants to his great hall at daybreak on

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Christmas morning. There they were regaled upon toast, sugar, nut

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make and good old Cheshire cheese. The house was decked

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with ivy and other greens under the title of a

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Christmas box. The general English custom, which still prevails to

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some extent, a small gift of money was given to

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postmen and other delivery men the day after Christmas, which

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was called Boxing Day. In eleven hundred, Henry, the first

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granted a charter to London, making it a city, and

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the Christmas celebration, it is recorded, consisted of a feast

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for rich and poor. The people gathered in the streets

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around blazing bonfires, singing and dancing after feasting upon oxen,

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deer ale and mead. The wasasail bowl, spoken of so

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often in many books describing England at the time of

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the Crusades, was another evidence of the ever ready hospitality

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that the English offered to all comers. Christmas music in

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England was delightful carols sung on Christmas Eve and sometimes

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early Christmas Morning on the doorsteps by bands of children

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and young folks called waits, who were rewarded at the

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end of the program with money or gifts, or an

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invitation to enter and feast. Many of the celebrations, strange

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as it may seem, consisted of superstitious testings of fortune,

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similar to those now practiced at Halloween. Attempts to forecast love, marriage,

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and good luck for the household during the coming year

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were all among the entertainments of the season in old

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time England. An old rhyme that has come down to us,

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which prophesizes in this fashion is this one a Monday Christmas.

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If Christmas Day on Monday be a great winter that

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year you'll see and full of winds, both loud and shrill.

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But in summer, truth to tell, high winds shall there be,

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and strong, full of tempests, lasting day long, while battles

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they shall multiply, and great plenty of beasts shall die.

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They that be born that day. I ween they shall

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be strong, each one and keen. The origin of the

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Christmas tree has never been fully determined. Some declare it

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Norse because in the Northern mythology a certain world tree

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typified existence. Others declare the Christmas tree was used to

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celebrate the Roman Saturnalia, a December festival for all classes,

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and was imported into Germany with the conquering legions of Drusus.

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But it is interesting to know that the Christmas tree,

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with its dependent toys and mannequins, is distinctly portrayed by Virgil,

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the Roman poet. The symbolism of the evergreen tree is interpreted,

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with its lights and fruits, the symbol of Christ, who

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is the beginning of new life in the midst of

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wintry darkness of heathendom, and the immortality of life candle

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lights also symbolize the light that came into the world

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with the birth of Christ. The gold thread that is

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entwined as decoration on some Christmas trees is called lametta

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and represents the golden locks of the Christ Child. The

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star is the emblem of the star in the East

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that guided the shepherds of Bethlehem. In Norway, sheaves of

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wheat to tie on shutters or roof poles to feed

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the birds are sold on the streets, just as holly

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wreaths are sold in the United States. Isn't this a

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thoughtful decoration for the home? In Brazil, Christmas is celebrated

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in the home in a fashion that brings to mind

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the Three Wise men. An altar. Sometimes the staircase is

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covered with fine linen. On the top is placed the

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Christ Child in a cradle, and below are placed the

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choicest gifts of the soil, to show that the first

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fruits and best fruits should be His. Spices and myrrhr.

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Clusters of all kinds of fruit and rice and other

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grains deck this altar. The church steps are covered with

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spice leaves to make the steps fragrant when walked upon,

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and at night there is a Christmas celebration with fireworks.

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Perhaps with our own new custom of Christmas trees in

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public squares or parks in some of our large cities,

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where some great singer freely gives beautiful music appropriate to

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the season, we are not far away from such a

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celebration with fireworks. Strange as the idea may seem at first,

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for fireworks lighting the heavens may easily take the form

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of Christmas symbols, And surely such a celebration is one

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that many rich and poor can enjoy. And of Christmas

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ideas and celebrations from everywhere,