My new holiday

Winter Solstice, Christmas, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah. What other winter/holiday traditions are out there? I want to learn. In Holland (I'm 1/4 dutch), children put out wooden shoes filled with carrots for St. Nicholas' horse, and he would ride through town at night and leave small toys and/or treats for them in their shoes. My Grandmother is Dutch and her parents left their homes and all their belongings in the middle of the night to ride a boat (that took months to get to America) after which they then came across the country by foot with the Mormon pioneers. Finally arriving in Utah where they spent the rest of their lives and raise their family including my maternal Grandmother. I remember my Grandma telling me this story as a child, though I don't recall all of the details because it was so long ago.

My family never put out wooden shoes at Christmas time and though she was raised that way niether did my Grandma. My parents and Grandparents on my mother's side of the family embraced more of the combination Christmas, combining the religious teachings (from the LDS or Mormon church) with the folklore/mythology of Santa Clause (I think you all know, but just to be clear the fat old man dressed in red that can slide down chimneys and lives at the North Pole).

As an adult, I have chosen not to celebrate the religious or commercial Christmas of my youth and not to raise my son that way. I have decided instead to create our own celebration that reflects our own personal beliefs about the season. I am going to do this by researching the various traditions, folklore and mythologies of various cultures all over the world and how they celebrate at this time of year. I am going to take some of the things I loved from my childhood, and incorporate other beliefs and traditions as well. I am going to make my own hoilday. I mean isn't that what we all do in our own ways anyway? We take what we've been taught by our families, traditions passed down over the years and personalize it? For example the Buddhist that still opts to celebrate the commercial Christmas with the Santa myth, tree, lights, ornaments and presents but does not believe in Jesus? I have participated by having a tree and lights, and still giving presents though I did not participate in the religious aspect or the Santa part of Christmas. We give a gift to someone anonymously as "Santa", and we receive a gift anonymously from someone as "Santa" but we all know Santa isn't real, and we do not lie to Jaiden about it and he still has a really fun time and enjoys the magic of the season.

For my new holiday I love the idea of at least having one pair of authentic Dutch wooden shoes to put out at the holiday time to remind me of my ancestors-- how they celebrated, and all they sacrificed to build a new life where they could have the freedom to believe however they wanted to. I will have Wassail. My good friend Dianna introduced me to Wassail for the first time when I was in ninth grade. I now use a different recipe and sometimes I add spiced rum, but it was she that added Wassail to my list of favorite winter activities and what will become a tradition in my family. In Utah I always enjoyed going to the Dicken's festival and to Temple Square to see the beautiful light displays. Who doesn't love lights? Christmas trees, (though I don't agree with cutting them down) represent eternal life, and are one of my favorite things all year long. I love evergreen trees. Stars, are symbolic to me in many ways and though I don't believe in the story of the nativity, I love the idea of using stars and their significance to me in my own beliefs as well. I adore symbolism, and nearly everything I own has a symbolic meaning to me.

I have much to learn about the traditions of the past, and incorporate them with ideas and things from the present. I think learning about other cultures and traditions will be a fun part of not only creating this holiday but something we will do as a part of our celebration every year. I want my holiday to honor diversity by promoting acceptance and tolerance of other holidays and celebrations.

To be continued....