{"id":4034,"date":"2023-12-20T15:34:27","date_gmt":"2023-12-20T15:34:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jimmy.ekota.net\/?p=4034"},"modified":"2023-12-20T15:34:28","modified_gmt":"2023-12-20T15:34:28","slug":"traditions-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/jimmy.ekota.net\/?p=4034","title":{"rendered":"Traditions"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Well, it is the Christmas season, and a few days ago, I heard the term \u201cJimminy Christmas\u201d used. I\u2019ve heard this phase pretty much all my life \u2014 more so when I was younger than in recent years. ButI wondered about it and thought some extensive research might be in order\u2026.
Jimminy Christmas is a direct reference to Jesus Christ and dates back to 1664, when it was first recorded as \u201cGemini,\u201d a twist on the Latin phrase Jesu domini<\/em>. It turns out that the name of the Walt Disney character \u201cJimminy Cricket\u201d was (probably) based on the same phrase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And while we\u2019re on the subject of Christmas, what is the origin of \u201cYuletide?\u201d The word Yuletide originated from the word Yule, which was recorded in Latin writings as early as A.D. 726. At that time, the form of the word was guili. Bothe terms refer to a 12-day pagan feast celebrated around the time of year that has come to be known as the Christmas season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Evergreen trees have been a traditional symbol of winter festivals for thousands of years \u2014 well before Christianity. Plants and trees that remained green all year had a special significance for people that lived in cold winter climates. Ancient people hung evergreen boughs over their doors and windows. Some believed that evergreens kept witches, ghosts, evil spirits, and illness away. Romans decorated evergreen trees with trinkets and topped them with an image of their sun god at the festival of Saturnalia. And Christians started using evergreen as a symbol about 400 years ago in Germany as a sign of everlasting life with God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Have you ever wondered how the custom of giving Christmas gifts originated? Contrary to popular belief, it was not thought up by the department stores. The ancient Romans gave each other gifts on the calends (first day) of January, and the practice spread throughout the Roman Empire.\u00a0
Christians give gifts at Christmastime to commemorate the visit of the Magi or Wise Men.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many cultures believe in a \u201cgift giver.\u201d Many countries, especially some in Europe, celebrate Santa Claus or Father Christmas on St. Nicholas Day in December. In the Netherlands, children leave clogs or shoes out on the night of December 5 (St. Nicholas Eve) to be filled with presents by morning. In parts of Germany, they believe that it is the Christkind, an angle who comes on Christmas Eve with gifts. In parts of Italy, there is an old witch called Befana. In Spain, children await the Three Kings\u2019 Day on January 6.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Claire still sends out Christmas cards \u2014 these days lots of people don\u2019t. I guess it\u2019s one of those Christmas traditions that is just slowly fading away. People used to write their own cards. The first printed Christmas card is thought to have been printed in England in 1843 by Sir Henry Cole. Cole was a prominent educator and patron of the arts \u2014 he founded the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Since a man of his position needed to send out lots of cards, he asked a friend to create a design for him. His cards had the \u201cTo:\u201d salutation at the top so he could personalize it. The design on the card was of a family party, beneath which were the words \u201cA Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you.\u201d Apparently his cards got mixed reviews, but people realized the time savings of printed cards and started creating, or commissioning their own designs. Those early Christmas cards were very artistic and many became collectors\u2019 items.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And while it maybe isn\u2019t directly related to Christmas, I ran across an interesting explanation of the term \u201cGodspeed.\u201d The term dates back to a 15th-century song sung by English ploughmen on Plough Monday \u2014 the first Monday after Twelfth Day, that marked the end of the Christmas holidays. Before farm laborers went back to the fields, they dressed all in white and went from door to door drawing a plough and soliciting \u201cplough money\u201d to spend on a last celebration before returning to work. The song lyric \u201cGodspeed the plough\u201d expressed a wish for success and prosperity and was soon shortened to just \u201cGodspeed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So Christmas has generated a lot of traditions over the years \u2014 most families have some. I\u2019ve heard it said that tradition is nothing but ancestral peer pressure. I don\u2019t agree \u2014 traditions serve as a path for creating lasting memories. Without traditions, our beliefs will get so diluted over time, we won’t remember who we are or where we came from \u2014 we\u2019ll open our eyes one day and won\u2019t recognize \u201cour world.\u201d
\u2014 30 \u2014<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Well, it is the Christmas season, and a few days ago, I heard the term \u201cJimminy Christmas\u201d used. I\u2019ve heard this phase pretty much all my life \u2014 more so when I was younger than in recent years. ButI wondered … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/jimmy.ekota.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4034"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/jimmy.ekota.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/jimmy.ekota.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/jimmy.ekota.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/jimmy.ekota.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4034"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/jimmy.ekota.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4034\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4035,"href":"http:\/\/jimmy.ekota.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4034\/revisions\/4035"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/jimmy.ekota.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4034"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/jimmy.ekota.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4034"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/jimmy.ekota.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4034"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}