[Event] December Religious and Cultural Celebrations and Observances

From: Daksha Howard <howardd_at_beloit.edu>
Date: Fri, 1 Dec 2023 07:55:59 -0600

 *December Religious and Cultural Celebrations*

*December is a month marked by observance and celebration by several
religions and cultures. In recognition of these holidays, we’re
highlighting the customs and traditional foods of Hanukkah, Christmas,
Kwanzaa, and Yule.*

Celebrate with one [or more] of these Holiday Recipes
<https://www.sagedining.com/blog/post/129967/from-our-kitchen-holiday-recipes>


*Hanukkah*

[image: image.png]

This year the Jewish holiday Hanukkah begins *on the evening of Thursday,
December 7, 2023*. It will *end on the evening of Friday, December 15, 2023*.
Each year, Hanukkah begins on the 25th day of Kislev, which is the ninth
month of the Jewish calendar. It ends on the second day of Tevet, which is
the tenth month of the Jewish calendar. Hanukkah is an eight-day winter
festival of lights, observed through nightly menorah candle lighting,
special blessings, songs, and prayer. The holiday celebrates the
rededication of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem after driving out Greek rule
and religion. Hanukkah involves oil, so celebrants traditionally eat fried
foods like potato latkes and doughnuts during this time. Today, Hanukkah is
celebrated all over the world ranging in a variety of traditions, from lit
menorahs displayed in windows to preparing foods fried in oil and children
winning gelt by spinning dreidels. There are so many special customs to
take part in with family and friends.

Try this Spiced Sweet Potato Pancakes
<https://www.sagedining.com/blog/post/136627/from-our-kitchen-spiced-sweet-potato-pancakes>
 recipe.



*Christmas*

[image: image.png]


Christmas is a Christian holiday celebrating the birth of Jesus of
Nazareth, said to be the living son of God. Christians celebrate by
attending church services, singing carols, spending time sharing a meal
with friends and family, exchanging gifts, baking cookies, and decorating
trees. Christmas traditions vary across the globe, as do the foods people
eat around this holiday. Typical Christmas dinners include roast meat or
poultry, often served with roasted root vegetables and a potato dish. This Beef
Eye of Round Roast with Mushroom Sauce
<https://www.sagedining.com/blog/post/132073/from-our-kitchen-beef-eye-of-round-roast-with-mushroom-sauce>
recipe
is free of the top 12 allergens in the U.S. and Canada.

*Yule*

[image: yule 2.jpg]


One of the oldest winter festivities globally, Yule is a pagan holiday
celebrating the winter solstice. Celebrated over 12 days – the twelve days
of Christmas originated from Yule – Yule is the most important Norse
holiday, marking the end of a year and welcoming the new year with growing
daylight. Today, Germanic peoples still celebrate Yuletide, synonymous with
the Christmas season (Christmastime); nonpagan celebrants use Christmas and
Yule interchangeably. Yule is a holiday directly connected to nature, so
tree decorating, making and hanging evergreen wreaths, lighting a yule log,
and celebrating a harvest feast with friends and family are all ways people
celebrate. Celebratory Yule meals typically include ham or roast pork as
the main dish, with seasonal root vegetables, cabbage, and squash as
accompaniments.

*Kwanzaa*

[image: kwanzaa 2.jpg]


Beginning December 26, Kwanzaa is a seven-day secular harvest festival and
celebration of life, an African American cultural holiday celebrating
African heritage. While Kwanzaa is often thought of as an alternative to
Christmas, many people celebrate both. Like the Christian advent or Jewish
Hanukkah, Kwanzaa uses candles to represent the tenets of the holiday.
During the weeklong celebration, families and friends gather to share
meals, exchange gifts, reflect on their heritage, and look to the future.
Typical Kwanzaa celebration foods vary by region and family but are
traditionally foods associated with the African diaspora. Main dishes are
usually a stew, accompanied by a starch such as rice, biscuits, yams, or
black-eyed peas.

*Other religious and cultural holidays observed during the month of
December.*

*Saint Nicholas Day - (Dec. 5 or 6)* Also known as the Feast of Saint
Nicholas, Christians honor the birthday of Saint Nicholas—the inspiration
behind Santa Claus, given his proclivity towards gift-giving.

*Immaculate Conception Day (Dec. 8) *Catholics celebrate the day of
Immaculate Conception to honor the Virgin Mary, who is believed to have
been born without original sin. The day is often celebrated by going to
church and feasting.

*Bodhi Day (Dec. 8)* Also known as Rohatsu, this Buddhist tradition honors
the day in which the Buddha—Siddartha Gautauma—is said to have achieved
enlightenment. Many Buddhists celebrate it through meditation.

*Feast Day of Our Lady Guadalupe (Dec 12)* Mexicans and Mexican-Americans
often celebrate the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe
<https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/do-you-know-about-our-lady-guadalupe-here-s-why-n828391>,
the patron saint of Mexico
<https://www.britannica.com/topic/Our-Lady-of-Guadalupe-patron-saint-of-Mexico>
who
symbolizes patriotism and devotion. Millions of pilgrims
<https://apnews.com/article/religion-latin-america-and-caribbean-roman-catholicism-mexico-health-f454554ce50f1d5e5ec2e86287d1fa92>
typically
visit the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in December to celebrate the
festival, which marks one of several apparitions
<https://apnews.com/article/religion-mexico-pandemics-covid-2254c4d0ed206e5f245ddb2275d5459e>
of
the Virgin Mary that some Catholic believers say was witnessed by an
Indigenous Mexican man in 1531. The Virgin Mary’s face is abundant in
Mexico—in homes, shops and shrines.

*Guru Gobind Singh’s Birthday (Dec 22)* Celebrates the birthday of the
tenth Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh, today. This poet, philosopher, and most
importantly, warrior, was formally made a Sikh leader at the age of nine.

*Boxing Day (Dec 26)* A British tradition that occurs the day after
Christmas and dates back to the 1800s when Queen Victoria ruled the throne
<https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/46454700#:~:text=The%20name%20comes%20from%20a,Christmas%20boxes%20to%20their%20families.>.
At the time, it was a day to ensure that upper class Britons gave servants
and workers a day off, in addition to giving them a present. The holiday
has since evolved into a more commercial occasion for gift-giving.

*Zarathosht Diso (Dec 26)* Founded by the Prophet Zoroaster more than 3,000
years ago, Zoroastrianism is one of the world’s oldest monotheistic
religions. Zoroastrians honor the death of their prophet on this day,
typically by visiting a fire temple and offering prayers.

*New Year’s Eve (Dec 31)* The day every new year is met with anticipation
around the world, as revelers party, set off fireworks, set resolutions and
countdown to midnight to welcome in new beginnings. In many post-Soviet
countries, the holiday is celebrated with traditions similar to Christmas,
such as the arrival of gifts from “Grandfather Frost.”

*“Our ability to reach unity in diversity will be the beauty and the test
of our civilization.” -Mahatma Gandhi*


Daksha Howard

Program Coordinator

Residential Life

Beloit College

Phone- 608-363-2125

Email - howardd_at_beloit.edu

Pronouns: She/Her/Hers

Hours: 9 am to 5 pm - Monday Through Thursday

Friday - 8 am to 1 pm
Received on Fri Dec 01 2023 - 07:56:12 CST

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