December…we are now in the throws of the holiday season, the time of year when it seems as if the whole world is celebrating. But the traditional Christian Christmas observances that you may have known and have become accustomed to over the years are not necessarily the only way our friends and neighbors may be celebrating. Not only do we live in an amazingly diverse community but America as a whole is clearly becoming more religiously diverse. This diversity presents us with an incredible opportunity to both embrace our customs and traditions with our friends and families and to learn and grow as a community.

Reflecting this increase in diversity, there now many religious celebrations that are widely observed during the month of December all throughout the North America. Many of these celebrations are related to the day when the winter solstice occurs between December 20th and 22nd. This is the shortest day and longest night of the year, in the Northern Hemisphere. Some of the most popular celebrations of the season are:

Buddhists celebrate Bodhi Day (a.k.a. Rohatsu) on December 8, or on the Sunday immediately preceding. It recalls the day in 596 BC, when the Buddha sat beneath a Bodhi tree -- a type of fig tree -- and is believed to have achieved enlightenment, thus escapeing the repeating cycle of reincarnation: involving birth, life, death and rebirth. A descendent of the original tree is the most important of four holy sites of Buddhism.

Christians in the West celebrate Christmas on December 25, as the day when Jesus of Nazareth was born. He is regarded by most Christians as a deity and savior of humanity. The Eastern Orthodox churches currently celebrate Christmas on December 25 according to the Julian calendar, which is January 7th in the more commonly used Gregorian calendar. It is not actually the date of Jesus' birthday. That probably happened in the spring or fall. Its origin can be traced to an ancient Roman Pagan celebration called Saturnalia. It was a commemoration of the dedication of a temple to the God Saturn. Saturnalia was originally celebrated as a one day celebration on December 17th. It became so popular that it was expanded to seven days. This celebration was picked up by the followers of Mithraism where it became the Feast of Sol Invicta, (the Unconquered Sun). It started on December 25th of the year 274.
Jews celebrate Hanukkah, (a.k.a. Chanukah; "Feast of Dedication" and "Festival of Lights"). This is an 8 day observance which recalls a miracle in the Jerusalem temple during a war fought by the Maccabees in the cause of religious freedom. Temple candles only had enough oil to burn for a single day. Yet they burned for eight days. Jews light candles on a menorah -- two on the first day, three on the second, to nine on the eighth day.

Muslims holy days are fixed to the lunar calendar. On successive years, the days migrate about ten days earlier as viewed on the Gregorian calendar. Id al-Adha or  the Feast of Sacrifice or Day of Sacrifice occurs during the 12th lunar month of the Islamic year. This immediately follows the Hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca). It recalls the day when Abraham intended to follow the instructions of God, and sacrifice his son Ishmael.

Some Native Americans and Aboriginal groups elsewhere in the world also observe the Winter Solstice. They associate different beliefs and rituals with it. For example, the Hopi tribe celebrations are "...dedicated to giving aid and direction to the sun which is ready to 'return' and give strength to budding life." Their ceremony is called Soyal. It lasts for 20 days and includes "prayerstick making, purification, rituals and a concluding rabbit hunt, feast and blessing..."

Wiccans and some other Neopagens celebrate Yule at the time of the Winter Solstice. Some may celebrate the Sabbat (one of eight days of celebration) on the evening before, at sunrise on the morning of the solstice, or at the actual time of the astronomical event.

The month of December also includes a number of cultural celebrations. Four of them are:
Kwanza (a.k.a. Kwanzaa, Quansa) is a week-long celebration which starts on DEC-26. It is a recently developed cultural holiday celebrating African-American heritage that has been an annual tradition since 1966. "Kwanza" is derived from the Swahili phrase "matunda ya kwanza" which means "the first fruits of the harvest". Each day focuses on one of the seven principles of Kwanza: unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity and faith.
Human Rights Day is observed on DEC-10, the anniversary of the signing of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights on 1948-DEC-10 at the Palais de Chaillot in Paris. The document outlines the minimum human rights standards that should be available in all countries of the world. They include "the right to life, liberty and nationality, to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, to work, to be educated, [and] to take part in government." 

The "1000 Lamp Mandala Ceremony" is celebrated on DEC-10 in conjunction with Human Rights Day around the world to promote peace in Tibet and elsewhere.

Krismas is a secular holiday that celebrates most of the elements of Christmas, with the exception of the story/myth of Jesus' birth. Krismas observes the myth of Kris Kringle (a.k.a. Santa Claus), Rudolph and the other reindeers, elves, etc. It includes the giving of gifts, the beauty of decorated trees and building, the smell of Krismas trees, etc. But it is closer to the Pagan origins of Christmas than modern-day Christmas itself. One of the neat features of this celebration is that Agnostics, Atheists, Deists, free thinkers, Progressive Christians, and the rest of the 68% of humans who are not Christians can wish another person "Merry Krismas" freely without bending their beliefs out of shape.

Festivus -- a celebration for the rest of us: This is a new celebration, created in 1966 and popularized on a Seinfeld comedy episode in 1997. It seem to be growing in popularity as a simple, secular, seasonal day of celebration as an alternative to Christmas and Hanukkah with a minimum of commercialization. It is held on December 23, approximately midway between the Winter Solstice and Christmas.
Whether you celebrate Christmas or Festivas, Hanukkah or Kwanza, take this incredible opportunity to share your traditions, beliefs and your experience as we as friends and neighbors, we’re brothers and sisters all, celebrating this most happy time of year.

Walt Szymborski
 Candle Wick Shoppe

Originally publish 2009