December 20, 2010

Warming up for the Holidays

A well deserved pre-christmas treat after a long Sunday preparing for the holidays: Homemade oatmeal cookies & cocoa w/cream. Yummy!

The fella in the background is a Yule goat that followed me all the way to Miami, which is one of the oldest Scandinavian and Northern European Christmas symbols. The origins go as far back as to pre-Christian days. The Yule goat was part of mythical believes and looked upon as a protector of holiday preparations. As part of farm culture it was common to slaughter a goat for the holidays believed to bring good fortune.

And then there is the tradition with the Christmas buck This originated amongst pagans that worshiped the Norse god Thor (w/the hammer!) riding his chariot driven by two goats. During holidays they would disguise their appearance by dressing in a goatskin and go house to house carrying a goat head! Christian missionaries modified the tradition and divorced its meaning from Paganism. In modern times this has been a tradition carried on by children going door to door in the neighborhood in the days between christmas and new year singing christmas carols in exchange for little gifts and sweets (similarities to Halloween). An interesting aspect is that this tradition (as per Wikipedia) is still found in areas in America with large populations of Scandinavian descent such as Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Dakota and Alaska.

For more info check link:  Wikipedia

No comments:

Post a Comment