December World Days,
Festivals and Folklore
The Anglo Saxons called December Geol-monaþ meaning Yule month. December and January were both Yule months.
December Weather Lore
White Christmas, Green Easter, Green Christmas, White Easter.
If there’s thunder in Christmas week, the winter will be anything but meek.
If the sun shines through an apple tree on Christmas day, there will be an abundant crop the following year.
So many hours of sun on Christmas day, so many frosts in the month of May.
13th December
St Lucia’s Day
Saint Lucia’s Day is a festival of lights celebrated in Norway, Sweden and Finland. St Lucia was killed by the Romans in 304 because of her religious beliefs. This Day remembers Lucia and celebrates her life. Girls dress in white, sometimes wearing a crown of candles and serving coffee and saffron bread to their family. In Scandinavian countries, this day marks the start of Christmas.
See our craft section to find some candle craft ideas.
21st December
Winter Solstice
The word solstice comes from the Latin, sol - meaning sun, and sistere - meaning to stand still. The solstice is seen as the first day of winter and has the least hours of daylight. In days when you could only know the time of year by monitoring the sunlight, the solstice was an important time and seen as the beginning of the new year. Many different countries around the world have their own festivals and traditions around the winter solstice. In Wales Alban Arthan is celebrated, it translates as “Light of Winter” and is a celebration of the returning sun.
Newgrange is a monument built by neolithic farmers in Ireland. This impressive structure was built over 5,000 years ago, 500 years before the Great Pyramids and 1,000 years before Stone Henge. During the winter solstice a beam of light enters the chambers and can be seen over a few days. The intent of the farmers was not only to mark the start of the new year but to make a symbol of life over death.
See our Making Learning Fun section for a solstice celebration idea!
24th December
Mother’s Night
Mōdraniht or Modranicht was an Anglo-Saxon Pagan festival that collectively celebrated ancestral females. This event was part of the Western Germanic period of Yule.
25th December
Christmas Day
Try Our fun Christmas Quiz, test your relatives with these Christmas themed tricky questions! (Some of them are really hard!) Might be good to work in teams with an adult!
When was the Christmas Cracker invented? a, 1827 b, 1847 c, 1897 d, 1927
2, According to a popular and ancient Christmas carol, which tree bears the crown?
3, In Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, Ebenezer Scrooge is visited by three ghosts, what were they the ghosts of?
4, Why did robins start appearing on Christmas cards?
5, The three kings brought gifts of gold, frankincense and…….
How do you spell the third gift?
(1 point for guessing the gift, 1 point if you know where it comes from and 1 point if you can spell it!
6, Which famous poet wrote the words to the Christmas carol, In The Bleak Midwinter ?
7, What is wassailing ?
8, According to legend, if you went to a stable after midnight on Christmas eve, what might you hear?
9, Can you name any of Father Christmas’ reindeer?
