With Christmas this upcoming Friday, I figured I would break down some of the craziest rituals around the world. My family has a regimented routine on Christmas, but families from countries around the globe top any tradition I personally have. I hope this article broadens your perspective of Christmas.
Take a look at how these 15 countries celebrate Christmas...
1. Austria: Krampus, St. Nicholas helper
Krampus, the terrifying companion of St. Nicholas and one of Austria's unique Advent traditions, is seen during a traditional Krampus procession in the city of Hallein in Salzburg.
2. Britain: Stirring the Christmas pudding
In Britain, the Christmas Pudding, also called plum pudding, is a big deal. Many families have their own recipes that go back generations. The puddings are almost black, thanks to the long cooking time and the dark sugar, and are moistened with juice or brandy. Usually, you make the pudding at least four or five weeks before Christmas, and it can last up to a year. Traditionally, every member of the household stirs the pudding while making a wish. When it's time to serve the pudding, tradition calls for bathing it in brandy and setting it on fire.
3. Czech Republic, Slovakia: Toss your shoes and get hitched
If you don’t want to celebrate another Christmas single, then stand with your back to the door and throw a shoe over your shoulders on Christmas Day! If the shoe lands with the toe pointing to the door, congratulations, you’re going to get married soon! There’s no clue as to how long before you meet your prince charming, though.
4. Estonia: Sauna on Christmas Eve
In Estonia, Christmas is a mix of pagan traditions celebrating the Winter Solstice and Christmas. Christmas is usually celebrated on Christmas Eve and then most Estonians start off with a visit to the nearest sauna where they usually bathe nude.
5. Finland: A Christmas of Remembrance
Families in Finland usually visit the graves of their ancestors and relatives on Christmas Eve to light candles in memory of the deceased. Even those who don’t have their kin’s graves nearby visit cemeteries to place candles in honor of their family members buried elsewhere. Hence, on Christmas eve, cemeteries would be lit up with candles presenting a beautiful sight.
6. Iraq: Bonfire gives good fortune
The few Christians left in Iraq have an unusual ceremony in which they light a fire made of dried thorns outside their house. The future of the family's house for the coming year depends upon the way the fire burns. If the thorns burn to ashes, the family will have good fortune. When the fire is reduced to ashes, everyone jumps over the ashes three times and makes a wish.
7. Japan: KFC for Christmas dinner
In many Japanese homes a KFC bucket with fried chicken is the main dish at Christmas. Thanks to a lack of turkeys and smart marketing by KFC the fried chicken is so popular you have to order weeks in advance for the holidays.
8. Norway: Hide the brooms
In the old days, people believed witches came out on Christmas Eve to look for brooms to ride on so they hid them all ways possible. Today, Norwegian women still hide all brooms in their house before going to bed on Christmas Eve.
9. Philippines: Don’t stuff it in my socks
Children will leave their brightly polished shoes and freshly washed socks on the window sills for the Three Kings to leave gifts in when they pass through their houses at night. The "Feast of the Three Kings" marks the end of the Christmas celebrations.
10. Spain: Caganer ('Crapper')
Statuettes of well-known people defecating are a strong Christmas tradition in Catalonia, dating back to the 18th century as Catalonians hide caganers in Christmas Nativity scenes and invite friends to find them. The figures symbolize fertilization, hope and prosperity for the coming year and can be of regular people or famous celebrities and politicians.
11. South Africa: Emperor moths and Danny
What’s the South African version of a Toblerone? On Christmas Day, they chow down on the deep-fried caterpillars of the Emperor Moth. Also, South African children are told the story of Danny, a young boy who angered his grandmother by eating the cookies that had been left for Santa – surely no surprise given the caterpillars. We won’t tell you what happened to Danny.
12. Sweden: Christmas straw goats
Christmas goats have a big role in Swedish Christmas celebrations from small ornaments to gigantic goats like this one in the city of Gavle that is set up every year in December. The big Gavle goat is famous for being vandalized or burnt down frequently.
13. Sweden: Find the almond in the rice pudding
In Sweden, you eat rice pudding at Christmas (before or after the Smorgasbord) and the big question is: Who will get the almond? There is one peeled almond hiding somewhere in the rice pudding and the lucky one who gets it will get married within a year.
14. Ukraine: Christmas trees dressed in spider webs
The legend goes that a poverty stricken family went to bed on Christmas Eve despondent because they wouldn't be able to decorate their tree. The spiders, roaming the home's walls and floors, heard the cries of the family, and took it upon themselves to decorate the tree with their webs. On Christmas day, the strands turned to gold and silver, changing the family's fortune forever.
15. Venezuela: Roller skate to mass
As in many Catholic countries, people go to mass during the holidays in Caracas, Venezuela. The only difference is that here, they roller skate. The streets are closed off in the early mornings between December 16 and December 24, no cars or buses, just skaters on their way to church.
