2 - QVI Club

Greece
The Greeks believe that the Killantzaroi,
mischievous goblins, emerge from the
centre of the earth and enter homes through
the chimneys during the twelve days after
Christmas. So between 25 December and
6 January, hearth fires are left burning for
days, and a sprig of basil is wrapped around
a wooden cross suspended over a shallow
wooden bowl of water to ward off these
unwanted spirits. On Christmas Eve, young
boys go from home to home singing songs
and beating drums and triangles to chase
away the Killantzaroi, receiving treats from
the residents in return. Unlike with many
other cultures, Greeks exchange gifts on
New Year’s Day, which is also St Basil’s Day.
Poland
Christmas Eve, or Wigilia as it is called in
Poland, is a day of both fasting and feasting.
Food is not consumed until the sighting of
the very first star of the evening, which
everyone avidly scans the night sky for.
Once this star, Gwiazdka, meaning ‘little
star’, is seen, the feasting can begin.
Dinner usually consists of an odd number
of dishes for good luck, with beet soup,
prune dumplings, carp, herring and poppy
seed cake being very typical fare. No meat,
except fish, is served at this Christmas
Eve meal. Other traditions accompany
this family dinner, such as having an even
number of people seated around the table,
as well as symbolically leaving an empty
place setting for any wanderer who may be
in need of a meal.
Scandinavia
Many Scandinavian holiday traditions are
rich reflections of the pagan celebrations of
long ago in which they have their roots. In
pre-Christian Scandinavia, ‘Jul’ or ‘Yule’ was
an observation of the winter solstice. It was
a mid-winter celebration of the transition
from the dark winter to spring and the
time to celebrate harvest, fertility and birth.
December is the darkest month of the year
but it is also when the sun turns and the
days start to get longer again.
The Yuletide season begins with the St Lucia
Festival dedicated to Lucia, or the Queen of
Light, that falls on the night between the
12th and 13th of December. She was an
Italian saint from the island of Syracuse
who brought food to the poor Christians
hiding in the catacombs of Rome from the
religious persecution of Emperor Diocletian.
To keep her hands free to hand out food
she wore a wreath in her hair carrying
candles to light her way in the darkness.
These days, a Lucia is traditionally chosen
in every village, town and school, then
crowned with candles in the town square
before leading a procession with her whiteclad
followers singing traditional Christmas
songs. Curiously, St Lucia is celebrated
more enthusiastically in Scandinavia than
anywhere else in the world, even Italy.
Scotland
The New Year’s Eve celebration of Hogmanay is the main holiday in Scotland, with
festivities typically spilling over into the first couple of days of January. The origin of
the word is obscure, but the most satisfying explanation is that it derives from the
Northern French dialect word for ‘a New Year’s gift’. The early Hogmanay celebrations
were originally brought to Scotland by the invading and occupying Norse who continued
their observations of the winter solstice.
The most widely practiced custom of Hogmanay is that of ‘first-footing’, which starts
immediately after midnight. This involves being the first person to cross the threshold
of the home of a friend or neighbour, and bringing symbolic gifts such as salt, coal,
shortbread, whisky, and black bun (a rich fruit cake), intended to bring different kinds of
luck to the householder. Food and drink are then given to the guests. This joyous housevisiting
may go on throughout the early hours of the morning and well into the next day.
The first-foot is supposed to set the luck for the rest of the year, and traditionally, tall dark
men are preferred as the first-foot. This belief stems from the time when a red- or blondehaired
stranger was probably an invading Norseman!
‘Tis the season to be jolly
ON THE RUNWAY /21