ARIES

Excuse me I think we forgot bout someone!




Exuse me all but I think we are to far in the month already
with all the christmastrees and santa clauses..Doesn't anybody had ever heard bout SINTERKLAAS (translated it's santa claus but it's a complete different person)It's a special period of the month and on the night of 5 to 6 december he comes with his servents with his horse on the roof and the servants climbs into the chimney takes the letter out of the shoe that the children putted there for them..Mostly with the letter the children leave some sugar or a carot for the Sinterklaas his white horse and leave some little oranges for him and his servants or some candy or something else they like to give and in return they got a load of oranges speculoos candy nuts and presents..Unless the child was a bad boy or girl during the year (Sinterklaas has got a great red book with all the names of the little children )then the servant will put them in the sack to carrie them away on his back..That's what they tell the children... Even I still got sinterklaas presents from my family (not through the chimney no more of course )And now it's even more partytime this year cos my nephew becomes 3 the 6th and we have a big party the fifth and there will be a sinterklaas coming...Who likes to know more about Sinterklaas can surf to this site...Love from Stefanie

http://www.stnicholascenter.org/Brix?pageID=81

HopeandNewStart

Hi Stefanie,
I'm from Germany and we celebrate "Nikolaus" on the 6th of December. Same guy, LOL.
It's always a time to celebrate where I'm from. This time will be very difficult since we are expecting family this Saturday...My mind is spinning around beer when I know I can't have one...Wish me luck!

ARIES

Yes good luck..It's a bit the same with me... my little nephew's birthday is on the 6 th so the 5th (this sunday) we have a party for 25 persons in a restaurant where we know the owners of... There will also be a Sint Nikolaas and I realy hope this time that he doesn't have a list of the adults and in a way I'm a little bit nervous
bout people who are goin' to say in my place that I cant have alchohol..It happened before..And it's like sinking through your chair..I really hope noone does something like that..It makes me verbal agressive..and I can miss that ...I want peace...Love frome Stefanie

exlibris

Hello Stefanie!

Thank you for introducing sinterklaas to me. I've never heard of him before but I guess that's what happens to you when you're raised a Catholic in New Jersey!

Have a wonderful holiday season.

Bright Blessings!

Richard

kckman

I never new these christmas characters either. Sint Nikolaas, Sinterklaas and Nikolaus, They kind of remind me of the holy trinity what fun. It is going to be a happy sober christmas for me this year.
Cheers and blessings to you all. A toast you all with a virgin eggnog.

Time2Surrender

Im half German myself.My mother lives there.And I have been there 23 times myself.I was brought up also with St. Nicolas.And all the goodies my grandmother would send at Christmas time.Lebkuhen,mazipan,and other german chocolates.

ARIES

Yes and do you know that we are all raised with the thought that he is comming with his boat from spain..But after years they found out that the real Sint was a Turk..It's funny in a way

best

There are many stories of who is or where Santa Claus came from.
Seems each culture has their own story. A borrowing of one from the other in many cases I would think? The traditions and symbols we use here in the states tend to be a collection of many cultures melted together as one.
The sleigh and reindeer riding Santa. The bows of holy, a Yule log on the fire. Christmas tree of evergreen. Lights on the tree, wreath on the door. Stockings hunk by the fireplace. And mistletoe for a kissing ball.
In early America, Christmas was a forbidden holiday celebration. Was Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol, which kicked off the Christmas frenzy in the states.
Things have become so commercialized now. People need to remember what the word Christmas means and get back to the origin of Christmas.

Christmas = Christ Mass = Celebration of Christ’s birth. As the word Mass means celebrate.

birdonawire

Want to go back a little further? Before Christ the pagans celebrated the Winter Solstice...they lit a Yule log, decorated pine trees, hung mistletoe, and lit candles. the Robin is a symbol of the waxing year...and they had the Holly King, who wore red and wore a sprig of holly in his hat!! I love Christmas, for these reasons as well.

best

Yes and when the Christians moved into the area now known as Germany. The people there followed the traditions you write of. Rather then telling them to stop the old ways, the old and the new were blended. That is much of what we have today in traditions as well. A wreath on the door, a tree with lights, mistletoe, stockings by the fireplace.
Christmas or better said... The birth of Jesus is believed to be Jan 11th I think. Little Christmas as it is called by some.
The early church changed the day of celibration to Dec so the Christians would have their own celibration at the same time the pagans would hold their celibration. When there was nothing to do, you go to the only party in town. The early church fathers thought it was a good idea to sidetrack the believers away from the pagan parties. Many of the church celibrations were worked out to incorporate or cover over the pagan days of celibration for that same reasoning.

Ama

Little Christmas is January 6th.....it commemorates the bringing of gifts from the Three Wise Men and it is the bigger of the celebrations in Spain. Actual birth date of Christ is highly speculative and no theological agreement on same. But certainly December 25th is a date that merges the older traditions with the new. It is just very unfortunate that the religions that have resulted aka christianity could not live by their founder......

There is more christianity on SR than I have seen in organised religion - Religion afterall means "A way of Life" - and we all want to live good ones, sober ones, so that is a very comforting thought indeed!!!!

Time2Surrender

Jesus wasnt born Dec 25th? Wow,I didnt know that.Learn something new every day.

birdonawire

Yes, AMA is correct...nobody knows the date of Jesus birth, some claim it is in the summer. December was picked to placate the pagan peoples, as BEST said. One has to remember that Easter was also a pagan festival before Christ and the Easter Egg is a pagan fertility symbol (also the bunny!)
Just goes to show you that Paganism is a spiritual belief although most organized religions don't regard it as such. :xmasf