When searching for Christmas present ideas, Scottish Christmas gifts are perfect for men, women, children, friends, and family alike. Traditional as well as contemporary Scottish gifts are sure include something for everybody. See some helpful tips on what to buy for Christmas this year.
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Probably you wonder what Christmas in Scotland looks like. Is it really different than in other countries? Well, of course it is! So go ahead and read our article about a real Scottish Christmas. Sadly, a lot of old traditions aren’t kept nowadays.
The younger children make advent calendars, these are calendars with little doors that open and reveal a small picture. The last day to open is Christmas Eve. The children also write letters to Santa who lives in Lapland and then burn them in the fireplace so they get to Santa faster.
On Christmas Eve it is a tradition to burn branches of a rowan tree which signifies that any bad feelings between friends and relatives have been forgotten for the Yuletide season. If the fire goes out on Christmas Eve it is believed the family will have bad luck for the following year. Stockings are hung o the foot of the bed for Santa.
The tree is usually a Scots pine and decorate they it with “fairy” lights and tartan bows. The use of holly and berries to make wreaths is still very popular. Outside many people decorate with lights and even put fake snow on their rooftops! Czytaj całość »
In ancient times the Celts of Scotland celebrated the great fire festival of the winter solstice. At the solstice, the sun was reborn, with light and warmth emanating once more from this golden sphere of life and eternal energy.
The tree worshipping Druids also revered the evergreen and the oak, with its magical mistletoe, during this two week festival of the return of the sun. The eighth century influence of the Scandinavian Vikings added Germanic elements to the celebration, such as the burning of great bon fires and the shamanic magic of Odin.
In the late middle ages, the Catholic church expropriated the winter solstice celebration, replacing sun worship with son worship. When the Protestant reformation came in the sixteenth century, the Protestants proclaimed that this winter Bacchanalia was pagan and Papist and that the Scots should not celebrate it.
Until the 1950s, Christmas was not celebrated in Scotland. Since that time, the winter holiday has grown in popularity until it now very much resembles Christmas in the United States, with its gift giving and Santa Claus and intemperate feasting, and decorated Christmas trees, with stockings hung by the fire. What is unique about the Scottish holiday celebration can be seen in the various and varied cities of Scotland. Czytaj całość »