On January 6, 2025, Sikhs in Canada and around the world celebrate Guru Gobind Singh Jayanti, a chance to observe and celebrate the birth of Guru Gobind Singh. The Guru was born in 1666 in Patna, India. He was the 10th and last of the (human) Gurus of Sikhism. He established the Khalsa, the organization of men and women baptized into the Sikh faith. He also established the Guru Granth Sahib, the holy book of Sikhism, as the final Guru for the Sikh people.
source: discoversikhism.com
For more on Guru Gobind Singh and the Sikh faith, check out:
Kwanzaa takes place every year from December 26 to January 1
source: CC BY-NC 2.0Reginald James/TheBlackHour.com
From the Official Kwanzaa Website:
“Kwanzaa is an African American and Pan-African holiday which celebrates family, community and culture. Celebrated from 26 December thru 1 January, its origins are in the first harvest celebrations of Africa from which it takes its name. The name Kwanzaa is derived from the phrase “matunda ya kwanza” which means “first fruits” in Swahili, a Pan-African language which is the most widely spoken African language.”
With heart warming traditions such as the “Airing of Grievances” and “Feats of Strength,” Festivus is a holiday which owes its popularity to the sitcom “Seinfeld.”
Do you have your Festivus Pole up yet?
Festivus Pole. source: anonymous
What was once fictional has become a real holiday for many people, celebrated every year on December 23.
Hanukkah is almost here. Next week Jews in Canada and around the world will celebrate Hanukkah, starting at sundown on Wednesday, December 25.
Source: CC/Robert Couse Baker
The Festival of Lights is a celebration of God’s deliverance and provision. The event began in remembrance of Maccabean revolt in the 2nd Century BCE, when the Hebrews recaptured the Temple in Jerusalem, the spiritual centre of Judaism. Each candle of the Menorah is lit, one per day for the 8 day Festival.
Like all Jewish Holy Days, which follow the lunar Hebrew Calendar and therefore vary against the Gregorian calendar, Hanukkah can occur anytime from late November to late December. This year Hanukkah will conclude on the evening of December 15.
For more information on Hanukkah, check out some of the following:
The Winter Solstice for 2024 will occur on December 21 at 1:19 AM
Why are there so many Holidays and Holy Days at this time of year? Why do so many of them, especially in the Northern Hemisphere, seem to emphasize light, especially light in contrast to the darkness? Likely this is because of the Winter Solstice.
Stonehenge, a Celtic monument built for the Solstices, perhaps as much as 5000 years ago. source: wikimedia commons/Mark Grant/(CC BY 2.5)
The longest night of the year. The shortest day. The Winter Solstice occurs on December 21 (in some years December 22) as the North Pole reaches its maximum tilt away from the sun. The North Pole will experience continuous darkness, the Polar region near total darkness, and the northern hemisphere its shortest day and longest night. Winter begins. Most populations will experience the darkest and coldest time of year.
It is a time where people crave light and warmth, and so it seems natural that the feasts and festivals of December emphasize those things. Moreover, at the darkest moment, hope is renewed, as after the solstice the days will get longer. This is hope for more light, more warmth. Spring will come eventually. New birth. New life.
And so many different observances, feasts, and festivals emereged at this time of the year, many on the day of the Solstice, and others near to it on the calendar.
Yule: Celtic Europe, Scandinavia and Germanic peoples.
Mean Geimhreadh: Irish
Alban Arthan: Wales
Modranhit: Anglo-Saxon Europe
Korochun: Slavic Eastern Europe
Shalako, Soyal :Native American peoples
Yalda: Iran/Persians
Dongzhi: China & East Asia
Lohri & Maghi: India, especially the Punjab
Dies Natalis Solis Invicti, Brumalia & Saturnalia: Ancient Rome
Of course, we have spent the last few weeks observing the many holidays and holy days of this time of year. It is not a coincidence that celebrations such as Christmas and New Year have grown to be huge events in the western world, and by extension other cultures, as the west has extended its influence around the globe. In places where modern conveniences such as lighting and heating offset the effect of the cold and dark of December, we might overlook how important it was for our ancestors to hope for the seeming death of one year to turn into the life of a new year, and to celebrate such rebirth.
This 9 day festival is central to Navidad (Christmas) celebrations in Mexico. This is a neighbourhood festival that commemorates the journey of Mary and Joseph, who could not find posadas, (Spanish for “lodging”) before the birth of Jesus. A procession, including people dressed as Angels, Saints and the Holy Family, marches through the neighbourhood, knocking on doors looking for a place to stay. Like Mary and Joseph, they are refused, until finally the parade ends at one home where they are welcomed in. Feasting ensues, including a pinata for the children.
On December 25, Christians in Canada and around the world celebrate the Nativity, the birth of the Christ. Christians believe that a Jewish Rabbi named Yeshua, known to most today as Jesus, who was born in Bethlehem, in Roman occupied Israel, roughly 2000 years ago, was the Messiah, the long awaited saviour promised by God. The Hebrew word Messiah translates to Greek as χριστός, romanized as Khristos, from which we get the anglicized form, Christ. Christians believe that God became one of us in the person of Jesus, or Emanuel, literally “God With Us.”
As Christianity spread from the Holy Land into the Roman Empire and to the Celtic peoples of the north, traditional pagan winter festivals such as Yule were taken over as Christian festivals and Christmas became a winter celebration.
Over the course of the last century, Christmas has grown from a strictly Christian religious festival to become a secular holiday celebrated by people of many different religions, cultures and worldviews from all over the planet. For some, Santa Claus, stockings and gift-giving are central to Christmas. To others, it is a much needed time of rest and merry-making at the coldest and darkest time of year. Some may agree with the Grinch, who simply hated Christmas, or with Ebenezer Scrooge when he said it was a “Humbug” — although both of them changed their positions in the end!
source: public domain
Whether you are celebrating the birth of the Christ, or observe Christmas as a strictly secular event, we wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas!
Simbang Gabi is a Filipino Christmas celebration that takes place from December 16 to December 24, concluding with Misa de Gallo at the Midnight Mass. Simbang Gabi is a Novena, or a nine-day festival, similar to the Mexican Las Posadas and other Navidad celebrations in the Spanish speaking world.
Dating back hundreds of years to the beginning of Spanish rule over the Philippines, Simbang Gabi emerged as a distinctly Filipino celebration of Christmas. One of the features that developed in response to the agricultural practices of Filipino farmers is that the services are carried out in the very early morning, sometimes as early as 3:00 AM.
Many Canadians trace their roots to the Philippines, including many students here at Lord Tweedsmuir. Ask some of your fellow students about Simbang Gabi! You can also find out more here:
Gita Jayanti is a Hindu observance that celebrates the Bhagavad Gita, one of the holy books of Hinduism. The Bhagavad Gita is presented as a dialogue between Arjuna, a prince, and Krishna, the embodiment of God. In 2024 this day takes place on December 11, however local festivals may take place at different times, and can last several weeks.
Lord Tweedsmuir Secondary School Library 