Hey, so, this is a bit late for y'all, but I wanted to share.
Today is the traditional day to give christmas presents here in Spain. Today (6th of december) is the Epiphany, the day the wise men/kings/magi arrived from orient, following a star, to worship baby Jesus and give him presents (gold, frankincense and myrrh).
So, the thing is, I think it makes a lot of sense, religiously, to give christmas presents today, and to have the Three Magi bring them to children. It also means our christmas holidays last one more week rather than ending with the new year
However, more and more people are shifting and having presents be brought by Santa (I mean, as child I preferred that, since I had two weeks of holidays to enjoy my presents).
This also got me thinking of all the different characters that bring presents for christmas.
As you may know already, in Catalonia we also have the Christmas Log, a log that is fed for several days (it's something quite magical for little children, some people also go and "find it" in the forest) and then shits presents only after being beat with sticks to the tune of a children's song. In Italy they have, besides Father Christmas, the Befana, a witch. In Galicia (northwestern Spain) they have the Apalpador, an old man who touches children's bellys to see if they have eaten well (...a bit creepy isn't it?) and leaves small presents.
However, they character I find most bizarre is also the simplest: there's quite a few countries where baby jesus himself brings the presents. I mean, it's simple and uncomplicated, but... how does that work, exactly?
Soo, is there any weird tradition or variability in this vein in the US or elsewhere that I'm unaware of? Are there huge variations in other christmas traditions? (Unrelated to gift-giving, I mean)
Today is the traditional day to give christmas presents here in Spain. Today (6th of december) is the Epiphany, the day the wise men/kings/magi arrived from orient, following a star, to worship baby Jesus and give him presents (gold, frankincense and myrrh).
So, the thing is, I think it makes a lot of sense, religiously, to give christmas presents today, and to have the Three Magi bring them to children. It also means our christmas holidays last one more week rather than ending with the new year
However, more and more people are shifting and having presents be brought by Santa (I mean, as child I preferred that, since I had two weeks of holidays to enjoy my presents).This also got me thinking of all the different characters that bring presents for christmas.
As you may know already, in Catalonia we also have the Christmas Log, a log that is fed for several days (it's something quite magical for little children, some people also go and "find it" in the forest) and then shits presents only after being beat with sticks to the tune of a children's song. In Italy they have, besides Father Christmas, the Befana, a witch. In Galicia (northwestern Spain) they have the Apalpador, an old man who touches children's bellys to see if they have eaten well (...a bit creepy isn't it?) and leaves small presents.
However, they character I find most bizarre is also the simplest: there's quite a few countries where baby jesus himself brings the presents. I mean, it's simple and uncomplicated, but... how does that work, exactly?
Soo, is there any weird tradition or variability in this vein in the US or elsewhere that I'm unaware of? Are there huge variations in other christmas traditions? (Unrelated to gift-giving, I mean)
