Spain!
In Spain it is a very festive time at Christmas. On Christmas Eve, as the stars
come out, tiny oil lamps are lit in every house, and after Midnight Mass and
Christmas Dinner, streets fill with dancers and onlookers. There is a special
Christmas dance called the Jota and the words and music have been
handed down for hundreds of years. They dance to the sound of guitars and
castanets.
The Spanish especially honour the cow at Christmas
because it is thought that when Mary gave birth to Jesus the cow in the stable
breathed on the Baby Jesus to keep him warm.
Christmas is a deeply religious holiday in Spain. The
country's patron saint is the Virgin Mary and the Christmas season officially
begins December 8, the feast of the Immaculate Conception. It is
celebrated each year in front of the great Gothic cathedral in Seville with a
ceremony called los Seises or the "dance of six."
Oddly, the elaborate ritual dance is now performed by not six but ten
elaborately costumed boys. It is a series of precise movements and gestures and
is said to be quite moving and beautiful.
Christmas Eve is known as Nochebuena or "the
Good Night." It is a time for family members to gather together to
rejoice and feast around the Nativity scenes that are present in nearly every
home. A traditional Christmas treat is turron, a kind of almond candy.
December 28 is the feast of the Holy Innocents.
Young boys of a town or village light bonfires and one of them acts as the
mayor who orders townspeople to perform civic chores such as sweeping the streets.
Refusal to comply results in fines which are used to pay for the celebration.
The children of Spain receive gifts on the feast of
the Epiphany. The Magi are particularly revered in Spain. It is believed
that they travel through the countryside re-enacting their journey to Bethlehem
every year at this time. Children leave their shoes on the windowsills and fill
them with straw, carrots, and barley or the horses of the Wise Men. Their favourite
is Balthazar who rides a donkey and is the one believed to leave the gifts.
By Timothy Jorgensen
That's very interesting Tim. I didn't know some of that. Where did you get the information from? Mrs FR
ReplyDeleteGreat knowledge Tim ! I enjoyed reading it ! Micha
ReplyDelete