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Christmas in Latvia

COMENIUS MULTILATERAL PARTNERSHIPS. Christmas in Latvia. Prepared by M.Kalēja, A.Zikmane.

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Christmas in Latvia

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  1. COMENIUS MULTILATERAL PARTNERSHIPS ChristmasinLatvia Preparedby M.Kalēja, A.Zikmane

  2. Christmas is an important family celebration for Latvians. Many Latvians attend-MidnightMass church services,decorate Christmas trees and exchange gifts on Christmas Eve - December 24.Christmas Eve is the most important moment! Celebrations continue on Christmas Day and the day after.

  3. ChristianchurchescelebratedChristchild'sbirthcelebrationisgraduallymixedwiththeLatvianancientwintersolsticecelebrations, andnowit’sno longercelebratedattheright, astronomicalsolsticeday - 22 December - butonthe 24th December.For many Latvians this time of the year is also associated with pre-Christian traditions and rituals reflected in ancient folk songs and observed in a variety of colourful ways.

  4. The winter solstice was celebrated when the night was longest and the day shortest, when the intensity of field work was lowest, but people gathered for evening bees to do textile and other handwork, to spin fairytales and other stories, to guess riddles, sing and dance. In the Christian tradition Christmas is the birth of God's son, but in traditional Latvian culture it is the rebirth of the Sun maiden.

  5. During Christmas rooms are decorated with three-dimensional straw or reed ornaments that are known as lukturi, puzuri, and so on.Traditional decoration - "puzurs" is not only beautiful, but also energetically very powerful, it perfectly cleans the space from unwanted energies.If on thread suspended "puzurs" rotates by itself, it means that it works.Puzurs is a collection of many small pyramids, and as it larger, the stronger is energy.

  6. The best known Christmas tradition is mumming .The mummers are costumed and in different masks. The most common traditional masks are bears, horses, cranes, wolfs, goats, tall women, small men, death, fortune-tellers. Led by a "father", the mummers travel from homestead to homestead or from village to village. The mummers bring a home blessing, encourage fertility, and frighten away any evil spirits.

  7. Another Christmas tradition is dragging the Yule log. This is explained as the symbolic collecting and burning of last year's problems and misfortunes. The Yule log was either dragged by the people of one farmstead or several neighbourstogether. This was accompanied by songs, singing games, and various sounding instruments.

  8. An important part of Christmas is also rich feast, the year ended and have been harvested. On theChristmas table had to bepig snouts, peas, beans, sausages, pies and other delicious things. Each dish had its own symbolic meaningEat peas - one day cry,Eat beans - one day grow weight,Eats snout - will be large writing,Eat a round cake - expected a lot of sunny days. On the Christmas table had to be peas and beans - order to be lot of money. They were definitely to eat, to next year would notcry.

  9. Nowdayspeoplebakegingerbreadcookiesandpiesandprepare a varietyofsavoury andsweettreats.

  10. ChildreninLatviabelievethat Santa Claus (alsoknownas Ziemassvētku vecītis - Christmasold man) bringstheirpresents. Thepresentareusually put undertheChristmastree. ThepresentsareopenedonduringtheEveningofChristmasEveoronChristmasDay.Oftenthepresentsaresecretly put undertreewhenpeoplearenotaround (suchaswhenpeopleareatChurch). Sometimes to get a presentyouhave to recite a shortpoemwhilestandingnext to theChristmasTree! BeforeChristmaschildrenlearn to saypoemsbyheart. Youmightalsoget a presentbysinging, playing a musicicalinstrumentordoing a dance!

  11. Some Old Christmas Beliefs • On Christmas Eve you have to eat 9 different foods at one sitting then next year will be a wealthy year. • In order not to run out of money in the New Year then you mustn’t spend all your money at Christmas. • On Christmas Eve must run barefoot around the house three times, so not hurt teeth • On Christmas Eve all candles should burn for Happiness see where to walk. • On Christmas Eve keep the bread, salt and fire on the table, then the next year will be a boon. • On the Christmas table had to be peas and beans - order to be lot of money. They were definitely to eat, to next year would notcry.

  12. The first documenteduseof a treeatChristmasandNewYearcelebrationsisintownsquareofRiga, thecapitalofLatvia, intheyear 1510. Inthesquarethereis a plaquewhichisengravedwith "The First NewYearsTreeinRigain 1510", ineightlanguages. The treemighthavebeen a 'ParadiseTree' ratherthan a 'real' tree. Notmuchisknownaboutthetree, apart fromthat it wasattendedbymenwearingblackhats, andthatafter a ceremonytheyburntthetree. ThisislikethecustomoftheYuleLog. YoucanfindoutmoreabouttheRigaTreefromthisgreatwebsite: www.firstchristmastree.com

  13. THANK YOU!

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