Solstice Traditions Around the World
On this traditional festival of lights in Scandinavia, girls wear white dresses with red sashes and wreaths of candles on their head as an homage to the candles this martyr wore when she brought food to persecuted Romans.
What is St Lucia's Day?
What did one snowman say to the other snowman?
Do you smell carrots?
In Peru this "sun festival" is celebrated by offering golden cups of Chicha to the sunrise. The Incas used a mirror to focus the sun's rays and kindle a fire.
What is Inti Raymi?
Definition: (of animal or plant) spending the winter in a dormant state
What is hibernating?
How do you scare a snowman?
Show him a hair dryer.
In this Hopi tradition, the Sun Chief announces the setting of the sun on the solstice. This starts an all-night ceremony with fires, dancing, and sometimes gift-giving.
What is Soyal?
Definition: a plant that retains green leaves throughout the year.
What is an evergreen?
What did the doctor say to the gingerbread man when he came in complaining of a sore knee.
What is "Ice it."?
This holiday will be celebrated on February 12, 2021 and begins the Year of the Ox.
What is the Lunar New Year (Chinese New Year)?
Iranians celebrate the triumph of Mithra, the Sun God, over darkness in this ancient festival. People gather together to protect each other from evil, burning fires and performing charitable acts.
What is Shab-e Yalda?
In pre-Christian Scandinavia, this holiday was celebrated for 12 days during the solstice, which included feasting and a ceremonial burning of a log.
What is Yule?
Definition: a caribou of the tundra and subarctic regions of Eurasia and North America, both sexes of which have large branching antlers. (It is a common menu item in Scandinavia).
What is a reindeer?
What do you get when you cross a snowman with a vampire?
What is "Frostbite"?
This holiday is a week-long celebration that honors African heritage in African-American culture. It culminates in a feast and gift-giving and honrs seven principles.
What is Kwanzaa?
In China this celebration of the winter solstice is believed by many people to be the day when everyone gets one year older.
What is Dong Zhi?
This landmark in Ireland's Boyne Valley was built to mark the winter solstice and aligns perfectly with the sun at that point.
What is Newgrange?
Definition: a leather-leaved parasitic plant that grows on apple, oak, and other broadleaf trees and bears white glutinous berries in winter.
What is mistletoe?
How do snowmen fix things?
They use igloo.
This "holiday," popularized by the TV show "Seinfeld," is celebrated on December 23 as an alternative to the pressures and commercialism of the Christmas season.
What is Festivus?