Twenty-Five Interesting Christmas Facts

I apologize for being late. In case you didn’t realize, late should be my middle name. LOL!. There was gift wrapping, shopping, critiquing and writing, oh, my! And don’t even ask me what’s going on with the Christmas pie. I asked if the DH is I could bake and since he doesn’t want me around knives, it takes the fun out of the whole scenario. So as you can tell, I’m getting ready, or trying to, for Christmas.

While I have to agree Christmas can be very politically incorrect, I do find the holiday season the best time of year. During the rest of the year, all of us are bound by our own daily lives leaving us little time to pay attention to everything around us with the detail we seem to lavish upon the season. It is at this time we think of others: family, friends, underprivileged people, what’s happening in the rest of the world and kids.

But for me, I also love all the shows and the history that seems to abound. I am always finding something new out about the season. With that in mind, I have prepared this list of interesting facts.

1. An Ukrainian folk tale tells us about a woman who was so poor that she couldn’t afford decorations for her family. Being very sad, she went to bed that night to awake in the morning to find that spiders had trimmed her children’s tree with their shiny beautiful webs which shone silver and gold in the bright sun. So, if you’re ever in the Ukraine for Christmas, look for that spider web in the tree, it is believed to be the harbinger of good luck. Today, an artificial spider and web is often included in the decorations. This is more than likely the source of tinsel on the tree.

2. Mistletoe is a parasitic plant which grows on other trees. The custom of kissing under the mistletoe may come from ancient Scandinavia where mistletoe was associated with peace and friendship. If enemies happened to meet under a tree laden with mistletoe, they would be required to declare a truce for a day then seal it with the kiss of peace. Another theory is that it started in England with the Druids who believed mistletoe sacred and a charm against evil. It is said, they used golden sickles to harvest it and kept it from touching the ground. It was caught it in the folds of their priestly garments as it dropped from the trees above.

3. In India, they decorate banana trees at Christmas time.

4. According to tradition, giving a lump of coal in the stockings of naughty children comes from Italy.

5. Frumenty was a spiced porridge, enjoyed by both rich and poor. It was a forerunner of modern Christmas puddings. It is linked in legend to the Celtic god Dagda, who stirred a porridge made up of all the good things of the earth.

6. The poinsettia is a traditional Christmas flower. In Mexico (its original birthplace), the poinsettia is known as the "Flower of the Holy Night."

7. In Italy, the Urn of Fate is brought out on Christmas Eve. In it there is one wrapped gift for every family member. The first to try her luck is the matriach of the family, followed by the rest. If you get the present with your name on it, you get to keep it, otherwise you return the gift to the Urn and try again until you succeed.

8. Alabama was the first state in the USA to declare Christmas a legal holiday in 1836. Oklahoma was the last state to do so in 1907.

9. In England, during the years between 1649 and 1690, Oliver Cromwell banned Christmas Carols as well as other celebrations because he thought that Christmas should be a very solemn day. The only celebration allowed was by a sermon and a prayer service.

10. The actual gift givers are different in various countries:
England: Father Christmas
France: Pere Noel (Father Christmas)
Germany: Christkind (angelic messenger from Jesus), she is a beautiful fair-haired girl with a shining crown of candles.
Holland: St Nicholas.
Russia: In some parts - Babouschka (a grandmotherly figure), other parts it is Grandfather Frost.
Scandinavia: A variety of Christmas gnomes. One is called Julenisse.
Spain and South America: The Three Kings
Italy: La Befana (a kindly old witch)

11. December 26 was traditionally known as St. Stephen's Day, but is more commonly known as Boxing Day. This expression came about because money was collected in alms-boxes placed in churches during the festive season. This money was then distributed to the poor and needy after Christmas.

12. Some people connect modern traditions related to Father Christmas to ancient Celtic or pagan religion. Santa' elves are considered to be the modernization of the Nature folk while reindeers are believed to represent the Horned God, which was one of the Pagan deities.

13. In the Middle Ages, Boar's head used to be a traditional Christmas dish. This custom started when a bear attacked a university student and he saved himself by ramming a book of Aristotle's writings down its throat. The bear choked to death and then he cut off its head and brought it back to his college.

14. Handed down from Druids, burning Yule Log as a good luck charm was part of the ancient 12-day Christmas celebration.

15. During the years from 1887 to 1933, a fishing schooner called the 'Christmas Ship' used to sell spruce trees from Michigan to Chicagoans.

16. Mark Carr of New York started first Christmas tree retail lot in the United States, in 1851.

17. The Christmas tree was decorated for the first time in Riga, Latvia, in the year 1510.

18. The origin of celebrating on December 25 didn’t start with Christians, it actually started with the Romans as they celebrated the birth of Mithra, the god of the unconquerable sun. Also celebrated during the time of the winter solstice was Juvenalia, a feast to honor the children of Rome and Saturnalia to honor the god Saturn who was over all agricultural things. The birth of Jesus was not celebrated on this day until the fourth century when Pope Julius I chose this day to celebrate. It is thought that the Catholic church chose this day to absorb the pagan holidays into their own.

19. Until the turkey, a goose was the most popular fare served at a Christmas meal.

20. The popular Christmas carol Silent Night was written by an Austrian priest named Joseph Mohr in 1818 as a result of a broken church organ.

21. Santa has a calculated 31 hours to thanks to the different time zones and the rotation of the earth, assuming he travels east to west. US scientists calculated that Santa would have to visit 822 homes a second to deliver all the world's presents on Christmas Eve, travelling at 650 miles a second.

22. Poet Clark Moore is credited with naming Santa’s reindeer; Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donder and Blitzen.

23. The tradition of putting tangerines in stockings comes from 12th-century French nuns who left socks full of fruit, nuts and tangerines at the houses of the poor.

24. There is no reference to angels singing anywhere in the Bible.

25. Jingle Bells was the first song broadcast from space when Gemini 6 astronauts Tom Stafford and Wally Schirra sang it on December 16, 1965.

And my favorite, making the total actually twenty-six, the chances of a white Christmas are just 1 in 10 for England and Wales, and 1 in 6 for Scotland and Northern Ireland.

I’ve always pictured a home in the Highlands with snow around it at Christmas. Another hope dashed. Sigh.

No matter what you celebrate, be you Jewish, Christian, Native American, Islamic, Pagan, or any other religion of the world...enjoy the season...it only comes once a year. Family and friends are important no matter what you’re believe and that’s all you have to remember.

Have a great one! Next week, I’ll be posting the winner of my Christmas promotion here!

Lynn

A Day To Be Thankful

As everyone knows, tomorrow is turkey day here in the US. Thanksgiving commemorates a special time in early US history when Pilgrims were down on their luck the Wampanoag Indians came to their aide and taught them the ways of the land. It was 1620 and almost half of the colonists of Plymouth, Massachusetts had died that winter the Wampanoag came. It was a tough time for all made better by the presence of friends and family.

During the early years, many states had a day of thanksgiving but few were on the same day and all were declared by the state governor. Three weeks after Gettysburg, Abraham Lincoln finally consolidated all those days down to the last Thursday in November. In the mid-19th century, Sarah Josepha Hale, writer of Mary Had A Little Lamb, went on a campaign to make Thanksgiving a national holiday. Her wish was granted when in 1941, Congress made our day of thanks, a national holiday for all to enjoy.

This year, I have a lot to be thankful for in my life. I have a great local writers group, a wonderful critique group, fantastic readers who tell me I’m great. I have a fantastic family and this year I’ll be traveling to California to spend time with my husband’s family for a traditional holiday with tons of his family I haven't seen for almost a year. I also found out about five months ago that this time next year I’ll be a grandmother of twin boys. I have a lot to be thankful for and believe me, I am.

But as I’m offering thanks for what I have, I will be expressing my sorrow over so many unfortunate families where someone has lost a job, a home and the things that matter most. I know that if my in-laws go to feed the homeless, I will go with them this year. My wish is that next year it will be better for the millions who are down and out. And I'll be helping out at home as well with some of the programs in my hometown this year.

I am also thankful for RWA, MWA and SFWA who so diligently looked after their authors in the recent Harlequin debacle. As of this writing, RWA had officially kicked Harlequin out of their acceptable publishers ranks and while I may not agree with how it was done, I certainly agree that it HAD to be done. RWA had no other course of action and while that sucks for many of our well loved authors the rules apply to everyone. Nora Roberts, the best known romance author ever, threw her towel in with RWA and the romance world cheered her on. As a romance writer I’ll have to see just how this all is going to pan out before I decide if I’m ever going to submit to them.

Yes, I am very thankful for many things.

Now for the fun things...this week the winner of my new book, The Haunting of Maggie Grey...is Tracy D (booklover0226). Email me at lynncrain@cox.net to get your prize. Next week, I’ll be giving away The Thing About Elves.

Have a great week and a great Thanksgiving!

Lynn

My Christmas Elves

Wow! Can you all believe it’s almost Christmas? I can’t! It seems as if the days have gone by so fast since the last holiday season. Time flies as you get older, or so it seems.

I’m proud to announce my fourth book in my ongoing Santa’s Elves series, An Elf’s Magic, will be unveiled December 15, 2008. Isn’t the cover just absolutely wonderful? It’s sexy and hot and oh, so elf like. LOL!

In honor of this wonderful occasion, I am giving you a sneak peek into the special world of Santa’s elves. Let me give you a little bit of the setup. Lacey Sinclair is made to forget the one encounter she had with the North Pole elves because of their fear of discovery. In this scene, she’s about to become reacquainted with the one she misses the most. I hope you enjoy!

She went into the closet and pulled out another . Lacey put the bag on the bed, opened it and was surprised to find what looked like a wedding program in it. Please join us in the celebration of marriage between Aingeal Mae Locklin and Fearghus Andrew Brodie… “Wonder where this came from?” She tossed it onto the bed and saw a movement out of the corner of her eye. Cuinn had turned sheet white. She put her hand on his arm. “What’s wrong?”

He gave a quick, jerky shake of his head. “Nothing.”

“Ah, someone you fancied? I understand.”

He scowled at her. “You think I fancy…of course, you would…well, I don’t. One isn’t supposed to fancy one’s siblings.”

She threw up her hands at the tone of his voice. “Oh, I assumed by the look on your face it was someone you liked.” She looked at the paper again wondering why she didn’t associate the woman’s name with him. “It’s okay. Maybe you took someone you shouldn’t have or something. There have been some people in my past too. ”

He grabbed her arm and pulled her to him. “It’s not like that at all.”

Every contour of his body was rock solid. Her breath hitched and she tried hard to control her breathing. Licking her lips, she looked up at him and lost herself. She wanted to kiss this man, to touch him like a lover, to have him inside her as quickly as she could. Before her thoughts could get the better of her, she brought to mind images of the president, of ghandi, of Mother Teresa, but nothing would to stop her passionate feelings.
****
“Ah – hell –“ Cuinn swooped down on her and captured her lips with his. He couldn’t help himself. From the moment she walked into the conference room in the morning, all he could think about was having her in his arms. He should have told his father at the wedding last year about his desire for her but her place hadn’t cemented in his heart yet. Now there would be no stopping their bonding.

Gently, he pulled back and gazed at her. “I’ll stop if you want me to.”
Lacey quickly shook her head. “No. I’ve never felt something so right.” She pulled his head back to her and his lips captured hers with no tenderness this time, just a hard, raw need.

Still, he knew she needed tender after what had happened to her this past year. Changing the tone of his onslaught, he gently sucked her bottom lip and ran his hands softly down her arms. Rewarded with a slight shiver, he knew his eyes darkened in response to her body’s signals.

The rapid beat of her heart drummed against him. He wanted everything to be right. Trying hard to remember his lessons on sex from his father, he put up his shields knowing some people in the city would feel the energy. He snapped the glamour spell more firmly around him because there were some things she couldn’t know until they had reached the North Pole. He hoped she would forgive him once all had been revealed.

Breaking off the kiss, he breathed hard as he gently cupped her face in his hands. “Tell me to stop right now and I will because you have to be very, very sure you want this to happen.”

“I am…believe me…I am,” she whispered.

He pulled her to him again, his mouth descending on hers, seeking entry with his tongue. Trying to convey the promise of all he could offer, he moved closer to the bed, Easing his knee between her legs. She trembled around him, rubbing herself up and down on the rough fabric of his jeans, then shivered. He hoped she felt the way he did. Slowly, he lowered her to the bed and followed her down.

“I want to touch you the way a lover does.”

Don’t forget the eXtasy Christmas party everyone. It will be happening this Friday, Saturday and Sunday. There are tons of prizes! Hope to see you there!

Lynn