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Christmas season celebrations in Australia
Christmas season celebrations in Australia
Violet Teague (1872-1951), Adoration of Pastors, 1931, oil on canvas. Photograph by Colin Holden. Image courtesy of the Anglican Church of Australia Archive.
Celebrate Christmas in many parts of the world on 25 December. Protestant and Roman Catholic churches hold Christmas Day services on 25 December. The Eastern churches – the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, Russian Orthodox Church and the Armenian church – celebrate Christmas on 6 or 7 January. There have been rituals, parties and celebrations at this time of year for thousands of years.
The Birth of Jesus
Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. Christians believe that Jesus is "the Son of God, the Messiah sent from Heaven to save the world.
The "Christmas Carol" speaks of the birth of Jesus in a stable in Bethlehem, the angels announcing the birth to shepherds in the fields, and the Magi (wise men from the East) to visit the stable and offer gifts to the newborn.
The origins of Christmas
A Roman almanac confirms that on 25 December was used to celebrate Christmas in 336 AD, although it was almost 600 years after the church created a liturgy – a service of worship public – for the occasion.
The choice of date is believed to have been influenced by the winter solstice in the Northern Hemisphere, and ancient rituals coincided with the pagan solstice. These rituals include the happy days in Greece, a period of calm and goodwill when it was believed that the sea was calm for birds to lay eggs, and the Roman celebration of Saturnalia, a festival of the god Saturn, which involved wild parties, exchanging gifts and suspension temporary social divisions between slaves and masters.
Christmas traditions and symbols
A photo of Santa arriving at the beach by boat. Image courtesy of the National Archives of Australia: A1500, K26950.
Christmas trees are part of a long tradition of greenery being taken into the house at Christmas to brighten the winter sad. Mistletoe was popular with Druid priests because it remained green throughout the winter. Holly placed over the door was believed to ward off evil. Placement of the branches of trees the house was first recorded in 1494, and early 1600s there are records of fir trees being decorated with apples.
The story of Santa Claus has its origin in the legends surrounding the humble generosity of St. Nicholas, whose feast is celebrated on 06 December. St. Nicholas was a fourth century Christian bishop of Myra (in Turkey) who became the Patron Saint of Children. In Germany and Poland, children dressed as bishops begging for the poor. Later, the child Christkindlein Christ 'is said to have accompanied the likes of Nicholas in his travels. 1822 poem "Twas the Night Before Christmas forged the link and St. Nicholas (Santa Claus, Pere Noel, Type Christ, Kriss Kringle or sintering Klass) became known as Santa Claus.
Christmas in the southern hemisphere
The heat of early summer in Australia has an impact on how Australians celebrate Christmas and how to follow the northern hemisphere Christmas traditions.
In the weeks leading up to Christmas houses are decorated, sent greeting cards, Christmas Carols, Christmas trees installed in homes, schools and places public, and children delight in anticipating a visit from Santa Claus. On Christmas Day family and friends gather to exchange gifts and enjoy lunch Christmas special.
Many Australians spend Christmas away from home, go to the beach for the day, or heading camping for a longer break during the period Christmas holiday. It has become traditional for international visitors who are in Sydney at Christmas time to go to Bondi Beach where up to 40,000 people Christmas Day visit.
Carols and music
Christmas tree in Martin Place, Sydney 2005. File photo. Copyright Commonwealth of Australia.
The tradition of a carol service in Australia on Christmas Eve candlelit started in 1937 by radio announcer Norman Banks. This service has been held outside in Melbourne every year since then.
Carols by Candlelight events today range from large meetings, which are televised live throughout the country, small local community and church events. Carols in the Domain Sydney has become a popular platform for the stars of stage and music.
Some unique Australian carols have become popular and are included alongside the more traditional carols sung at carol services and religious services Christmas: John Wheeler, the drovers Three is perhaps the best known of them.
Many of Australia cheerful Christmas songs have become a essential part of the Australian Christmas experience. These include Rolf Harris Six White Boomers, Colin Buchanan's Aussie Jingle Bells and the Australian Twelve Days of Christmas.
Christmas plants
Denise Greig, nobilis Blandfordia – Christmas bells. Image courtesy of Australia Botanical Garden Domestic: A6952.
There are many plants native to Australia in bloom during the Christmas season. Several have become known as 'Christmas plants' in various parts of the country, including Christmas bells, Christmas bush and Christmas orchid.
When Europeans first arrived in Australia were delighted that they could pick wildflowers resembling bells and bright green foliage covered with red or white flowers to use as Christmas decorations. This was in sharp contrast to the bare trees and dormant gardens they had left behind in Europe.
Food
Christmas in Australia comes at the beginning of summer and many people no longer serve a traditional roast dinner hot. Cold turkey and ham, seafood and salads are often served in place. It has even become acceptable to serve the traditional plum sweet bread with cream, ice cream or cream. Pavlova, a meringue topped with whipped cream and fresh fruit, and several versions of ice cream party cake has also come to be popular Christmas desserts.
The Organization of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIRO) and Coles the company are working on a project to cultivate native foods. They are working with Mandawuy Yunupingu (Yothu Yindi the band) and Aboriginal communities to produce sufficient quantities for sale in supermarkets in Australia. The aim is to give all Australians a Bush Tucker Christmas.
Film and TV
Cover Wombat Divine by Mem Fox. Image courtesy of Mem Fox
The films Bush Christmas (1947) starring Chips Rafferty and the new version and Principe Great Race in 1983 (with Nicole Kidman), and Miracle Down Under starring John Waters (Bushfire telecast as Luna) are ideas about Australian culture early Christmas. Many television series of Christmas episodes have been used to explore the changing culture of Christmas in Australia.
Children's stories
Australia children grow up enjoying traditional Christmas stories and Clarke Moore 'Clemente was the night before Christmas and Dickens "A Christmas Carol by Charles, but the authors and illustrators of children are beginning to create truly Australian Christmas children's literature. One favorite is Wombat Divine by Mem Fox, while a more recent addition is Aussie Night Before Christmas by Yvonne Morrison.
The Major Event
The Christmas holiday is an opportunity for sports fans to enjoy two major sporting events. On December 26 is the day of the inauguration of the 'Boxing Day Test' between the Australian cricket team and a part of an international tour at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. This has been well attended since the first game in 1950 and seen by many others on television. In Sydney one of the world of ocean racing's most prestigious, Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, starting on Boxing Day from Sydney Harbour.
Indigenous Australians
A. Shnukal, celebrating the coming of the Light in Kemus on the anniversary of the arrival of the Missionary Society of London July 1, 1871. Darnley Island, Torres Strait. Image courtesy of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies Unit at the University of Queensland.
Indigenous Dreamtime stories obviously do not include Christmas. However, this date coincides with the calendar other seasonal changes. In Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, the Yolngu Aboriginal observe the last season of his cycle of six of the season. Gudjewg, the wet season begins in late December.
Many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities include Christian groups within them the to celebrate Christmas. Ntaria Choir in Hermannsburg, via Alice Springs, Northern Territory, has a unique musical language of the mixture of the traditional voices of Ntaria women with Lutheran chorales – the hymn tunes that were the basis of much of JS Bach's music.
Waiyar Baba, a popular traditional hymn of the Torres Strait islands, appears on the debut album by Solomon Lexin This is the Woman (2003) – which shows the influence of gospel music mixed traditionally strong voices Strait Islander and country music. Significantly, the Torres Strait Islanders Celebrate 'comes from the Light' on 1 July, the day the London Missionary Society landed on the island of Erub in 1871.
Modern Indigenous Christmas celebrations are beginning to take on the elements traditional knowledge of indigenous culture. The Department of Conservation and Land Management in Western Australia offers a celebration of Christmas through the organization of activities that encourages people to participate in Christmas activities with guides Nyoongar Bush.
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