December Days and Dalliances

In the Anglo-Saxon calendar, winter solstice is called Geola, aka Yule, and the months (starting with the first visible crescent of the new moon) before and after that are Aerra Geola, “Before Yule,” and Aeftera Geola, “After Yule.” Since the next “new” (dark) moon occurs on Dec. 19, by the time we can actually spot that sliver of a backwards C that marks a new moon-month, it’ll be the winter solstice, Dec. 21. Yet, according to Byron Pendason on Mine Wyrtruman, a website devoted to the Anglo-Saxon calendar, that date would be the beginning of “Before Yule.” If we still followed the Anglo-Saxon calendar, that is.

The name December is from the Romans, for whom it was the tenth month of the year, which I explained in my November and October Days entries, so I won’t repeat it yet again here.

Last month I wrote that the Ojibwe name for the full moon in November was the Freezing-Over moon, which I got from a website called Ojibwe.net. Then I noticed that everyone else (that is, a few people on social media) called it the Beaver moon, so I searched and found a few websites claiming that was the “Native American” name for our last full moon, but they all cited the same Farmers Almanac website as their source, which did not reveal where they got their information.

The real problem with that, though, is that there are 574 federally recognized tribes in the United States, so it’s no surprise that there are a few different Native names for each moon! What the various names that I noticed have in common is that they relate to observable phenology, so perhaps the different names reveal something about what is happening in the natural world where the different tribes are located.

I live in Minnesota, home to both Ojibwe and Dakotah people, so I looked again, this time for the Dakotah moon names and landed on the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community in Minnesota, where they state that the traditional Dakotah New Year begins in spring (like the Romans!), which I have taken to mean that the first moon of the year would be the one that follows the spring equinox. That would make the November full moon the ninth one of the year, which they label the Tree Popping Moon, followed by the Time of Hardship Moon in December. In years when there are 13 full moons, they insert a Midsummer or Midwinter moon, whichever is appropriate.

Back to the Ojibwe website, the December lunar orb is either the Winter Moon, the Big Winter Moon, or the Little Spirit Moon, depending on which dialect of Anishinaabe a community speaks.

Sun., Nov. 30. In most non-Orthodox churches, Advent begins on the fourth Sunday before Christmas and involves a ritual of lighting the five candles on the advent wreath, with one candle lit each of the Sundays preceding Christmas Day, and the fifth (center) candle lit on Christmas Eve, each accompanied with the reading of a portion of the Biblical story pertaining to the birth of Jesus. Many congregations also decorate their churches in a festival called Hanging of the Greens; I have a zine relating a “tiny memory” about this in a particular year in which I got my first hint that our Christmas traditions weren’t as uniquely “Christian” as I had thought.

Orthodox Christians observe a version of Advent beginning Nov. 15, 40 days before Christmas. Called the Nativity Fast, it is comparable to Lent in its emphasis on a more quiet, restrained and spiritual period of preparation.

The secular observance of Advent begins December 1 regardless of what day that is, and involves opening numbered flaps or compartments on an Advent calendar, revealing a picture or small gift for each of the 24 days leading up to Christmas. Some Advent calendars number 25 and include an item for Christmas Day.

Mon., 1. Founded in 1988 in the UK, World AIDS Day was the first global “day” focused on a health issue. Its purpose is to raise awareness, knowledge, and funds in the continuing fight against HIV. 

Sat., 6. St. Nicholas was a fourth-century bishop in Myra, in what is now Turkey. He was known for his exemplary life and generosity to the poor. Various legends arose since his death on Dec. 6, 343, that have given rise to gift-giving traditions on his feast day and on Christmas Day. Many Orthodox churches are named for St. Nicholas (those that follow the old calendar observe his day on Dec. 19). He is the patron saint of children, sailors, and much more.

But he is perhaps best known as a December gift giver, and is celebrated in dozens of countries with the custom of giving gifts to children secretly and saying they are from St. Nicholas, often modified to Santa Claus. In European countries, gifts are given on St. Nicholas Day.

Sun., 7. Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day commemorates the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor naval base in Hawaii by Japanese Imperial forces that killed more than 2000 people and catapulted the US into World War II. Near the same time, but technically on Dec. 8 because it was across the international dateline, Japan also attacked US bases in the Philipines.

Mon., 8. Bodhi Day commemorates when the Buddha attained enlightenment while sitting under a Bodhi tree aka Ficus religiosa (“sacred fig”).

Feast of the Immaculate Conception commemorates the conception of Mary, the mother of Jesus. It means that, while she was conceived naturally, her soul was “immaculate”—without original sin.

Wed., 10. Human Rights Day Commemorates the 1948 adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations.

Fri., 12. Our Lady of Guadalupe is a major festival in Mexico, and in the US wherever Mexican Americans live. It commemorates the events of 1531, when Juan Diego, a Nahuatl Native, reported seeing the Virgin Mary near Guadalupe, and subsequently convinced the presiding bishop to build a church in her honor. Juan Diego was canonized in 2002, becoming the first indigenous American saint. Celebrations include a procession, songs, Indigenous dance performances, and other customs showcasing Mexican heritage.

Sat., Dec. 13. St. Lucia was a Sicilian Christian martyred in the 4th century. The legends surrounding her, like those of pretty much all saints, are many and convoluted and doubtful; one of them tells that she brought food to Christians hiding in dark tunnels during a time of persecution, wearing a crown of candles to light her way while keeping her hands free to carry the food. In Scandinavian countries, this is re-enacted by a young woman wearing a wreath of candles on her head and bearing a tray of cardamom buns, or some such food.

Sun., Dec. 14 at sunset–Mon. Dec. 22. Hanukkah is an eight-day “Festival of Lights” celebrating Jewish culture and religious freedom. It commemorates events that occurred in the second century BCE, specifically the recovery and rededication of the second temple of Jerusalem, after the army of King Antiochus had captured and desecrated the temple and named it in honor of Zeus. The Syrian king had also outlawed Judaism.

Sun., Dec. 14 to Mon., Jan. 5. The Christmas Bird Count is a citizen science project of the Audubon society, started in 1900 by Frank M. Chapman to replace a custom known as the Christmas side hunt, in which people went out in teams to shoot birds and other animals simply to see which team could amass a bigger pile of dead animals.

Tue., 16. Day of Reconciliation is a South African holiday established in 1994 to foster better relations between racial groups; it replaced a holiday known as Day of the Vow, which had celebrated the Afrikaner victory over the Zulus at the Battle of Blood River in 1838.

Sun., 21. The winter solstice occurs today at 9:03 a.m. Central Time, when the sun is directly above the Tropic of Capricorn. For the Northern Hemisphere, this is the longest night. Yule is the Germanic/Scandinavian name for the pagan winter solstice festival whose customs were merged with the Christian celebration of Christmas in Europe during the Middle Ages.

Thu., 25. Christmas is both a religious and a secular holiday, and a day off in many countries around the world: Wikipedia lists 163 countries and two territories where it’s a public holiday. In the US, it did not become a federal holiday until 1870, and even then it was an unpaid day off for federal employees in D.C. It became a paid federal holiday in 1938. Most of the customs we associate with Christmas in the US were started in the 19th century.

The Twelve Days of Christmas begin at sunset on Dec. 25 and end with Twelfth Night on Jan. 5, the eve of Epiphany, following the old custom of a day beginning at sunset, which is still the practice for Jewish and Muslim holidays.

Fri., 26. Boxing Day is a holiday in the UK and many former British colonies. In the middle ages it was a day off for servants and tradesmen to visit family after the holiday, who were given a box of gifts to take with them, generally food and cash.

This is also the feast day of St. Stephen, the first Christian martyr, whose death by stoning is related in the Acts of the Apostles.

In South Africa, it’s Day of Goodwill, meant to be a time to spend with family.

The Makotah Reconciliation and Healing Horse Ride concludes today at Reconciliation Park in Mankato, Minnesota, honoring the 38 Dakotah men executed there on Dec. 26, 1862, and two more hanged two years later, after the US-Dakotah War of 1862. The ride on horseback begins Dec. 10 at Fort Thompson on the Crow Creek Reservation in South Dakota, and covers 330 miles.

Fri., 26–Thu., Jan 1. Kwanzaa is a seven-day celebration of family, community and culture, featuring traditional African virtues such as unity, cooperative economics, self-determinaton, and more. It was started in 1966 by Dr. Maulana Karenga, taking the name of the festival and its themes from Swahili, the most widely spoken African language.