Trafalgar Christmas Tree

Each leaf speaks, bud blooms and birds chirp welcoming ‘cristes maesse’ or Christmas. And what made this Christmas of mine so special was a discovery that the Trafalgar Christmas tree is a just not any other tree, rather it is a symbol of gratitude, hope, faith and goodwill. 

Donated every year since 1947, by the people of Oslo to Londoners, the Picea abies or Norway spruce is given to express heartfelt thanks for the latter’s support to Norway in the Second World War. The 65^th majestic tree, 70 feet tall and decorated with 500 white lights, spoke in traditional Norwegian style, ‘La det bli lys’ or let there be light.

From the 1^st of December, carol singing events are organized for everyone. Christmas carols by other charitable societies too are planned in the Square. My faith in humanity, in essential goodness was reaffirmed and that’s what the tree stands for!  

On the twelfth day, the tree is converted to mulch that provides food and life to organisms. Jeb Dickerson’s words resonate in my ears when I watch the tree in its glory, ‘The trees are whispering to me, reminding me of my roots, and my reach... shhhhhh... can you hear them? Selflessly sharing their subtle song.’

Hanukkah-Festival of Lights

Festival of Hanukkah has a rich history and very less known to the people of the world. Celebrated in the months of November or December of the western calendar, Hanukkah means rededication, or celebrating for one of the greatest miracles that occurred in the Jewish history, around 2500 years ago.

 

The story goes like this...  A small group of Jews called the Maccabees won over the Syrian Greeks by recapturing the Jerusalem kingdom in a three year war. This small group then rededicated the temple to the Divine. They found the oil (with a curse that if used, it would last for a day). To celebrate their victory, Maccabees lighted the menorah (seven branched lamp stand) in the temple and miraculously it stayed alight for eight days. Thus, this festival is celebrated in the span of eight days.

Jews celebrate this festival by lighting one candle each night and reciting prayers before lighting them. These candles are lighted by the Shamash or servant candle from the right to left. This is called as lighting the Menorah. These candles sticks are called as hanukiah. 

Jews also indulge in playing games like spinning the dreidels ( dreidels are in square shaped boxes that have letter inscribed on each of its faces that have symbolic meanings). The festive platter includes potatoes, salads, brisket, salmon, donuts and other fired and dairy food products.

 

El Colacho

Occasions very often make human life easy; in fact, very easy. How? Well, a legend or lore can actually decide what is good and what is bad, differentiate between black and white, define an angel and a saint, and proclaim someone as a Satan or a God. El Colacho, the Spanish Baby Jumping Festival organized by the Brotherhood of Santisimo Sacramento de Minerva is one such strange occasion.

As part of the Catholic feast of Corpus Christi, the village of Castrillo de Murcia near Burgos holds the El Colacho festival in late May or early June. The festival includes two role players, El Colacho, a devil, and El Atabalero, his companion, who participate in the event with the babies, who are believed to be impure. Three days before the holy Sunday, the two devils terrorize the people with all their pranks.  

On Sunday, you witness an apocalypse, as the children and clergy march from the Church and come out on the streets. The babies, aging a month to a year, are laid on mattresses. As they wait for their deliverance, El Colacho leaps over the babies and purges the evil, thereby saving the village from sins and vices.

Day of the Dead

In today’s world, where people are obsessed with prolonging life,  I was amazed by when I heard of the eccentric few who celebrated death.

Practiced for more than 3,000 years, the Day of the Dead or Dia de los Muertos is celebrated on the 1^st and 2^nd of November in Mexico. An empty room is converted into an altar. Favorite ofrendas (offerings) are laid out for the dead, as it is believed that the dead visit their living relatives to communicate. Some of the ofrendas stand for elements of nature that directly or indirectly create a human form. The perishable eatables represent the Earth, paper cut-outs stand for Wind, a wash-bowl or a basin for Water, and candles for Fire. Apart from these things, wooden skull, crosses, wreaths and flowers too are placed on the altar.

A large city parade, visit to the graveyard or creating an altar - everything says that death in this land is celebrated, embraced, sometimes mocked but seldom feared. As the Nobel winning Mexican writer Octavio Paz says in the Labyrinth of Solitude: “death is not hidden away: he looks at it face to face, with impatience, disdain or irony."