Displaying items by tag: celebration

Across the world, Christmas is celebrated through traditions shaped by history, folklore, and local culture. In Sweden, the 43-foot-tall Gävle Goat raised every year traces back to Norse mythology, where goats symbolise strength, provision, and divine power. Venezuela offers a joyful twist by combining faith and festivity as communities roller-skate through the streets towards early-morning Mass. In the Philippines, colourful handmade lanterns light up the season, symbolising hope and the Star of Bethlehem on warm tropical nights. Catalonia’s playful Tió de Nadal (a wooden log with four legs which must be looked after so that it ‘defecates’ presents on Christmas Day) reflects a homely, humorous approach to generosity. In Ukrainian folklore a spider is said to have decorated a poor family’s Christmas tree with beautiful cobwebs, so a spider ornament is often found on a tree today. In Italy, a good witch called Le Befana, for ever chasing after Christmas on her broomstick, visits homes on 5 January with gifts. Together, these customs remind us that Christmas traditions often carry layers of meaning - some ancient, some playful, some spiritual - inviting reflection on how the story of Christ has been received, reimagined, and celebrated across cultures and generations.

When Rachael Prescott was expecting twins she was advised six times to abort them after they were diagnosed with Down’s syndrome. She was inundated with condolences and health scaremongering because they also had heart conditions. Doctors were more concerned that the children might have Down’s syndrome than with their cardiac situation. They were pressurised for genetic testing and abortion. The Prescotts refused the tests and Charlotte and Annette had Down’s syndrome, but only Charlotte had a heart defect. Rachael said, ‘We hope in the future to direct expectant parents away from false preconceptions and towards what we have found to fill us with so much joy. We celebrate our twins.’ See also world article on abortion deaths.

In 1867, two visitors to Ottoman Palestine separately showed that Palestine had declined since the Jews had left. First a British archaeologist, Charles Warren, conducted major excavations of Jerusalem’s Temple Mount and found relics of King David’s city; then American writer Mark Twain, after visiting the Holy Land, wrote a hugely popular travel memoir entitled ‘The Innocents Abroad, or the New Pilgrims’ Progress’. In 1917 the British defeated the Ottoman Empire and took control of Palestine. On 2 November 1917 they issued the Balfour Declaration pledging to support the establishment of a Jewish national home in the territory. In 1948, Zionists drove the British out of Palestine and founded the state of Israel. Then, when Israel captured eastern Jerusalem and its holy sites from Jordan in the 1967 Six-Day War, some claimed the messianic era was nigh.