CHRISTMAS SUPERSTITIONS

These superstitions come from every corner of the world.  Some of them are quite funny and others; you just wonder where they came up with this stuff. 

• At Midnight on Christmas Eve, all water turns to wine, cattle kneel facing toward the east, horses kneel and blow as if to warm the manger, animals can speak but it is bad for a human to hear them, and bees hum the Hundredth Psalm.

• The Irish believe that the gates of heaven open at midnight on Christmas Eve.  Those who die at that time go straight through without having to wait in purgatory.
• It is considered very lucky to be born on Christmas Eve or Christmas day in most countries.  However, in Greece the child is feared to be a Kallikantzaroi or a wandering spirit.  In Poland the child may turn out to be a werewolf.  (This explains a lot about a person I know that was born on Christmas Eve.)
• The weather on each of the 12 days of Christmas foretells what the weather will be on the corresponding month of the coming year.  (If it is rainy and dreary on the 3^rd day of Christmas then March will be rainy and dreary.)
• A game is played in Germany where a goose is blindfolded.  The girls make a circle around the goose and whoever it touches first will be the first to get married. (Poor goose)
• Place a branch of a cherry tree in water at the beginning of advent.  It will bring luck if it flowers by Christmas Day.
• In Devonshire, England there is way of foretelling the future of a young lady.  If she raps at the hen house door on Christmas Eve and the rooster crows, she will marry within a year.
• In Greece it was a tradition to burn old shoes during the Christmas season.  This would prevent misfortunes in the coming year.
• It is bad luck to let any fire go out in the house during the Christmas season.  The fire in the fireplace should continually burn for the 12 days of Christmas. (The 12 days of Christmas start on December 25 to January 6)

• If the husband brings the Christmas holly into the house first, he will rule the house for the coming year.  But, if the wife is first, she will rule.

• If you eat a raw egg before eating anything else on Christmas morning, you will be able to carry heavy weights. (This is not recommended due to the chance of getting food poisoning from raw eggs)
• In Hertfordshire, England a plum cake is stuck on a cow’s horn on Christmas Eve.  Cider is then thrown into her face.  If the cake falls forward there will be a good harvest the next year. 
• During the recitation of Christ’s genealogy at Christmas Eve Midnight Mass, buried treasure reveals itself. (I guess if you find buried treasure on midnight Christmas Eve you would prove yourself to be a heathen as you were obviously not at church)
• If you do not eat plum pudding during the season, you will have bad luck for a year.
• If you refuse mince pie at Christmas dinner, you will have bad luck for a year.
• A loaf of bread left on the table after Christmas Eve dinner will ensure no lack of bread for the next year.
• If an apple is eaten at midnight on Christmas Eve good health will ensue for a year.
• Count how many people eat mince pie in your house during Christmas.  That number is the number of happy months you will have in the coming year.
• The people from Scotland believe that anyone born on Christmas will have the power to see spirits and command them.
• English mothers used to take sick babies to the door Christmas Eve midnight.  Mary was supposed to pass through with the Christ Child.  If the baby recovered it was a sign that it had been touched by Jesus with healing hands.  If it died the Christ Child had called the baby to be His playmate in heaven.
• A variation of the above belief states that there is a certain group of Christmas angels sent to earth commissioned to awaken a new born infant from its first sleep and carry it to heaven.  There it is honored by being placed in the choir of the Christ Child.

• In the ancient Duchy of Swabia girls went to the wood pile on Christmas Even to draw sticks.  If they drew a long stick their future husband would be tall.  If they picked a thick one he would be stout.  If a crooked one was drawn he would be deformed.  His business could be determined by dropping melted lead into a pan of cold water.  The lead would resemble the insignia of his occupation.  If it was shoe shaped he would be a cobbler, hammer shaped he would be a carpenter, etc.
• In Bohemia the girls would go into the night and stand in the garden.  They would take a branch of Elder and cry loudly, “Sweet Elder, I shake, I shake.  Tell me ye dogs that wake, where is my lover tonight?”  They would wait for the sound of a dog’s bark and a lover would be expected to come from that direction.
• A maiden would set a bowl of water outside a window to freeze on Christmas Eve.  The form which the ice took would determine her future husband’s occupation.
• In Spain everyone treats cows very kindly because it is believed that cattle breathed upon the Christ Child to keep him warm.
• To dream of a black cat on Christmas Eve is the sign of a terrible illness.
• Tie wet bands of straw around fruit trees to make them fruitful, or tie a stone to a branch on Christmas Eve.
• If you steal hay on Christmas Eve and feed the cattle they will thrive and you will not be caught in future thefts.

• Two types of grain are poured on plates on St. Barbara’s Day (Dec.4^th) in France.  The percentage that grows determines the harvest for the year.  The plate is used as a table decoration for Christmas Day.
• Nothing sown on Christmas Eve will perish, even if the seed is sown in snow in the Netherlands.
• On Christmas Eve take an onion and place a slice in each of twelve bowls.  Put salt on each and place in a row giving each the name of the 12 months.  In the morning check and see on which onion slices the salt is wet.  These months will be raining months.
• To pick apples or nuts from the ground on Christmas will bring sores to your body.
• When a Bohemian wife burns a Christmas cake she believes she will die within a year. (If this were true, I wouldn’t be here to write this)
• In Demark some of the bread baked at Christmas is kept until sowing time.  It is then crumbled and mixed with the seed to insure a bountiful harves
• In Germany the crumbs from the Christmas table are shaken on the soil.  This is supposed to cause a small plant known as the Crumbwort to grow.  This little plant is said to have great healing powers.
• In England, bread baked on Christmas will never become moldy.
• In the Netherlands a stick is thrust into the fire and it is permitted to burn partially.  After it cools it is put under the bed.  This serves as lightening insurance. 
• In middle Europe you will be able to see spirits if the light goes out on Christmas Eve.  If Elder is burned on Christmas Eve all bad witches will be revealed to you.
• In Scandinavia some families place all their shoes together as this will cause them to live in harmony throughout the year.
• Never launder a Christmas present before giving it to the specified recipient as this takes out all the good luck. (Great idea, less work for me)

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