Out With The Old!

Out with the Old

Suddenly, it’s over! All the planning, all the traditional music, chatting with people we haven’t visited with for some time, and now.. Everyone has said their goodbyes and departed for their homes, and all is quiet.

It’s over. Time to write the ‘thank you’ notes and reflect on what had happened in such a short and happy time. Now, to locate that receipt in order to return the sweater that doesn’t  fit and get to the store tomorrow.

The first weekday after Christmas is always a busy day and storeclerks are prepared for the ‘return rush’ that has become even more important to business than ‘Black Friday”. Here, in the USA, this day has become America’s Boxing Day”. Find the box and the receipt and return it!

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In Europe, Boxing Day is “Andre juledag”, the second day of Christmas and  a public holiday to relax with family. This is also a  traditionally celebrated  day  when servants and tradesmen would receive gifts known as a "Christmas box" from their masters, employers or customers. Despite its name, Boxing Day  is not  a

 day for people to return unwanted Christmas presents. It’s a quiet day after Christmas when Norwegians are spending time probably sledding and enjoying the skii slopes with their family. Jul ( Christmas) is celebrated throughout December  traditionally until St. Knut’s Day on January 13th, a great time to say ‘hello’ to the neighbors and meet the ‘new people’.

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Answering a knock on the Norwegian door might be interesting to newcomers as they view a group dressed in weird ragged clothing with masks on their faces with perhaps a goathead on a pole singing Christmas carols. In America, a group like this would shout “Trick or Treat!”. But this time, Norse residents would be delighted to welcome them as they attempt to learn the visitor’s identities

. All would enjoy treats of nuts, oranges and baked goodies, while small gifts would be given to  children who otherwise might not be receiving anythng that jul season. These visitors are known to be”jule bokke” or Christmas fools. Then, on to the next house as they “Gå julebukk”

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The goat theme is  the oldest Christmas tradition in Scandinavia, and possibly connected to heathen worship of the Norse god Thor, who rode the sky in a chariot drawn by two goats.Usually made of  the last sheaf  of  grain bundled in the harvest , the  goat is credited with magical properties as the spirit of the harvest and saved for the Yule

celebrations, called among other things "Julbocken" (the Yule goat). In Sweden, people regarded the Yule goat as an invisible spirit that would appear some time before Christmas to make sure that the Yule preparations were done in good fashion.

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Europeans have more than one day of Christmas celebration. Their “Twelve Days of Christmas” stretch from December 25 until January 6, which is Epiphany, the day the Three Kings delivered their gifts. Here in America, we become a bit fatigued with the length of this familiar Christmas Carol of a lover’s series of  daily gifts during this time. But, perhaps we do not understand this long tune.

Perhaps, it is not a lover’s gifts to his sweetheart, but actually a religious song!

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  One theory is that Roman Catholics in England in the years 1558 until 1829 were not permitted to practice their religion openly. Someone wrote a carol as a ‘teaching aid’ song for Catholic children with each day known only to members of the church. Each day contained a code word for a religious reality that the children could remember.

  The “True Love” was the newborn baby Jesus, while “The Partridge” represented Him because that bird would often roost in pear trees and  would  lure predators away from the bird-nest, protecting the young. The  "two turtle doves” represented the Old and  New Testament, “Three French Hens” became known as faith, hope and charity..and the song goes on. For the complete “symbol” story, one link might be      http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/resources/advent/customs-and-traditions...

Whether or not it’s true, or only an interesting story, the Christmas season is celebrated by this and other popular traditional songs .

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But to end the season is to end the year.

In Sweden, bells chime to welcome in the new year while verses of  “Ring Out, Wide Bells” are recited. This poem was written by the English poet Tennyson in 1895 and first recited on New Year’s Eve. Many people gather at the Skansen open-air museum in Stockholm (capital of Sweden) to observe the town reading of this narrative as the bells toll. The first two verses of which are:

   " Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky,

          The flying cloud, the frosty light

          The year is dying in the night;

    Ring out, wild bells, and let him die.

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         Ring out the old, ring in the new,

         Ring, happy bells, across the snow:

         The year is going, let him go;

         Ring out the false, ring in the true."

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      While no song is credited to Norwegian celebrations, Norway  celebrates in family gatherings with

traditional foods .Others, celebrating in public, arrange their evening to see the end of the year fireworks. Oslo, Norway has traditionally lit up the sky on this evening to welcome in the New Year.

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A famous Norwegian  soprano, Sissel Kyrkjebø  has sung many concerts in the US and is  known to often take part in American New Year’s Eve celebrations, singing the year’s end song “Auld Lang Syne”. This Scottish song traditionally ends each year in several countries as well as the USA.                           - - - - - - - -
  Auld Lang Syne is a reminder to remember and cherish old friendships, and good deeds while toasting health and good will for the year ahead. Every year, on December 31, people gather to sing  Auld Lang Syne. The fact that few actually know all of the words, let alone their meaning, has rarely stopped anyone from joining in song  traditionally  bidding farewell to the old year at the stroke of midnight.   

      “Should auld acquaintance be forgot,

        And never brought to mind? 

      Should  auld acquaintance be forgot,

      And auld lang syne?

  (“auld lang syne” might be loosely translated as "for the sake of old times"). 

             We’ll tak’ a cup o’ kindness yet 

      For auld lang syne .”

                                                   godt nytt år
                                                          Happy New Year