The Legend Of Santa Claus

The holidays are fast approaching, and with it people are starting to think about different people and things that have to do with whatever holiday they celebrate. One of them, as you may know, is Santa. But why was he created? Read this blog to find out.

Okay, here we go. If we look at history.com, then we see that there used to be an actual person named St. Nicholas who allegedly gave away a lot of different things and helped the poor. This does sound a little bit like Santa, doesn't it? If you want to read more about St. Nicholas, the link is in the sources section, but I am going to move on.

According to English Heritage, Santa used to not be known as an actual human being. He was just "...a symbol of the Christmas season." So how did he become known as an actual person? A quote from English Heritage says that, "The earliest evidence for a personified Christmas can be found in a 15th-century carol, in which a character called 'Sir Christёmas' shares the news of Christ's birth." There we go! The first time Santa is, well, Santa (as an actual human anyway). But then how did he change?

Well, if you go back to history.com, they say that Sinter Klaas was St. Nicholas's Dutch nickname. It was "...a shortened form of Sint Nikolaas..." Eventually, people started making up stories (like 'Twas The Night Before Christmas) to make him popular, and they started to turn into the stories and images we think of today.

Here's a change of pace! Anybody who celebrates Hanukkah has most likely heard of the menorah. But again, why is it used? What is the history of it? Let's look into it.

Let's start with the menorah's use. You probably know that you light a different candle on the menorah each day. But why do you do it? The Jewish Alliance Of Greater Rhode Island says, "According to Jewish tradition, after the Maccabees' victory over the Greeks, there was only enough oil to burn for one day in the Temple. Miraculously the oil burned for eight days. Lighting the Hanukkah menorah commemorates this miracle."

Just like lots of other kinds of celebrations, the people who celebrate Hanukkah play games, sing songs, dance, eat food, and do lots of other things.

The last thing that I am going to talk about is Kwanzaa's principles. For those who do not know, the people who celebrate Kwanzaa are celebrating African American culture and different principles and values that they have. According to the National Museum Of African American History And Culture, these principles are as follows:

Unity

Self-Determination

Collective Work and Responsibility

Cooperative Economics

Purpose

Creativity

Faith

This isn't all they do at Kwanzaa, though. The people who celebrate Kwanzaa also light candles and highlight a different principle each day. The people also learn about different African-American people in history, eat African-American food, and play music. Kwanzaa ends with a feast with lots of food.

I hope you learned something (I know I did). I had a lot of fun researching this. Thank you for getting through this blog! (Don't forget to read the footnote!)

English Heritage

History Channel

Dartmouth

The Jewish Alliance Of Greater Rhode Island

National Museum Of African American History And Culture

By the way, I have two things to say. First, I am sorry for not posting very often. I have had a lot of work and have not had time. Second, I have thought about it, and decided to change my name. If you want to look at my quizzes, search for IAmActinium. Again, thank you for reading, and have a happy holiday!