Winter closes in as the frosty weather makes students bundle up with comfy hoodies and sweats. The Holidays feel as though they’re right around the corner as the diverse cultures of Monte Vista students decorate the halls with the many winter traditions they celebrate.
The delicate smell of lavender, fresh Maduri Jasmine flowers, an array of lights, and jhalars, (colorful strips of fabrics), can be seen and smelt in the house of Roma Singh, a sophomore at Monte Vista, who has celebrated Diwali since as long as she can remember. Diwali, also known as the “Festival of Lights” originates in India, and is a major religious festival amongst Hindus, Sikhs, and Jains. This colorful event celebrates the triumph of light over darkness, good over evil, from written epics of Ramayana. Celebrators of this annual tradition can be seen cleaning their houses to make space for new energy and invite the goddess Lakshmi. Making/painting diyas (colorful clay oil lamps) and decorating with rangoli, intricate designs made on the floor with vibrant colors of sand, are popular activities done among friends and families during this time. Exchanging gifts, and praying for five days in late October and early November are also key aspects of this festival.
“It’s [Diwali] just a really fun, joyous time,” said Singh. “It makes me feel really good, and good family bonding.”
Now, we move on to the home of Saturn Lillie, a sophomore at MV, who celebrates Hanukkah every year. Hanukkah (Chanukah), the “festival of lights”, is a Jewish festival and means “dedication”. Eight nights and days during November to December are dedicated to the Second Temple of Jerusalem, in the 2nd century BC. This was following its liberation from foreign occupiers called the Maccabean Revolt, by Jewish fighters. Each night the family lights one candle on the menorah to commemorate the oil that burned for eight days. This menorah is traditionally put in a place that is visible from outside the house, representing God’s light spreading to every nation.
“Each night you light a candle, say a prayer and say one thing you will do for your community and then open one present each night on occasion” said Lillie.
The next holiday that is celebrated by our MV students: Christmas. Sparkling lights cover the houses of Christians and even those who are not Christian, and a festive pine wreath greets visitors at the doors of many. Christmas is often celebrated by singing songs, attending church services, spending time with family, and giving gifts. This worldwide holiday celebrates Jesus’s birth in Bethlehem and has been celebrated for two millennia. Even though we don’t know the exact date of his birth, Pope Julius I decided to celebrate it on December 25th. Although Jesus’s birth wasn’t celebrated in the beginning of Christianity, church officials later in the fourth century decided to implement it as an actual holiday. Despite being a Christian holiday, this celebration has developed many adaptations to Christmas. A famous example of this is Santa or St. Nicholas. This fat jolly man is based on Turkish folklore from the 4th century. Whether you celebrate Jesus’s birthday or await the rotund bearded man, this holiday brings spirit to all for the entire month of December.
Celebrated primarily in Mexico, parts of the U.S., and other Latin American countries, Las Posadas is a religious Mexican tradition founded on Christian beliefs. It is very similar to Christmas, however, instead of celebrating the day of Jesus’s birth, Las Posadas celebrates what happened before it. Beginning on December 16th and ending on the 24th, this tradition takes place over nine nights, representing the nine months that Mary was pregnant. Every evening during these nine days, a little child dresses up as an angel, leading the group (procession) through the town. This group mainly consists of children, who dress up in robes of silver and gold, and hold candles and pictures of Joseph and Mary on a donkey. Adults and musicians also participate in the procession, asking the chosen houses on behalf of Joseph and Mary, for rooms. At each of these houses, they traditionally get turned away, and they read passages from the Bible and sing Christmas carols. To end these processions, participants attend mass and the children break piñatas.
Next, celebrated by all in Sweden and parts of Finland, St. Lucia day (Luciatåg) brings light during the darkest time of the year on December 13, the shortest days of the year and winter solstice according to the Julian calendar. This Scandinavian custom has filled the hearts and stomachs of many with kindness for over four centuries as it celebrates Saint Lucia, a young Christrian martyr from Sicily, who devoted herself to God and helping the less fortunate. Legends say Lucia would serve meals to the poor under the Roman Catacombs dressed in long white robes with red stash with a candle lit wreath above her head, lighting the way. However due to her strong devotion to faith she was eventually killed by the Romans in 304 CE. Now churches, town halls, and more commemorate her by renacting her kindness. Dressed in white a young woman followed by her handmaids, starboys, and gingerbread men light the way with candles while the choir joyously sings “Sankta Lucia”.
Muhindi (corn), Mazeo (fruit), Zawadi (gifts), and a Kinara (candle holder) lit with red, black, and green candles decorate the tables and shelves of those who celebrate Kwanzaa as they reflect on the principle of the day. This holiday lasts from December 26 to January first, with December 31, the sixth day of Kwanzaa, being celebrated with a feast called Karamu, where African foods, such as soul food, jerk chicken, and yams, fill the table of every home. Each day a candle is lit to commemorate one of the Seven Principles of Kwanzaa, such as, unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity, and faith. Originating in 1966, Professor Maulena Karenga of African studies at the California state University, started the holiday to celebrate African culture, values, and each family’s ancestry.
These various traditions from around the world that are celebrated by many of our Monte Vista students, showing just a fraction of the diversity on our campus. Whether you’re playing dreidel, painting diyas, decorating a pine tree, eating warm lussekatter, breaking pinatas, or lighting a kinara, Monte Vista wishes you all happy holidays.
