Merry Christmas!
Finally, it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas: decorations, trees, hot chocolate, markets, and Mariah Carey on repeat. Not everyone celebrates Christmas, but the ability to enhance unity, gaiety, and a level of solicitude that can only be depicted as inspirational is one unique to Christmas. Call it commercialized, but every year we partake in gorgeous traditions…they must’ve started somewhere.
Hailey & Justin Bieber, available via Vogue. © All rights belong to their respective owners. No copyright infringement intended.
After months of build-up with Halloween coming to an end, the return of Starbucks’ winter menu, and general sprinklings of wintery ambiance, the long-awaited Christmas month officially kicks off with a promise of at least 12 mini chocolates behind adorable mini doors to get you through the arctic temperatures. Don’t worry if sweet treats aren’t your thing; literally, every makeup brand, candle company, and everything in between create advent calendars too. You can also make your own if you're feeling creative (which is a really cute date night idea). Basically, 2024 is fantastic for corporate gain. Anything cute and itty-bitty is enough to make my day. I’m just a girl.
That being said, December is not just about which shape of chocolate you’re going to get behind each day. Advent is a Christian celebration in itself which begins four Sundays before December 25 and traditionally ends on Christmas Day, the day of Jesus’ birth. Derived from the Latinate term adventus, meaning to arrive, Advent originally marked Jesus’ second coming. Today (and for the last few hundred years), Advent is generally observed as counting down the days to the BIG celebration.
Of course, it is not traditional to count down with bite-sized pieces of chocolate, as enjoyable as this is, but rather symbolic attributes related to Christianity. Churches generally display wreaths with a white candle in the center and four around the outside. When Advent begins, one of the exterior candles is lit, and every Sunday thereafter another is lit. The white candle in the center is only lit on Christmas Day, representing the day Jesus Christ was born. Each candle carries a significant meaning, and Advent is the reason we have Advent calendars as we now know them. It's also tradition to fast around Advent, with evidence of this tracing back to 567 AD (a long time ago).
The actual act of excitedly counting down the days to Christmas, each day building anticipation, is credited to Germany. Chalk markings were used by those of the 19th Century to tick off each magical day, over time this developed to lighting candles and eventually paper calendars. They became ‘commercialized’ by Gerhard Lang, a German printer, who created cardboard calendars with doors that opened each day of December to reveal a Bible verse or Biblical image. As Christmas spirit developed, calendars started featuring chocolates or small toys; by the 1950s, this was the norm. Today, advent calendars are sadly much less religious than in the past, but the true meaning of Christmas is still respected.
One of the best parts about Christmas, particularly in the big cities where festivities are very Instagrammable, is the 30 ft trees littered with thousands of tiny, colorful stars. Think Covent Garden, Rockefeller, and the like. Decorated Christmas trees lining the streets is a beautiful sight and one of the first indications that it's late enough in the year where it is socially acceptable to discuss Christmas plans.
Interestingly, people have been placing evergreen trees around their homes for centuries; it’s confirmed they are not just a microtrend. From boughs of branches to ward off spirits and illness, to wreaths representing eternal love for God, to Christmas trees as we view them today. Magical.
The tradition of decorating the tree in our modern way was first started in Germany, but the roots of actually decorating a tree and bringing it into the home in general go back further. It is a common belief that Martin Luther was the first person to decorate a tree with lights in the 16th Century - it’s said that he wanted to replicate glistening stars amongst a sea of forest green branches in his own home, so he stood a tree in his main room and lit candles on the branches. A beautiful scene and a beautiful story. Around the world, there are a range of beliefs surrounding the first Christmas trees and how they link to Christianity. For example, it is said that the tree could represent the Holy Trinity due to the triangular shape, the branches could represent immortality, and many others. Christmas is the celebration of Jesus Christ and his sacrifice, and the decorated tree is one of the ways in which Christians originally paid respects, whether an actual tree or an alternative such as wood.
Today though, Christmas trees are kind of a competition of who can make the most aesthetically pleasing decoration - constant debates on social media (should we really be able to buy pink Christmas trees?!) and a sentimental selection of baubles to hang across stores and markets. The Covent Garden tree is beautiful and in the same place every year; you can’t miss it and should definitely take a trip to London to see it if you get a chance. London in general is pretty good at adopting Christmas spirit: lights, trees, and definitely the freezing weather.
Another fan-favourite tradition; Christmas markets are a staple. Pinterest approved but more importantly a beautiful way to spend a chill day with loved ones. Hot chocolate, personalized ornaments, food from around the world, and fair rides all in the same place. And the smell of cinnamon dancing around to a never-ending playlist of Christmas songs is something to look forward to all year round. Glowing open-air markets are a tradition that began in the last few hundred years, so are a lot more recent than some other celebrations. The more the merrier. Evidence of outdoor markets at this time of year dates back to Vienna, 1296. It’s unclear to determine the very first Christmas market because there were no insta highlights back then, and initially, the markets weren’t labeled as ‘Christmas markets’. The permitted Christmas fairs are said to not be directly linked to religious ideology, so technically Christmas markets have always been an opportunity for a hot chocolate and a yap. 13th Century girlies being trendsetters. In Germany, 1384, markets were also erected when Wencelas IV allowed butchers to sell their produce in the nerve-wracking lead-up to Christmas. The fashioning of these markets served to aid local businesses and citizens; stalls for meat, cheese, and drinks. Today, we still observe the same stalls, but with a few added extras, like ornament, photobooth, and flavored hot chocolate vendors. Commercialized is a word with a lot of stigma intertwined in its branches, but the Christmas market as we know it today can help find that perfect sentimental gift for someone, ease the stresses of day-to-day life, and support some genuinely hard-working people and small businesses. It’s the season for giving, and whether you take that in a fashion sense or a literal sense, fun and kindness go a long way especially at this time of year. Whilst personally not visiting every single Christmas market in the world, Leicester and Trafalgar Square in London are some of the best ones for sentimental gift-giving and food from various cultures, and I’ve heard lots of European countries are great at capturing that magical spirit.
Ho Ho Ho! Whether you celebrate Christmas or not, this time of year is wonderful for a well-earned break and an opportunity to be grateful for family and friends. Cozy up with some hot chocolate and a warming movie, and embrace the magic that makes December extra special. And watch out for the iconic Kardashian family photo, duh.
