Advent Traditions

Yesterday I looked at what Advent means, building on my blog from last year about what makes Advent Calendars so special.

​Today, I want to explore some Advent Traditions.

For those of us, in the UK, growing up in the 60s, 70s and 80s, the Blue Peter Advent Crown was an annual make that we wanted to do.

Obsessed with acquiring coat hangers and tinsel, we had no idea where we would be hanging it, if we got to make it.

I'm not even sure when fire-retardant tinsel came into being, so it had the added excitement of whether or not you would burn your house down before Christmas.

The Advent Crown was a take on the Advent wreath.  As with many traditions that we are familiar with, here in the UK, they became popular through Prince Albert's influence.  But with our tradition of Yule, it didn't take too much to persuade us to bring evergreen garland into the house.
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Sweden and Julklapp

Whilst Julklapp's literal translation is Christmas Present the practice is sometimes translated as Christmas knocking and is more akin to modern Secret Santa.

Dating back to the mid 1700s, the idea was to write a message or rhyme, attach it to your present, knock on your neighbour's door or maybe opening the door and throwing the present in before you run away and hide.

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The Rules of the Game Today (taken from the elfster blog)

While there are many various, the most standard version is relatively simple.

1. Write each person’s name on separate sheets of paper. This ensures that everyone is included. It also randomizes who gives to whom.
2. Ask each person to write down 1-2 gift suggestions. This is the fun part. People can write down serious or useful gifts, gag gifts, or something totally random. They can also write down something they want, especially if you are playing the White Elephant variation. This step is also a good time to establish a price range for the gifts.
3. Put the names in a bowl, hat, or similar object so that they can’t be seen. Then, have each participant draw a name. This is where things get more interesting, because participants may not know exactly what their recipients want. You can also have each person randomly choose one of the gift ideas the participants wrote down in step 2.
4. The host should create a secret master list of who is giving to whom. This ensures that, if a name is lost or forgotten, the recipient still gets a gift. It also prevents mistakes or any form of cheating.
5. Plan a time for the gift exchange, or arrange a day when the presents will be delivered. If this is an office event or a family get-together, you can make this a Christmas party. You could also go with something like Julklapp, where the giver sneaks the package to the recipient’s home or mails it anonymously.
6. If you go with the party option, people can try to guess who their Santas were. This part of the exchange is especially helpful in building camaraderie among fellow employees or strengthening the bonds of friends or family. It is up to you whether to reveal the givers or not. In this way the game could end at the exchange party or go on for years.

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Carol Services

We all have memories of school carol services.  Kids with dripping noses singing with only a rough connection to the tune and variations of words such as most highly flavoured gravy instead of Most Highly Favoured Lady.

Probably the most famous Carol Service comes from Kings College, Cambridge.

Correctly called A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols, this service was introduced in 1918 and first broadcast in 1928.

The College's website says that it was introduced to 'bring a more imaginative approach to worship', but I can't help thinking that just 6 weeks after then end of World War I this must have been a very moving way to start Christmas.

Each year, the service is broadcast on BBC Radio 4 as well as the World Service and now appears on iPlayer shortly after the service has concluded.

Back in 1990, Delia Smith published her Christmas book which was accompanied by a TV series.

Apart from bring us her famous more booze that fruit Creole Christmas cake, she vocalised what many of us thought when she said that for her, Christmas started, in her kitchen, on Christmas Eve, preparing things whilst listening to the service from Kings College.

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Christmas Devotions

There are probably two periods in the Christian calendar when we are very focused on how fragile our lives are and how much we don't deserve God's love and kindness.

Easter, with it's period of contemplation between Ash Wednesday, Good Friday then culminating in Easter Sunday has always been a time when I've attended a sewing retreat and focused on my unworthiness.

Christmas is a more hopeful time.  It's full of promise.  Advent is about what is to come and with that, all the expectations.

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Whether or not you are a Christian, there is a sense of light in the darkness, starting with Diwali, which falls at the end of October / start of November, then Hanuakkah, during December, the Winter Solstice, on 21st December, and finally Christmas, there is a sense of hope, of light in the darkness and salvation.

Whether it's good over evil (Diwali), deliverance from peril (Hanuakkah), the days getting longer (Solstice) or the promise of salvation (Christmas).

Many Christains will undertake weekly advent bible studies in the run up to Christmas.  One of the most memorable ones I've attended was based on the lines of a well know Christmas Carol.

Others will read a commentary or special daily devotion that allows them to reflect on this period of anticipation.

Whether you are a member of a church, occasionally attendee or someone who keeps their faith in their heart, it offers an opportunity to remind yourself of why you believe and, whatever your faith, that we all strive to be the best we can in this world.