Christmas Superstitions

Christmas Superstitions

The time between Christmas and the New Year was once thick with superstitions and folk beliefs.  Please keep in mind that these superstitions are hundreds of years old.  These superstitions began as rituals and charms, ways of protecting an individual and their families against evil.

Gifts

Make sure you buy your loved ones the right gifts in order to keep these superstitions from happening:

-Shoes should never be bought as Christmas gifts. To do so means that the receiver will most likely walk out of your life at some point.

– It will bring about bad luck to give a person a wallet or purse that doesn’t have money in it.

Food

What you eat this Christmas can determine whether or not you have a good new year:

-To keep ailments away after Christmas, you need to eat an apple on Christmas Eve.

-In order to have a good new year you should eat mince pies at many different houses during the month of December.  Don’t cut them with a knife but rather bite into them or you will cut your luck.

-Your wishes will come true if you stir the plum pudding three times and then make a wish. Just don’t tell anyone your wish or it won’t come true.  Eat plum pudding on Christmas and avoid losing a friend before next Christmas.

-Save a piece of cake from Christmas Eve for Christmas day and one for New Years or bad luck will come the following year.

-If you carry in your pocket a scale from a fish eaten at Christmas, your purse/wallet will be full all year.

-Eating Christmas breakfast by candlelight is thought to bring good luck.

-A loaf of bread left on the table after Christmas Eve dinner will ensure no lack of bread for the next year.

Luck

There’s a lot of things you can do to bring about good luck or bad fortune this Christmas:

-If you find yourself under the mistletoe with someone, you must kiss them in order to avoid having bad luck.

-Never turn away Christmas carolers without offering them a token of your appreciation such a drink or something to eat.

-Singing Christmas carols during the spring or summer months is thought to bring about misfortune.

-To keep evil spirits away you must lite the current yule log with a piece of the one that was used the previous year. The yule log should remain lit for 12 hours from Christmas Eve into Christmas Day.

-The first person to wake up on Christmas morning should quickly open the front door and sweep  so any “troubles” go out the door.

-Kiss the oldest person in the house for luck on Christmas day.

-One should leave Christmas candle burn all through the night to enlighten the path of good luck in the coming year.

-Take down all Christmas ornaments and decor no later than Feb 2nd.  There are some countries which consider January 6 as the date to remove the Christmas decorations. It is regarded back luck for keep the things for another day, or to remove it before that date.

-In Greece, they burn old shoes on Christmas day to prevent misfortune in the New Year.

Tree

It doesn’t matter if you have a real or fake tree, there’s a superstition or two that just might pertain to you:

-The Christmas tree needs to be brought inside and decorated before Christmas Eve in order to keep evil spirits away.

-Children cannot go to bed before the Christmas tree is fully decorated.

-After Christmas, the tree should be burned instead of thrown away in order to keep away evil.

-A Christmas tree has to be fully decorated or spring will be delayed.

-It’s bad luck to take down your Christmas tree before New Year’s Day.

While some of these superstitions may seem just silly, some of them might be worth practicing (wouldn’t it be nice to give Christmas carolers a token of your appreciation?). Do you have any Christmas superstitions that you’d like to share with us?

Plum Pudding Recipe:

Ingredients
1 cup light molasses
3/4 cup melted butter
1/2 cup warm milk
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup all-purpose flour, plus additional for tossing fruit
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1 pint candied mixed fruit (or diced dried fruit such as pineapple, pears, apples, and plums)
1 cup raisins
1 1/2 ounces brandy
Holly sprig, for garnish

Sauce:
1/4 pound butter
1 cup sugar
1 pinch salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 -ounce brandy or rum

Combine the molasses, butter, milk, and eggs in a mixing bowl. Next, combine the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and cloves in a large mixing bowl. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in 3 additions. Toss candied fruit and raisins lightly with flour to prevent sinking and add to batter. Stir in brandy.

Pour into a greased and sugared steam pudding mold and place on a rack in a large covered pot with water that comes halfway up the sides of the mold. Cover and steam for 2 hours, checking occasionally to make sure water hasn’t boiled out. Let cool for 5 minutes on a rack before turning out. Dust with powdered sugar and serve with a sprig of holly and hard sauce.

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