For many, November and December mean big family meals of turkey and mashed potatoes and church services celebrating the birth of Christ. Thanksgiving and Christmas are deeply ingrained in American culture and have taken the spotlight at department stores and in advertisements.

In addition to these two traditional holidays, the holiday season is full of celebrations from a variety of diverse cultures.

Hanukkah

One of the few Jewish holidays not mentioned in the Bible, Hanukkah is one of the most well-known and beloved Jewish holidays.

The celebration can be traced back to 168 B.C.E., when Jews in Jerusalem lost control of one of their holiest sites, the Temple at Jerusalem, to the Syrians. A small resistance group defied the Syrian king by not converting to Greek paganism and won two major battles.

Today, Hanukkah celebrates this sense of valor and victory in the face of overwhelming odds. The word Hanukkah means “dedication,” and the festival involves traditions such as lighting the menorah and spinning dreidels, which are similar to four-sided tops.

Hanukkah is an eight-day celebration that begins on the 25^th day of the Hebrew month Kislev. Because the Jewish calendar is based on the lunar cycle, Hanukkah can fall anywhere from Nov. 28 to Dec. 26.

Kwanzaa

Kwanzaa was created in 1966 by Dr. Maulana Karenga, a professor of African studies. The official Kwanzaa website calls the seven-day festival a cultural holiday rather than a religious one, “thus available to and practiced by Africans of all religious faiths.”

Kwanzaa came into being at the height of the civil rights movement and was intended to connect black Americans with their heritage, which does not begin with the slave trade. It was a way for people to come together during a trying time and feel united by their heritage. While the holiday may try to counter the modern commercialization of Christmas, Kwanzaa is not meant to replace any other holiday or festivity but be celebrated in conjunction with other holidays of the season.

The celebration is based on the nguzo saba, a collection of values and virtues common among many African cultures. Each day of Kwanzaa represents one of the tenants of nguzo saba. The nguzo saba are unity, self-determination, responsibility, community, purpose, creativity and faith.

The nguzo saba, according to the official website, were “developed by Dr. Karenga… [the nguzo saba] stand at the heart of the origin and meaning of Kwanzaa, for it is these values which are not only the building blocks for community but also serve to reinforce and enhance them.”

Each day of Kwanzaa is meant to be an opportunity to reflect on these values and develop them on a personal level. Different items with symbolic value are placed around the home as reminders of these and other African cultural values.

Kwanzaa begins on Dec. 26 and lasts until Jan. 1, with a large feast on the last night.

Yule

Dec. 22 marks the winter solstice, the shortest day and longest night of the year. This is because the Earth’s axis is tilted at its extreme away from the sun (in the northern hemisphere, that is).

Centuries ago, pagans celebrated the solstice with bonfires while children gave gifts of clove spiked apples and oranges. Ash logs were burned for 12 full days before being ceremoniously extinguished, which is where today’s tradition of the “Yule log” comes from.

“Dances were danced and songs were sung and all would delight in decorating their homes,” Daniela Masaro wrote for the Sacred Earth Journeys blog as part of their travel website.

Yule, which lasts 12 days after the winter solstice, is a time of celebration of the sun’s return, as each day after the solstice sees more and more daylight hours. Pagan celebratory traditions made their way into a number of more contemporary faiths like Christianity to influence holiday traditions even today.

Today, modern pagans recognize Yule as a time of new beginnings and celebrate with decorations of evergreens, mistletoe and holly. Many make donations to a charity of their choice to spread the joy of winter’s end and the promised summer.

Las Posadas

In Mexico and other Latin American countries, Las Posadas is a 400-year-old Christmastime tradition that brings the story of Mary and Joseph’s journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem to life.

Las Posadas begins on Dec. 16 and ends on Dec. 24, with each day of the festival representing one month of Mary’s pregnancy. The tradition involves a group representing the Holy Family standing outside a series of houses, where they sing songs and ask for lodging. They are denied until they reach the designated house that will host them for the night. Prayer and songs continue with the hosts, and the evening ends with a piñata in the shape of a star. The next morning, the Holy Family is out again, and the cycle continues until Christmas Eve, which usually features a midnight Mass. Children often accompany the travelling group dressed as angels, and religious figures, images and candles are all included in the community-wide festivities.

Las Posadas brings Mary and Joseph’s struggles to life in a way that engages the entire community and is popular throughout Mexico and Guatemala, with more and more participation in the United States every year.

Diwali

Celebrated by millions of Hindus and Sikhs around the world, Diwali, or the Festival of Lights, is a five-day festival sometime between October and November.

For most Hindus, Diwali is a celebration of when the deities Rama and Sita returned from 14 years of exile. Villagers of Ayodhya, where they returned to, lit oil lamps to illuminate a path through the darkness to ensure their safety. The goddess Lakshmi was born on the first day of Diwali, and some celebrate when the mother goddess Durga destroyed a demon called Mahisha.

Diwali is a time for visiting loved ones for feasts, and streets and houses are lit by countless lights and oil lamps. Fireworks are also a prominent part of the celebrations.

Chinese New Year

Based on the Chinese lunar calendar, the Chinese New Year is 15 days of joyous celebration throughout China.

The Chinese New Year typically lies between the new moon at the end of January until the next full moon in February and is celebrated with the Festival of Lanterns.

Many in Western culture recognize the Chinese Zodiac, which has ties to the lunar calendar as well. Each new year is marked by one of the 12 Chinese zodiac animals: the rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog and pig.

Traditionally, the Chinese New Year is celebrated by cleaning houses to appease any gods stopping by for inspection. Ancestors are worshipped with sacrifices of food and paper icons, some with lucky messages on them. Fireworks to scare away evil spirits are common, and elders give gifts of wisdom and wealth. Family time is also an important aspect of the Chinese New Year.

Saturday, Jan. 25 will mark the new Year of the Rat.

Article by Forest Swisher