Merry Christmas, everyone. And a very Happy New Year. Here I am again, Hiya, the founder, compiler, publisher, and editor-in-chief of the Hogwarts Monthly Magazine, with this month's special topic. How has 2023 been treating you? Are you ready for 2024? While you are still in your highest spirits from the feasting and merry-making, just like I am, I thought it was a good day to discuss some of the lesser-known Christmas and New Year's traditions around the world to help bind us together.

Here are some unique Christmas traditions around the world that we certainly don't hear of frequently, unless you belong to the places these traditions are from.

1. Norway - Brace yourself up. This one's funny. The Muggles of Norway believe that Christmas Eve is a chance for witches and demons to fly among them and steal their brooms to use as a means of transport. So, they lock up their brooms on Christmas Eve every year. I am sure the Norwegian witches and wizards know better than that, especially since the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy is still strictly in place. But this belief could come from a past accident or deliberate event, when a witch or wizard stole a Muggle's broom to put a charm on it and use it to fly, probably on Christmas Eve. Or maybe some watchful Muggle spotted a witch or wizard flying across the sky. Muggles tend to make a big deal of these apparently untoward incidents and remember them for a long time. I wonder why no Obliviation Charm was used on the Muggle who reported the incident, though. Maybe the Ministry of Magic was not effectively functional yet.


2. Iceland - Icelandic Muggles, especially children, put shoes in their bedroom windows for the 13 Yule Lads of Christmas to come and find. Here, the story is a little different, though. Instead of Santa Claus, they believe in a whole gang of 13 Christmas characters with weird names such as Spoon-Licker, Sausage-Swiper, and Doorway-Sniffer (I wouldn't be surprised if these were just names for magical children licking food off the Muggles' tables with help from the Weasleys' ton-tongue toffees). It is most probable that these 13 characters are the descendants of the 13 influential magical families who live there, dubbed the 13 Yule Lads by the Muggles, probably trying to keep some old family tradition going. According to the Muggles, they only come out to play on Christmas Eve, cause mischief and mayhem (or magical accidents), and leave gifts for the good Muggle children and rotten potatoes for the naughty ones.


3. Iceland - If that didn't whet your appetite, here we come to Iceland again. The Icelanders believe that it's Christmas tradition for everyone to either receive a new outfit for Christmas or get eaten by the Yule Cat. While the identity of this majestic feline is still not known, the creature has been established to be more likely a magical one than a Muggle one. It is believed to roam the countryside around Christmastime. The Muggles are convinced that this is a pesky myth rumored by farmers to ensure that their employees work hard all year to get gifted with Christmas outfits rather than be eaten by the Yule Cat. However, that certainly made you wonder for awhile that receiving yet another old-fashioned sweater like the Weasleys as a Christmas gift from your grandma is much more acceptable than becoming the dinner of a Christmas cat, whether magical or mundane.


4. Germany - No magic involved in this one. It is said that the Germans hide a pickle or a pickle-shaped ornament on their Christmas trees, and the children of the house race to find it. The first child to find the Christmas pickle is given an extra gift. That sounds like an amazing way to keep your children active. Speaking of that, if you find the Christmas pickle in the pages of this magazine, you will be given a few very special Christmas gifts - a free advertising opportunity in the pages of our magazine; a choice item FOR FREE from Theya's shop, "Mystical & Magical," started by the Hogwarts Monthly Magazine's ex-Publishing Secretary, Daisy Delacour; and a special mention in the next issue of our magazine. Owl the inscription on the pickle to Hiya Debnath.


5. Ukraine - In Ukraine, the Muggles have a legend that goes that once upon a time, a poor, penniless widow with many children could not afford any decorations for her Christmas tree to make her home jolly for her children. The spiders living in her house felt pity for her and her crying children and moved out of the house to spin glistening, intricate, beautiful webs and patterns on her Christmas tree. The next morning, when the Sun's rays fell on these spiderwebs, they turned to gold and silver, and the family lived off the fortune happily thereafter. The magical people living in that area testify that the spiderwebs were a result of the pity of a witch who felt sorry for the poor woman; only she had a weird sense of aesthetics. She was very fond of dangerous creatures, just like Rubeus Hagrid, and thought spiders were beautiful creatures to adorn the Christmas tree. When the spiders built their homes all over the Christmas tree, she put a spell on their webs, which would work only when hit by the Sun's magic, which explains why the webs turned to gold and silver in the morning. However, many witches and wizards have speculated that the witch was a renowned magical alchemist who lived undercover in that area for some reason and that the decoration of the Christmas tree with webs that turned to silver and gold must have taken quite the transition period rather than happening overnight.


6. Caracas - People in Caracas have a weird and rolling sense of celebrating the holly and jolly morning. They head out to church on roller skates rather than cars. In fact, cars are banned from quite many of the roads in Caracas on Christmas Eve morning.


7. Sweden - The Swedish pay a lot more homage to the Christmas goat than just using it as a traditional Christmas tree ornament. In the town of Gävle around Christmas, they build giant Yule goats of straw. However, pranksters pay equal homage to the tradition by burning up the Yule goat or destroying it by some other means. So, if you haven't yet paid homage to the twin pranksters Fred and George Weasley for inventing the Weasleys' firecrackers that you burst all Christmas, just go and pay a visit to their Portable Swamp, still unable to be removed from outside Dolores Umbridge's now empty office. 

Some unique New Year's traditions from around the world are listed below to help you add to your repertoire of plans for the upcoming celebrations.

1. Brazil - In Brazil, it's apparently good luck to jump over seven waves to start the new year. You also get one wish for each wave, so head down to the beach if you want to follow New Year traditions like Brazilians.


2. Ireland - In Ireland, they haven't gotten over the mystique of the mistletoe even after the Christmas season is traditionally over. They are still dreaming of love and romance under the mistletoe, and traditionally, they are of the opinion that if you put a sprig of mistletoe, holly, or ivy under your pillow on New Year's Eve, you will dream of your future love.


3. Ireland - If that wasn't enough, the next morning they don't bake their bread but bang it. Talk about losing their heads. They have a New Year's tradition of banging loaves of Christmas bread against their walls and doors to ward off evil spirits and pave the way for a healthy and prosperous new year. It sounds like a good way to ward off thieves by telling them you are awake, though.


4. Colombia - In Colombia, they carry an empty suitcase around the block on New Year's Eve to fill their upcoming year with travel.


5. New York - The candymakers in Saratoga Springs, New York, certainly made Christmas traditions fun for you, but only if you like peppermint candy. To bring good health, happiness, and prosperity in the new year, New Yorkers believe that you need to place a candy pig in a velvet bag and smash it with a small hammer, then eat a piece of peppermint. This tradition started in the 1880s.


6. China - The Chinese like to watch fireworks on New Year's Eve. They believe that the big bangs help keep away the evil spirits.


7. Philippines - The Philippines "go all round" on New Year's traditions. They wear round ornaments ranging from polka dots to round bangles, carry round coins, and eat round foods like donuts, bagels, and cookies. They think that the circular shape symbolizes money and wealth, and thus, the more, the merrier!


8. Latin America - Did someone say you can't just throw the past out the window? Well, in Latin America, they do just that, symbolically. One of their New Year's traditions involves throwing a bucket of water out the window to signify cleansing and renewal.


9. Brazil - Folks in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, would wear white on New Year's Eve to attract peace and harmony for the New Year.


10. Spain - The Spanish eat 12 grapes at the stroke of midnight, one each with each chime of the clock, each grape for a month in the New Year, to symbolize successfully eating 12 promises and hence a lucky new year ahead.

I hope you enjoyed reading this month's special topic. Once again, Merry Christmas and a very happy New Year. Keep the festive cheer on and party hard.

Sources: -

https://www.thepioneerwoman.com/holidays-celebrations/g34787153/new-years-traditions/

https://www.westernunion.com/blog/en/ca/7-of-the-most-unique-christmas-traditions-from-around-the-world/#:~:text=The%2013%20Lads%20of%20Christmas,days%20leading%20up%20to%20Christmas.

- Hiya Debnath, Journalist, Editor-in-Chief, Compiler, Publisher, Hogwarts Monthly Magazine.