POMEGRANATE
–The top inspired the crowns of Medieval kings. … It is mentioned in the Old Testament Book of Exodus as one of the embroidered embellishments on Aaron’s priestly robes.
-Abrahamic religions – Aaron is a prophet, high priest, and the brother of Moses.
-Quran and Muslim traditions – Aaron is important in Islam for his role in the events of the Exodus, where he preached with his elder brother, Moses, to the Pharaoh.
-Christian religion – it is a symbol of Jesus as priest and king.

HANUKKAH … 8-day Jewish Festival of Lights
cinnamon – used during feasts / dreidels – four-sided spinning tops
–For eight days each November or December, Jews light a special candle holder called a menorah. They do it to remember an ancient miracle in which one day’s worth of oil burned for eight days in the temple.
-During Hanukkah, many Jews also eat special potato pancakes called latkes, sing songs, and spin a top called a dreidel to win chocolate coins, nuts, or raisins.
-The dreidel is a Jewish variant on the teetotum, a gambling toy found in many European cultures. Each side of the dreidel bears a letter of the Hebrew alphabet: נ‬ (Nun), ג‬ (Gimel), ה‬ (Hei), ש‬ (Shin), which together form the acronym for ” נס גדול היה שם‬” (Nes Gadol Hayah Sham – “a great miracle happened there”).
-The four letters which appear on the four corners of a dreidel alude to the miracle of Hanukkah. They spell out: Nes (N-miracle), Gadol (G-great), Haya (H-happened) and Sham (S-there, meaning in Israel). 
–How to Play Dreidel

LUNAR NEW YEAR … Chinese
January 21 to February 20 / Longest holiday / Ends with the Lantern Festival
rice cakes / firecrackers
–Also known as Spring Festival because it marks the end of the coldest days. People welcome spring and what it brings: planting and harvests, new beginnings and fresh starts.
-Special foods like Nian gao (年糕), a type of rice cake. It symbolizes success each and every year.
-According to legend, there was a monster named Nian (年). It would come about every New Year’s Eve. Most people would hide in their homes. But one boy was brave enough to fight him off using firecrackers. The next day, people celebrated their survival by setting off even more firecrackers. And that practice became a crucial part of the Spring Festival. The most fireworks are set off in the world that night. They also decorate everything red because red also scared away the monster.
-Causes the largest human migration in the world. Since in modern China, most elderly parents live in rural villages while their children work in the cities. The migration back home and to go on vacation is called chunyun (春运), or Spring Migration.

ST. NICHOLAS DAY … Santa Clause – Stockings
-Hundreds of years ago, Nicholas was born to a wealthy Christian family in Patara in around 280 AD. The place is near Myra in modern-day Turkey. He was so kind that he helped anyone who came his way. Soon many legends about his good deeds became popular. Later, he became the Bishop of Myra. He had inherited a large property, which he used from time to time to help the poor and the sick. He traveled anonymously in the night to ensure that all of his parishioners were well fed and happy. During one of his visits, he heard a family lamenting about their misfortunes and poverty, and how they were forced to sell the three poor sisters into slavery or prostitution because their father was unable to provide a suitable dowry to them or even provide food and clothes for them.
-That very night, Nicholas threw three purses of gold secretly into their home from the chimney thus, saving them from shame and distress. Later, he became more and more popular as the protector and the patron saint of children and sailors. His popularity kept growing and by the Renaissance, he was the most popular European saint, especially in Holland. Even when Protestants discouraged the veneration of saints, St. Nicholas continued to enjoy his status and positive reputation and remained one with Christmas forever as Santa Claus or Father Christmas.

ST. LUCIA DAY … Swedish Celebration
Ginger … Pepparkakor – A Swedish ginger Christmas cookie — like gingerbread — that is deeply spiced and flavored with molasses.
–Saffron buns, also called Lucia buns (‘Lussebullar’) or Lucia cats (‘Lussekatter’), are served in the month leading up to Christmas. They are flavored with golden saffron and dark raisins.
-On December 13 Sweden celebrates Lucia Day. The event symbolizes light in the midst of a dark winter.
-To honor this third-century saint on December 13, many girls in Sweden dress up as “Lucia brides” in long white gowns with red sashes, and a wreath of burning candles on their heads. They wake up their families by singing songs and bringing them coffee and twisted saffron buns called “Lucia cats.”

WINTER SOLSTICE – December 21st
Bay – brought the light of summer into the darkest days.
Herbs of Winter Solstice are Cedar, Ash, Bay, Blessed Thistle, Chamomile, Frankincense, Holly, Juniper, Mistletoe, and Pine.
–The Winter Solstice is an astronomical event caused by the tilt of the earth on its axis and its orbit around the sun. The result in the Northern Hemisphere is the longest night and the shortest day. It also is the first day of winter -and- the shortest day of the year.
-It is the time for the Holly King (darkness) to do battle with the Oak King (lightness). This happens twice every year – the summer/winter solstices. In December, following the winter solstice, the days begin to lengthen and the Oak King conquers the Holly King and reigns during the light times.
-The winter solstice has been the inspiration of many ceremonies since man first realized the significance of the event. As ancient humans noticed the shortening of the days, they perhaps also harbored the fear that perhaps the sun might not return. They, therefore, observed the day in various ways to entice it back. Long ago, people celebrated by lighting bonfires and candles to coax back the sun.
-Historically, the yule log was lit on the solstice and burned for twelve days. A remainder of the yule log was kept to light the next year’s log. The yule log was thought to have the power to ward off misfortune, so it was kept in the home yearlong.

CHRISTMAS
Anise – Used in German and Italian cookies
Peppermint – Popular flavoring
Candy Canes Legend – Hard candy / Flavor / Colors / Shape / Stripes
-Peppermint used as a dietary supplement (tea) for digestive problems, the common cold, headaches.
-Peppermint oil is also used topically (applied to the skin) for headache, muscle aches, itching. Peppermint oil is generally not used directly on the skin, because like all essential oils, it is highly concentrated and thus should always be diluted (carrier oil) before use. Add to cream or ointment.
-Repel spiders and ants: Place peppermint oil on a cotton ball or cotton pad and place in areas where you find spiders and ants. Better yet, make a peppermint bug spray. Add 4-5 drops of peppermint essential oil to water in a spray bottle.

TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS
Food and Drinks
–The Twelve Days of Christmas, also known as Twelvetide, is a festive Christian season celebrating the Nativity of Jesus. In most Western ecclesiastical traditions, “Christmas Day” is considered the “First Day of Christmas” and the Twelve Days are 25 December 25 – January 5, inclusive.
-Some have suggested that it is a song of Christian instruction, perhaps dating to the 16th century religious wars in England, with hidden references to the basic teachings of the Christian Faith. 

THREE KINGS DAY
–At the end of the Twelve Days of Christmas comes a day called the Epiphany, or Three Kings Day. This holiday is celebrated as the day the three wise men first saw baby Jesus and brought him gifts. On this day in Spain, many children get their Christmas presents. In Puerto Rico, before children go to sleep on January 5, they leave a box with hay under their beds so the kings will leave good presents. In France, a delicious King cake is baked. Bakers will hide a coin, jewel, or little toy inside.

KWANZAA … African Celebration
corn / sesame
–Corn represents African children and the promise of their future. One ear of corn is set out for each child in the family. In a family without children, one ear is set out symbolically to represent the children of the community.
-Benne cakes originated in West Africa. Benne means sesame seeds, and they are eaten for good luck.
-Kwanzaa, which means “First Fruits,” is based on ancient African harvest festivals and celebrates ideals such as family life and unity. During this cultural holiday, celebrated from December 26 to January 1, millions of African Americans dress in special clothes, decorate their homes with fruits and vegetables, and light candles in a holder called a kinara.
-Seven candles are placed inside the Kinara. In the center is a black candle representing the first principle: unity (Umoja).
-To the left of the black candle are three red candles representing the principles of self-determination (Kujichagulia), cooperative economics (Ujamaa), and creativity (Kuumba).
-To the right of the black candle are three green candles representing the principles of collective work and responsibility (Ujima), purpose (Nia) and faith (Imani).

NEW YEAR’S EVE
In many places people stay up late to see the old year out and the new year in. Almost everywhere in the world church bells ring, horns toot, whistles blow, sirens shriek. London’s Trafalgar Square and NewYork City’s Times Square swarm with crowds of happy, noisy people. The hullabaloo expresses people’s high spirits at holiday time.

NEW YEAR
-In Ecuador, families dress a straw man in old clothes on December 31. The straw man represents the old year. The family members make a will for the straw man that lists all of their faults. At midnight, they burn the straw man, in hopes that their faults will disappear with him.
-In Japan, Omisoka (or New Year’s Eve) is the second most important holiday of the year, following New Year’s Day, the start of a new beginning. Japanese families gather for a late dinner around 11 PM, and at midnight, many make visits to a shrine or temple. In many homes, there is a cast bell that is struck 108 times, symbolizing desires believed to cause human suffering.
-Those in Hong Kong pray to the gods and ghosts of their ancestors, asking that they will fulfill wishes for the next year. Priests read aloud the names of every living person at the celebration and attach a list of the names to a paper horse and set it on fire. The smoke carries the names up to the gods and the living will be remembered.
-To celebrate the Chinese New Year, many children dress in new clothes to celebrate and people carry lanterns and join in a huge parade led by a silk dragon, the Chinese symbol of strength. According to legend, the dragon hibernates most of the year, so people throw firecrackers to keep the dragon awake.
-Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur
In September or October, Jews believe that God opens the Book of Life for 10 days, starting with Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year) and ending with Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement). During these days, the holiest in the Jewish year, Jews try to atone for any wrongdoing and to forgive others. A ram’s horn trumpet, known as the shofar, is blown before and during Rosh Hashanah and at the conclusion of Yom Kippur.