With Kwanzaa, Chanukah, Christmas and Milad un Nabi all occurring within days of each other, there are so many opportunities to celebrate the diversity of cultural custom and religious practice in Massachusetts. The upcoming holidays contribute to the celebratory spirit of the season, and what better way to partake in the festivities than decorating our homes? As our personal and private spaces, our homes are reflections of who we are, of where we’ve been, and of what we wish for. They are places unique to us. Below we’ve listed a few ways to bring the holidays into your home and celebrate our cultural heritages.
- Kwanzaa: Bask in Abundance
Beginning on the 26th of December for a seven day duration, Kwanzaa celebrates the traditional harvest season when African tribes would reap their first crops. Straw mats, candles holders called kinaras, and ears of corn are all stunning, flexible, and accessible items to bedeck your tables and mantles. Red, green, and black color themes inspire Kwanzaa décor, and the seven principles of Kwanzaa (unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity and faith) are excellent motifs to channel into your holiday decorating. - Chanukah: Observing Miracles
The Festival of Lights opens on the 24th of December for seven days. Remembering the miracle of Chanukah when one day’s supply of oil burned for eight days, Jews celebrate by decorating their homes with blue and white. Items such as dreidels, chocolate coins, and doughnuts abound. While there is a lot of manufactured Chanukah décor on the market, making your own paper dreidels, melting down chocolate and wrapping it in gold colored foil, and drawing pictures of Maccabees are all fun and engaging ways to remember the miracle of Chanukah. - Malid un Nabi: The Prophet Muhammad’s Birthday
Although there is some debate about how to observe Maldi un Nabi,which falls on December 13th this year, many countries celebrate the day of the Prophet’s birthday by going to Mosque and gathering with friends. Baking sweets and expressing good will are two practices performed throughout the world. Decorating your home with green and white string lights and baking a cake and decorating it with green and white frostings in honor of the Prophet are unique ways to involve everyone in the celebration. - Christmas: Bringing the Outside In
Throughout the United States, Christmas decorations are very easy to access. Green garlands, wreaths, and trees covered with red bows and ornaments line the streets and greet us on doors. Christmas themed music plays from the speakers of every department store and every other radio station. Nativity scenes appear on front lawns. Pine-scented candles perfume the air. Bring the Christmas spirit into your home by lighting candles, collect pinecones from your backyard, and contact a Christmas tree farm near you to learn more about how you can incorporate your new environment into your family traditions.
Regardless of which holidays you celebrate, lighting candles, hanging lanterns, or mounting outdoor strings of lights are a non-denominational and seasonal touch to your home decoration. As we approach the winter solstice, also called Yule, the darkest time of the year which we will address in a later post, every bit of light in this dark time can be a cheerful addition to your seasonal décor.