It’s December and we are all scrambling for festive ideas since we have finally entered the holiday season. There are a vast number of holidays celebrated during this month, as this time in the winter season is very important to many religions. From Hinduism and Buddhism to Christianity and Judaism, many people value this time of year.
But it can also be fun too! Christmas is often celebrated as a secular holiday for many people. Since a lot of us (especially in the western world) live in predominantly Christian countries (although not England and Wales anymore!) Christmas has become an incredibly commercialised event, and no longer solely religious for some people. We have many ways of celebrating Christmas that are not tied to going to church and worshipping, and more to do with spreading joy, family fun and being festive.
Colour Coordinate Everything
The simplest festive idea is colours. Green and Red are the colours of the season! The Christmas colours have been with us long before the modern Christmas traditions. These colours are very heavily ingrained in us since they were inspired by the ancient Celts, who used red and green evergreen holly plants to celebrate the winter solstice and viewed it as a sign of good luck.
After that, Coca-Cola was the company in more recent times to properly tie the colours to the season by designing Santa in red and to be surrounded by green, whereas before his colourings varied.
Because of these things, red and green are ingrained as the colours of the season, so having both of those around your house will help you get into the holiday spirit. Change your bed sheets to be red or green (or both). If you have red or green cutlery or crockery, bring those out to use for the month. Buy tinsel that is green and red (this can usually be found for relatively cheap too, so is a good way to decorate a house and get children involved as well). If you can, try to wear these colours more. Dig out your red jumpers or see if you have a green pair of trousers laying around. They don’t have to be Christmas related specifically, but the colours alone make everything seem more festive and cheerful, and may put you in the Christmas spirit.
Holly Wreaths
As previously mentioned, holly is a very important festive symbol for both the winter solstice and Christmas. Due to the tree’s evergreen nature, it has become a symbol for everlasting life. The wreath shape came about as a symbol of the crown of thorns that Jesus wore, so the circular wreath form may not suit everyone if you are not religiously minded, but having holly in your house is a must do regardless of religion. It brings good luck to the household due to the tree’s evergreen nature, and it will add to the festive spirit, since the main Christmas colours are based on the holly leaf and plant. Making a wreath can become a family venture, and you can also buy a plastic one that you can store away and reuse every year if you choose, but hanging a wreath on your door or having holly around the house is a great way to get into the festive spirit.
Christmas Trees
Christmas trees are actually a tradition from the Victorian era, but it is a tradition that Queen Victoria imported from Germany. Having a Christmas tree in the house, whether real or fake, is a great way to get into the Christmas spirit because it adds green and festivity to whatever room you choose to place the tree in. There are pros and cons to having a live tree but, whether your tree is real or fake, this provides an opportunity to decorate the tree, which can become a communal activity, and it provides a beautiful new focus to the room until the 5th of January (after which there should be no decorations in sight in your home as the last day of Christmas has passed!)
A plastic tree could be useful to you if you are strapped for cash and you want a tree that can be reused year after year. This type of tree is also useful because, depending on what you buy, it can help you with lighting. You can find some fake trees that come with lighting added, and this can simplify things in terms of electricity and wiring, as you only need to plug it in. You also don’t need to worry about cleaning up falling leaves in your house as the tree ages.
A freshly cut pine tree, however, can definitely help improve the atmosphere in your house. You have more options for height than you would with a fake tree bought in a supermarket, and they can often look more full. Your house will smell of pine all through the holiday season, and you have more freedom to customise your tree however you choose, including how much lighting, the positioning and even things like flocking to give it a snowy appearance.
There are many ways that you can create a festive atmosphere in your house with or without leaning into the more religious aspects of Christmas. As a lot of our Christmas celebrations come from merging with old ancient Celtic traditions, there are plenty of ways to celebrate the season and be involved without being Christian.