Gemma Lynch isn't down with regret.'s Journal

BELGIUM: Hasn't got just one, but two Santa Clauses. There's Pere Noel (who literally stalks children from the fourth to Christmas Eve discovering whether they've been naughty or nice) and St. Nicholas (who actually delivers the presents). The nice receive presents, while the naughty receive twigs.

BRAZIL: Santa goes by the name of Papai Noel. He lives in Greenland, but travels to Brazil in breathable silks for Christmas. According to the story of Jesus, the shepherds were shepherdesses and the animals could talk.

FINLAND: On Christmas Eve, everyone heads down to the cemetery to pay respects to their dead with candles and singing. Their Santa lives in the northern part of Finland. While he does have the traditional sleigh drawn by a team of reindeer, he travels by whatever means the weather demands of him. He's got a team of dogs, a car, an airplane, a snowmobile, and even a helicopter.

ESTONIA: They claim no relation to a Christian's Christmas, even though they bring home "Christmas straw" to represent a manger. Christmas Eve and Night are spent having fortunes told and having dead ancestors come for a visit. One of the oldest holiday traditions in Estonia is a Christmas Eve sauna.

LATVIA: Santa Claus goes by the "Big Zimmer" and has to bring presents on each of the twelve days of Christmas. They also invented the Christmas tree at random. Instead of celebrating the birth of Jesus, Latvians celebrate the rebirth of the Sun Maiden, who pulls the sun around the sky on a golden-wheeled fire chariot. Another of their traditions is mumming. "Mummers" wear an assortment of masks (of bears, goats, haystacks, gypsies, and living corpses, traditionally).

ITALY: The practice of telling children that Santa Claus delivers presents was outlawed. Instead, the Vatican decided to tell children that a kindly old witch, La Befana, delivers them. According to the legend, the wise men invited La Befana to come with them to see the infant Jesus, but she declined on the grounds that she was too busy.

There are quite a few different ways to celebrate Christmas, it seems. Have any of you got odd Christmas traditions? For that matter, does a traditional wizarding Christmas differ from a traditional muggle one? What sorts of additional celebrations do wizards have? Because I can't say that I've ever celebrated with anyone but my own family.