I hate to burst your bubble but here are several
common misconceptions about Christmas beliefs/traditions:
The song ‘Over The River And Through The Wood’ is NOT a Christmas song. The original title of the 1844 poem by Lydia Maria Child is “The New-England Boy’s Song about Thanksgiving Day” and the lyrics say, “Hurrah for Thanksgiving Day!” NOT Christmas Day.
Neither is the song ‘Sleight Ride’ (“Just hear those sleigh bells jingling, ring ting tingling…”). It’s NOT a Christmas song. It’s merely a holiday song, celebrating the winter season, despite folks like The Carpenters and Sesame Street trying to change the lyrics from “a birthday party at the home of Farmer Gray” to a Christmas party.
Rudolph, Dasher, Donner, Blitzen et al were NOT male reindeer (sorry boys!). After mating season in autumn, when the males no longer need their antlers to fight, they shed them. Only female reindeer still have antlers at Christmastime. And did you know of the 40 various species of deer on Earth, only the reindeer species feature females with antlers?
BTW, I could find no scientific proof that reindeer can’t fly!
Shepherds were NOT out at night watching their flocks ‘on a cold winter night’ as there was no need. Shepherds only watched and protected the ewes and lambs when they were most vulnerable during the February to March lambing season.
Santa’s original mode of transportation was NOT a sleigh. During Colonial times in America, St. Nick rode a white horse while giving children gifts. Santa’s sleigh and reindeer didn’t appear until in an 1821 lithographed children’s book, “Children’s Friend.”
It’s said that at midnight on Christmas Eve all animals can talk…. I believe our animals don’t have to wait until a special day and hour – they can and do communicate quite well all the time…. it’s people who choose not to hear them.
Before another year slips by we should start truly listening.
