Christmas spreads its light around the world

 Hi everyone. I hope you and your family are doing well. 

In these days of tragedy around the world that we hear and see nightly on the news (or indeed experience them) - whether it be political unrest, cultural or religious persecution, violence within communities, or natural disasters - it can be overwhelming. This was brought home recently with the outpouring a grief following the tragic shootings at Bondi Beach in Australia during a Hanukkah celebration. 

So I believe it is cultural traditions, like Christmas, which we must hang on to, to spread some light around the world. Bringing family and friends together, and to find peace and spread love in our troubled times, whatever culture you come from or beliefs you have. We all have rights and share this planet Earth. 

But around Christmas we seem to get hooked up in the hype and tied up in the decorations, the gift giving, and the food. When Christmas really is a time for remembrance of the Christmas story, and a time for family and friends to come together. 

I saw this the other day - and really liked the sentiment. 

Christmas in Australia is in mid-summer and the temperatures can be in the high 30s C. I was reminded the other day of Christmas when I was a child. We lived in a weatherboard and asbestos fibro house in Perth, Western Australia - no insulation, no air conditioning, no fans. And my mother would be cooking a roast dinner and Christmas pudding in the "Metters" wood burning stove. The kitchen, which is also where we ate, was baking hot. 

No wonder I would later retreat to the cold lino of the passage way floor, which seemed to me to be the coolest place in the house, to read my latest book. 

 

The Metters stove looked a bit like this. I could never work out how Father Christmas could possibly come down this chimney. 

 

I think a hot Christmas dinner was common place in homes in Australia at that time, where the families were descendant from European stock - and so the Christmas traditions came with them to Australia - despite the fact it could be several generations later, and that it was summer here in Australia at Christmas and not really suited to a hot dinner, unlike the northern hemisphere. 

Cold meat and salad in those days would not have been acceptable. Times have changed and today families in Australia are more likely to have a cold meat (probably ham) and salad lunch, with perhaps prawns, and followed by a Pavolva for dessert instead of a Christmas pudding (I do love Pavlova). A fruit punch drink, Christmas cake, fruit mince pies, and sausage rolls are also favourites.

 

Below are some Christmas goodies I have made in the past. My little Christmas puddings are a favourite in our household. I was asked about the recipe so I'll post it further down. I haven't made these stars in a while - I must do this year. If you are wondering about the cake, that is a stained glass fruit cake - full of fruit and nuts, and expensive to make- this is the only time of year I make it. You only need a thin slice. It's delicious.

I believe family and cultural traditions are important. I found this link on the net that gives you links to Christmas traditions from different cultures around the world. It's fascinating reading. Christmas around the world 

Do you put up a Christmas tree? Did you know that the first officially recorded Christmas tree was in the 1400s in Estonia and Latvia. It is thought that Christmas trees first came to the UK when Queen Charlotte, the German wife of Britain's King George III, first decorated a Yew branch in Kew Palace or Windsor Castle in the 1790s. You can find out more on the link.

 

Christmas Trees became very popular throughout the UK from the mid 1840s, when a drawing of the Queen Victoria, her German Husband Prince Albert and their young children around a Christmas tree was published in the Illustrated London News. (note the candles on the branches)

Benjamin Harrison was the first President of the USA to be documented having a Christmas tree in the White House in 1889, though it is thought other former Presidents also had them. 

I heard something the other day that candles were used on the trees before the invention of electric Christmas lights in the late 1800s. Sounds rather dangerous! Christmas Tree decorations

There are lots of games and activities to keep children amused over the Christmas time, and of course lots of Christmas movies! 

When I was a child we made paper Christmas decorations like chains and lanterns. In the early days of Australia, people would use decorations from nature around their house. Here is a door wreath I made from twisted grape vine branches and bush-land nuts... sprayed with gold paint and with a few ribbons thrown in. 

Here in Western Australia we have the Western Australian Christmas Tree -Nuytsia floribunda - that flowers October to January. I have blogged about it before (please click on the link).  Growing up to 10 metres tall, this tree is actually the world's tallest parasitic tree. It occurs naturally only in the south west of Western Australia. Named moojar or Kaanya Tree (kaanya, meaning recently departed soul) by the indigenous Noongar people, it has a powerful spiritual significance for the Noongar culture, who believed the spirits of ancestors rested in the branches. 

As promised below is the recipe for the Mini Christmas Puddings. Honestly this recipe is so easy and so yummy!

All you need is 1 x 700-800gm fruit cake (any plain wrap supermarket brand is fine), 180gm dark chocolate - or use a mixture of light and dark chocolate, 1/4 cup brandy (or substitute with orange juice), white chocolate bits and glace cherries to decorate (or you could use jelly fruit lollies).

Crumble the cake, melt the chocolate, and mix with the cake, and add the brandy. Mix well and then form into balls with your hands. Place on a tray. Melt white chocolate bits and drizzle over the puddings. Use glace cherries cut to shape to look like cherries and leaves to decorate.
Tip - only pour white chocolate over a few at a time as it will set very quickly and you need to stick on the glace cherries before the chocolate sets.  Store in the fridge. 

Try not to eat them all before Christmas day! 

 Christmas summer is a bit like this for us Down Under (made for Air New Zealand, but same in Australia!) 

 

 

I am leaving you with a Christmas thought - 

You might also like -

• Western Australian Christmas Tree
• The Ghosts of Christmas Past - including a poem for you
• Christmas Baking When It is Baking Hot!
• Why Christmas.com - to find out everything you need to know about Christmas around the world. 
• The 12 days of Aussie Christmas 

Wishing those of you who celebrate Christmas all the very best for a blessed Christmas spent with family or friends. And those who don't, I wish you peace. I pray for those around the world experiencing hardship, ill health or trauma. What we need now is to spread more love, compassion and understanding around the world. 

 

My heart goes out to the victims, their family and friends and all those who are traumatised by the tragic shootings at Bondi Beach in Australia on 14 December. 

This Christmas I hope you have the opportunity to pause and give thanks for the love, hope and joy that is the Christmas message. 

Thank you so much for stopping by. I value your comments and look forward to hearing from you. I will try to visit your blogs in return. Have a wonderful week. 
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The Western Australian Christmas Tree

Hi everyone, I hope you and yours are going ok. I have a friend who is desperately trying to get home to her family in Western Australia for Christmas. I hope you will be with your loved ones this year. It would be a very sad time to be apart, especially after the year it has been, and I know that many around the world will be without a loved one. 

The Western Australian bush around where we live is alive with colour this time of year. I've blogged about it before: The trees are blooming for Christmas

The yellow of the Candlestick Banksia, the purple of the Jacarandas, the red of the Red Flowering gum, and the golden yellow-orange of the Western Australian Christmas tree - Nuytsia floribunda.  

This tree is actually the world's tallest parasitic tree. It occurs naturally only in the south west of Western Australia. Their roots parasite onto the roots of other trees or plants.

I read some astounding information about it the other day at Australian Geographic - Australia's giant parasitic Christmas Tree

"The Christmas tree is indiscriminate, stealing juice from almost anything green – grasses, sedges, carrots, weeds, vines, shrubs, eucalypts." 

Named moojar  or Kaanya Tree (kaanya, meaning recently departed soul) by the indigenous Noongar people, it has a powerful spiritual significance for the Noongar culture, who believed the spirits of ancestors rested in the branches. For this reason they stayed away from the tree, would not cut it down, and didn't disturb animals that rested under it. 

I read that it was prized for its edible roots and gum, but this may not be correct. There is an interesting web-post you can read more about this here: Anthropology from the shed - Traditional significance of the Moojar

However here is an interesting podcast which has slightly different information regarding the uses of the tree - abcmedia.esperance-Moojar tree

Up to 10 metres tall it flowers from October to January, though where I live we usually see it from early December. It is the only plant in the mistletoe family that has seeds that are wind dispersed. The flowers are a rich source of nectar for the nectar eating birds and insects for the insect eating birds.

Click here to find out some more fascinating information about this tree: ABC.net - native WA Christmas Tree

and Australian Native Nursery

A bit more information I found today:

The Sacred Mooja or WA Christmas Tree ~The Tree of Souls~

Don't Pick the Flowers!

"The Moojar tree (Nuytsia floribunda) commonly known as the Western Australian Christmas tree. The moojar was regarded as “highly spiritual” because it was associated with the spirits of the dead who according to the ‘old people’ “camped” on the branches and flowers of the tree on their way to Kurannup – the land of the ancestors across the Western ocean. They said to us: ‘We don’t like to go near this tree.’

The cultural significance of Nuytsia floribunda is well established in the early ethnohistorical records. Daisy Bates in an article in The Australasian (1926 in Bridge 1992: 150) refers to it as the “ghost tree” and in a later publication (1938) “the tree of souls.” Her Noongar informants call it the moojarr or “Kaanya Tree” (kaanya, meaning recently departed soul). Bates emphasises that this tree was sacred to all Bibbulmun people throughout southwestern Australia from Jurien Bay to the east of Esperance. She categorically states that:

‘No living Bibbulmun ever sheltered or rested beneath the shade of the tree of souls; no flower or bud or leaf of the tree was ever touched by child or adult; no game that took shelter beneath it was ever disturbed.’ (Bates 1938 in Bridge 1992: 153)"

https://anthropologyfromtheshed.com/.../traditional.../

Thank you so much for stopping by. I hope you have enjoyed my post today about the native Western Australian Christmas tree. We enjoy seeing this splash of colour in the bush this time of year. 

For those who celebrate Christmas I wish you a very happy Christmas spent with those you love. For those without their loved ones I hope that you will be reunited soon or can be comforted by happy memories of them. I know this Christmas will be like no other, but I hope you will feel the peace and joy of Christmas. And for everyone, a safe and healthy conclusion to 2020 and a better 2021.

I value your comments and look forward to hearing from you. I will try to visit your blogs in return. Have a wonderful week.  

I am linking up to the link-ups below. Please click on the links to see fabulous contributions from around the world - virtual touring at its best!

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Hello there! I love reading your comments. If you scroll down to the bottom you can comment too! I would love to hear from you.