THE X CHRONICLES NEWSPAPER

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REL-MAR Person Of The Year For 2011

In This Edition of The X Chronicles Newspaper
DECEMBER 2011 - 48 Pages
These are just SOME of the stories and articles in this edition of THE X CHRONICLES NEWSPAPER

REL-MAR ANNOUNCES THE PERSON OF THE YEAR FOR 2011

with Rob McConnell

on the X ZONE BROADCAST NETWORK family broadcast of affiliates throughout world on TelStar 12 America, TelStar 12 Europe, Galaxy XI, IntelSat 801, NSS-K, PAS-1R, Atlantic Bird 2, IIF4,and Agilia 2.We also deliver The X Zone Radio programmers via a secure and encrypted FTP server.

Page 01: Merry Christmas From REL-MAR Page 02: 2011 Person of the Year Page 05: Hidden History Page 05: Sharing My Magic of Christmas Page 07: The Birth of Jesus - Luke 2: 1-20

KKRP AM 950 - Oklahoma AM 1590 WPUL - Daytona Beach FL AM 1600 KOHI - St. Helens OR AM 1350 KCHR - Charleston MO AM 1400 WZNG - Shelbyville / Nashville TN TalkStar 840 - Titusville, Orlando, Mims FL

Page 11: 2011 in Review Page 12: Chrstmas Facts Page 17: The Light Bringer Page 19: How Christmas Is Celebrated In ... Page 22: Prism Publishing Page 23: Rented Silence Page 29: Guide to Haunted San Francisco Page 34: Ghosts of the Northeast Page 38: Christmas Carols Page 39: Snippets From the Trenches

LUCIA MANN
Author - Activist Humanitarian
It is with great pleasure that REL-MAR McConnell Media Company, the parent company of The X Zone Radio & TV Show, The X Chronicles Newspaper, Paragators TV, X Zone Broadcast Network, eFormat & Publishing and RAM Media proudly announce that the REL-MAR PERSON OF THE YEAR for 2011 is Activist and Author LUCIA MANN (www.luciamann.com). Lucia Mann is Sicilian-bred, born in British Colonial South Africa in the wake of WWII. She is a citizen of Britain and Canada who recently applied for a U.S. Green Card because she believes she is an American at heart. She was educated in London, England and retired from freelance journalism in 1998. After suffering from racial prejudice most of her early life because she was part Italian and part South African, she saw and felt firsthand the pain and suffering of those who were thought to be inferior because of the color of their skin. Her mission is to end prejudice and slavery now and in the future Lucia Mann is the author of Beside An Ocean of Beside An Ocean Of Sorrow , Rented Silence, and Africas Unfinished Symphony and is the founder of the Modern-day Slavery Reporting Centre that is a platform for people who are Modern-Day Slaves or persons who wish to report Modern-day Slavery activities. Information is channeled to the proper law enforcement channel internationally. Visit Lucia Mann online at www.luciamann.com Her Other Websites Include: www.rentedsilence.com www.besideanoceanofsorrow.com www.africasunfinishedsymphony.com www.luciasstore www.YouTube.com/authorluciamann www.zazzle.com/luciasstore

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Page 44: Angels Care Centre Page 45: Brigitte Gottleib

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Page 48: Lucia Mann - 2011 Person of the Year

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The X Chronicles Newspaper is published by REL-MAR McCONNELL MEDIA COMPANY. The contents of this material are McCONNELL MEDIA COMPANY and may not be copied or reprinted in whole or in part without the express written consent of the publisher. All opinions, comments or statements of fact expressed by Rob McConnell's guests are strictly their own and are not to be construed as those of or in any manner endorsed by RELMAR McCONNELL MEDIA COMPANY, Rob McConnell, The X Chronicles Newspaper, stations or employees or advertisers. REL-MAR McCONNELL MEDIA COMPANY assumes no responsibility for claims made by its advertisers, contributors or stories from other sources and do not endorse any product and or service mentioned herein. To advertise in The X Chronicles, please contact us at (800) 6107035 or send an email to publisher@xchronicles-newspaper.com.

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www.xchronicles-newspaper.com Merry Christmas Everyone!

Rise Above Hate and Anger

Obscenity of a Human Owing Another: Rise Above Hate and Anger

By Lucia Mann
FACT: The practice of slavery (also known as thralldom) -- one human being enslaving another is as old as civilization. Nations and empires were built by the muscles of slaves. FACT: Slavery is no longer legal. Atrociously and intolerably loathsome, it continues to exist today. Some 27 million people worldwide are enslaved--working as forced laborers or in brothels. Never tremble before the will of another. I know firsthand. I was captured by a slave trader of the worst kind. I was treated as property, held against my will, and forced to work without pay. To my "master," I was a material object a disposable one. Was I born free? Hell, no! After being abandoned at birth (left to die by exposure) by my Sicilian-born (migrant) slave mother in the British Colony of South Africa in 1945, the odds of my survival were against me. If it was not for the quick intervention of an African woman of Zulu descent, I would not be here to tell this tale. Somewhere in The Valley of a Thousand Hills, Anele heard my newborn wails. She scooped up my tiny body from the makeshift grave and cradled me to her breast. Of course, she was troubled. She was black. I was white. There was no doubt in Aneles mind who had sired me. She had been his slave (domestic servant) for more years than she could count. Wasnt she running away from the same tyrant who had made so much of her time on Earth a living hell? With her mind made up, Aneles bare feet pounded the arid soil as she made her way to her home, to Zululand where she was born with me strapped to her back. Not knowing any better, my life in a kraal (village) was happy. Even a spanking for my shortcomings was memorably without pain. However, there are other memories that are eternal. My contented life ended abruptly after I turned about five summers old. This day would not be an ordinary day of collecting firewood, sweeping insects from the hut, and washing clothes in the river. He was tall. He was ugly. He was a white. Id never seen a white man before. Straddling Anele like a game trophy, he bellowed, You will pay dearly for stealing my kid. Ill see that you hang from the gallows. He slung me over his shoulders like a sack of potatoes. I was terrified. I screamed for my foster mother, Umama, help me. Dont let this umlungu (white person) take me away. I dont want to be eaten by a white man. My father silenced me with a blow to my head. His last words were imprinted: Shut your mouth, kaffir. At the time, I did not know that this term was a derogatory, belittling, vulgar reference used by racist unconscionable people. Kaffir! Yes, my deeply suntanned skin was deceptive; it blended in with every other dark child of Africa, but I had fair hair and green eyes. Didnt that count? Obviously not. My new identity was Kaffir ... gone was Shiya (Sh-I-ya), my African name meaning Forsaken One. Later that same day, I was imprisoned in a run-down cottage on my father's plantation estate. Over the course of days, weeks, I was raped, beaten, and forced to work as a domestic (peeling vegetables, scrubbing floors, and performing other menial chores) in the kitchen. I was his property. I was his slave. I was no one. Ah, but that is where he was wrong. I was bright, feisty, and resolved, even at this early age, not to be labeled as another one of his hapless victims. I had inherited survivor and warrior blood from my mother, Maria, who had also been imprisoned as a slave on this very same farm. History did, indeed, repeat itself. Eventually, I was handed over to the nuns who lived in a remote convent allocated for people of color. At that time, I still didnt know if I was pink, green, or yellow, or that I was, in fact, half European and half British. Convent life was brutal. I was beaten with a wooden paddle (mostly for rebelliousness) and forced to work in an on-site laundry from 4 A.M. to 10 P.M. Convent slavery is not for the fainthearted. It was common for the skin on my fingers to become painfully swollen, seared off, and sometimes infected from the scorching heat of a Mangle (a pressing roller) that starched not only the garments of the nuns and priests but also the attire of the while folks who paid for the service. In addition, I

often had my head into a bucket of cold water. Fainting in the intense South African heat was a common occurrence. We, convent slaves, were told it was a privilege to be Gods helpers. Gods helpers, my backside! Suffer little children is more appropriate. I was never baptized into the Catholic faith as required of all children under the care of this facility. (Unknown to me at the time, I was of the Jewish faith by blood right.) Urinating on church pews, shrilling at the top of my lungs during religious songs, and yanking off nuns' headgear during church services were my excommunication from all things holy. I became the Devils child to all who crossed my path. At about age fifteen, I was committed to an asylumincarcerated, shut up for good. Or so my father thought. As a response to all that had happened to me, trusting anyone became a big issue in my life. But I let my guard down the day I met with my assigned shrink. I loved the way she smiled at me. I loved the way she touched my shoulder. I told her about my life in the African bushmy happy life before my abduction to my incarceration on the estate and the heartless experiences I had endured behind the convent walls. I also plucked up the courage - reveal the sexual abuse. But mostly talked about about my will to live and tell. Tell. Tell. Tell. A year after I was committed to the soulless facility, I escaped from the Looney Bin with the help of my psychiatrist and her cousin, a British official. After I was relocated in Great Britain, I found myself slaving (cleaning houses) for the white folks, in order to survive. What else could an uneducated, illegal immigrant, who truly didnt know what color she was, do? But all was not lost in this foreign land where the English and their language commanded respect. Boy, oh boy, was this language tough to digest. But I did it. I used to speak fluent Zulu and a smattering of Dutch. Now I speak neither. Continued on Page 4

Visit Lucia Mann On Line at www.LuciaMann.com

Rise Above Hate and Anger

Obscenity of a Human Owing Another: Rise Above Hate and Anger
Continued From Page 3
At the time of my illegal entry into United Kingdom, my Zulu-speaking brain became overridden by my obsession to speak the Queens English. I spent every moment I could watching TV and listening to people speak. I mastered the language in less than a year. I attended school under false pretences with a name I selected from a graveyard. Not only did I graduate from high school but also from a university. Because of my wretched past, I wanted more than anything to acquire the toolsthe educationto be the voice of all those who had suffered under British racism, and then under Apartheid, whose far-reaching tremors are still felt today. No one should be owned or controlled, emotionally or physically, by another human being or judged by the color of his or her skin period! But as sure as the sun will rise tomorrow, modern-day enslavement will continue to exist on Earth, unless we, collectively end this heinous sin. Just recently, a TV station in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, highlighted the plight of seasonal tree-planters (African immigrants) subjected to unthinkable conditions (living and working in slave-like circumstances) while employed at a forestry camp in the interior. Men and women were found living in deplorable conditions: Up at 4: 30 A.M., they worked well into the night on stomachs that grumbled with hunger. They received one meal a day: bread and peanut butter. They received no breaks or fresh water to drink. They were told to bathe and drink from the river and relieve themselves in the woods; at night, they slept shoulder-shoulder in an old van. These workers were subjected to racial slurs and remained unpaid for their labour. Hearing about these inhuman atrocities committed to people of another color made me good and mad. It also made me sad. As my tears flowed, I felt as if I wanted to lash out at the perpetrators of these crimesput them behind bars, throw away the key. How this evilness is still happening in this day and age is inconceivable. Is it because slavery still exists in the hearts of the ruthless and unconscionable? I can only assume that these deplorable acts against others will continue until the end of time. But while there is still breath in my body, I will continue to write from the bottom of my heart and be the voice of the unsung heroes who cannot be heard. Who better to champion their cause than a former slave who suffered cruelty and racism. Im convinced that there is a solution to this despicable, intolerable practice if we, collectively highlight mans injustices to men, women and children. We can begin: 1.) Raise an honorable and respectable child, only then will be begin to change the thinking of the leftbrained literal and right-brained emotional people. 2.) Petition for a HOT-LINE to be set up for victims of slavery and racial abuse.

3.) Make it a crime with stiffer penalties to pay a worker under the minimum wage. 4.) Track your consumer habits Yes, it is almost impossible to buy clothes or goods anymore without inadvertently supporting the slave trade. However, if these sweat-shop products are boycotted, the slavers money will dry up. 5.) Extensive TV, media exposure, like the NBC network - Hansen - It will help to protect the public if they see the faces of their would-be predators, who, when caught, often get away with this despicable crimes. 6.) Safe havens should be set up for victims instead of being handed back to their pimps and slavers who often get a slap on the wrist. Let this quote by Frederick Douglass guide your path to end slavery. Every one of us should be ashamed to be free while his brother is a slave. ABOUT LUCIA MANN

HAS SLAVERY EVER LEFT OUR SHORES?

Lucia Man is Sicilian-bred, born in British Colonial South Africa in the wake of WWII. She is a citizen of Britain and Canada who recently applied for a U.S. Green Card because she believes she is an American at heart. She was educated in London, England and retired from freelance journalism in 1998. After suffering from racial prejudice most of her early life because she was part Italian and part South African, she saw and felt firsthand the pain and suffering of those who were thought to be inferior because of the color of their skin. Her mission is to end prejudice and slavery now and in the future. []

A woman was recently sentenced to 140 months in prison after using two Nigerian immigrants as personal unpaid servants in her luxury home in Atlanta, Georgia. A few days later, two Ukrainian brothers were convicted of smuggling desperate villagers into the United States to work long hours, cleaning retail stores and office buildings at little or no pay. The prosecuting U.S. attorney in Philadelphia, Daniel Velez, said it was modern-day slavery. Its hiding in plain sight. However, according to a woman who lived through the racial prejudice, segregation and slavery in post-World War II Europe, the slavery crisis in the modern world is far greater than that. Read more at www.RentedSilence.com

Read Our Free Preview of RENTED SILENCE by Luica Mann at http://rentedsilence.com/febook/

Sharing My Magic of Christmas Memories

Sharing My Magic of Christmas Memories

By Rob McConnell
As a young child, I can remember the magic that the Christmas Season brought to the world. The spirit of love and joy that filled the air. Happiness and smiles could be seen on the busy streets of Montral and in the hustlingbustling stores as holiday shoppers bought gifts for their loved ones. People would dig deep into their pockets to put a little bit of help into The Salvation Army Donation Kettles. There was something very magical about watching the Santa Claus Parade on television and then watching Santa arrive at Montreals downtown Eatons store where Mom and Dad would take my younger brother and I to see Santa. Even today, many years later as I write this article, I can feel the Magic of Christmas.. that very same feeling as when we rode the escalators up to the 5th Floor in Eatons and that all inspiring feeling as we walked up the ramp to see Santa, all over again. That magical feeling is still felt each and every time I open a Christmas Card from family and friends. Memories flood of times gone by when watching TV when there is a commercial about a Christmas show that I watched with family during Christmas oh so many years ago, when growing up in Chambly, Quebec, along a small river where we fished in the summer, and skated on in the winter. I can still smell the honey cake as it baked that my Mom still makes to this very day at Christmas time. I can still hear Mom and Dad singing Christmas carols as we decorated our home for Christmas and the feeling of love and wholeness as aunts, uncles and cousins would visit to bringing with them the love that we all shared with each other. The night that Dad would take my brother and I to buy our Christmas Tree was a sure sign that some night very soon, Santa would be making his magical flight around the world, bringing toys to all the boys and girls, who, of course had tried their very best throughout the year to be as good as they could be. Dad always knew where to find The Perfect Christmas Tree which he proudly paid for and brought to our car for the trip home. There is something very magical about being in the center of a Christmas Tree lot being surround by the Christmas Trees that would all bring so much joy to so many people. If Christmas had a smell, I am now certain it is that of a real Christmas Tree! A day or two before Christmas, Dad would always ask for our help when he brought

our Christmas Tree into the house from the back porch, where we had proudly displayed our Christmas Tree for all to see who passed our home. Smiles and the feeling of pride were felt by my brother and I for we knew that this magnificent tree was going to adorn our home as a testament to the Magic of Christmas. I always thought of our Christmas Tree as a beacon for Santa and his reindeer to find our home, making sure that he delivered the right gifts to the right house. Christmas Eve was always filled with magic at our home. During our baths, the Christmas Angels would bring brand new pajamas to my brother and I and we would find them under the Christmas Tree that now adorned our living room. Only the Christmas Tree lights were now on our tree, since every year we had been told that the Christmas Angels would return to decorate our tree later that night, before Santa arrived. Our little hearts were now pounding with anticipation, knowing that in just hours, that in the very spot where my brother Anthony and I were now picking up our brand new pajamas, Santa himself would be standing there. I remember proudly thinking to myself that Dad always picked the most beautiful Christmas Tree in the world and that it was now in our living room. Mom would then help us strategically place milk and cookies in the living room for Santa to help nourish him on his worldwide mission of happiness, love, peace and joy. Mom and Dad would then tuck my brother and I into our beds, reminding us that the sooner we went to sleep, the sooner Santa would come. Dad would then sing or read us a story that lulled us to sleep. In the early hours of Christmas morning my brother and I would wake-up, (waking the other up if he was still sleeping) to magically find a Christmas Stocking filled with fruit, candy and toys at the end of our beds. With all the anticipation that two little boys could stand, we would ever so quietly creep down the stairs to peek into the living room, to see if Santa had been to our house yet. As we approached the living room, you could actually feel the Magic of Christmas

beaming out from the living room and then there is was, in all its splendor, a glorious, fully decorated wonderful Christmas Tree with ohso many presents beneath. Santa had come! The glass of milk that we had left for Santa was now empty and the cookies we had left for him were gone! After a little while of just staring in wonderment at all of the presents under our Christmas Tree, the anticipation was too much for our little hearts to behold. We would run up the stairs to Mom and Dads room loudly exclaiming that Santa had been here! Never too tired to wake up with a smile and a loving Merry Christmas, Mom and Dad would drag themselves out of bed to join us on our Christmas morning ritual of tearing through the layers of Christmas present wrapping paper to see what glorious presents Santa had brought. The feeling that is felt by one and all, the young and the old, with their family and loved ones during the Christmas Holiday Time is truly the Magic of Christmas. Throughout Christmas Day, family and friends always stopped by to exchange Christmas wishes as Mom prepared the Christmas dinner. Even now, I can smell the turkey cooking in the oven. At Christmas Dinner, our entire family sat around the table. Mom and Dad, my brother Anthony, my Grandmother, Aunt Barbara and Uncle Joe and cousins Melody and Joe Jr., Aunt Liza and Uncle Sid and cousin Dorothy, Aunt Georgie and Uncle Peter and cousins Peter and Nadine, Aunt Margaret and Uncle Stan and cousins Wayne and Stephen and finally Aunt Flo and Uncle Mack. All was right with the world. Over the years and with the passing of time, our Christmas Dinner table is not as large as it used to be. However, I believe that every Christmas the Christmas Angels that now come and visit, bringing with them the Magic of Christmas that still fills our hearts, include my Grandmother, Uncle Stan, Aunt Margaret, Cousin Wayne, Aunt Liza, Uncle Sid, Uncle Peter, Aunt Georgie, Cousin Peter and Uncle Mack. Continued on Page 6

Sharing My Magic of Christmas Memories

Sharing My Magic of Christmas Memories
Continued from Page 5
Although they no longer sit at our table but they will always live in our hearts because of the yearlong effect that the Magic of Christmas has on us all. As Christmas Day would come to an end, and we would be tucked into our beds, kissed on our foreheads by Mom and Dad, all was right with the world. My brother and I could not wait until next year when our home and our hearts would once again be filled with the Magic of Christmas. Throughout my many years, I have seen the Magic of Christmas fill the hearts of our children and our grandchildren and I often wonder, why the Magic of Christmas is not be felt the rest of the year. Just imagine what a wonderful world this would be, if every day were to be like Christmas Day. I believe in my heart of hearts, that one day the Magic of Christmas will live all year long and that mankind will love and live as one, all because of a child who was born on December 25 in a manger. My mother asked me the other day why people line up to see Santa Claus and not Jesus? It took me a few days, but Mom, the answer is very simple. While here, as we live our lives, we line up to see Santa who, reminds us all of the miracle that happened so many years ago on December 25. However, Mom, I believe that when we pass from this reality, what we call life, and when we pass to what so many believe is heaven, we too, like Nanny, Aunt Liza, Uncle Sid, Uncle Stan, Aunt Margaret, Cousin Wayne, Uncle Peter, Aunt Georgie and Cousin Peter, will line up to see Jesus. Now, filled with the Magic of Christmas, it is my Christmas Wish that I have been able to fill the hearts of those who read this article with the Magic of Christmas, and to each and every one of you, may your hearts be filled with love and joy for this and every Christmas to come. From Laura, myself and our family, The X Zone Radio & TV Show and The X Chronicles Newspaper, Merry Christmas Everyone and the very best of health, love, happiness and spirituality for the New Year and every year thereafter. To end this article, and for the last time this year, I would to end with this sentence from The Night Before Christmas: Merry Christmas to All, and to All, a Good Night. For The X Zone Radio & TV Show and The X Chronicles Newspaper, I am, Rob McConnell. []

People Who Were Born On Christmas Day

1642 Sir Isaac Newton (mathematician) 1821 - Clara Barton (nurse: founder of American Red Cross) 1887 - Conrad Hilton (hotel magnate)

1899 - Humphrey Bogart (Academy Award-winning actor: The African Queen [1951]; The Maltese Falcon, Casablanca (Bogie's character never says "Play it again, Sam." He says: "You played it for her, you can play it for me. Play it!", while Ingrid Bergman says "Play it, Sam. Play 'As Time Goes By'".) 1907 - Cab (Cabell) Calloway ('Highness of Hi-De-Ho': bandleader, singer: Minnie the Moocher, Blues in the Night; films: Stormy Weather, St. Louis Blues; The Cotton Club Comes to the Ritz) 1914 - Tony Martin (Alvin Morris) (singer: It's a Blue World, To Each His Own, Kiss of Fire, Stranger in Paradise, Here; actor: Casbah, Hit the Deck; married to dancer Cyd Charisse) 1915 - Pete Rugolo (bandleader, arranger: Stan Kenton; scored TV's The Fugitive) 1918 - Anwar el-Sadat (Egyptian president; Nobel Peace Prize winner with Israel's Menachim Begin [1978]) 1924 - Rod Serling (scriptwriter: The Twilight Zone, Requiem for a Heavyweight, Planet of the Apes, Seven Days in May) 1932 - Little Richard (Penniman) (singer: Good Golly Miss Molly, Tutti-Frutti, Long Tall Sally, Lucille, Keep A Knockin') 1937 - O'Kelly Isley (singer: Grammy Award-winning group: The Isley Brothers: It's Your Thing [1969]; Shout, Twist and Shout, That Lady, This Old Heart of Mine) 1945 - Ken Stabler ('The Snake':

football: Oakland Raiders quarterback: Super Bowl XI) 1946 - Jimmy Buffett (songwriter, singer: Come Monday, Margaritaville, Changes in Latitudes - Changes in Attitudes; main 'Parrot Head') 1946 - Larry Csonka (Pro Football Hall of Famer: Miami Dolphins running back: Super Bowl VI, VII, VIII) 1948 - Barbara Mandrell (CMA Entertainer of the Year [1980, 1981], Female Vocalist of the Year [1979]; Standing Room Only, I Was Country When Country Wasn't Cool, Sleeping Single in a Double Bed, If Loving You Is Wrong) 1949 - Sissy (Mary) Spacek (Academy Award-winning actress: Coal Miner's Daughter [1980]; Missing, The River, Carrie, The Migrants) 1950 - Manny Trillo (baseball: Philadelphia Phillies) 1950 - Barry Pearson (football) 1953 - Dave Wasick (football) 1958 - Ricky Henderson (baseball: Oakland Athletics outfielder: Baseball Writers' Award, American League [1990]; NY Yankees)

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Secret UFO Transport in Cowley County

Did the Military Really Try To Smuggle a UFO Through Kansas In Plain Sight
An UFO was seen on top of a military truck four days ago travelling down US 77, said residents of Cowley County, Kansas. They thought the military were trying to haul an alien spaceship wrapped in plastic. In plain sight. Come on Cowley County citizens, you can do better than this. The answer is more mundane than that: the UTO (unidentified towed object) was actually an X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System, a drone designed to operate from aircraft carriers. Northrop Grumman has confirmed they were shipping the lethal wing to the Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland. There it will be tested on an airstrip designed as a carrier runway.

NASA spots strange glowing object near Mercury

By: Heather Gordon abc Action News
12/09/2011 - A NASA spacecraft has captured some odd-looking images in the sky near the planet Mercury, and UFO enthusiasts are all over it -- but don't panic just yet. A Huffington Post article describes the photos taken by NASA's Heliospheric Imager-1 telescope on December 1. Scientists say the photos captured a huge coronal mass ejection (CME) streaming from the sun. As the solar wind material streamed across Mercury, the image shows something very large and bright just to the right of the small planet. That is what has UFO enthusiasts are hoping and claiming they're seeing "the real alien deal." Discovery News says YouTube user siniXster used the U.S. Navy's SECCHI website to gather the images and create a video of the "extraordinary extraterrestrial encounter." In a video the user created on December 3, he refers to the object as a spaceship, saying "obviously it is cloaked and does not appear until the CME hits it." He adds that it is "definitely some sort of manufactured object." However, scientists have another explanation for the bizarre image, which they put in a response to the video, posted on the SECCHI website. It's essentially a negative imprint or after-image from the day before, since scientists say they need to do an "interpolation between two daily median images" for the CME to be enhanced for viewing. Still, it will be hard to convince some of the die-hard believers that this wasn't a glimpse of the final frontier. []

The Birth of Jesus The First Christmas Luke 2:1-20

1 In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2 (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 And everyone went to their own town to register. 4 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them. 8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger. 13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, 14 Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor

rests. 15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, Lets go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about. 16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17 When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told. [] Merry Christmas From Everyone At REL-MAR McCONNELL MEDIA COMPANY

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Unexplained Mysteries of 2011 & Into 2012

Unexplained Mysteries of 2011 and Into 2012
Analysis by Benjamin Radford
As we head inexorably toward 2012, we decided to look back at some of the strangest mysteries of this past year, and some of the mysteries that remain with us as we enter the new year.

5 "Unexplained" Mysteries Solved in 2011

The Jerusalem UFO Video Just a few weeks into 2011 a stunning UFO video circulated around the world. On Jan. 28, a mysterious glowing light hovered high above the Dome of the Rock, an ancient Islamic shrine in Jerusalem. It was touted as possibly the best video ever taken of an extraterrestrial spacecraft -made all the more apparently authentic because it was captured by at least two other people at the same time, from different angles. When the videos appeared on YouTube UFO interest was whipped into a frenzy; as Ian ONeill noted, "The news headlines read: "Holy Smoke -- UFO in Jerusalem," "Dome of the Rock Jerusalem light all proof UFO fans need that aliens exist" and "Credible? Jerusalem UFO footage captured from multiple viewpoints." Skeptical analyses soon suggested that the video had been faked, but true believers insisted that the videos were legitimate. Finally in March even MUFON, an organization dedicated to proving extraterrestrial visitation, joined the skeptics in branding the whole thing a hoax. Eventually even most diehard UFO believers grudgingly acknowledged that it had been faked. The Mysterious Magnetic Boy While the Internet was still abuzz with chatter about the Jerusalem UFO, another weird mystery emerged in February, from the country of Serbia. A seven-year-old boy named Bogdan made international news for his (apparently) paranormal ability to be "magnetic." According to MSNBC and The Daily Mail, household objects such as spoons, knives, and forks stuck to his skin with almost supernatural ease. Even stranger, other things stuck to him too, such as small plates and small flat glass objects. It was quite an unexplained mystery -- until it was pointed out that whatever made the items to stick Bogdan's bare skin, it was not magnetism, since many of the times were non-metallic. The mysterious ability was in fact due to simple skin friction. The Beast of Gvaudan Of all the monsters said to roam the earth, perhaps none was more feared than a mysterious creature that terrorized the French countryside in the 1760s. This monstrous Beast of Gvaudan, as it became known, killed peasants, farmers, and shepherds with impunity,

often leaving its scores of victims a gory mess. The identity of this monster has been a source of wild speculation, especially in France, for over two centuries. Many believe it was a werewolf; others say it was some sort of supernatural demon (owing to the fact that legends said could not be stopped by bullets); still others insist it was a serial killer (an early French Jack the Ripper). The mystery has been told many times, including in the 2001 thriller film Brotherhood of the Wolf. In 2011 the mystery was finally solved; historian Jay M. Smith, in his book Monsters of the Gvaudan, convincingly showed that there actually was no singular Beast of Gvaudan responsible for the deaths, as widely assumed; in fact the killings were consistent with wolf attacks. The Chupacabra The Beast of Gvaudan was not the only monster mystery finally solved in 2011. Since the mid-1990s, people around the world (and especially in Puerto Rico and Latin America) have reported a bizarre vampire beast which became known as the chupacabra (Spanish for "goat sucker," since it was said to drain blood out of small animals including goats). According to the first eyewitness, the chupacabra had two legs, stood 4 to 5 feet tall, and had spikes down its back. The monster had long, thin arms and legs, and an alien-like head with red or black eyes. Later alleged chupacabras found in America (mostly Texas and New Mexico) turned out to be diseased dogs, foxes, and coyotes. Though widely believed to be a real creature, the chupacabra mystery was finally solved when the original eyewitness -- whose description became the "standard" chupacabra image -- was shown to have confused a monster from the 1995 horror thriller Species for something she saw in real life. The Russian ET In April, just a few months after the amazing UFO video footage over Jerusalem came out, a video of what appeared to be an extraterrestrial

alien body recovered in Russia set off a new furor among UFO believers in the blogosphere. According to one story in The Daily Mail, "On its side with its mouth slightly agape, the slender, badly damaged body lies half-buried in snow close to Irkutsk, Russia. Video of the alien's corpse has become a massive worldwide hit with hundreds of thousands of followers after being posted on the internet. The corpse of the badly-damaged creature which resembles ET is two feet high. Part of the right leg is missing and there are deep holes for eyes and a mouth in a skull-like head." The video's authenticity was fiercely debated for weeks, until finally two Russian teens confessed to the hoax; police found the "alien" hidden in one of the teen's bedrooms.

5 Unexplained Mysteries Entering 2012

Though a variety of old and new mysteries were solved in 2011, many more mysteries remain unexplained as we begin 2012. Here are five. Mysterious Bee Deaths The collapse of bee colonies has worried biologists for years. Since 2006, between 20 percent and 40 percent of the bee colonies in the United States have suffered massive die-outs called "colony collapse." Many explanations have been proposed, ranging from pesticides to cell phone signals to climate change. As Discovery's Liz Day noted, "scientists are fingering their latest culprit in the dramatic disappearance of honeybees: a fungus and virus team... The virus affects bees' abdomens, often turning their tissues a purplish tone. The fungus, which also targets the bees' guts, is called Nosema ceranae. Combined, it seems the duo prevent bees from getting enough nutrition." Continued on Page 9

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Unexplained Mysteries of 2011 & Into 2012

Unexplained Mysteries of 2011 and Into 2012
Continued from Page 8
Though scientists have some important clues, a conclusive answer to the mystery remains elusive. Correlation does not imply causation, and just because all of the collapsed colonies had the virus and the gut fungus does not mean that the combination necessarily caused the bees to die; the presence of either one alone does not lead to colony collapse. How these cause colony collapse -- if in fact they do -- remains unknown. Faster Than Light Experiments In September 174 physicists at the CERN laboratory announced that they had shot particles between Switzerland and Italy at really high speeds. After three years of experiments and analysis, the team concluded that the neutrinos they fired arrived in Italy at one 17millionth of a second earlier than expected. Now, one 17-millionth of a second doesn't seem like a big deal; the issue was that, if confirmed, that speed would be faster than light -- which definitely is a big deal. The experiment was run again in November, and to the consternation of many (and the delight of some) they got the same result. Further experiments are necessary to know whether there was a miscalculation somewhere, or whether Einsteins theory of relativity has a big hole in it. Perhaps 2012 will reveal the answer. The Impact of the BP Oil Spill What will be the impact of the 2010 BP oil spill that poured almost 5 million barrels into the Gulf of Mexico? Scientists still don't know the answer. The initial predictions, from both the public and scientists, were dire: the ecosystem would be destroyed for the foreseeable future, devastating not only the wildlife but the local economy and tourism. Time magazine revisited the Gulf states in 2011, concluding that "nearly a year after the spill began, it seems clear that the worst-case scenario never came true. It's not that the oil spill had no lasting effects -- far from it -- but the ecological doomsday many predicted clearly hasn't taken place.... the damage does seem so far to have been less than feared. Scientists with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration estimated last August that much of the oil had remained in the Gulf, where it had dispersed or dissolved. Many environmentalists attacked the report for underplaying the threat of large underwater oil plumes still active in the Gulf, yet later independent scientific studies indeed found that oil had "largely disappeared from the water." Still, oil sludge continues to be found on beaches and the ocean floor. Amid the dueling reports and accusations of bias one thing is clear: as we enter 2012 the long-term effects from the largest oil spill in U.S. history remain unknown.

Extraterrestrial Life on Earth-Like Planets? Are we alone in the universe? It's an age-old question that remains unexplained despite advances and discoveries in the past few years, and the idea got tremendous support in 2011. In January it was announced that the Kepler Space Telescope had found the first hard evidence of a rocky planet beyond the solar system: Kepler-10b, an exoplanet about one and a half times the size of Earth. Though its surface is thought to be too hot to sustain life as we know it, astronomers suspect that it could have sustained life at some point in the past. That discovery came only a few months after scientists reported finding a planet called Gliese 581g, which is at just the right size and location to be hospitable for life. Then in December came the announcement that a planet with the unremarkable moniker Kepler 22b had been found: "A planet about twice the size of Earth has been confirmed to exist right in the middle of the 'habitable zone' around its star, which is much like our own... this is the first time such a life-friendly alien planet has been confirmed." Each year the scientific community finds more and more potential Earth-like bodies, yet proof of extraterrestrial life remains elusive. When it comes to knowing whether there's life elsewhere in the universe, the question remains an unsolved mystery. Will 2012 Bring Doomsday? Many people have suggested that the year 2012 will bring some sort of significant global change, either in the form of catastrophic disaster or perhaps a new age of enlightenment (as in what was supposed to have happened during the so-called Harmonic Convergence in 1987). Some tie in the 2012 doomsday idea to the end of the Mayan calendar, which seems to have no more or less significance than our Gregorian calendar "ending" on December 31. Ancient Mayans never believed the world would end in 2012 -- and even if they had, it's not clear why their doomsday predictions would be any more accurate than the thousands of previous failed prophecies. (For example in 2011 preacher Harold Camping

famously claimed that the world would end in May, and again in October; at last report he was wrong.) Others are less worried about a calendar's expiration date than about what they see as more science-based threats, such as a collision with a (non-existent) planet called Niburu, or a predicted increase in solar flare activity next year which could potentially fry the world's power grids. Will these predictions and concerns come true? Time will tell.[]

Christmas in Bethlehem
In Bethlehem the town where Jesus is said to have been born is the site of the Church of the Nativity, which is ablaze with flags and decorations on every Christmas. On Christmas Eve natives and visitors alike crowd the church's doorways and stand on the roof to watch for the dramatic annual procession. Galloping horsemen and police mounted on Arabian horses lead the parade. They are followed by solitary horseman carrying a cross and sitting astride a coal-black steed, then comes the churchmen and government officials. The procession solemnly enters the doors and places an ancient effigy of the Holy Child in the Church. Deep winding stairs lead to a grotto where visitors find a silver star marking the site of the birth of Jesus. Christian homes in Bethlehem are marked by a cross painted over the door and each home displays a homemade manger scene. A star is set up on a pole in the village square.[]

Mystery in the Gobi Desert

Mystery in the Gobi Desert
By Alan Boyle What are those strange white patterns in China's Gobi Desert? For weeks, experts have puzzled over the crazy lines that show up in satellite images. Some of the theories have taken wild turns: Maybe they're messages directed at Earth-observing extraterrestrials, or part of a UFO development program, or the remains of ancient cities. But the leading theory is that these patterns serve a variety of purposes for the Chinese military, including calibrating satellite imaging systems and testing radar avoidance techniques. There have also been claims that these are "fractal antennas" to shield underground weapons facilities from groundpenetrating radar. This particular crazy-quilt pattern was picked up on July 27 from an altitude of 423 miles by the Ikonos satellite, one of the spacecraft in a commercial Earth-imaging constellation operated by GeoEye. The picture is today's offering from the Cosmic Log Space Advent Calendar, which features views of Earth from space every day until Christmas. Whatever the precise purpose of these patterns might be, it's not all that unusual for people to draw huge lines in the sand: Consider Peru's famous Nazca Lines, which were etched more than 1,500 years ago to form patterns that look like geometric shapes, insects and birds. Some of those patterns can be seen in their full form only from the air. More recently, archaeologists have puzzled over wheel-like patterns in the Middle East.

Mystery of 'UFO' over Russian election protest solved

'UFO' was camera owned by citizen-journalist network on remote-controlled chopper

December 14, 2011, 4:27 PM The massive protest Muscovites staged to demand a recount and investigation into the massive victory scored by former KGB officer, former Russian President Vladmir "Action Vlad" Putin had a visitor that was probably much more strange to post Cold-War Russians than to geeky Americans still trying to keep pace with the massive American defense industry. The leaderless crowd of between 60,000 and 100,000 organized through Facebook and other social networking sites represented every slice of the political spectrum, from farright-wing nationalists to hard-left communists, according to Toronto's Globe and Mail. They accused Vladimir Churlov, chairman of the Russian Central Elections Commissions of widespread fraud designed to

give the election to Putin. Putin was President for the maximum of two consecutive four-year terms before retiring to the office of Prime Minister in 2008 to wait out an interim term by his former deputy, Dmitry Medvedev, who chose not to run during this year's election. His term ends in 2012. While the crowd shouted "Russia without Putin" and similar things likely to attract the attention and displeasure of the once and future president, a UFO the size and shape of a trash can appeared, hovering high enough to be out of reach of the crowd, but well within the range of any ultralight, relatively imprecise camera equipment that might be on board. The Russian press was stymied by the object, which hovered as if observing the crowd for several minutes before. The UFO puzzled members of much of the local and foreign press, though according to the Russian RT Network the only question among those in the crowd was whether the hovering object was owned by the police or by a Russian TV network. (Most disappointingly, it was also not piloted by aliens.) During the heyday of state security, it could only have been the secret police. Today it would most likely be from a broadcast network owned by a swaggering Russian oligarch. Neither stereotype was true. According to RT, the shots were taken by a camera mounted to a remotely operated

multi-rotor helicopter owned by the Ridus news agency. There is even a (Russian-language) page of photos taken by the UFO (Ridus drone), though few in the foreign press appear to have picked them up, with the exception of London's MailOnline, which credited the photo to Reuters, according to the RT story. The drone camera, aka the Moscow UFO, was launched by the Ridus news agency an independent community of civilian journalists, as they tend to call themselves, which is becoming increasingly popular among Russian bloggers, with anyone potentially being able to contribute to their news reports. The aerial shots taken by the Ridus drone camera above Bolotnaya Square on December 10 instantly spread throughout the internet. Funnily enough, one of them was published by MailOnline in their UFO article with the following caption: An aerial view of the rally in Bolotnaya Square during the protest in which the alleged UFO sighting was made. The copyright mark on the photo cites Reuters. RT Network, Dec. 13, 2011 Too bad. It was a nice mystery, while it lasted. [] THE X CHRONICLES NEWSPAPER ONLINE IS FREE! www.xchronicles-newspaper.com/ publisher

2011 in Review
2011 in Review and Looking Ahead to 2012
By Rob McConnell As December brings 2011 to an end, and with those who have listened to all the New Age hype about the predicted apocalyptic mumbojumbo about the mystical date of December 12 2012 the date when the Mayan Calendar comes to an end, which, by the way is the same date when the planet Earth will align with the center of the universe in an astronomical event called The Galactic Alignment, there are people who are actually planning for the end of life on the planet Earth! There are also other who believe that the mythological planet Nibiru, also known as Planet-X, will be returning to Earths orbit also causing mass devastation and major loss of life. Members of Christian sects are also predicting that December 21 2012 will be the day when Jesus Christ makes his return in The Second Coming - thus ushering in the Apocalypse as written about in the Bibles Book of Revelations. Over the past two years, I have interviewed people who are experts and selfproclaimed Scholars alike, and it has been very interesting to me both as a broadcaster and a Student of Humanity to watch the changing dynamics of those who were had core believers that the world would end on December 21 2012, creating an empty void in the universe where planet Earth used to be to now believing that December 2012 will be the date when a new age of spirituality, love and peace will be ushered in. Throughout history there have been doomsday predictions, hundreds of them, which, as you know, did not happen. This year, Harold Camping, an American Christian radio broadcaster, who, using a limited knowledge of self-taught numerology and applying his findings to the Bible he predicted that on May 20 2011, Jesus would be returning to Earth, the righteous would fly up to heaven and that there would be five months of fire, brimstone and plagues on Earth, with millions of people dying every day, culminating on October 21, 2011 with the end of the world. As is the case with all previous doomsday predictions throughout history, Harold Camping was wrong. By the way, Camping had also incorrectly predicted the end of the world on May 21, 1988 and September 6, 1994. His prediction for May 21, 2011 was widely reported, in part because of a massive publicity campaign by Family Radio, and it prompted responses from both atheist and Christian organizations. After May 21 passed without the predicted incidents, Camping said he believed that a "spiritual" judgment had occurred on that date, and that the physical Rapture would occur on October 21, 2011, simultaneously with the destruction of the universe by God. Except for one press appearance on May 23, 2011, Camping largely avoided press interviews after May 21, particularly after he suffered a stroke in June. October 21, 2011, passed without the predicted apocalypse, leading , not only myself on air proclaiming that Harold Camping was a nutcase, but the International Business Times also proclaimed Camping a "false prophet." Whatever happed to Harold Camping you ask? Camping was reported to have retired from his position at Family Radio as of October 16, 2011, only days before his last predicted date for the end of the world. However, his daughter later clarified that he had not retired outright, but was maintaining a role at the Family Radio while working from home. Camping admitted in a private interview that he no longer believed that anybody could know the time of the Rapture or the end of the world, in stark contrast to his previously staunch position on the subject. As for what the Mayans have to say about the end of the Mayan Calendar? Their explanation is very simple. The Mayans simply use the analogy that it is the very same as when we take down the old calendar New Years Eve and put up the new calendar. Its that simple. The Mayans have no idea where the doom and gloom correlation with the end of their calendar comes from! In short, I believe, as do the scientists, professors, scholars, historians, archaeologists and other learned professionals that I have had on The X Zone discussing December 21 2012, that it will be a day like any other, with the Sun rising and falling, the Moon and stars will come out at night, and the following morning, December 22, 2012 will then commence, with many doomsday believers looking very foolish. It seems that certain members of our planets society need to have a doom and gloom scenario in their lives, since they are unable or unwilling to cope with life and they look for an easy way our - the total annihilation of the planet and the loss of their life. Undoubtedly, they will have some very mystical and/or religious reason why we were spared. The year 2011 was unlike others years of the past when it comes to the paranormal, strange and bizarre with a drastic decline in what people believe and what they see and encounter as evidenced in the following - UFO Sightings - Way Down; - UFO - Human Contact - Way Down; - Aliens Abducting Humans - None ; - Human - Alien (ET) Contact - None; - Cattle mutilation - Way Down ; - UFO Conspiracy / Cover-Ups - Way Down; -UFO / Alien - Military Contact / Encounters None; - Captured Aliens - None; - Recovered Crashed UFOs - None; - Sasquatch / Bigfoot Sightings - Way Down; - Captured Bigfoot/Sasquatches - None; - Mothman Sightings - None; - Fairy Sightings - None; - Sightings of Religious Apparitions - None; - Sightings of Jesus Christ - None; - Sightings of Elvis - None; - Disappearances in The Bermuda Triangle None; - Disappearances in The Great Lakes Triangle None; - Sea Monsters Caught - None; - Sea Monsters Washed Up On Shore - None; - Credible Photos of Ghosts - None; - Credible Video of Paranormal Anomalies None; - Accuracy of Psychic Predictions from 2010 for 2011 - 2.3% Accuracy; - Accuracy of Astrologer Predictions from 2010 for 2011 - 2.1% Accuracy; - Accuracy of Magic 8 Ball Predictions from 2010 for 2011 - 35.8% Accuracy; - Accuracy of Fortune Cookie Predictions for 2010 - 54.6% Accuracy; - Accuracy of Super Bowl Sunday from 2011 for 2012 - 50 / 50; - Television Shows Being Brought Back in 2012 - Critically Down - New Age Woo Woos - Increase.

REL-MAR McConnell Media Company Person of the Year for 2011:

It is with great pleasure that REL-MAR McConnell Media Company, the parent company of The X Zone Radio & TV Show, The X Chronicles Newspaper, Paragators TV, X Zone Broadcast Network, eFormat & Publishing and RAM Media proudly announce that the REL-MAR PERSON OF THE YEAR for 2011 is Activist and Author LUCIA MANN (www.luciamann.com). Lucia Mann is Sicilian-bred, born in British Colonial South Africa in the wake of WWII. She is a citizen of Britain and Canada who recently applied for a U.S. Green Card because she believes she is an American at heart. She was educated in London, England and retired from freelance journalism in 1998. After suffering from racial prejudice most of her early life because she was part Italian and part South African, she saw and felt firsthand the pain and suffering of those who were thought to be inferior because of the color of their skin. Her mission is to end prejudice and slavery now and in the future Lucia Mann is the author of Beside An Ocean of Beside An Ocean Of Sorrow , Rented Silence, and Africas Unfinished Symphony and is the founder of the Modern-day Slavery Reporting Centre that is a platform for people who are Modern-Day Slaves or persons who wish to report Modern-day Slavery activities. Information is channeled to the proper law enforcement channel internationally. Visit Lucia Mann online at www.luciamann.com (See Page 52) THE X ZONE HITS 1,000,000 iTUNE PODCAST DOWNLOADS IN 2011! My thanks to all who have downloaded The X Zone Radio Show Podcasts from the Apple iTune Store where we reached the 1,000,000 download mark this year! Our podcasts are also available at www.xzonepodcast.com. With Christmas just a few days away, everyone here at REL-MAR McConnell Media Company would like to take this opportunity of wishing You and Yours a Very Merry Christmas and love, health, and happiness for the New Year. Until the next time we meet my friends, for The X Zone Radio & TV Show and The X Chronicles Newspaper, I am, Rob McConnell.

Christmas Facts
CHRISTMAS FACTS
"Hot cockles" was a popular game at Christmas in medieval times. It was a game in which the other players took turns striking the blindfolded player, who had to guess the name of the person delivering each blow. "Hot cockles" was still a Christmas pastime until the Victorian era. "White Christmas" (1954), starring Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye, was the first movie to be made in Vista Vision, a deep-focus process. "The Nutcracker" is the name for the ballet performed around Christmas time each year. "The Nutcracker Suite" is the title of the music Tchaikovsky wrote. "Wassail" comes from the Old Norse "ves heill"--to be of good health. This evolved into the tradition of visiting neighbors on Christmas Eve and drinking to their health. A Christmas club, a savings account in which a person deposits a fixed amount of money regularly to be used at Christmas for shopping, came about around 1905. A traditional Christmas dinner in early England was the head of a pig prepared with mustard. According to a 1995 survey, 7 out of 10 British dogs get Christmas gifts from their doting owners. According to historical accounts, the first Christmas in the Philippines was celebrated 200 years before Ferdinand Magellan discovered the country for the western world, likely between the years 1280 and 1320 AD. According to the National Christmas Tree Association, Americans buy 37.1 million real Christmas trees each year; 25 percent of them are from the nation's 5,000 choose-and-cut farms. After "A Christmas Carol," Charles Dickens wrote several other Christmas stories, one each year, but none was as successful as the original. Alabama was the first state to recognize Christmas as an official holiday. This tradition began in 1836. Although many believe the Friday after Thanksgiving is the busiest shopping day of the year, it is not. It is the fifth to tenth busiest day. The Friday and Saturday before Christmas are the two busiest shopping days of the year. American billionaire Ross Perot tried to airlift 28 tons of medicine and Christmas gifts to American POW's in North Vietnam in 1969. America's official national Christmas tree is located in King's Canyon National Park in California. The tree, a giant sequoia called the "General Grant Tree," is over 300 feet (90 meters) high. It was made the official Christmas tree in 1925. An artificial spider and web are often included in the decorations on Ukrainian Christmas trees. A spider web found on Christmas morning is believed to bring good luck. An average household in America will mail out 28 Christmas cards each year and see 28 eight cards return in their place. Animal Crackers are not really crackers, but cookies that were imported to the United States from England in the late 1800s. Barnum's circus-like boxes were designed with a string handle so that they could be hung on a Christmas tree. As early as 1822, the postmaster in Washington, D.C. was worried by the amount of extra mail at Christmas time. His preferred solution to the problem was to limit by law the number of cards a person could send. Even though commercial cards were not available at that time, people were already sending so many home-made cards that sixteen extra postmen had to be hired in the city. At Christmas, Ukrainians prepare a traditional twelve-course meal. A family's youngest child watches through the window for the evening star to appear, a signal that the feast can begin. At lavish Christmas feasts in the Middle Ages, swans and peacocks were sometimes served "endored." This meant the flesh was painted with saffron dissolved in melted butter. In addition to their painted flesh, endored birds were served wrapped in their own skin and feathers, which had been removed and set aside prior to roasting. Before settling on the name of Tiny Tim for his character in "A Christmas Carol," three other alliterative names were considered by Charles Dickens. They were Little Larry, Puny Pete, and Small Sam. California, Oregon, Michigan, Washington, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and North Carolina are the top Christmas tree producing states. Oregon is the leading producer of Christmas trees - 8.6 million in 1998. Candy canes began as straight white sticks of sugar candy used to decorated the Christmas trees. A choirmaster at Cologne Cathedral decided have the ends bent to depict a shepherd's crook and he would pass them out to the children to keep them quiet during the services. It wasn't until about the 20th century that candy canes acquired their red stripes. Charles Dickens' initial choice for Scrooge's statement "Bah Humbug" was "Bah Christmas." Child singer Jimmy Boyd was 12 years and 11 months old when he sang the Christmas favorite, "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus." The song hit the top of the pop charts. Christmas caroling began as an old English custom called Wassailing - toasting neighbors to a long and healthy life. Christmas Day in the Ukraine can be celebrated on either December 25, in faithful alliance with the Roman Catholic Gregorian calendar, or on January 7, which is the Orthodox or Eastern Rite (Julian calendar), the church holy day. Christmas is a summer holiday in South Africa. Children are fond of the age-old custom of producing pantomimes - for instance, "Babes in the Wood," founded on one of the oldest ballads in the English language. Boxing Day on December 26th, when boxes of food and clothing are given to the poor, is observed as a holiday. Continued on Page 14

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Uncle Al Capone

By Deidre Marie Capone

UNCLE AL CAPONE: The Untold Story from inside His Family
Gangster Al Capone once commented that This American system of oursgives each and every one of us a great opportunity if we only seize it with both hands and make the most of it. Despite the fact that its coming from a known gangster, it says a great deal about the mind of the man. He sees himself as an average, successful American businessman, even if his comment understates the whole picture. Its this human quality that Deirdre Marie Capone evokes in Uncle Al Capone, a fascinating book thats one part biography, one part memoir, and one part remembrance of Public Enemy Number One. As the grand-niece of Al, Capone recounts how she hid her family name for years. When a school research project leads her to come clean to her kids, she begins recalling the rich family history she once knew. Its a tale that starts after the family emigrates from Angri, Italy to Brooklyn, New York. Capone shows that Al and her grandfather, Ralph, werent always members of a crime syndicate. In fact, their childhood is fairly normal, with Al finishing high school, and Ralph working odd jobs to help support the family. Everything changes when their father dies and Prohibition becomes law. Forced to earn a living for his family, Al, and eventually Ralph, head to Chicago and down the path to criminal celebrity. Throughout the book, Capone tries to reconcile what she knows about her family with recorded history. Early in the book she writes, I will not pretend to be able to paint a rosy picture of my uncle Al. I cannot make him out to be a perfect man, or even a good man. But what I want people to know is that he was a complex man. He was human and he had a heart. Capone succeeds, balancing both the public history of Al, from the Valentines Day Massacre to his incarceration at Alcatraz, with personal photos, family recipes, and her own memories. The author recalls how loving certain members of the Capone family were, particularly her greataunt Maffie who helps the author to see good in the men. Its not always an easy task as the author recounts losing friends, jobs, and other opportunities, once people learned she was a descendant of the notorious Al Capone. Overall, Uncle Al Capone is a memoir that is as complex and human as the man that its about. It brings a fresh perspective to the other Al Capone biographies, and finally gives the larger-than-life gangster the one thing that may have eluded him in life: to be seen as simply a human being. []

DEIDRE MARIE CAPONE, Author of UNCLE AL CAPONE: The Untold Story From Inside His Family is the grand-niece of the 1930a Chicago Police Commission Public Enemy

Rob McConnell, Syndicated Talk Show Host

Uncle Al Capone... The Untold Story From Inside His Family is available at www.unclealcapone and www.amazon.com

Christmas Facts
CHRISTMAS FACTS
Continued from Page 12
Christmas is not widely celebrated in Scotland. Some historians believe that Christmas is downplayed in Scotland because of the influence of the Presbyterian Church (or Kirk), which considered Christmas a "Papist," or Catholic event. As a result, Christmas in Scotland tends to be somber. Christmas presents were known in antiquity among kings and chieftains, especially on the European continent. However, they have been common among ordinary people in Iceland only during the past 100 or so years. Christmas trees are edible. Many parts of pines, spruces, and firs can be eaten. The needles are a good source of vitamin C. Pine nuts, or pine cones, are also a good source of nutrition. Christmas trees are known to have been popular in Germany as far back as the sixteenth century. In England, they became popular after Queen Victoria's husband Albert, who came from Germany, made a tree part of the celebrations at Windsor Castle. In the United States, the earliest known mention of a Christmas tree is in the diary of a German who settled in Pennsylvania. Christmas was once a moveable feast celebrated at many different times during the year. The choice of December 25, was made by Pope Julius I, in the 4th century A.D., because this coincided with the pagan rituals of Winter Solstice, or Return of the Sun. The intent was to replace the pagan celebration with the Christian one. Cultured Christmas trees must be shaped as they grow to produce fuller foliage. To slow the upward growth and to encourage branching, they are hand-clipped in each spring. Trees grown in the wild have sparser branches, and are known in the industry as "Charlie Brown" trees. During the ancient 12-day Christmas celebration, the log burned was called the "Yule log." Sometimes a piece of the Yule log would be kept to kindle the fire the following winter, to ensure that the good luck carried on from year to year. The Yule log custom was handed down from the Druids. During the Christmas buying season, Visa cards alone are used an average of 5,340 times every minute in the United States. During the Christmas/Hanukkah season, more than 1.76 billion candy canes will be made. During World War II it was necessary for Americans to mail Christmas gifts early for the troops in Europe to receive them in time. Merchants joined in the effort to remind the public to shop and mail early and the protracted shopping season was born. Electric Christmas tree lights were first used in 1895. The idea for using electric Christmas lights came from an American, Ralph E. Morris.

The new lights proved safer than the traditional candles. Following Princess Diana's tragic death in 1997, the Ty toy company, famous in the late 1990s for its popular Beanie Baby line of beanbag animals, issued a "Princess" bear in tribute. The royal purple Beanie, bearing an embroidered white rose on its chest, became so desired that at Christmas time, American collectors were willing to spend up to $300 for one on the secondary market. For every real Christmas tree harvested, 2 to 3 seedlings are planted in its place. There are two Christmas Islands. The Christmas Island in the Pacific Ocean was formerly called Kiritimati. Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean is 52 square miles. Frankincense is a sweet smelling gum resin derived from certain Boswellia trees which, at the time of Christ, grew in Arabia, India, and Ethiopia. Tradition says that it was presented to the Christ Child by Balthasar, the black king from Ethiopia or Saba. The frankincense trade was at its height during the days of the Roman Empire. At that time this resin was considered as valuable as gems or precious metals. The Romans burned frankincense on their altars and at cremations. Franklin Pierce was the first United States' president to decorate an official White House Christmas tree . Frumenty was a spiced porridge, enjoyed by both rich and poor. It is thought to be the forerunner of modern Christmas puddings. It has its origins in a Celtic legend of the harvest god Dagda, who stirred a porridge made up of all the good things of the Earth. Frustrated at the lack of interest in his new toy

invention, Charles Pajeau hired several midgets, dressed them in elf costumes, and had them play with "Tinker Toys" in a display window at a Chicago department store during the Christmas season in 1914. This publicity stunt made the construction toy an instant hit. A year later, over a million sets of Tinker Toys had been sold. George Washington spent Christmas night 1776 crossing the Delaware River in dreadful conditions. Christmas 1777 fared little better at Valley Forge, Washington and his men had a miserable Christmas dinner of Fowl cooked in a broth of Turnips, cabbage and potatoes. Greeks do not use Christmas trees or give presents at Christmas. A priest may throw a little cross into the village water to drive the kallikantzari (gremlin-like spirits) away. To keep them from hiding in dark, dusty corners, he goes from house to house sprinkling holy water. Hallmark introduced its first Christmas cards in 1915, five years after the founding of the company. Historians have traced some of the current traditions surrounding Father Christmas, or Santa Claus, back to ancient Celtic roots. Father Christmas's elves are the modernization of the "Nature folk" of the Pagan religions; his reindeer are associated with the "Horned God," which was one of the Pagan deities. Continued on Page15

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Christmas Facts
Christmas Facts
Continued from Page 13
If traveling in France during the Christmas season, it is interesting to note that different dishes and dining traditions reign in popularity in different parts of the country. In south France, for instance, a Christmas loaf (pain calendeau) is cut crosswise and is eaten only after the first part has been given to a poor person. In Brittany, buckwheat cakes and sour cream is the most popular main dish. In Alsace, a roasted goose is the preferred entre. In Burgundy, turkey and chestnuts are favored. In the Paris region, oysters are the favorite holiday dish, followed by a cake shaped like a Yule log. In 1647, the English parliament passed a law that made Christmas illegal. Festivities were banned by Puritan leader, Oliver Cromwell, who considered feasting and revelry, on what was supposed to be a holy day, to be immoral. The ban was lifted only when the Puritans lost power in 1660. In 1752, 11 days were dropped from the year when the switch from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar was made. The December 25, date was effectively moved 11 days backwards. Some Christian church sects, called old calendarists, still celebrate Christmas on January 7 (previously December 25 of the Julian calendar). In 1907, Oklahoma became the last US state to declare Christmas a legal holiday. In 1937, the first postage stamp to commemorate Christmas was issued in Austria. In 1947, Toys for Tots started making the holidays a little happier for children by organizing its first Christmas toy drive for needy youngsters. In 1996, Christmas caroling was banned at two major malls in Pensacola, Florida. Apparently, shoppers and merchants complained the carolers were too loud and took up too much space. In an effort to solicit cash to pay for a charity Christmas dinner in 1891, a large crabpot was set down on a San Francisco street, becoming the first Salvation Army collection kettle. In America, the weeks leading up to Christmas are the biggest shopping weeks of the year. Many retailers make up to 70% of their annual revenue in the month preceding Christmas. In Armenia, the traditional Christmas Eve meal consists of fried fish, lettuce, and spinach. The meal is traditionally eaten after the Christmas Eve service, in commemoration of the supper eaten by Mary on the evening before Christ's birth. In Britain, eating mince pies at Christmas dates back to the 16th century. It is still believed that to eat a mince pie on each of the Twelve Days of Christmas will bring 12 happy months in the year to follow. In Britain, the Holy Days and Fasting Days Act of 1551, which has not yet been repealed, states that every citizen must attend a Christian church service on Christmas Day, and must not use any kind of vehicle to get to the service. In Finland and Sweden an old tradition prevails, where the twelve days of Christmas are declared to be time of civil peace by law. It used to be that a person committing crimes during this time would be liable to a stiffer sentence than normal. In France, Christmas is called Noel. This is derived from the French phrase "les bonnes nouvelles," which means literally "the good news" and refers to the gospel. In Greek legend, malicious creatures called Kallikantzaroi (also spelled Kallikantzari) sometimes play troublesome pranks at Christmas time. According to the legend, to get rid of them, you should burn either salt or an old shoe. Apparently the stench of the burning shoe (or salt) drives off the Kallikantzaroi. Other effective methods include hanging a pig's jawbone by the door and keeping a large fire so they can't sneak down the chimney. In Guatemala, Christmas Day is celebrated on December 25; however, Guatemalan adults do not exchange gifts until New Year's Day. Children get theirs (from the Christ Child) on Christmas morning. In Medieval England, Nicholas was just another saint - he had not yet been referred to as Santa Claus and he had nothing to do with Christmas. In North America, children put stockings out at Christmas time. Their Dutch counterparts, however, use shoes. Dutch children set out shoes to receive gifts any time between midNovember and December 5, St. Nicholas' birthday. In Norway on Christmas Eve, visitors should know that after the family's big dinner and the opening of presents, all the brooms in the house are hidden. The Norwegians long ago believed that witches and mischievous spirits came out on Christmas Eve and would steal their brooms for riding. In Portugal, the traditional Christmas meal (consoada) is eaten in the early hours of Christmas Day. Burning in the hearth is the Yule log (fogueira da consoada). The ashes and charred remains of the Yule log are saved; later in the year, they are burned with pine cones during Portugal's thunderstorm season. It is believed that no thunderbolt will strike where the Yule log smoke has traveled. In southern France, some people burn a log in their homes from Christmas Eve until New Year's Day. This stems from an ancient tradition in which farmers would use part of the log to ensure a plentiful harvest the following year. In Sweden, a common Christmas decoration is the Julbock. Made from straw, it is a small figurine of a goat. A variety of straw decorations are a usual feature of Scandinavian Christmas festivities. In Syria, Christmas gifts are distributed by one of the Wise Men's camels. The gift-giving camel is said to have been the smallest one in the Wise Men's caravan. In the British armed forces it is traditional that officers wait on the men and serve them their Christmas dinner. This dates back to a custom from the Middle Ages. In the Netherlands, Christmas centers on the arrival of Saint Nicholas, who is believed to come on horseback bearing gifts. Before going to bed, children leave out their shoes, hoping to find them filled with sweets when they awaken. In the Thomas Nast cartoon that first depicted Santa Claus with a sleigh and reindeer, he was delivering Christmas gifts to soldiers fighting in the U.S. Civil War. The cartoon, entitled "Santa Claus in Camp," appeared in Harper's Weekly on January 3, 1863. In the Ukraine, a traditional Christmas bread called "kolach" is placed in the center of the dining table. This bread is braided into a ring, and three such rings are placed one on top of the other, with a candle in the center of the top one. The three rings symbolize the Trinity. In Victorian England, turkeys were popular for Christmas dinners. Some of the birds were raised in Norfolk, and taken to market in London. To get them to London, the turkeys were supplied with boots made of sacking or leather. The turkeys were walked to market. The boots protected their feet from the frozen mud of the road. Boots were not used for geese: instead, their feet were protected with a covering of tar. It is a British Christmas tradition that a wish made while mixing the Christmas pudding will come true only if the ingredients are stirred in a clockwise direction. It is estimated that 400,000 people become sick each year from eating tainted Christmas leftovers. Jesus Christ, son of Mary, was born in a cave, not in a wooden stable. Caves were used to keep animals in because of the intense heat. A large church is now built over the cave, and people can go down inside the cave. The carpenters of Jesus' day were really stone cutters. Wood was not used as widely as it is today. So whenever you see a Christmas nativity scene with a wooden stable -- that's the "American" version, not the Biblical one. Continued on Page 16

with Rob McConnell www.xzoneradiotv.com Over 1,000,000 Podcast Downloads in 2011!

Christmas Facts
Christmas Facts
Continued from Page 15
La Befana, a kindly witch, rides a broomstick down the chimney to deliver toys into the stockings of Italian children. The legends say that Befana was sweeping her floors when the three Wise Men stopped and asked her to come to see the Baby Jesus. "No," she said, "I am too busy." Later, she changed her mind but it was too late. So, to this day, she goes out on Christmas Eve searching for the Holy Child, leaving gifts for the "holy child" in each household. Long before it was used as a "kiss encourager" during the Christmas season, mistletoe had long been considered to have magic powers by Celtic and Teutonic peoples. It was said to have the ability to heal wounds and increase fertility. Celts hung mistletoe in their homes in order to bring themselves good luck and ward off evil spirits. Mistletoe, a traditional Christmas symbol, was once revered by the early Britons. It was so sacred that it had to be cut with a golden sickle. More diamonds are purchased at Christmastime (31 percent) than during any other holiday or occasion during the year. More than three billion Christmas cards are sent annually in the United States. Myrrh is an aromatic gum resin which oozes from gashes cut in the bark of a small desert tree known as Commifera Myrrha or the dindin tree. The myrrh hardens into tear-dropped shaped chunks and is then powdered or made into ointments or perfumes. This tree is about 5-15 feet tall and 1 foot in diameter. Legend says Caspar brought the gift of myrrh from Europe or Tarsus and placed it before the Christ Child. Myrrh was an extremely valuable commodity during biblical times and was imported from India and Arabia. New York City's Empire State Building's world famous tower lights are turned off every night at midnight with the exception of New Year's Eve, New Year's Day, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and St. Patrick's Day, when they are illuminated until 3 a.m. On Christmas Day, 1989, Eastern Europe was permitted to celebrate Christmas freely and openly for the first time in decades. Church masses were broadcast live for the first time in history. One Norwegian Christmas custom begins in late autumn at harvest time. The finest wheat is gathered and saved until Christmas. This wheat is then attached to poles made from tree branches, making perches for the birds. A large circle of snow is cleared away beneath each perch. According to the Norwegians, this provides a place for the birds to dance, which allows them to work up their appetites between meals. Just before sunset on Christmas Eve, the head of the household checks on the wheat in the yard. If a lot of sparrows are seen dining, it is suppose to indicate a good year for growing crops. One notable medieval English Christmas celebration featured a giant 165-pound pie. The giant pie was nine feet in diameter. Its ingredients included 2 bushels of flour, 20 pounds of butter, 4 geese, 2 rabbits, 4 wild ducks, 2 woodcocks, 6 snipes, 4 partridges, 2 neats' tongues, 2 curlews, 6 pigeons, and 7 blackbirds. Originally, Christmas decorations were homemade paper flowers, or apples, biscuits, and sweets. The earliest decorations to be bought came from Nuremburg in Germany, a city famous for the manufacture of toys. Lauscha in Germany is famous for its glass ornaments. In 1880, America discovered Lauscha and F.W. Woolworth went there and bought a few glass Christmas tree ornaments. Within a day he had sold out so next year he bought more and within a week they, too, had sold. The year after that be bought 200,000 Lauscha ornaments. During the First World War supplies of ornaments from Lauscha ceased, so American manufacturers began to make their own ornaments, developing new techniques that allowed them to turn out as many ornaments in a minute as could be made in a whole day at Lauscha. Per a November 2000 Gallup poll, 60 percent of Americans thought they would spend at least $500 that year on Christmas gifts. This was a slight drop from 1999 gift-spending. Postmen in Victorian England were popularly called "robins." This was because their uniforms were red. The British Post Office grew out of the carrying of royal dispatches. Red was considered a royal color, so uniforms and letterboxes were red. Christmas cards often showed a robin delivering Christmas mail. Queen Elizabeth's Christmas message to the nation was televised for the first time on December 25, 1957. For the next 40 years, the BBC aired the event. Right behind Christmas and Thanksgiving, Super Bowl Sunday ranks as the third-largest occasion for Americans to consume food, according to the National Football League. Santa's Reindeers are Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner and Blitzen. Silent Night was written in 1818, by an Austrian priest Joseph Mohr. He was told the day before Christmas that the church organ was broken and would not be prepared in time for Christmas Eve. He was saddened by this and could not think of Christmas without music, so he wanted to write a carol that could be sung by choir to guitar music. He sat down and wrote three stanzas. Later that night the people in the little Austrian Church sang "Stille Nacht" for the first time. Since the 1840s, the residents of Pietarsaari, a town on Finland's coast, have decorated a Christmas street, Storgatan, since the 1840s. Suspended over the street are three large illuminated decorations: a cross symbolizing faith, an anchor representing h St. Nicholas was bishop of the Turkish town of Myra in the early fourth century. It was the Dutch who first made him into a Christmas giftgiver, and Dutch settlers brought him to America where his name eventually became the familiar Santa Claus. Telesphorus, the second Bishop of Rome (125136 AD) declared that public Church services should be held to celebrate "The Nativity of our Lord and Saviour." In 320 AD, Pope Julius I and other religious leaders specified 25 December as the official date of the birth of Jesus Christ. Continued on page 18

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The Light Bringer

Chris DiGiuseppi and Mike Force

Across the world, nearly two people die every second of every day. The haunting questions that loom in the minds of the living torment each of us sooner or later at some point in our lives. Can you recall the grief, the confusion, the lack of understanding and perhaps the flood of emotion that consumed you as you stood at the graveside of a loved one or close friend? Staring down into a casket, can you recall the feelings of emptiness and fear, as if you were lost in a dark room searching for a source of light? Do you remember the frustration of yearning for an answer or reason to explain how such an injustice has come to pass? Have you ever heard someone say, everything happens for a reason? Although a fictional story, The Light Bringer incorporates a volume of incidents involving tragedies that are based on real experiences of the authors over the course of their lives. It offers a mixture of reality and fiction to lend some resolve to the pain and frustrations of death. Its engaging tale will walk you through a fantastic display of life and the mysterious worlds beyond the doorway of the afterlife. The book compels the readers inspiration but also motivates one to reflect on the path you choose to take in life and the resulting impact on death. The authors original goal was to change one persons life for the better, but I believe the effect and message of this story is strong and profound enough to positively influence the masses. Were all going to die someday, and The Light Bringer reveals the wonders that await us.
REVIEW; Superb! The Light Bringer displays an outstanding supernatural adventure that will pull you into a world beyond life itself and make you wonder if it's really a work of fiction. A chilling movement across the threshold that separates this world and the next, The Light Bringer bridges the gap between the light and darkness, goodness and evil that exist in this world and our life beyond. Dr. Tom Hill, Coauthor of Chicken Soup for the Entrepreneur's Soul. (Dr. Tom Hill ) REVIEW: In a powerful way, The Light Bringer helps the reader consider how well they are following the path of Light - and what temptations from the Darkside they need to carefully turn away from. I recommend this bookto any one who is willing to honestly reflect on their life, and the life after." - Ron Brown, PhD Organizational Effectiveness Consultant Author of "The Courageous Life"

Christmas Facts
Christmas Facts
Continued from Page 16
The "Twelve Days of Christmas" was originally written to help Catholic children, in England, remember different articles of faith during the persecution by Protestant Monarchs. The "true love" represented God, and the gifts all different ideas: The "Partridge in a pear tree" was Christ. 2 Turtle Doves = The Old and New Testaments 3 French Hens = Faith, Hope and Charity-- the Theological Virtues 4 Calling Birds = the Four Gospels and/or the Four Evangelists 5 Golden Rings = The first Five Books of the Old Testament, the "Pentateuch", which relays the history of man's fall from grace. 6 Geese A-laying = the six days of Creation 7 Swans A-swimming = the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, the seven sacraments 8 Maids A-milking = the eight beatitudes 9 Ladies Dancing = the nine Fruits of the Holy Spirit 10 Lords A-leaping = the ten commandments 11 Pipers Piping = the eleven faithful apostles 12 Drummers Drumming = the twelve points of doctrine in the Apostle's Creed The best selling Christmas trees are Scotch pine, Douglas fir, Noble fir, Fraser fir, Virginia pine, Balsam fir and white pine. The Canadian province of Nova Scotia leads the world in exporting lobster, wild blueberries, and Christmas trees. The Christmas season begins at sundown on 24th December and lasts through sundown on 5th January. For that reason, this season is also known as the Twelve Days of Christmas. The Christmas turkey first appeared on English tables in the 16th century, but didn't immediately replace the traditional fare of goose, beef or boar's head in the rich households. The custom of singing Christmas carols is very old - the earliest English collection was published in 1521. The day after Christmas, December 26, is known as Boxing Day. It is also the holy day called The Feast of St. Stephen. Some believe the feast was named for St. Stephen, a 9th century Swedish missionary, the patron saint of horses. Neither Boxing Day or St. Stephen have anything to do with Sweden or with horses. The Stephen for whom the day is named is the one in the Bible (Acts 6-8) who was the first Christian to be martyred for his faith. The first British monarch to broadcast a Christmas message to his people was King George V. The first charity Christmas card was produced by UNICEF in 1949. The picture chosen for the card was painted not by a professional artist but by a seven-year-old girl. The girl was Jitka Samkova of Rudolfo, a small town in the former nation of Czechoslovakia. The town received UNICEF assistance after World War II, inspiring Jitka to paint some children dancing around a maypole. She said her picture represented "joy going round and round." The first Christmas card was created in England on December 9, 1842. The first commercial Christmas card sold was designed by London artist John Calcott Horsley. He was hired by a wealthy British man to design a card that showed people feeding and clothing the poor with another picture of a Christmas party. The first Christmas card said, "Merry Christmas and a happy New Year to you." Of the original one thousand cards he printed for Henry Cole, only twelve exist today. The first printed reference to Christmas trees appeared in Germany in 1531. The four ghosts in Charles Dickens's "A Christmas Carol" were the ghosts of Christmas Past, Christmas Present, Christmas Yet to Come, and the ghost of Jacob Marley. The movie "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" (2000) features more than 52,000 Christmas lights, about 8,200 Christmas ornaments, and nearly 2,000 candy canes. The modern Christmas custom of displaying a wreath on the front door of one's house, is borrowed from ancient Rome's New Year's celebrations. Romans wished each other "good health" by exchanging branches of evergreens. They called these gifts strenae after Strenia, the goddess of health. It became the custom to bend these branches into a ring and display them on doorways. The northern European custom of the candlelit Christmas tree is derived from the belief that it sheltered woodland spirits when other trees lost their leaves during winter. The poem commonly referred to as "The Night Before Christmas" was originally titled "A Visit From Saint Nicholas." This poem was written by Clement Moore for his children and some guests, one of whom anonymously sent the poem to a New York newspaper for publication. The poinsettia, traditionally an American Christmas flower, originally grew in Mexico; where it was known as the "Flower of the Holy Night". It was first brought to America by Joel Poinsett in 1829. The popular Christmas song "Jingle Bells" was composed in 1857 by James Pierpont, and was originally called "One-Horse Open Sleigh." The Puritans forbade the singing of Christmas carols. The real St. Nicholas lived in Turkey, where he was bishop of the town of Myra, in the early 4th century. It was the Dutch who first made him into a Christmas gift-giver, and Dutch settlers brought him to America where his name eventually became the familiar Santa Claus. The Super Ball was born in 1965, and it became America's most popular plaything that year. By Christmas time, only six months after it was introduced by Wham-O, 7 million balls had been sold at 98 cents apiece. Norman Stingley, a California chemist, invented the bouncing gray ball. In his spare time, he had compressed a synthetic rubber material under 3,500 pounds of pressure per square inch, and eventually created the remarkable ball. It had a resiliency of 92 percent, about three times that of a tennis ball, and could bounce for long periods. It was reported that presidential aide McGeorge Bundy had five dozen Super Balls shipped to the White House for the amusement of staffers. The table for Christmas Eve dinner in the Ukraine is set with two tablecloths: one for the ancestors of the family, the other for the living members. In pagan times, ancestors were believed to be benevolent spirits who, when shown respect, brought good fortune. The tradition of Christmas lights dates back to when Christians were persecuted for saying Mass. A simple candle in the window meant that Mass would be celebrated there that night. The traditional flaming Christmas pudding dates back to 1670 in England, and was derived from an earlier form of stiffened plum porridge. The world's first singing commercial aired on the radio on Christmas Eve, 1926 for Wheaties cereal. The four male singers, eventually known as the Wheaties Quartet, sang the jingle. The Wheaties Quartet, comprised of an undertaker, a bailiff, a printer, and a businessman, performed the song for the next six years, at $6 per singer per week. The commercials were a resounding success. Theodore Roosevelt, a staunch conservationist, banned Christmas trees in his home, even when he lived in the White House. His children, however, smuggled them into their bedrooms. There are twelve courses in the Ukrainian Christmas Eve supper. According to the Christian tradition, each course is dedicated to one of Christ's apostles. When Robert Louis Stevenson, author of Treasure Island, died on December 4, 1894, he willed his November 13 birthday to a friend who disliked her own Christmas birthday. Yuletide-named towns in the United States include Santa Claus, located in Arizona and Indiana, Noel in Missouri, and Christmas in both Arizona and Florida.[]

How Christmas Is Celebrated In ...

How Christmas Is Celebrated in Africa
Preparation for Christmas in the Congo begins when some group is designated to prepare the annual Christmas pageant. Christmas day begins with groups of carolers walking to and fro through the village, along the roadway, by the houses of the missionaries, singing the lovely carols known the world around. Often people may be awakened by a group of carolers beginning to converge on the house of worship. They return home to make final preparation as to the clothes one must wear and also as to his offering for the Christmas service. The most important part of their Christmas worship service is the love offering, this is the gift in honor of Jesus. Then at about 8 or 9 o'clock everyone makes their way to the celebration of the birthday of Jesus. Everyone who attends the service goes forward to lay down their gift upon the raised platform near the Communion table. Not one person will attend the service without giving a gift. Now people have Christmas dinners after the service, preparing tables out in front of their home and inviting many of their intimate friends to share. Christmas in South Africa is a summer holiday. In December, the southern summer brings glorious days of sunshine that carry an irresistible invitation to the beaches, the rivers, and the shaded mountain slopes. Then the South African holiday season reaches its height. Schools are closed, and camping is the order of the day. In South Africa there is no snow, but it has many flowers, many beautiful varieties of cultivated and wild flowers being in their full pride. In the cities and towns carolers make their rounds on Christmas Eve. Church services are held on Christmas morning. Christmas Eve celebrations in larger centers include "Carols by Candlelight" and special screen and floor shows. Homes are decorated with pine branches, and all have the decorated Christmas fir in a corner, with presents for the children around. At bedtime on Christmas Eve, children may also hang up their stockings for presents from Father Christmas. Many South Africans have a Christmas dinner in the open-air lunch. For many more, it is the traditional dinner of either turkey, roast beef, mince pies, or suckling pig, yellow rice with raisins, vegetables, and plum pudding, crackers, paper hats, and all. In the afternoon, families go out into the country and usually there are games or bathing in the warm sunshine, and then home in the cool of the evening. Boxing Day is also a proclaimed public holiday usually spent in the open air. It falls on December 26 and is a day of real relaxation. In Ghana, on Africa's west coast, most churches herald the coming of Christmas by decorating the church and homes beginning with the first week in Advent, four weeks before Christmas. This season happens to coincide with the cocoa harvest, so it is a time of wealth. Everyone returns home from wherever they

might be such as farms or mines. On the eve of Christmas, children march up and down the streets singing Christmas Carols and shouting "Christ is coming, Christ is coming! He is near!" in their language. In the evening, people flock to churches which have been decorated with Christmas evergreens or palm trees massed with candles. Hymns are sung and Nativity plays are presented. On Christmas Day, children and older people, representing the angels in the fields outside Bethlehem, go from house to house singing. Another church service is held where they dress in their native attire or Western costumes. Later on there is a feast of rice and yam paste called fufu with stew or okra soup, porridge and meats. Families eat together or with close neighbors, and presents are given. On the west coast of Africa, in Liberia, most homes have an oil palm for a Christmas tree, which is decorated with bells. On Christmas morning, people are woken up by carols. Presents such as cotton cloth, soap, sweets, pencils, and books are exchanged. Also in the morning a church service is held in which the Christmas scene is enacted and hymns and carols are sung. Dinner is eaten outdoors with everyone sitting in a circle to share the meal of rice, beef and biscuits. Games are played in the afternoon, and at night fireworks light up the sky.

Christmas in African America

On December 26th African Americans celebrate with Kwanzaa, a holiday that originated at the time of the civil rights movement in the 1960's and is in commemoration of African heritage. Created as a ritual for harvest time and using the language Swahili, Kwanzaa lasts a week during which participants gather with family and friends to exchange gifts and to light a series of black, red and green candles which symbolize the seven basic values of the African Americans family life that is unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity and faith. The days leading up to Kwanzaa are

spent decorating the house with black, red and green paper decorations. They might also hang handmade ornaments on an evergreen Kwanzaa Bush. Part of this holiday is spent teaching children about their heritage and they might also display their artwork or find other ways to pay tribute to their past as well as their present. They put up photographs of the current generation of the family. A ceremonial table is set up, which has been set up with an ear of corn symbolizing each of the children, a carved and decorated unity cup, which is used for the toasts made each evening. Then for the next seven nights the family gathers to light the seven holed candleholder or Kinara. The first night of the children is asked to light the central candle the black one (this is symbolizing unity) after which they are told the meaning of the word. The next night someone lights the red one (symbolizing self-determination) and so on for the next seven nights. Each night they also drink from the unity cup which is filled with libation. December 31st is the night for the giving of gifts to the children these gifts might consist of a book as well as a heritage symbol such as an African artifact. The seven day celebration ends with a feast which has African American foods, and plenty of music. Once everyone has finished eating, they all rise, recommit themselves to the seven principles of Kwanzaa and bid everyone happy times ahead. The host of the party is suppose to wish that at the end of this year may we all come together in larger numbers, with greater achievement, and a higher level of human life. Continued on Page 20 NOTICE FOR X CHRONICLES READERS: Starting January 1 2012, The X Chronicles will no longer be available online without a subscriptionand or for purchase. The cost for The X Chronicles will be $4.95 and will be in our auto load book format. Professional Media Outlets will still recieve their Complimentary Media Editions.

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How Christmas Is Celebrated In ...

How Christmas Is Celebrated In ...
Continued from Page 19

Christmas in Alaska
Most Alaskan Christians celebrate Christmas on December 25th, just as people do in the continent of the US. Santa Claus may arrive for a pre-Christmas visit, but, food, gift giving, and decorations are like what you might see in Texas or Wisconsin. The songs sang at each home include Aleut words Gristuusaaq suu'uq, or Christ is born. Everyone joins in the closing words, Mnogaya leta, or god grant you many years. At the end of the carols the host provides carolers with maple-frosted doughnuts, cookies, candy, piruk, or fish pie, and sometimes smoked salmon. In Alaska children wander from house to house carrying a colored star on a long pole, and singing carols.

Christmas in Argentina
People go to the church with family, then come back to a family gathering. At midnight after eating they toast, then the adults' dance while younger people go out to see the fireworks. After this they go to sleep, but not before they open the presents under the Christmas tree. That day is very special for because they are Christian and celebrate Jesus' birth on the 24th of December. The dinner food is pork, turkey, and a great variety of meals. Then the table is covered with sweet things, cider, beer, and juice for consuming while waiting for the time of the toast. After the toast all the family chat, others play. Houses are decorated with red and white garlands; on the door Father Christmas's Boots are placed. The Christmas tree is decorated with colored lights, ornaments and Father Christmas placed on top of it. Mothers make different kinds of meals such as roasted turkey, roasted pork, stuffed tomatoes, mince pies, Christmas's bread and puddings. The toast: drink prepared with different kinds of fruit which is cut into pieces, then it is mixed with juice and cider.

midday on a local beach, Bondi Beach in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs attracts thousands of people on Christmas Day. Other families enjoy their day by having a picnic. If they are at home, the day is punctuated by swimming in a pool, playing Cricket out the backyard, and other outdoor activities. The warm weather allows Australians to enjoy a tradition which commenced in 1937. Carols by Candlelight is held every year on Christmas Eve, where tens of thousands of people gather in the city of Melbourne to sing their favorite Christmas songs. The evening is lit by as many candles singing under a clean cut night sky. The sky with its Southern Cross stars is like a mirror. Sydney and the other capital cities also enjoy Carols in the weeks leading up to Christmas. Australians surround themselves with Christmas Bush, a native plant which has little red flowered leaves. Christmas shopping is often done in shorts and t-shirts. At many beaches Santa Claus arrives on a surfboard, or even on a surf lifesaving boat. Australia's worst Christmas was in 1974, when Cyclone Tracy devastated Darwin in the Northern Territory. More than 60 people were killed.

holes. Christmas without music would not do so the priest showed the organist Franz Bauer a new Christmas hymn he had written. Franz quickly composed a tune for it that could be played on a guitar. So Oberndorf had music after all. In Austria baked carp is served for the traditional Christmas dinner. December 6 in Austria is when Heiliger Nikolaus or St. Nicholas, rewards good children with sweets, nuts and apples. On December 24, the Christ Child brings presents and the Christmas tree for the children. The children wait until they hear a bell tinkling. Then they enter a special room where the Christmas tree is waiting all decorated with candles, ornaments and candies. The whole family sings Christmas carols and wishes each other: - FROLICHE WEIHNACHTEN! - FROHE WEIHNACHTEN!

Christmas in Bangladesh
In Bangladesh formerly known as East Pakistan, the Christian village men would cut down scores of banana trees and replant them in pairs along the paths to churches and outside their homes. They would then bend over the huge leaves of the banana trees to form an arch, they would then make small holes in the bamboo poles, fill them with oil and tie them across the arches. When the oil is lit, the way to the church is lit up bright enough for all to see. Continued on Page 21

Christmas in Austria
The feast of St Nicholas marks the beginning of Christmas in Austria. The saint accompanied by the devil asks children for a list of their good and bad deeds. Good children are given sweets, toys and nuts. Gifts that are placed under the tree are opened after dinner on Christmas Eve. Brass instruments play chorale music room church steeples, and carol singers, carrying blazing torches and a manger from house to house, gather on the church steps. Silent Night was first sung in 1818, in the village church of Oberndorf. There is a story told of how Christmas was almost spoiled for the villagers that year. On Christmas Eve, the priest went into the church and found that the organ was not working. The leather bellows that are used to pump the air through the pipes were full of

Christmas in Australia
Christmas in Australia is often very hot. Whereas the northern hemisphere is in the middle of winter, Australians are baking in summer heat. It is not unusual to have Christmas Day well into the mid 30 degrees Celsius, or near 100 degrees Fahrenheit. A traditional meal includes a turkey dinner, with ham, and pork. A flaming Christmas plum pudding is added for dessert. In the Australian gold rushes, Christmas puddings often contained a gold nugget. Today a small favor is baked inside. Whoever finds this knows s/he will enjoy good luck. Another treat is Mince Pies. Some Australians and particularly tourists often have their Christmas dinner at

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homes, and stores. Papai Noel or Father Noel is the giftbringer in Brazil. According to legend, he lives in Greenland. When he arrives in Brazil, he usually wears silk clothing due to the summer heat. A huge Christmas dinner includes turkey, ham, colored rice, and wonderful vegetables and fruit dishes. Devout Catholics often attend Midnight Mass or Missa do Galo. The mass has this name because the rooster announces the coming day and the Missa do Galo finishes at 1 AM on Christmas morning! On December 25th, Catholics go to church, but the masses are mostly late afternoon, because people enjoy sleeping late after the dinner called Ceia de Natal or going to the beach. Decorations include fresh flowers picked from the garden. Fireworks go off in the skies over the cites and huge Christmas "trees" of electric lights can be seen against the night skies in major cities such as Brasilia, San Paolo, and Rio de Janeiro. In Brazil there is folk dancing and singing and the festivities go on until January 6th, which the Brazilians refer to as Three Kings Day. January 6th is supposed to be the day when three wise men visited Jesus to bring him gifts.

Christmas in China
The Christian children of China decorate trees with colorful ornaments. These ornaments are made from paper in the shapes of flowers, chains and lanterns. They also hang muslin stockings hoping that Christmas Old Man will fill them with gifts and treats. The Chinese Christmas trees are called "Trees of Light." Santa Claus is called Dun Che Lao Ren which means "Christmas Old Man.". The non-Christian Chinese call this season the Spring Festival and celebrate with many festivities that include delicious meals and pay respects to their ancestors. The children are the main focus of these celebrations, they receive new clothes and toys, eat delectable food and watch firecrackers displays.

Christmas in Belgium
In Belgium there are two Santa Claus figures. There is St. Niklaas and Pere Noel. Pere Noel visits those who speak the Walloon language, in fact he visits them twice. The first time is on the December 4th he does this so he can find out which children have been good and which children have been bad. If a child is good he returns on December 6th with the presents the good children deserve if they were bad they are left twigs. The good children usually received candy and toys. With the bad children he leaves the twigs inside their shoes or in small baskets that are left just inside the doorway. Pere Noel visits those who speak French. He visits with his companion Pere Fouettard and asks about whether the children have been good or bad. If they have been good they receive chocolates and candies if they have been bad they are more likely to receive a handful of sticks. Christmas for both gift-givers is on December 6th, the feast of St Nicholas, it is a religious occasion and is observed with services in churches and quiet family gatherings. Special cakes are baked and served during the holiday season and are a treat for children and adults. The other part is called "Flemish" where they are Dutch speaking. They are visited by St Niklaas, they are in the North half of the country. St-Nicholas doesn't have anything to do with Christmas. It's His Birthday on December 6th, and then he visits all children to bring them presents. And then there is Christmas, December 25. The day Jesus Christ was born. The last years the American tradition around Christmas is coming over here. By movies and storybooks. Now Children get gifts under the Christmas tree also. But this isn't the same everywhere. But it mostly depends on the parents. At some family, they buy gifts for each other and put them under the tree. There's no Santa to bring them. In others, mostly when there are still li'l children it's Santa who brings the gifts and puts them under the tree. That can be on Christmas Eve, but sometimes in the weeks before Christmas. Gifts are opened on the evening before Christmas, after a Christmas dinner, or the midnight mass, or on Christmas morning.

Christmas in Czech Republic

Celebrations for Christmas begin with the visit of St. Nicholas on December 6th and end with the visit of the Three Kings. In Czech Republic, St. Nicholas is called Svaty Mikalas and is believed to climb to earth down from heaven on a golden rope along with his companions: an angel and a whip-carrying devil. In Czech Republic, a girl can tell her future, it is said that according to tradition, by putting a cherry twig in water on December 4th. If the twig blossoms before Christmas Eve, the girl will marry sometime during the year. The famous King Wenceslas of the Christmas Carol was a real King in this country. His goodness and his beliefs in Christianity infuriated his mother, and his brother murdered him on the Church steps. Before he died he asked for God's mercy for his brother's evil act. He became the patron saint of Czech Republic. Christmas is a quiet and peaceful religious time here. They fast for one day, and have baked carp for Christmas dinner. St Nicholas visits, and brings good children gifts, and for those children who are bad, the devil is said to come with switches. At midnight, most families go to Holy Mass or Pasterka as it is known. On Christmas Day, the churches are filled with evergreens and Christmas Trees. Celebrations go on for three days. Czechs eat a soup made of cod roe and tempt each other with tales of a mythical golden pig. Continued on Page 24

Christmas in Bulgaria
Christmas Eve is as important as Christmas day in Bulgaria. A special diner, consisting of at least twelve dishes is prepared. All of them are without meat and each of them represents a separate month of the year. The dishes consist of beans, different kinds of nuts, dried plums, cakes, and the traditional Banitza. On this day the whole family gathers, eat on straw and get off the table in the same time. In the past Christmas was celebrated differently. There were boys and non-married young men who were visiting the houses, singing songs for wealth and health for the hosts. They were rewarded with money, food and so on. They were bringing long sticks to put kravai which are round breads with holes in them. They were called Rkoledaris. In the houses the families gathered sitting on the ground or on dry grass and eating meatless food. There were 7 or 12 meals: wine, Rakia , sarmy and so on. There always was a huge round bread where all the cattle, the house and things like that were carved. Bulgarians make Christmas wishes around the fire and eat blood sausage.

Christmas in Chile
In Chile little figures made of clay are placed under the Christmas tree called pesebre. Father Christmas is known as Viejito Pascuero and he would wish everyone a Feliz Navidad y un Prospero Anc Nuevo or Happy Christmas and a Prosperous New Year.

Christmas in Brazil
Brazilians are a mix of different ethnic people, and as a former Portuguese colony, they have many Christmas customs which originate from this heritage. One tradition is to create a nativity scene or Prespio. The word originates from the Hebrew word "presepium" which means the bed of straw upon which Jesus first slept in Bethlehem. The Prespio is common in northeastern Brazil. Nowadays prespios are set up in December and displayed in churches,

Here is your chance to get your short story, poem or timely news article published in a newspaper.

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Rented Silence by Lucia Mann

A woman was recently sentenced to 140 months in prison after using two Nigerian immigrants as personal unpaid servants in her luxury home in Atlanta, Georgia. A few days later, two Ukrainian brothers were convicted of smuggling desperate villagers into the United States to work long hours, cleaning retail stores and office buildings at little or no pay. The prosecuting U.S. attorney in Philadelphia, Daniel Velez, said it was modern-day slavery. Its hiding in plain sight. However, according to a woman who lived through the racial prejudice, segregation and slavery in post-World War II Europe, the slavery crisis in the modern world is far greater than that. Anyone who thinks slavery died when America abolished it in the 1800s has a shock coming to them, said Lucia Mann, whose mother was a sex slave and a WWII concentration camp survivor. Mann, a former journalist and author of Rented Silence (www.rentedsilence.com), a novel about slavery and racial prejudice based on her life experiences and those of other persecuted souls she witnessed says, According to the United Nations, there are more than 27 million slaves worldwide, which are more than twice the number of those who were enslaved over the 400 years that transatlantic slavers trafficked humans to work in the Americas. Many are forced into prostitution while others are used as unpaid laborers used to manufacture goods many of us buy in the U.S. In fact, its almost impossible to buy clothes or goods anymore without inadvertently supporting the slave trade. "RENTED SILENCE is a story of human suffering during a brutal period in the British Colonial history. But at the same time it is an inspiration tale of hope and love, but mostly the testimony of the human spirit to survive against the odds. RENTED SILENCE will move you to tears, anger and a wide range of other emotions and will make you ask: Where was God in the midst of this evil? RENTED SILENCE will stay with you long after you've closed the book." About Lucia Mann : Lucia Man is part Sicilian and part British South African, born in British Colonial South Africa in the wake of WWII. She is a citizen of Britain and Canada who recently applied for a U.S. Green Card because she believes she is an American at heart. She was educated in London, England and retired from freelance journalism in 1998. After suffering from racial prejudice most of her early life because she was part Italian and part South African, she saw and felt firsthand the pain and suffering of those who were thought to be inferior because of the color of their skin. Her mission is to end prejudice and slavery now and in the future.

How Christmas Is Celebrated In ...

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eat a special Christmas meal known as fata, which consists of bread, rice, garlic and boiled meat. On Christmas morning people in Egypt visit friends and neighbors. They take with them kaik which is a type of shortbread, which they take with them to give to the people they visit and eaten with a drink known as shortbat. Christmas Day is a public holiday for Christians. walks around the church three times, then stands throughout the mass, which may last up to three hours. Food served at Christmas usually includes injera, a sourdough pancake like bread. Injera serves as both plate and fork. Doro wat, a spicy chicken stew might be the main meal. A piece of the injera is used to scoop up the wat. Baskets decorated beautifully are used to serve the wat. Gift giving is a very small part of Christmas celebration. Children usually receive very simple presents such as clothing. In Ethiopia Christmas day is January 7, so on Christmas Eve the city is crowded with pilgrims from all parts of the country. They remain outdoors all night, praying and chanting. In the morning, a colorful procession makes its way to a nearby hilltop where a service is held. Three young men march at the head of the crowd, lashing whips from left to right to keep the people in line. Those who worship are fed with bread and wine that has been blessed by priests. After the service is over the rest of the day is spent dancing, playing sport and feasting.

Christmas in Denmark
Christmas in Denmark is supposed to be when a mischievous elf called Nisse can have his fun. He is said to live in the lofts of old farmhouses and enjoys playing jokes. He wears gray woolen clothes, a red bonnet, red stockings and white clogs. Families leave him a bowl of rice pudding or porridge on Christmas Eve to keep his jokes within limits. Usually though he is kind and helpful helping out on the farms and being especially good to the children. Christmas Eve dinner begins with rice pudding that holds a magic almond inside. Whoever finds the almond receives a prize. They then have goose, red cabbage and browned potatoes. After that lots of pastries and cakes. The Danish tradition is the Christmas plate. This was a tradition in the early days where rich Danes gave plates biscuits and fruit as presents to their servants. These plates were the nicest and best kind and were not used for everyday use, this is the reason why they became so collectable. They take much pride making their own decorations with bright paper, bits of wood and straw. The parents secretly decorate the tree, and children are not permitted to see the tree until dinner on Christmas Eve. The tree is then lit up and families gather around to sing carols and hymns. Each Sunday in Advent, guests are invited to join in the lighting of the candles on the Advent crown. Adults drink a warming mixture of red wine, spices and raisins, and children drink a sweet fruit juice, like strawberry. Everybody eats small cakes of batter which have been cooked over the fire in a special pan, and dusted with icing sugar. In Denmark Christmas Eve is a special time. It is at this time parents secretly decorate the Christmas tree with home made wood and straw baubles. The children are only able to see the tree before dinner when it is lit up and the family gathers to sing carols and hymns. In Denmark Christmas Eve is called Juleaften and is the biggest occasion of the year. Parties go on all night, with traditional prunestuffed roast goose, red cabbage, fried pastries, and cinnamon-laced rice pudding called Grod. The Christmas elves called Julenisse are appeased with rice pudding, and dishes of seeds are placed outdoors for wild birds.

Christmas in England
The English enjoy beautiful Christmas music. They love to decorate Christmas Trees and hang up evergreen branches. One England's customs is mummering. In the Middle Ages, people called mummers put on masks and acted out Christmas plays. These plays are still performed in towns and villages. The English gift giver is called Father Christmas. He wears a long red or green robe, and leaves presents in stockings on Christmas Eve. However, the gifts are not usually opened until the following afternoon. Christmas in England began in AD 596, when St Augustine landed on her shores with monks who wanted to bring Christianity to the Anglo Saxons. Father Christmas delivers them during the night before Christmas. The Children leave an empty stocking or pillowcase hanging at the end of the bed. In the morning they hope it will be full of presents. In England the day after Christmas is called Boxing Day because boys used to go round collecting money in clay boxes. When the boxes were full, they broke them open. In England Christmas dinner was usually eaten at Midday on December 25, during daylight. In England, the only thing that people ate on the day before the feast was Frumenty, which is, was a kind of porridge made from corn. Over the years the recipe changed. Eggs, fruit, spice, lumps of meat and dried plums were added. The whole mixture was wrapped in a cloth and boiled. This is how plum pudding began. In England the traditional Christmas dinner is roast turkey with vegetables and sauces. For dessert it is rich, fruity Christmas pudding with brandy sauce. Mince pies, pastry cases filled with a mixture of chopped dried fruit. In England also they elect Boy Bishops in commemoration of St. Nicholas compassion for children. These mock bishops were allowed to do the duties of the ecclesiastic except deliver the Mass.

Christmas in Finland
Everybody's house is given a very good clean in readiness for Christmas. Hours are spent in the kitchen cooking and baking special treats for the festive season. Fir trees are felled, tied onto sleds, and taken home to be decorated. A sheaf of grain is often tied to a pole, together with nuts and seeds and placed in the garden for the birds. Many of the peasants will not eat their Christmas dinner until the birds have had their dinner. The meal was begun as soon as the first star appeared in the sky. In Finland the Christmas tree is set up on Christmas Eve. Apples and other fruits, candies, paper flags, cotton and tinsel are used as decorations, and candles are used for lighting it. The Christmas festivities are preceded by a visit to the famous steam baths, after which everyone dressed in clean clothes in preparation for the Christmas dinner, which is served at 5-7 in the evening. Christmas gifts may be given out before or after the dinner. The children do not hang up stockings, but Santa Claus comes in person, often accompanied by as many as half a dozen Christmas elves to distribute the presents. The main dish of the dinner is boiled codfish served snowy white and fluffy, with allspice, boiled potatoes, and cream sauce. The dried cod has been soaked for a week in a lye solution, then in clear water to soften it to the right texture. Also on the menu is roast suckling pig or a roasted fresh ham, mashed potatoes, and vegetables. After dinner the children go to bed while the older people stay up to chat with visitors and drink coffee until about midnight. Christmas Day services in the churches begin at six in the morning. It is a day for family visits and reunions. In some parts of the country the Star Boys tour the countryside singing Christmas songs. During all these days the people keep wishing each other a "Merry Yule." Continued on Page 25

Christmas in Egypt
The Coptic Church is an Orthodox Church and in the Coptic Church Christmas is celebrated on the 7th January. Advent is observed for forty days and during this period people are expected to fast eating no meat, poultry or dairy products. Some people only do this during the last week of Advent. On the Eve of Christmas everyone goes to church wearing a completely new outfit. The Christmas service ends at midnight with the ringing of church bells, then people go home to

Christmas in Ethiopia
The Ethiopian Christmas known as Ganna is celebrated on January 7th. This celebration takes place in ancient churches carved from solid volcanic rock and also in modern churches that are designed in three concentric circles. Men and boys sit separately from girls and women. Also the choir sings from the outside circle. People receive candles as they enter the church. After lighting the candles everyone

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Child or Pere Noel to fill. In the north of France, children are given gifts on December 6, which is St. Nicholas' Day, instead of Christmas Day. The adults give each others presents on New Year's Day. French children set out their shoes in hopes that le petit Jesus will fill them during the night with small gifts. On Christmas morning the family traditionally opens their presents and prepares for a big feast which typically is served just after midday. The table gleams with the best china and glassware, and at every place on the table there is a cracker. The meal begins with a toast, followed by the popping of the crackers. After the meal they sit down in front of the Television for the traditional Christmas speech of the British Monarch. In the afternoon they exchange visits with neighbors other family members. Some churches in Great Britain have a Christingle service on the fourth Sunday of Advent. This is a carol service of Scandinavian origin at which every child received an orange and candle wrapped in a red ribbon. The candle represents Jesus and the ribbon stands for the blood of Christ and the love of God embracing the world. In Britain, children write their letters to Father Christmas and then throw them into the fireplace so they will float up the chimney and fly to the North Pole. If the lists catch fire first, they have to rewrite them. At Christmas dinner, a plum pudding is served with little treasures hidden inside that bring their finders good luck. Britain was the first country to hang up mistletoe.

Christmas in France
On Christmas Eve, children leave their shoes by the fireplace to be filled with gifts from Pere Noel. In the morning they also find that sweets, fruit, nuts and small toys have been hung on the tree. In cathedral squares, the story of Christ's birth is re-enacted by both players and puppets. Nearly every French home at Christmastime displays a Nativity scene or crche, which serves as the focus for the Christmas celebration. The crche is often peopled with little clay figures called santons or "little saints." In addition to the usual Holy Family, shepherds, and Magi, the craftsmen also produce figures in the form of local dignitaries and characters. The craftsmanship involved in creating the gaily colored santons is quite astounding and the molds have been passed from generation to generation since the seventeenth century. Throughout December the figures are sold at annual Christmas fairs in Marseille and Aix. The Christmas tree has never been particularly popular in France, and though the use of the Yule log has faded, the French make a traditional Yule log-shaped cake called the buche de Nol, which means "Christmas Log." The cake, among other food in great abundance is served at the grand feast of the season, which is called le reveillon. Le reveillon is a very late supper held after midnight mass on Christmas Eve. The menu for the meal varies according to regional culinary tradition. In Alsace, goose is the main course, in Burgundy it is turkey with chestnuts, and the Parisians feast upon oysters and pat de foie gras. Le Revellion may consist of poultry, ham, salads, cake, fruit and wine. In Southern France, a log is burned in people's homes from Christmas Eve until New Years Day. A long time ago, part of the log was used to make the wedge for the plough as good luck for the coming harvest. The traditional Christmas is a chocolate log. In France families once had a Three Kings Cake with a bean hidden in it. Whoever found the bean in their slice was made King, or Queen, for the day. In France the children go out to look for the Kings, taking gifts of hay for the camels. Another name for this day is Twelfth Day. It is the last of the Twelve Days of Christmas, which used to be one long holiday. It was the last night of the Feast of Fools before the Lord of Misrule had to give up his crown and become themselves once again. In France it is a time for the whole family to come together at Christmas time to holiday and worship. On the eve of Christmas beautifully lit churches and cathedrals, ring out Christmas carols with the church bells. Once dinner is over and the family has retired to bed, they leave a fire burning and food and drink on the table in case the Virgin Mary calls in. Children leave their shoes or wooden clogs called sabots in the hearth for the Christ

Christmas in Germany
Christmas preparations often begin on the eve of December 6th. People often set aside special evenings for baking spiced cakes and cookies, and making gifts and decorations. Little dolls of fruit are traditional Christmas toys. Children leave letters on their windowsills for Christkind, a winged figure dressed in white robes and a golden crown who distributes gifts. Sometimes the letters are decorated with glue and sprinkled with sugar to make them sparkle. Germans make beautiful gingerbread houses and cookies. The German Christmas tree pastry, Christbaumgeback, is a white dough that can be molded into shapes and baked for tree decorations. In parts of Germany, people believe that the Christ Child sends a messenger in Christmas Eve. He appears as an angel in a white robe and crown, bearing gifts. The angel is called Christkind. There is also a Christmas Eve figure called Weihnachtsmann or Christmas Man, he looks like Santa Claus and also brings gifts. Some homes in Germany have several Christmas trees, and in all towns across Germany, they can be seen glittering and glowing. In Germany they hang up advent wreaths of Holly with four red candles in the center. They light one candle each Sunday and last on Christmas Eve. Children count the days until Christmas using an Advent calendar. They open one window each day and find a Christmas picture inside. In Germany the traditional visitor is the Christkindl who is the Christ Child's messenger. She is a beautiful fair-haired girl with a shining crown of candles who visits each house with a basket of presents. In some homes a room is locked up before Christmas. On Christmas Eve the children go to bed but are woken up at midnight by their parents and taken down to the locked room. The door is opened and they see the tree all lit up, with piles of parcels on little tables. In Germany boys dress up as kings and carry a star round the village, singing carols.

Christmas in Greece
St. Nicholas is important in Greece as the patron saint of sailors. According to Greek tradition, his clothes are drenched with brine, his beard drips with seawater, and his face is covered with perspiration because he has been working hard against the waves to reach sinking ships and rescue them from the angry sea. Greek ships never leave port without some sort of St. Nicholas icon on board. On Christmas Eve small boys to the beating of drums and the tinkling of triangles usually sing carols. They go from house to house and are given dried figs, almonds, walnuts and lots of sweets or sometimes small gifts. After 40 days of fasting, the Christmas feast is looked forward to with great anticipation by adults and children alike. Pigs are slaughtered and on almost every table are loaves of christopsomo or "Christ Bread". This bread is made in large sweet loaves of various shapes and the crusts are engraved and decorated in some way that reflects the family's profession. Christmas trees are not commonly used in Greece. In almost every home the main symbol of the season is a shallow wooden bowl with a piece of wire is suspended across the rim; from that hangs a sprig of basil wrapped around a wooden cross. A small amount of water is kept in the bowl to keep the basil alive and fresh. Once a day, a family member, usually the mother, dips the cross and basil into some holy water and uses it to sprinkle water in each room of the house. This ritual is believed to keep the Killantzaroi away from the house. There is a tradition kallikantzeri, where the mischievous goblins appear from the earth during the 12 days of Christmas.

Christmas in Great Britain

In Great Britain the hustle and bustle of the season begins well before Christmas and there is barely anytime for a break until the Twelfth night. There is preparation going on of foods, the sending of Christmas cards, the decorating of houses and churches, and the readying of gifts keep everyone busy even the youngest family members. On Christmas Eve youngsters hang up their stockings on the ends of the beds or by the chimney so that when Father Christmas comes he can leave them something.

Continued on Page 26

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Christmas in Greece Continued At Christmas very few presents are given to each other. Instead, small gifts are given to hospitals and orphanages. Priests sometimes go from house to house sprinkling holy water around to get rid of the bad spirits who may be hiding in people's houses. In most Greek homes an evergreen tree is decorated with tinsel and a star placed on top. Gifts are exchanged on January 1st, St Basil's Day. On Christmas Eve, groups of people gather around the holiday table. Figs, dried on rooftops are served with the spicy golden Chrisopsomo bread. As people are they greet one another by saying Hronia polla or many happy years. The table filled with food may include such dishes as kourambiethes, a Greek nut cookie.

Christmas in Holland
St Nicholas arrives early in Holland with his gifts, in November. He is dressed in Bishop's robes and journeys in a boat with his helper who is called Black Peter and who wears Spanish clothes. It is said that the pair live most of the year preparing lists of presents and writing every child's behavior in a very large book. Many people go to Amsterdam docks to greet him. He mounts a snow horse and rides through the streets in a great parade, amid many festivities. December 5th is Sinterklaas Eve or Sinterklass Eve, and presents are given and received. Farmers in Holland blow long horns at sunset each evening during the Christmas period. The horns are blown over water wells which makes the sound extremely loud. This is done to announce the coming of Christmas. All Dutch children know that Sinterklaas or Sinterklass lived in Spain, where he spends his time recording the behavior of all the children in his little red book, while Piet stocks up on the presents. Christmas Day is a religious time, and the day is spent with visits to Church. In the afternoon, people sit around the tree, sing carols and tell stories.

Europeans. They send Christmas cards. Many of these cards are exquisitely decorated to show the artistic side of the people who might be gifted. These cards consist of the Holy Family in a Chinese setting. Poinsettias and Nativity scenes decorate homes, churches and other public places and ideographs show the Chinese alphabet on streamers and paper chains. Santa Claus also known as Lan Khoong or Dun Che Lao Ren with his reindeer, are a surprising addition to the Far Eastern Scene.

Christmas in Hungary
In Hungary the main Christmas celebrations take place on Christmas Eve. The evening is called Szent-este or Holy Evening. Before attending Midnight Mass, families gather around the Christmas tree to sing carols and open the presents left by Baby Jesus and the angels. A couple of weeks before Christmas, on December 6th the children receive a visit from Mikulas or St Nicholas. He arrives wearing the robes of a bishop, with a red miter on his head, a staff in one hand and a sack full of small presents in the other. Accompanying him a "Devil" boy in a black costume, complete with horns and long tail. He holds a switch made of dry twigs, ready to smack any "naughty" children. Each child receives a small gift, usually a toy or sweets, from Mikulas. The presenting of nativity plays is an important part of the Hungarian Christmas tradition. Performed by groups of children or adults, these plays are often combined with puppets and are accompanied by songs and musical instruments and sometimes even dancing.

Christmas in Greenland
In Greenland there is a lot of visiting of families, drinking coffee and eating cakes, as well as giving of brightly wrapped presents which might consist of a model sledge, a pair of tusks, or even a sealskin mitt. Everyone in the village gets a gift and children go from hut to hut, singing songs. Christmas trees are imported and decorated with candles as well as bright ornaments. There is dancing most of the night. After the coffee, cakes and carols everyone is given Mattak which is whale skin with a strip of blubber inside is given to everyone. The taste of it is much like coconut, but is tough to chew and is usually just swallowed. Another food that is eaten is Kiviak which consists of raw flesh of an auk which has been buried whole in sealskin for several months until they have reached an advanced stage of decomposition. This is the one night of which the women are waited on by the men. There are games played including one in which an object is passed from hand to hand round a long table under the cloth.

Christmas in the Holy Land

Christmas in the Holy Land where Christ is believed to have been born is often full of travelers come to celebrate Christmas. Here in a grotto there is a 14-pointed Silver Star on the floor is where the birthplace is supposed to have been. There are three Christmas Eves in the Holy Land. One on the 24th December celebrated by the Protestant and Catholic Churches. The second for the Greek Orthodox, Coptic (Egyptian) and Syrian churches. The third is the Armenian Church. At times, all three services are going on at the same time, but, in different parts of the church, as well as in different languages. For lunch they eat turkey, spiced with pepper, cinnamon and nutmeg and stuffed with rice, meat,, pine nuts and almonds. Early in the evening, members of the Protestant church groups would go around singing carols. On Christmas morning children would open their presents before breakfast. After breakfast Protestant people would go to church, and visit friends to wish them a happy Christmas. The Catholic Church priests would come a bless water from which all members of the family would take a sip. The member of the Greek Orthodox Church Epiphany is very important. They have a special church service at which a cross was dipped into water to bless it. People would take the water home with them drink three sips before eating anything.

Christmas in India
Christians in India decorate banana or mango trees. They also light small oil-burning lamps as Christmas decorations and fill their churches with red flowers. They give presents to family members and baksheesh, or charity, to the poor people. In India, the poinsettia is in flower and so the churches are decorated with this brilliant bloom for the Christmas Midnight Mass. In South India, Christians put small clay lamps on the rooftops and walls of their houses at Christmas, just as the Hindus do during their festival called Diwali. Continued on Paage 28

Christmas in Guatemala
Throughout Christmas several religious statues are taken for an elaborate procession. At the rear of the parade is an image representing God, this white-bearded man may also resemble a department store Santa Claus. Marimbas and chirimias accompany the procession. On Christmas Eve festivities end are midnight with a Misa de Gallo or the Mass of the Rooster. Nacimientos or Manger scenes, are displayed in churches and public arenas. The Christ child is added on Christmas Eve. The X Zone Radio Show Podcasts www.xzonepodcast.com

Christmas in Hong Kong

In Hong Kong Christians of most denominations celebrate Christmas with hundreds of church services in Chinese. There are also services held in English for the

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Irish women bake a seed cake for each person in the house. They also make three puddings, one for each day of the Epiphany such as Christmas, New Year's Day and the Twelfth Night. After the Christmas evening meal, bread and milk are left out and the door unlatched as a symbol of hospitality. St Stephen's Day, the day after Christmas, is almost as important, with football matches and meetings going on. For children, the Wren Boys Procession is their big event. Boys go from door to door with a fake wren on a stick, singing, with violins, accordions, harmonicas and horns to accompany them. The reason for the ceremony is to ask for money 'for the starving wren', that is, for their own pockets. Children often put out Christmas sacks instead of stockings. It is tradition to leave mince pies and a bottle of Guinness out as a snack for Santa. Hotei-osho who acts like Santa Claus. He brings presents to each house and leaves them for the children. Some think he has eyes in the back of his head, so children try to behave like he is nearby. Among the Christian Japanese Christmas is not a day for the family. They do not have turkey or plum pudding, rather than that the day is spent doing nice things for others especially those who are sick in hospitals. Christmas for those in Sunday schools is the happiest day of the year. On Christmas Eve or Christmas night, the children put on programs that last for hours, they sing, they recite and they put on a drama of the day Jesus was born in Bethlehem. Most children may not like Hotei-osho so they may receive their presents from Santa who goes around with a red-nosed reindeer.

Christmas in Iran (Persia)

Christmas in Iran is known as the Little Feast. For the first 25 days of December, a great fast is observed, during which no meat, eggs, milk, or cheese is eaten. It is a time of peace and meditation; a time for attending services at the church. When the fast is over, the feast is begun, for plenty of meat is prepared for the Christmas dinner. Christmas Eve is the last day of the fast. Almost before dawn on Christmas Day, the people attend Mass to receive Communion and it is not until they have received this Communion that they are permitted to break fast. The boys and girls of Iran have never heard of Santa Claus, so they do not exchange gifts at Christmas. But they do receive new clothes, which they proudly wear all during the happy Christmas week. A dish eaten for Christmas day is a kind of chicken stew. It is cooked in large quantities and lasts several days.

Christmas in Latin America

Christmas in Latin America known as Las Posadas, Navidad and Dia de los Tres Reyes. Throughout the season are a lot of bright flowers and brilliant nights. They celebrate with holiday foods, songs. Those songs and foods eaten are greatly influenced by the different indigenous people of the region but all share the strong Latin influence dating from the arrival of Roman Catholicism hundreds of years ago. Christmas is very much a religious holiday centered around the age-old story of the Nacimiento, Christ's Child. Other Latin American cultures are Mexican Christmas and Venezuelan Christmas.

Christmas in Italy
The Christmas season in Italy goes for three weeks, starting 8 days before Christmas known as the Novena. During this period, children go from house to house reciting Christmas poems and singing. In some parts shepherds bring musical instruments into the villages, play and sing Christmas songs. In the week before Christmas children go from house to house dressed as shepherds, playing pipes, singing and reciting Christmas poems. They are given money to buy presents. A strict feast is observed for 24 hours before Christmas Eve, and is followed by a celebration meal, in which a light Milanese cake called panettone features as well as chocolate. Presents and empty boxes, are drawn from the Urn of Fate - lucky dip, which always contains one gift per person. By twilight, candles are lighted around the family crib known as the Presepio, prayers are said, and children recite poems. At noon on Christmas Day the pope gives his blessing to crowds gathered in the huge Vatican square. In Italy the children wait until Epiphany, January 6, for their presents. According to tradition, the presents are delivered by a kind ugly witch called Befana on a broomstick. It was said that she was told by the three kings that the baby Jesus was born, she was busy and delayed visiting the baby. She missed the Star lost her way and has been flying around ever since, leaving presents at every house with children in case he is there. She slides down chimneys, and fills stockings and shoes with good things for good children and it is said leaves coal for children who are not so good.

Christmas in Iraq
In the Christian homes an unusual ceremony is held in the courtyard of the home on Christmas Eve. One of the children in the family reads the story of the Nativity from an Arabic Bible. The other members of the family hold lighted candles, and as soon as the story has been read a bonfire is lit in one corner of the courtyard. The fire is made of dried thorns and the future of the house for the coming year depends upon the way the fire burns. If the thorns burn to ashes, the family will have good fortune. While the fire is burning, a psalm is sung. When the fire is reduced to ashes, everyone jumps over the ashes three times and makes a wish. On Christmas day a similar bonfire is built in the church. While the fire burns the men of the congregation chant a hymn. Then there is a procession in which the officials of the church march behind the bishop, who carries an image of the infant Jesus upon a scarlet cushion. The long Christmas service always ends with the blessing of the people. The bishop reaches forth and touches a member of the congregation with his hand, putting his blessing upon him. That person touches the one next him, and so on, until all have received "the Touch of Peace."

Christmas in the Lebanon

About two weeks before Christmas people in Lebanon and elsewhere in the Middle East plant seeds - chickpeas, wheat grains, beans, lentils - in cotton wool. They water the seeds every day and by Christmas the seeds have shoots about 6 inches in height. People use the shoots to surround the manger in nativity scenes. Figures are made from brown paper, as well a star is placed above the scene. Traditionally throughout the Middle East people visit friends on Christmas morning and are offered coffee, liqueurs and sugared almonds. Lunch at Christmas is the most important meal of the season and the whole family gathers together for it, usually at grandparents or the eldest sons' home. The meal consists of chicken and rice, and Kubbeh, which is made up of crushed boiled wheat or burghul mixed with meat, onion, salt and paper.

Christmas in the Lithuania

The day before christmas is Christmas Eve, on this day they decorate their own houses and christmas trees. Then on Christmas morning we find presents. Continued on Page30

Christmas in Ireland
Christmas in Ireland lasts from Christmas Eve to the feast of the Epiphany on January 6, which is referred to as Little Christmas. Ireland's Christmas is more religious than a time of fun. Lighted candles are placed in windows on Christmas Eve, as a guide that Joseph and Mary might be looking for shelter. The candles are usually red in color, and decorated with sprigs of holly.

Christmas in Japan
Only 1 per cent of Japanese people believe in Christ. Even so, most Japanese people decorate their stores and homes with evergreens during Christmas. They enjoy giving each other gifts, and this is the part they celebrate. They have a Buddhist monk called

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Loyd Auerbach & Annette Martin

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presented, it is considered proper for each recipient to applaud himself as he goes to receive the two bars of soap he is likely to be given. Christmas traditions. They celebrate the story of the birth of Jesus Christ with a special service, which is appropriate to New Zealanders way of life as they had no motels, and they have many shepherds who take care of their flocks, in doing so they can see the true meaning of Christmas. In New Zealand the traditional Christmas dinner is roast turkey with vegetables and sauces. For dessert it is rich, fruity Christmas pudding with brandy sauce. Mince pies, pastry cases filled with a mixture of chopped dried fruit.

Christmas in Malta
A Maltese Christmas traditionally is centered on the crib or presepju. The child's version of the church crib is called grolta. Everywhere had at least one crib, varying in size and detail. The crib figures are called pasturi and represent Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, the shepherds, angels, villagers and animals such as cows, donkeys and sheep. The Cribs are surrounded by lights and plants. Midnight mass on Christmas Eve is the climax of all religious activities. The whole family attends and everyone wears new clothes. The mass begins with choirs singing carols in Maltese. The highlight of the mass is the reading of a story of the nativity by a ten-yearold boy. After Mass it is customary to greet IlMilied It-Taijeb which is Happy Christmas, to all who attend.

Christmas in Netherlands
In the Netherlands the Dutch eagerly await December 5th for it is on this day that they celebrate the coming of Sinterklaas Avond or St. Nicholas eve, whose legends of generosity and kindness are well known. On December 6th they celebrate with family doings, after which everyone settles down to prepare for Christmas Day on December 25th and secondly for December 26th or New Year and Three Kings Day on January 6th. Each has its on celebration. In the Netherlands St. Nicholas is known as Sinterklaas. Dutch children are told that he sails from Spain on his feast day, December 5. They fill their shoes with hay and sugar for his horse and awake to find them filled with gifts such as nuts and candy. Sometimes Sinterklaas appears in person in the children's homes, bearing a striking resemblance to the children's father or an uncle. He questions the children about their behavior during the past year. In the past he carried a birch rod, but these days he is more kindly. The people of Twente in east Holland hold a special Advent ceremony in which special horns are blown to chase away evil spirits and to announce the birth of Christ. Horns are homemade out of one-year-old saplings and are three or four feet long. Blown over wells, they sound a deep tone, similar to a foghorn.

Christmas in Nicaragua
Christmas begins officially on December 6 in Nicaragua, but actual activities begin on December 16 with the performance of the lodging difficulties of Mary and Joseph. The home where lodging is found, supplies wine and food. Every home contains a manger scene. From December 16 until Christmas Eve Mass, prayer is held each evening in the home, followed by refreshments and the singing of carols. After Christmas Eve Mass, the Christmas dinner is consumed with only the adults in attendance. Christmas cards are exchanged which are white and plain. Christmas Day is celebrated with much fun and eating, fireworks and dancing. The main streets of the town and cities are decorated and have loud-speakers broadcasting Christmas carols.

Christmas in Mexico
Mexicans share many traditions with the Spanish. Their main Christmas celebration is called La Posada, which is a religious procession that reenacts the search for shelter by Joseph and Mary before the birth of Jesus. During the procession, the celebrants go from house to house carrying the images of Mary and Joseph looking for shelter. Santa Claus is not predominant, but the bright red suit is represented in the traditional flower of the season. This flower is the poinsettia, which has a brilliant red star-shaped bloom. It is believed that a young boy walking to the church to see the nativity scene showing the birth of Jesus had realized on the way that he had no gift to offer the Christ child so he gathered up some plain green branches as he walked in he was laughed at but upon placing the branches near the manger they started to bloom a bright red poinsettia flower on each branch. The Mexican children receive gifts. On Christmas day they are blindfolded and taken to try and break a decorated clay piata that dangles and swings at the end of a rope. Once the piata has been broken, the children clamber to recover the candy that was inside the piata. Those children who have been good also on January 6th receive a gift from the Three Wise Men. Mexicans attend a midnight mass service which is called la Misa Del Gallo or "the rooster's mass," and at the mass they sing lullabies to Jesus.

Christmas in Norway
Norwegian children always remember a little gnome Nisse at Christmastime. He guards all the farm animals, and he plays tricks on the children if they forget to place a bowl of special porridge for him. Norway has its gift-bearing little gnome or elf. Known as Julebukk or "Christmas buck," he appears as a goat-like creature. Julebukk harkens back to Viking times when pagans worshipped Thor and his goat. During pagan celebrations a person dressed in a goatskin, carrying a goat head, would burst in upon the party and during the course of evening would "die" and return to life. During the early Christian era, the goat began to take the form of the devil, and would appear during times of wild merry-making and jubilation. By the end of the Middle Ages, the game was forbidden by the Church and the state. In more recent times the goat has emerged in the tamer form of Julebukk. A favorite holiday cookie is called a sand kager is made by mixing 2 cups of butter and sugar, 4 cups of flour, and 1 cup of chopped almonds. This pressed into a tin, baked until golden brown, and cut into squares. In the dark afternoons, in the Viking tradition, children go from house to house asking for goodies.Norwegians eat lye-treated codfish, and wash it down with boiled potatoes, rice porridge, gingerbread, and punch. Continued on Page 31

Christmas in New Guinea

To create peace amongst tribes the chief of each tribe would exchange an infant son known as the Peace child. Each tribe was to take care of this adopted child, for if the child died the treaty would end and fighting would erupt once again. A Canadian missionary and his wife told the sawi of how god sent his only son to be the peace child. As a result the sawi overcame their demons becoming Christians and giving up their treachery and started to spread the word of the peace child amongst their people.

Christmas in New Zealand

In New Zealand Christmas is combined with summer holidays, so as well as presentbuying and parties, families are preparing for trips to the beach. Shops are decorated with Father Christmas in his red cloak and white beard, as well as snow scenes. The New Zealand traditions of Christmas have mostly come through the English settlers who began arriving their in the late 18th Century. In the last 20 or 30 years the persona of Father Christmas had changed and he is referred to as Santa Claus and has become much more like the Santa of the United States and Ireland. As well people have been forced to change as a result of the Maori culture. The spirits and creatures of the Maori culture resemble the elves and gnomes of European

Christmas in Micronesia
Christmas Day is a church family day for Protestant Christians. Everyone attends the local church and spends most of the day there. The long worship service includes a message from every minister, lay preacher, and missionary in the area. Another hour or two is spent in hymn and carol singing. If gifts are

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Christmas In Norway Continued Norwegians are very close to the North Pole, and they strongly hope for the magic of snow for the holydays! Christmas in Norway begins with the Saint Lucia ceremony on the 13 December. At the crack of dawn, the youngest daughter from each family puts on a white robe with a sash, a crown with evergreens and talllighted candles, accompanied by the other children, the boys dressed as star boys in long white shirts and pointed hats. They wake their parents, and serve them coffee and Lucia buns, lussekatter. The custom goes back to a Christian virgin, Lucia, martyred for her beliefs at Syracuse in the fourth century. The Saint Lucia ceremony is fairly recent, but it represents the traditional thanksgiving for the return of the sun. The Christmas tree, juletre, spruce or pine tree usually, are often decorated with candles, apples, red harts, cornets, straw ornaments, balls of glass and tinsels, all depending on what you like. The homes have a scent of resin, hyacinths, red tulips, spices and tangerines. Some children, especially in the country still believe in and remember a little gnome or elf, fjsnissen at Christmas time. He is told to guard all the farm animals, and he plays tricks if the children forget to place a bowl of special rice porridge, risengrynsgrt, in the barn or outside for him. This is old superstition. Norwegians also love to eat this porridge on the 23 December, lillejulaften, and then it holds a magic almond inside. The one who finds it gets a prize. Some eat the rice porridge for lunch on the 24th. Perhaps in the evening they have some glgg, it is a spicy drink (you can add some red wine if you like), with raisins and chopped almonds. Julaften, on the 24 December, a lot of people go to church service before they gather at home around the table for a nice Christmas Eve dinner. The dinner can consist of a rib with a good crackling, ribbe, (served with "cabbage la norvgienne", surkaal, potatoes, carrots, cauliflower, sprouts, prunes and brown sauce), salted and dried ribs of mutton, pinnekjoett, (served with potatoes, carrots and mashed swedes), or lye-treated codfish, lutefisk (served with potatoes, bacon and pea stew). For dessert: rice blended with whipped cream served with a red sauce, riskrem, caramel pudding, cherry mousse, or whipped cream blended with multer (orange, wonderful berries found on the mountain - looks like rasberries). In the evening Santa Claus, julenissen, arrives with gifts. Often it is snowing. In the days between Christmas and New Years Eve, romjulen, the children sometimes go from house to house in the afternoon asking for sweets, this tradition is called "Christmas buck", julebukk. The tradition harkens back to the Viking times when pagans worshipped Thor and his goat, but just a few children keep up the tradition today. On Christmas Day a lot of people have a big brunch at noon or dinner in the afternoon for friends and family. It is done the Italian way and can last for several wonderful hours! Traditional cakes and cookies made at Christmas can be julekake (with raisins), kryddekake, delfiakake, rosettbakels, fattigmann, smultringer, goro, silkekaker, pepperkaker, kokosmakroner. Different nuts, fruits, figs, dates and sweets also belong to the celebration. God Jul! (Merry Christmas!) morning at 6am. The four Sundays of Advent are said to represent the 4,000 years of waiting for Christ. During Advent and, in some homes, on Christmas Eve, bees wax or plain wax is poured on water, and fortunes are told from the shapes which emerge. Special tasks carried out during Advent are the baking of the Christmas piernik or honey cake, and the making of Christmas decorations. Pierniki are made in a great variety of shapes, including hearts, animals and St Nicholas figures. Traditional decorations include the pajaki, which are handmade mobiles, stars and decorated egg shells. Pajaki are traditional decorations, rather lots of bomb lets, colorful paper chains and lots of electric lights. Beautifully lit Christmas trees are placed in all public arenas, outside churches and in homes. Traditionally the trees are decorated with shiny apples, gift walnuts, beautifully wrapped chocolate shapes and many homemade decorations and candles. On the top of the tree is a star or a glittering top piece. In many homes, sparklers are hung on the branches of the trees giving it a magical air. Sometimes the trees are left standing until February 2nd, the feast day of St Mary of the Candle of Lightning. During Advent, the Gwiadorze or star carriers or carol singers, used to begin wandering through the towns and villages and this would continue until Epiphany. Some of the Gwiadorze sang carols, others recited verses or put on Szopke or puppet show, or herody or nativity scenes. The last two customs are developments from traditional manger scenes or Jaselka or crib. Christmas Eve, Wigilia, is an important part of the Polish Christmas, in fact, the most important rituals are celebrated on this day. A traditional food found in Poland is Oplatek which is a piece of bread pressed with a holy picture on the surface. Oplatek is more symbolic than real food. We celebrate with at least 12 different vegetarian dishes like: mushroom soup, carp, cabbage with pea, stuffed dumplings, and shells macaroni with poppy "makielki". In some homes - some hay is put under the tablecloth (it is connected with Christ's manger). People once carried these oplatek from house to house and wish their neighbors a Merry Christmas. Nowadays, the bread is mostly shared with members of the family and immediate neighbors. As each person shares the bread, they would have to do two things: forgive any hurts that have occurred over the past year and to wish the person all the happiness in the coming year. Continued on Page 32

Christmas in Pakistan
In Pakistan 25 December is a public holiday it is however in memory of Jinnah the founder of Pakistan. In Christian homes they celebrate Christmas with the exchanging of gifts and cards, the wearing of new clothes and the visiting of houses of friends. They have a church service which is packed on Christmas day which is called Bara Din the big day.

Christmas in Papua New Guinea

Christmas is celebrated in much the same way as in Australia. However, for many villagers in the more remote areas, Christmas passes as just another day.

Christmas in Peru
In Peru nativity scenes with Retablos inside are very popular. When priests were first taken to traveling they would carry small altars around with them for festival days. These gradually developed into portable boxes with saints above the altar and scenes from everyday life below it. Now the retablos depict Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus, with local people crowding around.

Christmas in Philippines
The only Asian nation in which Christianity is the religion chosen by the people. Christmas celebrations start nine days before Christmas with a mass known as Misa de Gallo. At this mass the story behind the birth of Christ is read from the Bible. The Panunuluyan pageant is held each Eve. A couple is chosen to re-enact Joseph and Mary's search for shelter. Mass is held hourly on Christmas Day so that everyone can attend. Religious services include pastore, or play, based on myth of the birth of the Christ Child. The pastore closes with a star from the upper part of the church sliding down a wire and coming to rest over the church's Nativity scene. Christmas celebrations may have evolved from old tribal customs mixed with other influences. Serenading cumbancheros, or strolling minstrels, end their performances by singing Maligayang Pasko to the tune of "Happy Birthday".

Christmas in Poland
Traditionally, Advent is an important season in the Polish year, with special church services, known as Roraty, being held every

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Just like God through it would be right And it could be seen on high, Just like we did, in the sky. Five days before Christmas with a very sharp knife the pig is cut. This custom is called "Ignatius" from Saint Ignatius (celebrated on December the 20th). Straws are put in his snout and then it is covered with burning straws and then is it singed. The pig is nicely washed and covered with a piece of cloth for ten minutes. The housewife comes and incense the pig and then the husband comes and makes the sign of the cross on the pig's head saying to the family gathered around: "Let's eat the pig!" After the pig is cut there is a feast called the pig's funeral feast or alms. At the feast the whole family friends and neighbors take part. All eat the rid or the skin of the bacon and they also eat small pieces of fried pork they drink wine or plum brandy. meaning "the turning of the sun" or the winter solstice, has traditionally been a time of extreme importance in Scandinavia. For a long time, it was considered dangerous to sleep alone on Christmas Eve. The extended family, master and servant, alike would sleep together on a freshly spread bed of straw. The Yule log was originally an entire tree, carefully chosen, and brought into the house with great ceremony. The butt end would be place into the hearth while the rest of the tree stuck out into the room. The tree would be slowly fed into the fire and the entire process was carefully timed to last the entire Yule season. In Scandinavia an important part of Christmas is the candles. It is said that the presents are brought by gnomes who live in the attics of houses all the year round.

Christmas in Portugal
In Portugal the tradition of gift-giving was defined mostly by the strong Christian religious beliefs of the people. Children await the coming of the Three Wise Men during Christmas time. On the eve of January 5th children place their shoes along windowsills and doorways and fill them with carrots and straw. They do this hoping that this will lure the wise men's horses to their houses during the night and that they will find their shoes packed with gifts and treats in the morning. The treats left is more likely to be candied fruits and sweet breads. They do not recognize the red suit of most traditions as the person who brings gifts, but, gifts are a big part of the many Christmas celebrations. The Christmas Feast of the Immaculate Conception and the Feast of the Holy Innocents both involve the sharing of gifts. They have a feast known as the consoda which takes place on the morning of Christmas Day. They set extra places at the table for the souls of the dead. They give a gift of food to these souls and hope that by doing so the fortunes of the next year will be good. The Portuguese "Christmas log," or cepo de Natal, is a piece of oak that burns on the hearth all through the day while people enjoy a lingering consoda.

Christmas in Scotland
The Scottish people have their big celebrations on New Year's Day, called Hogmanay. A long time ago there is a superstition that it is bad luck for the fire to go out on Christmas Eve, since it is at this time that the elves are abroad and only a raging fire will keep them from coming down the chimney. On Christmas day, people sometimes make big bonfires and dance around them to the playing of bagpipes. Bannock cakes made of oatmeal are traditionally eaten at Christmas. In Scotland, Christmas had traditionally been celebrated very quietly, because the Church of Scotland - the Presbyterian Church has never placed any great emphasis on the Christmas festival, However, the Scots are members of the Church of England or other churches generally celebrate Christmas in the same way as the English people disapproved of Christmas for they believed that there was too much riotous festivity that went on. Nowadays these things are held at Hogmanay, but they do celebrate Christmas with some very interesting customs.

Christmas in Russia
In Russia the religious festival of Christmas is being replaced by the Festival of Winter but there are some traditions that are still kept up in some parts of the country. I n the traditional Russian Christmas, special prayers are said and people fast, sometimes for 39 days, until January 6th Christmas Eve, when the first evening star in appears in the sky. Then begins a twelve course supper in honor of each of the twelve apostles fish, beet soup or Borsch, cabbage stuffed with millet, cooked dried fruit and much more. Hay is spread on the floors and tables to encourage horse feed to grow in the coming year and people make clucking noises to encourage their hens to lay eggs. On Christmas Day, hymns and carols are sung. People gather in churches which have been decorated with the usual Christmas trees or Yelka, flowers and colored lights. Christmas dinner includes a variety of different meats - goose and suckling pig are favorites. Babushka is a traditional Christmas figure who distributes presents to children. Her name means grandmother and the legend is told that she declined to go with the wise men to see Jesus because of the cold weather. However, she regretted not going and set off to try and catch up, filling her basket with presents. She never found Jesus, and that is why she visits each house, leaving toys for good children. The role of Father Christmas was played by Dedushka Moroz or Grandfather Christmas. Babushka is a traditional Christmas figure who distributes presents to children. The word ''Babushka'' is translated to English as a grand-mother!

Christmas in Romania
Carols form an important part of the Romanian folklore. Romanian carols are not simple songs (a sort of invocation in verse sung by children and lads, on the evening of Winters Holidays) with religions origin, but wide windows through which we are allowed once in a year to go by the immaculate snow-towards the evergreen Heaven and to eye-touch God at least for an instant , in order to give us the power to surpass the life's obstacles. Carols put people in the mood for a perfect communion with the simple and healing greatness of Jesus' Birth. The carol singers walk in the streets of the villages and towns holding in their hands a star made of board and paper with biblical scenes painted in water colors and they sing: "Do you receive the pretty star, Pretty and so very bright? It Haseko we did in the sky Just like God thought it would be right, Stand it could be seen on high, Just like we did in the sky" On the first Christmas day, children walk in the streets of snow covered towns and villages, when holding in their hands a star made of board and paper with a biblical scenes painted in water colors or an icon showing Virgin Mary and baby Jesus, they sing somewhat of a question: "Do you receive the pretty star, Pretty and so bright? It has appeared on the earth

Christmas in Sicily
In Sicily the Sicilians fast from December 23rd at sunset to the December 24th at sunset. They then have a great Yule log which is kindled. After prayers and songs are done around the Presepio or crib the feast begins. The foods that might be served are eels and larks, boiled pasta, fish, sweet bread and Torrone a type of nougat. The children are visited by La Befana on January 6. She was said to have been so busy cleaning her house that she missed out on going with the three wise men to Bethlehem. She was also considered to be a witch. Children hang up their stockings so that she will fill them with toys and gifts. Continued on Page 33

Christmas in Scandinavia
In Scandinavia a little gnome called Julenisse puts the presents under the Christmas tree in the night. The children leave a bowl of porridge out for him. It is from Scandinavia that most of our Yule log traditions derive. The dark cold winters inspired the development of traditions concerned with warmth and light. Yuletide,

How Christmas Is Celebrated In ...

How Christmas Is Celebrated In ...
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Christmas in Slovakia Christmas trees in Slovakia go up on Christmas Eve. They go to church on Christmas Eve and return to a traditional dinner. The dinner consists of two main dishes. These are sauerkraut soup, and fish and potatoes salad. After the main meals people eat a dish called Lok'e which is food made from pieces of baked risen dough with raisins and poppy seeds. They then also eat fruit such as apples, oranges, pineapples, bananas, and nuts and cakes. After dinner they go to the Christmas tree where they find Christmas presents. balconies on the night of the 6th January in the hope that the Wise Men will fill them with gifts. Most homes have a manger, like cathedrals and churches. These are complete with carved figures. During the weeks before Christmas, families gather around their manger to sing, whilst children play tambourines and dance. The Spanish especially honor the cow at Christmas because it is thought that when Mary gave birth to Jesus the cow in the stable breathed on the Baby Jesus to keep him warm. Christmas is a deeply religious holiday in Spain. The country's patron saint is the Virgin Mary and the Christmas season officially begins December 8, the feast of the Immaculate Conception. It is celebrated each year in front of the great Gothic cathedral in Seville with a ceremony called los Seises or the "dance of six." Oddly, the elaborate ritual dance is now performed by not six but ten elaborately costumed boys. It is a series of precise movements and gestures and is said to be quite moving and beautiful. Christmas Eve is known as Nochebuena or "the Good Night." It is a time for family members to gather together to rejoice and feast around the Nativity scenes that are present in nearly every home. A traditional Christmas treat is turron, a kind of almond candy. December 28 is the feast of the Holy Innocents. Young boys of a town or village light bonfires and one of them acts as the mayor who orders townspeople to perform civic chores such as sweeping the streets. Refusal to comply results in fines which are used to pay for the celebration. The children of Spain receive gifts on the feast of the Epiphany. The Magi are particularly revered in Spain. It is believed that they travel through the countryside reenacting their journey to Bethlehem every year at this time. Children leave their shoes on the windowsills and fill them with straw, carrots, and barley or the horses of the Wise Men. Their favorite is Balthazar who rides a donkey and is the one believed to leave the gifts. The Spanish Christmas is Navidad, people go to church, exchange presents, and many play on swing sets set up especially for the occasion. Swinging at solstice time evokes an ancient desire to encourage the sun, urging it to "swing" ever higher in the sky. lighted candles attached to it. She wakes her parents, and serves them with coffee and Lucia buns. The other children accompany her. The boys dressed as star boys in long white shirts and pointed hats. The custom goes back to Lucia, a Christian virgin martyred for her beliefs at Syracuse in the fourth century. The Saint Lucia ceremony is fairly recent, but it represents the traditional thanksgiving for the return of the sun. Often she is followed by star boys, who wear pointed hats, and carry star wands. Candle-lit processions to Church feature Scandinavian Christmases, where, in the home, it is mother who always lights the candles on Christmas Eve. Christmas trees are usually found in Swedish homes two days before Christmas. Decoration may include candles, apples, Swedish flags, small gnomes wearing red tasseled caps, straw ornaments. The houses may filled with red tulips and smell like pepparkakor, which is a heart-star, or goatshaped gingerbread biscuit. Swedish Julafton, or Christmas Eve dinner may be a smorgasbord, or buffet with julskinka, or Christmas ham, pickled pigs feet,lutfisk, or dried codfish, and many different kinds of sweets. Risgryngrot a special rice porridge, has hidden in it an almond which as tradition has it the person who finds the almond in his or her bowl will marry in the coming year. Christmas trees are usually brought into Swedish homes one or two days before Christmas. Decorations include: candles, apples, Swedish flags, small gnomes and tasseled caps, and straw ornaments. The house may be filled with red tulips and the smell of pepparkakor - a heart-star, or goat-shaped gingerbread biscuits. After Christmas Eve dinner, a friend or family member dresses up as tomte or Christmas gnome. The tomte, unlike Santa Claus is supposed to live under the floorboards of the house or barn and ride a straw goat. The make-believe tomte, wearing a white beard and dressed in red robes, distributes gifts from his sack. Many are given with funny rhyme that hints at the contents. Swedes eat lye-treated codfish and welcome the Christmas elves and the julbok which is the Christmas goat, who is responsible for the distributing of the presents. In Sweden Jultomten, a little brownie helps Santa Claus give gifts to the children who have been good. On Christmas morning, churches are lit up entirely by candles for the Christmas service. Continued on Page 35

Christmas in South America

Native Bolivians celebrate Christmas more as a harvest festival. Thanks are given for completion of the year's work. They give an account of the work done during the year and propose what is to be done the next year. Christmas tends to become a feast of adoration of the Goddess Mother Earth, who is asked to bring a fruitful harvest, to keep away plagues, and to give a prosperous year. In Brazil Santa Claus is little known and those who do know of the jolly fellow call him Papa Noel. The children have no Christmas trees, but they do have a crche or Presepio, representing the Christ-child's birth. Gifts and toys are exchanged during the holidays after which the Presepio is put away until the following Christmas. In Ecuador the children write letters to the Christ-child and place shoes in the window in which he may place toys as he passes by on Christmas Eve. Noise-making toys are common and are used with much energy on the streets on Christmas morning. Since the weather is very warm, most celebrations are in the streets. There are firecrackers, brass bands, and dancing. At midnight everyone goes to Mass. after which the family dinner is enjoyed.

Christmas in Spain Christmas in Swaziland

In Spain it is a very festive time at Christmas. On Christmas Eve, as the stars come out, tiny oil lamps are lit in every house, and after Midnight Mass and Christmas Dinner, streets fill with dancers and onlookers. There is a special Christmas dance called the Jota and the words and music have been handed down for hundreds of years. They dance to the sound of guitars and castanets. Children think of the Three Wise Man as the gift bearers. Tradition has it that they arrive on January 6th, the date the Wise Men gave gifts to Jesus. Shoes are filled with straw or barley for the tired camels that must carry their riders through the busy night. By morning the camel food is gone and in place of the straw or barley are presents. Shoes also may be placed on In Swaziland Christmas is on the 25th December. It is a beautiful time of year, where Christians get together, with friends and families to celebrate Christmas. The day starts with a midnight mass in church then is followed by a meal, at home. Children take this opportunity to open presents, and sing Christmas carols.

Christmas in Sweden
Christmas begins in Sweden with the Saint Lucia ceremony. Before dawn on the morning of 13 December, the youngest daughter from each family puts on a white robe with a red sash. She wears a crown of evergreens with tall-

By
Here is an enlightened book aimed at young adults of the 21st Century, individuals who know that life and consciousness extend beyond the body. Pitkin has transcended the old fright genre of books about ghosts. His over 202 researched stories aim to offer deeper spiritual understanding of life by exploring events dealing with death. Gone are the traditional, simplistic images of malefic evil-bent shades. As the author esteems a new generation of seekers for what is really going on in life, and has an extensive metaphysical background as professional intuitive, he can offer many ghosts unresolved struggles, difficulties that you may share. These tales from New York State, New England and Canada were compiled from hundreds of first-person interviews and the authors (often accompanied by gifted psychics) journeys. The reader can discover many of the issues that can prevent the dead person from resting in peace, but instead, cause the restless consciousness to seek some resolution to problems from the just-ended physical life.

by
Here are 135 researched ghost stories that you never heard before. Historian, investigator and storyteller David J. Pitkin spent 9 years interviewing across new England to present these tales of returned relatives, store ghosts, campus ghosts, spirits in old hotels and inns and modern restaurants, and, of course, haunted residences. Aiming not to scare you, but to draw you into profound thinking about the life that continues after your body dies, he continues his role of teacher. We must all pass through the state of being a ghost, he tells us. See whether or not you think he makes his case. Accompanied by 75 photos, his eighth book demonstrates how common are the appearances and antics of the departed, who have been experienced by the living for thousands of years. He often discovers who these unique personalities are and why they remain among us when something better still awaits them. Not that many of them are to be feared, as they are just continuing what they struggled with in life.

How Christmas Is Celebrated In ...

How Christmas Is Celebrated In ...
Continued from Page 33

Christmas in Turkey
Turkey is a laic country where all religions are respected. Turkey has many groups of various religions, and everyone is completely free to perform their own religous rituals. Historically Anatolia is a land where Muslims, Christians and Jews live in harmony - a rare thing in the world - even today, as it was hundreds of years ago. Christmas dinner is chicken, oranges, nuts and pastries. But it is on New Year's Day that children receive presents. They are brought their gifts by the youngest of the camels that carried the Three Wise Men to Bethlehem. The children leave water and hay outside the house of the camel. In the morning the water and hay are gone, replaced by presents.

Christmas in Switzerland
A tinkling of a silver bell heralds the arrival of Christkindli - a white clad angel, with a face veil held in place by a jeweled crown. The tree candles are lit as she enters each house and hands out presents from the basket held by her child helpers. The week before Christmas, children dress up and visit homes with small gifts. Bell ringing has become a tradition, and each village competes with the next when calling people to midnight mass. After the service, families gather to share huge homemade doughnuts called ringli and hot chocolate. In Switzerland, the Chlausjagen Festival or Feast of St. Nichohlas is celebrated at dusk on 6 December with a procession of "lifeltrager' wearing gigantic illuminated lanterns in the shape of a Bishop's mitre on their heads. The Swiss wait for the Christ child called Christkindli, to arrive with gifts for all in his reindeer-drawn sleigh. In Switzerland, during the holiday season the Star Singers or Sternsingers dressed as the Three Kings parade through the streets of cities and towns singing Christmas songs. In Zurich, Santa visits in a special fairytale tram and gives the children a ride through the city, singing songs with them and sharing a basket full of sweets.

festival of Christmas, and Ukrainian Christmas on January 7th is usually a peaceful and quiet event. This celebration reminds us of the baby in a Bethlehem manger whose birthday we celebrate. But whether Christmas is celebrated on December 25th or on January 7th the message is the same: "Peace on Earth! Good will towards men! In the Ukraine, Father Frost visits all the children in a sleigh pulled by only three reindeer. He brings along a little girl named Snowflake Girl. She wears a silver blue costume trimmed with white fur and a crown shaped like a snowflake.

Christmas in Venezuela
In Venezuela on December 16th families bring out their pesebres which is a specially designed and thought out depiction of the nativity scene. It is a custom to attend at one of nine carol services is observed by most Venezuelans. Firecrackers explode and bells ring to call worshippers from bed in the predawn hours. The last of the masses takes place on Nochebuena de Navidad Christmas Eve. Families attend a mass on this night and then return home to a huge and fancy dinner. On January 6th when the children awaken they will discover that the straw that they had left beside their bed the night before has gone and in its place are gifts the children know that the Magi and their camels have been and when they go to look in the mirror if they have a black smudge on their cheek they know that Balthazar, King of the Ethiopians has kissed them whilst they slept.

Christmas in Ukraine
Sviata Vechera OR "Holy Supper" is the central tradition of the beautiful Christmas Eve celebrations in Ukrainian homes. The dinner table sometimes has a few wisps of hay on the embroidered table cloth as a reminder of the manger in Bethlehem. When the children see the first Star in the eastern evening sky, which symbolizes the trek of the Three Wise Men, the Sviata Vechera may begin. In farming communities the head of the household now brings in a sheaf of wheat called the didukh which represents the importance of the ancient and rich wheat crops of Ukraine, the staff of life through the centuries. Didukh means literally "grandfather spirit" so it symbolizes the family's ancestors. In city homes a few stalks of golden wheat in a vase are often used to decorate the table. A prayer is said and the father says the traditional Christmas greeting, "Khristos rodyvsya!" which translated is Christ is born!, which is answered by the family with "Slavite Yoho!" which translated is Let Us Glorify Him!. In some families the Old Slavic form Khristos razhdayetsya is used. At the end of the Sviata Vechera the family often sings Kolyadky which is a Ukrainian Christmas Carols. In many communities the old Ukrainian tradition of caroling is carried on by groups of young people and members of organizations and churches calling at homes and collecting donations. The favorite Ukrainian carol is Boh predvichny meaning God Eternal which has a very beautiful melody and lyrics. Some Ukrainian carols are unusual because they mention Ukraine while others are ancient pagan songs of a thousand years ago which have been converted into Christian carols. Christmas is a joyous day which opens for Ukrainian families with attendance at Church. Ukrainian Churches offer services starting before midnight on Christmas Eve and on Christmas morning. Christmas supper, without Lenten restrictions, does not have as many traditions connected with it as Sviata Vechera. The old tradition in Ukraine of giving gifts to children on St. Nicholas Day, December 19th, has generally been replaced by the Christmas date. The traditional Christmas customs of Ukraine add color and significance to the winter

Christmas in Syria
In Syria on December 6, a special Mass is held in churches in honor of Saint Nicholas Thaumaturgus, who legend has said was a kind and generous man not dissimilar to Saint Nicholas after who Santa Claus is modelled. On Christmas Eve everyone in the family, carries a lit candle, to stand around an unlit bonfire outside their house. The youngest child usually the son of the family reads the Christmas story, after which the bonfire is lit. The way the flames spread shows the luck of the house in the coming year. When the fire burns, psalms are sung, and when it sinks, everyone leaps over the embers making wishes. Early on Christmas morning everyone goes to Mass. At this Mass another bonfire is lit in the middle of the floor. While the wood is blazing, ancient hymns are sung and the celebrant carries a figure of the Christ Child around the building. After this the celebrant then touches the nearest person in a "touch of peace". This touch is passed from one to another until everyone has received it. In the Turkish town of Demre, Santa Claus or St Nicholas birth is celebrated every year during the three-day festival held in early December. Born in the nearby town of Patara, St Nicholas is remembered not only as a famous Turkish archbishop, but also for his kindness to children. The X Zone Radio Show Podcasts www.xzonepodcast.com

Christmas in Vietnam
Traditional Vietnamese religions are Buddhism and the Chinese philosophies of Taoism and Confucianism. However, during French rule, many people became Christians. Christmas is one of the four most important festivals of the Vietnamese year, they being the birthday of Buddha, the New Year and the mid-autumn festival. Although the Christians observed the religious rituals of Christmas. On Christmas Eve the Christians would attend a midnight Mass. After Church people would return to their homes for the most important meal the Christmas supper. The dinner usually consisted of chicken soup, and wealthier people ate turkey and Christmas Pudding. The European customs of Santa Claus and the Christmas tree were popular and children would leave their shoes out on Christmas Eve. Continued on Page 36

How Christmas Is Celebrated In ...

How Christmas Is Celebrated In ...
Continued from Page 35
In some provinces, a big winter festival, called Sinck tuck, is celebrated by the Eskimos, with dancing and a present-giving party. In Labrador, turnips are saved from the summer harvest and are given to children, with a lighted candle pushed into a hollowed out hole. In Nova Scotia, a country settled by Scottish highlanders, songs and carols brought from Britain two centuries ago are sung each Christmas morning. Also in Nova Scotia, during the twelve days of Christmas small groups of belsnicklers, or masked mummers, appear in neighborhoods, ringing bells, making noise, seeking candy or other treats. The hosts may try to guess who the mummers are and if they guess right the mummer removes his or her disguise and stops making rude noises and actions. Children may be quizzed by the mummers on their behavior if they say they have been good they are rewarded with candy. In Quebec they display Crches or nativity scenes in their homes as the Christmas decorations. After attending midnight mass, families may be served tourtiere or pork pie. Another favorite food is Boulettes or small meatballs. A Christmas banquet is called a reveillon. In British Columbia Christmas turkey may be accompanied by either fresh or smoked salmon. In Canada the traditional Christmas dinner is roast turkey with vegetables and sauces. For dessert it is rich, fruity Christmas pudding with brandy sauce. Mince pies, pastry cases filled with a mixture of chopped dried fruit. Masked mummers are a Christmas tradition from Newfoundland. send Christmas greetings to their distant neighbors by shooting firearms and letting off fireworks. In Hawaii this practice is still in use as under the sunny skies, Santa Claus arrives by boat and Christmas dinner is eaten outdoors. In Alaska, a star on a pole is taken from door to door, followed by Herod's Men, who try to capture the star. Colonial doorways are often decorated with pineapple, a symbol of hospitality. In Alaska, boys and girls with lanterns on poles carry a large figure of a star from door to door. They sing carols and are invited in for supper. In Washington D.C., a huge, spectacular tree is lit ceremoniously when the President presses a button and turns on the tree's lights. In Boston, carol singing festivities are famous. The singers are accompanied by hand bells. In New Orleans, a huge ox is paraded around the streets decorated with holly and with ribbons tied to its horns. In Arizona, the Mexican ritual called Las Posadas is kept up. This is a ritual procession and play representing the search of Mary and Joseph for a room at the inn. Families play the parts and visit each other's houses enacting and re-enacting the drama and, at the same time, having a look at each family's crib. In Hawaii, Christmas starts with the coming of the Christmas Tree Ship, which is a ship bringing a great load of Christmas fare. Santa Claus also arrives by boat. In California, Santa Claus sweeps in on a surf board. In America the traditional Christmas dinner is roast turkey with vegetables and sauces. For dessert it is rich, fruity Christmas pudding with brandy sauce. Mince pies, pastry cases filled with a mixture of chopped dried fruit. The majority of Americans celebrate Christmas with the exchange of gifts and greetings and with family visits. For many, the day begins on Christmas Eve with the Midnight Mass. At Christmas it snows in many states, so dinner is usually eaten indoors. Dinner usually is roast turkey, goose, duck or ham served with cranberry sauce, then plum pudding or pumpkin pie followed by nuts and fruit. American homes are decorated with holly, mistletoe and branches of trees, most have a Christmas tree hung with electric lights, tinsel, baubles, and strings of popcorn and candy canes. In Colorado, an enormous star is placed on the mountain, it can be seen for many kilometers around, while in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, a star is lit in early December. Polish Americans on Christmas Eve spread hay on their kitchen floor and under the tablecloth to remind them of a stable and a manger. When they make up the table for dinner two extra places are set up for Mary and the Christ Child in case they should knock at the door to ask for shelter. There are two homes for Santa Claus in the United States one is in Torrington, Connecticut, where Santa and his helpers give out presents. The other home is in Wilmington, New York, where a village for Santa and his reindeer is located. There You Have It! Christmas Worldwide!

Christmas in Wales
The Welsh are great lovers of music and so every year at Christmas, carol singing is the most enjoyed activity. In the churches, they are sung to the harp. They are sung in people's homes around the Christmas tree and at the doors and windows of the houses. Caroling is called eisteddfodde and is often accompanied by a harp. In some rural areas a villager is chosen to be the Mari llwyd. This person travels around the town draped in white and carrying a horse's skull on a long pole. Anyone given the "bite" by the horse's jaws must pay a fine. Christmas is spent with lots of people gathering in the public square for the announcement of who, during the year, has won the prize for submitting the best music for a new carol, and the formal pronouncement of it as the carol of the year. This carol is now added to those already known and sung in Wales. Taffy making is one of the most important of the Welsh Christmas. This involves the making of the special kind of chewy toffee from brown sugar and butter. It is boiled and then pulled so that it becomes lovely and glossy. The Christmas goose is also essential. The Welsh people maintain most of the traditional customs associated with England such as holly, mistletoe, pudding, carols, Christmas stockings, oranges, crackers and lots of snow. The carolers make their rounds at dawn on Christmas morning, and families wake from sleep and ask them in for refreshments.

Christmas in Yugoslavia
In Yugoslavia, children celebrate the second Sunday before Christmas as Mother's Day. The children creep in and tie her feet to a chair and shout, "Mother's Day, Mother's Day, what will you pay to get away?" She then gives them presents. Children play the same trick on their father the week after. Those Yugoslavs who live in the country fear bad luck if their Christmas log burns out and so someone has to stand over the log all Christmas night to ensure it stays lit up. A Christmas cake called chestnitsa, contains a gold or silver coin and is said that whomever gets it can expect lots of good luck. The Yugoslavs eat roast pig as their Christmas dish and it must be carved a particular way, according to old customs. Every household has a Christmas crib. According to old customs they go on an expedition to the forests to gather moss with which to line the crib. Also families would have an old-fashioned music box that plays Christmas carols.

Christmas in United States of America

Santa Claus was born in US in the 1860's he was named this as he had a white beard and a belly, so he was named Santa Claus as this was the Dutch word for St Nicholas, Sintaklaas. Although the Dutch had bought him with them in the 17th century, he did not become an important person at Christmas until the Novelist Washington Irving put him in a novel that he wrote in 1809. This first Santa Claus was still known as St. Nicholas, he did smoke a pipe, and fly around in a wagon without any reindeer, but he did not have his red suit or live at the North Pole, he did however bring presents to children every year. In 1863 He was given the name Santa Claus and bore the red suit, pipe, and his reindeer and sleigh. Now Christmas celebrations vary greatly between regions of the United States, because of the variety of nationalities which have settled in it. In Pennsylvania, the Moravians build a landscape, called a putz - under the Christmas tree, while in the same state the Germans are given gifts by Belsnickle, who taps them with his switch if they have misbehaved. Early European settlers brought many traditions to the United States. Many settled in the early days in the South, these settlers would

Christmas in Canada
Christmas celebrations are quite similar in the variety to America.

A Page In The Diary Of A Very Compassionate Palliative Care Nurse

of Eternal Love
On March 6, 2004, Thomas Pierce, his wife, JoAnn, and his daughter Lisa were on the water taxi that overturned in Baltimores Inner Harbor. He lost both of them that day. Pierces account of the accident and the letter to Lisa by one of the reservists that rescued her give the reader a grim understanding of what that day was like. But this is not a book about the accident this book is about the power of love. Love as we know it and understand it, and love that goes beyond our understanding. This is a book Pierce never intended to write but he felt compelled to share the things that carried him through this tragedy and all the signs that helped him move on with his life. It is truly a celebration of two lives that will go on forever. Once you have read this book you will find yourself passing it on to friends and family, so that they too can share the experience of the power of love.

By Marita
IDEA! You know when you experience something so traumatic, life changing, it often feels surreal; like a dream happening right in front of you but you could do nothing an odd play you find yourself thrust into, with a role you are sure you are not ready for it is happening in slow motion, for a reason that I think is now clear to me - to breath. For in that moment of supreme fear, supreme dread, we feel frenetic so we go to what we know - ACTION! But do what? Just breath for it is time to do nothing just be present, in the moment you are ---> here <---- to witness. My role is writer, choreographer, producer, but as grand as those identities sound; my role also is to witness, not re write, not re stage, no re produce. Mine is but to see with the eyes of love , nonjudgmental observation, so those in trauma can have new possibilities to see their lives from and to see the sacredness of the death journey if we act from the heart. Time is actually on your side during these times. It is habit/conditioning that we continually access actions that never work out never have. When has being frantic and sad ever generated a good solution? This is the time we need to go to the gift that the human mind and make up has hard wired in. Trauma always happens in slow motion. So, stop resisting. Slow down. Breath. Make your hearts connect at this very time. Slow down and savor the moment was never truer issued by Source, written by me/we - my handshakes and stalls. This is how I know it is true. Mother Nature slowing us down so all can be seen, if we just watch from a place of nil judgement. High Source has blessed us all. We are all special. We all have the same gifts. Just wake up from the fear dream that races around our heads gathering strength.[]

www.thelastrose.com

An Inspiring True Story

This is the Amazing but true story of Lori Dawn Cartagena, a glamorous young Australian Entertainer who traveled to America after spending over twelve months from 1968 to 1969, entertaining American and Australian troops in Vietnam during the war. After surviving numerous ambushes and mortar attacks, Lori eventually flees war torn Asia and arrives in Canada. After a brief affair with a handsome, charming Toronto businessman, she moves to Florida to join a stage show where she finds herself in another desperate situation. Lori discovers she is pregnant and eventually has to make the most heartbreaking decision of her young life. as soon as her newborn son was taken away from her, Lori vowed she would one day find him again. She tried several times , but to no avail. However, 34 years later-he found her. The reunion was the most wonderful event both mother and son could only have dreamed of over those long, agonising years.

www.loridcartagena.com

Christmas Carols
Favourite Christmas Carols
Oh Little Town of Bethlehem
O little town of Bethlehem, How still we see thee lie! Above thy deep and dreamless sleep The silent stars go by; Yet in thy dark streets shineth The everlasting Light; The hopes and fears of all the years Are met in thee to-night. For Christ is born of Mary, And gathered all above, While mortals sleep, the angels keep Their watch of wondering love. O morning stars, together Proclaim the holy birth! And praises sing to God the King, And peace to men on earth. How silently, how silently, The wondrous gift is given! So God imparts to human hearts The blessings of his heaven. No ear may hear his coming, But in this world of sin, Where meek souls will receive him, still The dear Christ enters in. Where children pure and happy Pray to the blessed Child, Where misery cries out to thee, Son of the mother mild; Where charity stands watching And faith holds wide the door, The dark night wakes, the glory breaks, And Christmas comes once more. O holy Child of Bethlehem! Descend to us, we pray; Cast out our sin and enter in, Be born in us to-day. We hear the Christmas angels The great glad tidings tell; O come to us, abide with us, Our Lord Emmanuel!

Oh Come, All Ye Faithful

O come, all ye faithful, Joyful and triumphant, O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem; Come and behold him, Born the King of angels; O come, let us adore him, O come, let us adore him, O Come, let us adore him, Christ the Lord. God of God, Light of Light, Lo! he abhors not the Virgin's womb: Very God, Begotten, not created; Refrain Sing, choirs of angels, Sing in exultation, Sing, all ye citizens of heaven above; Glory to God In the highest; Refrain See how the shepherds, Summoned to his cradle, Leaving their flocks, draw nigh to gaze; We too will thither Bend our joyful footsteps; Refrain Child, for us sinners Poor and in the manger, We would embrace thee, with love and awe; Who would not live thee, Loving us so dearly? Refrain Yea, Lord, we greet thee, Born this happy morning; Jesus, to thee be glory given; Word of the Father, Now in flesh appearing; Refrain

Angels, From the Realms of Glory

Angels, from the realms of glory, Wing your flight o'er all the earth; Ye, who sang creation's story, Now proclaim Messiah's birth: Come and worship, Come and worship, Worship Christ, the new-born King. Shepherds in the field abiding, Watching o'er your flocks by night, God with man is now residing; Yonder shines the infant Light: Refrain Sages, leave your contemplations, Brighter visions beam afar: Seek the great Desire of nations; Ye have seen his natal star: Refrain Saints before the altar bending, Watching long in hope and fear, Suddenly the Lord, descending, In his temple shall appear: Refrain

Silent Night
Silent night, holy night, All is calm, all is bright Round yon virgin mother and child. Holy infant so tender and mild, Sleep in heavenly peace. Sleep in heavenly peace. Silent night, holy night, Shepherds quake at the sight, Glories stream from heaven afar, Heavely hosts sing alleluia; Christ the Saviour, is born! Christ the Saviour, is born! Silent night, holy night, Son of God, love's pure light Radiant beams from thy holy face, With the dawn of redeeming grace, Jesus, Lord, at thy birth. Jesus, Lord, at thy birth.

with Rob McConnell www.xzoneradiotv.com

Snippets from the Trenches

ABOUT THIS BOOK : The really extraordinary thing about this book is that it tells the story of how one mother embarked on her feverish course of involvement in the AIDS community, in large part to help herself come to terms with the possibility of her son's death. But all that work really doesn't prepare her. She becomes incredibly intimate with a series of strangers, yet she and her son have more and more trouble talking about HIS illness, which is the reason she is doing all this in the first place. She becomes indispensable at the bedsides of countless other people, but when Gary is dying, she still feels helpless, disconnected and as if she'd never set foot in an AIDS hospital room. What is moving about this book is the fact that all this preparation doesn't prepare, because NOTHING can prepare her. Susan Choi, Pulitzer Prize Finalist, American Woman
Freda Wagman is one of the most sincere and caring persons that I have had the pleasure of interviewing. Freda brings with her honesty, integrity, compassion and love to all those who lives she has touched, especially her late son Gary. - Rob McConnell Host of The X Zone Radio & TV Show This book will make you shake your head, laugh, cry and ponder over what has happened during the last 20 years of the AIDS crisis. It is a story of a mother who has to come to terms not only with her son's illness but her fierce protection of his feelings. Beautifully written, you learn how fragile and random life can be. The strength that grows when you open your heart and mind helps us heal from losses life deals all of us. Revealed is a generous soul who has her prized possession taken from her and can only deal with it by giving back to others around her. - Peter Waterloo, San Francisco I was so very overwhelmed by this compelling narrative of the scourge, AIDS epidemic. I was reminded of the Bubonic Plague and what people suffered in those horrific years. What a wonderful and empathetic soul the author is and so giving to others in desperate need of love and care. The account of the saddening travails of her own son, Gary, brought me to tears. Perhaps only a mother can feel and understand what those people were (and are) going through and what looms in their futures. This is truly an important true story. We have much to learn from Ms. Wagman's wide experiences with a variety of young people who had one tragic thing in common -- a war with AIDS. - Bea and Woody, Michigan

Inspirational Christmas Stories

Inspirational Christmas Stories
For the Man Who Hated Christmas
By Nancy W. Gavin
It's just a small, white envelope stuck among the branches of our Christmas tree. No name, no identification, no inscription. It has peeked through the branches of our tree for the past ten years. It all began because my husband Mike hated Christmas. Oh, not the true meaning of Christmas, but the commercial aspects of it overspending and the frantic running around at the last minute to get a tie for Uncle Harry and the dusting powder for Grandma the gifts given in desperation because you couldn't think of anything else. Knowing he felt this way, I decided one year to bypass the usual shirts, sweaters, ties and so forth. I reached for something special just for Mike. The inspiration came in an unusual way. Our son Kevin, who was 12 that year, was on the wrestling team at the school he attended. Shortly before Christmas, there was a non-league match against a team sponsored by an inner-city church. These youngsters, dressed in sneakers so ragged that shoestrings seemed to be the only thing holding them together, presented a sharp contrast to our boys in their spiffy blue and gold uniforms and sparkling new wrestling shoes. As the match began, I was alarmed to see that the other team was wrestling without headgear, a kind of light helmet designed to protect a wrestler's ears. It was a luxury the ragtag team obviously could not afford. Well, we ended up walloping them. We took every weight class. Mike, seated beside me, shook his head sadly, "I wish just one of them could have won," he said. "They have a lot of potential, but losing like this could take the heart right out of them." Mike loved kids all kids. He so enjoyed coaching little league football, baseball and lacrosse. That's when the idea for his present came. That afternoon, I went to a local sporting goods store and bought an assortment of wrestling headgear and shoes, and sent them anonymously to the inner-city church. On Christmas Eve, I placed a small, white envelope on the tree, the note inside telling Mike what I had done, and that this was his gift from me. Mike's smile was the brightest thing about Christmas that year. And that same bright smile lit up succeeding years. For each Christmas, I followed the tradition one year sending a group of mentally handicapped youngsters to a hockey game, another year a check to a pair of elderly brothers whose home had burned to the ground the week before Christmas, and on and on. The white envelope became the highlight of our Christmas. It was always the last thing opened on Christmas morning, and our children ignoring their new toys would stand with wide-eyed anticipation as their dad

lifted the envelope from the tree to reveal its contents. As the children grew, the toys gave way to more practical presents, but the small, white envelope never lost its allure. The story doesn't end there. You see, we lost Mike last year due to dreaded cancer. When Christmas rolled around, I was still so wrapped in grief that I barely got the tree up. But Christmas Eve found me placing an envelope on the tree. And the next morning, I found it was magically joined by three more. Unbeknownst to the others, each of our three children had for the first time placed a white envelope on the tree for their dad. The tradition has grown and someday will expand even further with our grandchildren standing to take down that special envelope. Mike's spirit, like the Christmas spirit will always be with us.[]

The father was crushed. He fell on his knees and put his arms around his precious little girl. He begged her to forgive him for his unnecessary anger. An accident took the life of the child only a short time later. It is told that the father kept this little gold box by his bed for all the years of his life. Whenever he was discouraged or faced difficult problems, he would open the box, take out an imaginary kiss, and remember the love of this beautiful child who had put it there. In a very real sense, each of us has been given an invisible golden box filled with unconditional love and kisses from our children, family, friends and God. There is no more precious possession anyone could hold. Continued on Page 41

THE GOLD WRAPPING PAPER An Inspiring Christmas Story

Once upon a time, there was a man who worked very hard just to keep food on the table for his family. This particular year a few days before Christmas, he punished his little fiveyear-old daughter after learning that she had used up the family's only roll of expensive gold wrapping paper. As money was tight, he became even more upset when on Christmas Eve he saw that the child had used all of the expensive gold paper to decorate one shoebox she had put under the Christmas tree. He also was concerned about where she had gotten money to buy what was in the shoebox. Nevertheless, the next morning the little girl, filled with excitement, brought the gift box to her father and said, "This is for you, Daddy!" As he opened the box, the father was embarrassed by his earlier overreaction, now regretting how he had punished her. But when he opened the shoebox, he found it was empty and again his anger flared. "Don't you know, young lady," he said harshly, "when you give someone a present, there's supposed to be something inside the package!" The little girl looked up at him with sad tears rolling from her eyes and whispered: "Daddy, it's not empty. I blew kisses into it until it was all full."

Inspirational Christmas Stories

Inspirational Christmas Stories
Continued From Page 40
have a coat." The nice lady smiled at me. I didn't get any change, but she put the coat in a bag and wished me a Merry Christmas. That evening, Grandma helped me wrap the coat in Christmas paper and ribbons, and write, "To Bobbie, From Santa Claus" on it ... Grandma said that Santa always insisted on secrecy. Then she drove me over to Bobbie Decker's house, explaining as we went that I was now and forever officially one of Santa's helpers. Grandma parked down the street from Bobbie's house, and she and I crept noiselessly and hid in the bushes by his front walk. Suddenly, Grandma gave me a nudge. "All right, Santa Claus," she whispered, "get going." I took a deep breath, dashed for his front door, threw the present down on his step, pounded his doorbell twice and flew back to the safety of the bushes and Grandma. Together we waited breathlessly in the darkness for the front door to open. Finally it did, and there stood Bobbie. He looked down, looked around, picked up his present, took it inside and closed the door. Forty years haven't dimmed the thrill of those moments spent shivering, beside my grandma, in Bobbie Decker's bushes. That night, I realized that those awful rumors about Santa Claus were just what Grandma said they were: Ridiculous! Santa was alive and well ... AND WE WERE ON HIS TEAM! several times and was startled by the effect. The song became the most requested recording during the holidays in Boston on several FM stations. "Even more startling than the number of requests I get is the reaction to the ballad afterward by callers who hadn't heard it before," said the radio host. "They telephone me deeply moved, sometimes in tears, asking, 'What the hell did I just hear?' " I think I know why the callers were in tears. The Christmas Truce story goes against most of what we have been taught about people. It gives us a glimpse of the world as we wish it could be and says, "This really happened once." It reminds us of those thoughts we keep hidden away, out of range of the TV and newspaper stories that tell us how trivial and mean human life is. It is like hearing that our deepest wishes really are true: the world really could be different.

On Santa's Team
Author Unknown
My grandma taught me everything about Christmas. I was just a kid. I remember tearing across town on my bike to visit her on the day my big sister dropped the bomb: "There is no Santa Claus," jeered my sister. "Even dummies know that!" My grandma was not the gushy kind, never had been. I fled to her that day because I knew she would be straight with me. I knew Grandma always told the truth, and I knew that the truth always went down a whole lot easier when swallowed with one of her world-famous cinnamon buns. Grandma was home, and the buns were still warm. Between bites, I told her everything. She was ready for me. "No Santa Claus!" she snorted. "Ridiculous! Don't believe it. That rumor has been going around for years, and it makes me mad, plain mad. Now, put on your coat, and let's go." "Go? Go where, Grandma?" I asked. I hadn't even finished my second cinnamon bun. "Where" turned out to be Kerby's General Store, the one store in town that had a little bit of just about everything. As we walked through its doors, Grandma handed me ten dollars. That was a bundle in those days. "Take this money," she said, "and buy something for someone who needs it. I'll wait for you in the car." Then she turned and walked out of Kerby's. I was only eight years old. I'd often gone shopping with my mother, but never had I shopped for anything all by myself. The store seemed big and crowded, full of people scrambling to finish their Christmas shopping. For a few moments I just stood there, confused, clutching that ten-dollar bill, wondering what to buy, and who on earth to buy it for. I thought of everybody I knew: my family, my friends, my neighbors, the kids at school, the people who went to my church. I was just about thought out, when I suddenly thought of Bobbie Decker. He was a kid with bad breath and messy hair, and he sat right behind me in Mrs. Pollock's grade-two class. Bobbie Decker didn't have a coat. I knew that because he never went out for recess during the winter. His mother always wrote a note, telling the teacher that he had a cough; but all we kids knew that Bobbie Decker didn't have a cough, and he didn't have a coat. I fingered the ten-dollar bill with growing excitement. I would buy Bobbie Decker a coat. I settled on a red corduroy one that had a hood to it. It looked real warm, and he would like that. I didn't see a price tag, but ten dollars ought to buy anything. I put the coat and my ten-dollar bill on the counter and pushed them toward the lady behind it. She looked at the coat, the money, and me. "Is this a Christmas present for someone?" she asked kindly. "Yes," I replied shyly. "It's ... for Bobbie. He's in my class, and he doesn't

CHRISTMAS JOKES For Kids

Q: What do elves learn in school? A: The Elf-abet! Q: What's the most popular wine at Christmas? A: "I don't like sprouts" ! Q: If athletes get athletes foot, what do astronauts get? A: Missletoe! Q: What do you get when you cross a snowman with a vampire? A: Frostbite. Q: Why was Santa's little helper depressed? A: Because he had low elf esteem. Q: Why does Santa have 3 gardens? A: So he can ho-ho-ho. Q: Where do polar bears vote? A: The North Poll. Q: What do you get when you cross an archer with a gift-wrapper? A: Ribbon hood. Q: Why do birds fly south for the winter ? A: Because it's to far to walk. Q: What was wrong with the boy's brand new toy electric train set he received for Christmas? A: Forty feet of track - all straight! Q: What kind of bird can write? A: A PENguin. Q: How does Al Gore's household keep Christmas politically correct? A: On Christmas morning, they give the presents TO the tree. Q: What do you call a cat on the beach at Christmas time? A: Sandy Claus! Q: How do sheep in Mexico say Merry Christmas? A: Fleece Navidad!

The Christmas Truce

by David G. Stratman
It was December 25, 1914, only 5 months into World War I. German, British, and French soldiers, already sick and tired of the senseless killing, disobeyed their superiors and fraternized with "the enemy" along two-thirds of the Western Front (a crime punishable by death in times of war). German troops held Christmas trees up out of the trenches with signs, "Merry Christmas." "You no shoot, we no shoot." Thousands of troops streamed across a no-man's land strewn with rotting corpses. They sang Christmas carols, exchanged photographs of loved ones back home, shared rations, played football, even roasted some pigs. Soldiers embraced men they had been trying to kill a few short hours before. They agreed to warn each other if the top brass forced them to fire their weapons, and to aim high. A shudder ran through the high command on either side. Here was disaster in the making: soldiers declaring their brotherhood with each other and refusing to fight. Generals on both sides declared this spontaneous peacemaking to be treasonous and subject to court martial. By March 1915 the fraternization movement had been eradicated and the killing machine put back in full operation. By the time of the armistice in 1918, fifteen million would be slaughtered. Not many people have heard the story of the Christmas Truce. On Christmas Day, 1988, a story in the Boston Globe mentioned that a local FM radio host played "Christmas in the Trenches," a ballad about the Christmas Truce,

The Night Before Christmas

The Night Before Christmas
by Clement Clarke Moore or Henry Livingston
'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse; The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there; The children were nestled all snug in their beds, While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads; And mamma in her 'kerchief, and I in my cap, Had just settled down for a long winter's nap, When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter, I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter. Away to the window I flew like a flash, Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash. The moon on the breast of the newfallen snow Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below, When, what to my wondering eyes should appear, But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer, With a little old driver, so lively and quick, I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick. More rapid than eagles his coursers they came, And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name; "Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen! On, Comet! on Cupid! on, Donder and Blitzen! To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall! Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!" As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly, When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky, So up to the house-top the coursers they flew, With the sleigh full of toys, and St. Nicholas too. And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof The prancing and pawing of each little hoof. As I drew in my head, and was turning around, Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound. He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot, And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot; A bundle of toys he had flung on his

back, And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack. His eyes -- how they twinkled! his dimples how merry! His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry! His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow, And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow; The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth, And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath; He had a broad face and a little round belly, That shook, when he laughed like a bowlful of jelly. He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf, And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself; A wink of his eye and a twist of his head, Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread; He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work, And filled all the stockings; then turned with a jerk, And laying his finger aside of his nose, And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose; He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle, And away they all flew like the down of a thistle. But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight, "Happy Christmas to all, and to all a goodnight."

MORE CHRISTMAS JOKES

For Kids
Q: What nationality is Santa Claus? A: North Polish. Q: Why does Santa's sled get such good mileage? A: Because it has long-distance runners on each side. Q: What do you call a bunch of grandmasters of chess bragging about their games in a hotel lobby? A: Chess nuts boasting in an open foyer! Q: What do you get if you deep fry Santa Claus? A: Crisp Cringle. Q: What did the ghosts say to Santa Claus? A: We'll have a boo Christmas without you. Q: What did Santa shout to his toys on Christmas Eve? A: Okay everyone, sack time!! Q: What do snowmen eat for breakfast? A: Snowflakes. Q: If Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus had a child, what would he be called? A: A subordinate claus. Q: Why did the elf push his bed into the fireplace? A: He wanted to sleep like a log. Q: Why did Santa spell Christmas N-O-E? A: Because the angel had said, "No L!"

Christmas Recipes
Christmas Recipes
PECANS SHORT BREAD COOKIES Shortbread cookies are a must to make for the holidays, and these pecan-filled, buttery biscuits are simply irresistible. Be sure to use real butter, never margarine, for best flavor. Ingredients 1 cup (250 mL) unsalted butter 1/2 cup (125 mL) light brown sugar 2 cups (500 mL) flour 1 cup (250 mL) ground pecans 2 tsp. (10 mL) vanilla pinch of salt Cooking Instructions Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (160 degrees C). Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. In a large bowl with an electric mixer or a food processor, beat together butter and brown sugar until creamy. Add flour, ground pecans, vanilla and salt and beat just until it forms a smooth dough. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes to 1 hour to allow it to firm up just enough to shape. By hand, roll dough into 1-inch (2-cm) balls. Place them on the prepared cookie sheet and flatten very slightly (to about 1/2-inch/1-cm thickness) with the bottom of a glass that has been dipped in flour to prevent the dough from sticking to the glass. (If you have a cookie stamp, you can use it to flatten the cookies instead of the glass.) Place in the oven and bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until set and very lightly browned on the bottom. Remove from pan and let cool on a rack. CANDY CANE COOKIES These colorful candy canes, sprinkled with sugar and crushed candy canes and festively flavored with peppermint, make the perfect Christmas cookie, sure to bring delight to little elves everywhere. Ingredients 1 cup margarine 1/2 cup sugar 1/2 cup powdered sugar 1 egg 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract 2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon red food coloring 1/2 cup peppermint candy canes, crushed 1/2 cup white sugar for decoration Cooking Instructions In a large bowl, cream together the margarine, sugar and powdered sugar. Beat in the egg, vanilla and peppermint extracts. Combine the flour and salt; stir into the creamed mixture until well blended. Cover or wrap dough and chill for at least one hour. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets. Divide dough into halves. Color one half red by mixing in the food color. Roll a small amount of each dough

into a 2-inch-long worm. Roll them together in a twisted rope and curve the end like a cane. Place onto prepared cookie sheets. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven. In a small bowl, mix together the crushed candy cane and remaining sugar. Roll hot cookies in the sugar mixture. FESTIVE EGG SALAD WITH PITA CRISPS Egg salad, a perennial favorite, is given a subtle twist with shallots and Dijon mustard and served with flavored pita crisps. Its an easy appetizer everyone will love. Ingredients 2 7-inch pitas 1 tablespoon olive oil Paprika Garlic powder Salt 6 large eggs, hardboiled and cooled 1/3 cup light mayonnaise 4 teaspoons chopped shallots 1 & 1/2 teaspoons dijon mustard 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper Cooking Instructions Heat oven to broil. Slice the pita horizontally into two rounds and brush the insides with olive oil and sprinkle with paprika, garlic powder, and salt. Cut each of the pita rounds into eight triangles. Place triangles brushed side up on cookie sheet and broil three minutes or until lightly toasted. In a medium bowl mash the eggs with mayonnaise, shallots, mustard, salt, and red pepper to combine. Preparation Time: 5 minutes Ready In: 10 minutes PECAN OR CASHEW BRITTLE Experiment with nuts this Christmas season, and explore Pecan or Cashew Nut Brittle. This recipe makes for sumptious gifts for friends, or a delicious kids' snack.

Ingredients 1 cup sugar 1/2 cup light corn syrup 1/8 teaspoon salt 2 cups pecan halves or cashews 1 teaspoon margarine or butter 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 1 teaspoon baking soda Cooking Instructions In greased 2-quart glass measure, cook sugar, corn syrup, and salt on High 2 to 3 minutes until boiling. - Cook 4 minutes. - Stir in nuts, butter, vanilla, and cinnamon. - Cook 2 minutes. - Immediately, stir in baking soda until light and foamy. - Quickly pour onto greased cookie sheet; spread. -Cool; break into pieces. Makes 1 pound. CLEAN-UP TIP After cooking the candy, always allow the glass measure to cool to room temperature before cleaning. Do not attempt to chip the hardened brittle off the glass. For easiest cleanup, fill the measure with water, then heat on High 10 minutes. Sugar will soften and wash off quickly.

ANGELS' CARE CENTRE

"Those who bring sunshine to the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves." (Sir) J.M. Barrie Angels' Care was established 9 years ago when a few people elected to respond with more than "lip service" to a need. The Angel's Care Centre was subsequently registered as a Non-Profit Organization with the Department of Social Development in 2002, 020-084-NPO. The aim of the Angels' Care Centre is intended not to usurp, but rather support the formal organizations with uplifting programmes. Angels' Care is a formally constituted body, having a Management Committee of 7 members with 4 elected office bearers comprising Chairman, Vice-Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer. The Committee meets regularly once per month together with several volunteers, who assist with the ongoing running of operations.

-Two formal shack settlements established within a few kilometres of the business centre of Howick, exists as a shameful body of neglected humanity. It is estimated that about 6,000 people "live" under appallingly primitive conditions within these settlements. SPECIAL NEED FOR FUNDING With ever increasing numbers, the demand for the services and the facilities provided by Angels' Care Centre continues to grow. Since they now have their own premises there has been an escalation in expenses. CONTACT DETAILS Chairman Mr Alf Hardwick 033 330 3553 Deputy Chairman Mrs Elizabeth Zondi 033 330 7996 Secretary/Treasurer Mrs Joan Hardwick 033 330 3553 BANKING INFORMATION FOR ALL DONATIONS First National Bank, Howick Name of the Account: ANGELS' CARE CENTRE Account Number: 62035715418 For more information on ANGELS' CARE CENTRE, visit www.angelscare.org.za or email: info@angelscare.org.za or by snail mail Angels' Care Centre, P O Box 416, Howick, 3290, South Africa.

PROJECT IMPACT TO DATE

EDUCATION: Angels' Care Centre believes that without education there will never be upliftment. For the first time in 2010 their list of indigent children will be exempt from school fees at the Nogqaza Primary School and Injoloba Secondary School in Howick. Angels' Care Centre will continue to provide them with a school uniform each. ACHIEVEMENTS FOR 2010: 200 Children into Primary School and 40 into Senior School. The Angels' Care Centre Bridging School has been up and running since May 2009 in their very own premises at 38 Morling Street, Howick. The school has place for 60 students and operates 5 days a week. FEEDING SCHEME: 200 - 250 Children up to 13 years of age are fed regularly. A local dairy farm donates a large supply of dairy products, and other food is generously donated by many, including Howick's supermarkets. HEALTH: The major single cause of health breakdown is undoubtedly HIV/AIDS. Many children are sent to the local Clinic, the serious cases are dealt with individually by Angels' Care Centre. Several AIDS orphans have been placed in the care of 'house-mothers', and this continues to be very successful. THE CENTRE'S OBJECTIVE - To concern itself with the welfare of desperately needy children within the area of uMugeni Municipality, focusing to break the cycle of indigence and deprivation.

RECOGNITION IN THE LIGHT OF VENUS - Part One - Maria follows

the voice of her heart, and after an adventurous journey, finds her soul mate. She suspects him to be a reincarnation of the legendary pharaoh, Tut Ankh Amun. The woman from Vienna and the man from Egypt feel magically drawn to one another, and decide to start a new life together. Little by little, Maria discovers striking parallels between the events of the Armana Period four thousand years before and her own family. A thrilling journey through time and culture begins.

RECOGNITION IN THE LIGHT OF VENUS - Part Two - The

rediscovered Love between Asad and Maria going back to the Amarna Period is hindered in its fulfilment by a number of unforeseeable events. Despite this, Maria nevertheless manages to clear up problems standing in the way of her life with Asad. During long periods of absence from one another, she realizes that the reasons for their failures and disappointments lie in an age-old past, going back thousands of years. However, it is their love for each other, which will triumph in the end. The novel presents another proof of the course of destiny, the "Wheel of Life and Rebirth" turning through various epochs and investing various bodies so as to give souls the possibility to raise consciousness.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Brigitte Gottlieb was born in Vienna on 24.09.1942 where she still lives. After a divorce, and returning to work, she was obliged to bring up her two children alone. Her knowledge of languages enabled her to work at the reception of a special bank. After thirteen years of employment here, she was able to draw an early pension in order to venture upon a new life in Egypt. Brigitte Gottlieb is at present preparing the German edition of her second book (Part II) "Recognition in the Light of Venus."

More Christmas Joke For Kids

Q: What goes Ho, Ho, Swoosh, Ho, Ho, Swoosh? A: Santa caught in a revolving door! Q: Why does Santa Claus go down the chimney on Christmas Eve? A: Because it " soots " him! Q: What do you do if Santa gets stuck in your chimney? A: Pour Santa flush on him. Q: Did you hear that one of Santa's reindeer now works for Proctor and Gambel? A: Its true . . . Comet cleans sinks! Q: What do you call people who are afraid of Santa Claus? A: Claustrophobic. Q: Why does Scrooge love Rudolph the RedNosed Reindeer? A: Because every buck is dear to him. Q: How come you never hear anything about the 10th reindeer "Olive" ? A: Yeah, you know, "Olive the other reindeer, used to laugh and call him names" Q: Why did the little girl change her mind about buying her grandmother a packet of

handkerchiefs for Christmas?Q: Olive ? A: Yeah, you know, "Olive the other reindeer, used to laugh and call him names" Q: Why is Christmas just like a day at the office? A: You do all the work and the fat guy with the suit gets all the credit. Q: Olive? A: Yeah, you know, "Olive the other reindeer, used to laugh and call him names" Q: What was so good about he neurotic doll the girl was given for Christmas? A: It was wound up already. Q: What's a good holiday tip? A: Never catch snowflakes with your tongue until all the birds have gone south for the winter.

Comrade Rudolph whether it's officially raining or snowing." As the official approached, the man said, "Tell us, Comrade Rudolph, is it officially raining or snowing?" "It's raining, of course," he answered and walked on. But the woman insisted: "I know that felt like snow!" To which the man quietly replied: "Rudolph the Red knows rain, dear!" []

Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer

A Russian couple was walking down the street in St. Petersburg the other night, when the man felt a drop hit his nose. "I think it's raining," he said to his wife. "No, that felt more like snow to me," she replied. "No, I'm sure it was just rain, he said." Well, as these things go, they were about to have a major argument about whether it was raining or snowing. Just then they saw a minor communist party official walking toward them. "Let's not fight about it," the man said, "let's ask

Ascension Accessing the Fifth Dimension (The Secret Truth About 2012 and Beyond) by Elizabeth Joyce
We know scientifically that there are Eleven Dimensions, (and perhaps Twelve) universe quirks and black holes within our Universe. To break this down, there are seven levels to each dimension, and the soul must pass through each and every level before crossing over to the next dimension. Sometimes the levels overlap. Think of a Solar and Lunar eclipse. The Solar eclipse begins a new stage and the Lunar eclipse completes and finalizes the last stage. The Solar eclipse always occurs before the Lunar eclipse closes up and up and finally seals the last stage. This is Natural Law. The sense and awe of our great universe never ceases to amaze and humble us, especially those involved with energetic healing. Why do the words the end of the world as we know it have to be negative? They dont! We are all on the brink of a great discovery as well as seeing the impossible become possible. Humanity has been living in the Third Dimension until the 1960s, when we began to enter the Fourth Dimension, and this is not considered a long time. We are infants with all of this energy. The planet is continuing its process of turning inside out as it strives to align with a higher vibration or with new ways of living and being within a very new vision of reality. We have a bit more than four years to prepare ourselves for the coming energy changes, which have already begun. Many of us are downloading Fourth and Fifth Dimension energies on a daily basis. Whatever existed in realities of the past, (Third Dimension energies) or within a lower vibrating dimension are becoming merely an illusion now and many of us are in fear believing that there is very little left to hold onto. In the past millennium we imagined a higher vibrating world or reality for ourselves, and this was called an illusion at that time. (An illusion about love, cooperation, spontaneous healing and helping each other within the spirit of oneness.) Now, the illusion is what is remaining in the old world, or the old three dimensional ways of living and being, the old structures, and the old systems of survival (war, money games, starvation, illness, and a fight for ruler-ship). There is nothing left for these actions to adhere to and from now on, they will only exist within our imaginations or memories. As we progress further and further into the higher realms, we have less and less of the old world to hold onto; the world as we know it. This can create a feeling of falling down a deep hole with nothing to grasp onto and no apparent anchor. We may feel as though there is nothing surrounding us now which feels remotely right or good, or even perhaps that we are existing in a vacuum all by ourselves, like some kind of vortex of emptiness and detachment with no apparent connections to much of anything else. The vibrations are changing quickly, and with that experience we have chaos; destruction before reconstruction. God and The Divine are about to lift us up into a new world of splendor! Everyone has the ability to become transformed and carry the new frequencies within themselves. They can become natural healers, manifest their desires, and bring unconditional love to everyone they come in contact with, but eyes are blind. It is only those who choose to open their eyes and perhaps are blinded by what they see that will move along with the tides of change, and survive. I can assure you, everything is right on track with our spiritual evolutionary process. All is right where in needs to be for this phase of the amazing ascension process we have chosen to be born into, undertake, and move mankind forward. So where will you be on December 24, 2012? Right where you need to be! And not with fear, hiding or a sense of helplessness, but rather with tools for your growth as well as to reach out and help others. This focus on the December date is an illusion at best, and New Age mumbo-jumbo and spiritual hype at best. This is what is occurring now in 2009. As the Ascension process involves dying within while we are alive, we are now fully residing in a higher dimension, as many of us have completed our journey through that tunnel of death and onto the other side of this current energy phase. Many are finding themselves re-connecting with friends and loved ones and re-establishing connections. We are able to find some kind of shore or anchor to hold onto while we seemingly exist in the emptiness. The new leaders and teachers are embracing the entire planet in Oneness. From now until the latter part of 2012, many prophecies are going to be fulfilled, as the planet enters into the final three and one-half years of mans self-rule on the Earth. As these events unfold many people will increasingly become aware of the Divine Energies and desire to begin their ascension into the higher vibration levels. The key to survival as we enter into the new dimension is to rise above it, access the higher energies, and walk the planet, impervious to the events occurring, while healing others and welcoming in the Unity of All The Golden Age.

By Dr. William A. Gaspar & Dr. Jos A. Jaramillo

The ancient Mayans were an incredible civilization that invented a remarkably accurate calendar forewarning of coming earth changes. Did the Mayans, Egyptians and other ancient cultures know about sacred sciences that tied their astronomies and mythologies to the natural rhythms of the Earth? Doctors William Gaspar and Jos Jaramillo have written an earth-shattering book about this ancient mystery, and what it means to human survival. The authors applied their unique knowledge of astronomy, sacred geometry, Ice Age cycles, spirituality and Masonic secrets to provide an exact road map and to ponder whether the 2012 Galactic Alignment with the Winter Solstice Sun could cause severe weather changes. Who taught the ancients their wisdom and could they have predicted global warming, major sunspot eruptions and an exact date for an axis shift? We are indeed all part of The World Tree and wonder what the near future will hold for us.
Meet the Authors : Dr. William A. Gaspar is an internist who has been a guest on the Art Bell Show, Laura Lee, The X A. Jaramillo wrote the book The Mayan Calendar: The Holistic Book of Knowledge, and directed the films Between 2 Worlds and The Alignment Within. They live in New Mexico and California.

THE WORLD TREE: GATHERING FOR THE SHIFT OF 2012 - 2013

(ISBN: 978-60911-321-6) will be available on OCTOBER 12, 2011, for $29.50 and can be ordered through the publishers website:

or at

www.amazon.com or http://search.barnesandnoble.com

The

REL-MAR McConnell Media Company

Proudly Announces That

The REL-MAR Person Of The Year For

Author of Beside An Ocean of Sorrow, Rented Silence and Africas Unfinished Symphony. For more information on Lucia Mann, Visit:-