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The word December comes from the Latin word decem which means ‘ten’. In the Roman calendar, which began with the month of March, December was the tenth month. The days between the end of December and the beginning of March (cold and snowy in the Northern Hemisphere and hot and sunny in the Southern Hemisphere) were originally unnamed. Eventually, those days were given the names January and February and they were considered the first months of the calendar year. Although December was now the twelfth month in the Gregorian calendar, which was introduced in October 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII, its name was kept.
December has the shortest daylight hours and longest nighttime hours on December 21 and that day marks the beginning of winter. It is the opposite in the Southern Hemisphere, with December 21 having the longest daylight hours and shortest nighttime hours. That day marks the beginning of summer.
The long, dark days of December can cause a drop in the hormone serotonin which can lead to a depressed mood and loss of energy. Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) was first described in 1984, by Norman Rosenthal and colleagues at the National institute of Mental Health in Bethesda, MD., as recurrent depressions that occur at the same time of year. But that wasn’t the first time it was talked about. In 1679, Dr. Richard Saunders advised eating fruits (apples and pears) and vegetables (onions and cabbage) after eating meat to counter the ‘melancholy and phlegm’ brought on by the shorter days in December.
The Anglo Saxons had two names for the month of December. One was ‘Winter Monath’, which is self-explanatory, and the other was ‘Yule Monath’ which is the custom of burning a Yule log as part of the pagan Yule celebrations. Yule, at the time, meant the observance of the Winter Solstice. It is now synonymous with the word Christmas and the celebration of the birth of the baby Jesus. When the Anglo-Saxons converted to Christianity they changed the name of ‘Winter Monath’ or ‘Yule Monath’ to ‘Heligh Monath’ meaning ‘Holy Month’.
For the Native American first peoples, the full moon in December was called the ‘Full Cold Moon’ because of the cold winter months that followed it.
The unluckiest day of the year is considered to be December 28. On this day King Herod ordered all baby boys to be put to death in an attempt to kill the baby Jesus. Even now, it is considered unlucky to start a new job, begin a new venture, or even do anything new on this day.
In more modern times and on a happier note, Walt Disney was born on December 5, 1901. He took art classes in school and was hired as a commercial illustrator at the age of eighteen. He moved to California and established Disney Brothers Studio with his brother, Roy. They developed the character Mickey Mouse in 1928 and went on to produce such feature cartoons as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Bambi. In the 1950s, Walt expanded into amusement parks and television programs. Walt Disney died on December 15, 1966.
December has two birth flowers and holly is the first one. At one time the Celts believed that the holly brought luck and protection. The red berries of the holly represent the bloody wounds of when Jesus was nailed to the cross. The second flower is the paperwhite narcissus which symbolizes sweetness. The birthstone of December is the turquoise which can range from vivid green to a blue-green, to a sky blue.
There are other important holidays observed in December along with Christmas. The Jews celebrate Hanukkah, which takes place on the 25th day of Kislev on the Hebrew calendar and lies between late November and late December. This is in recognition of the rise of Jews against their Greek/Syrian oppressors, as well as, the rededication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem in the 2nd century AD.
The Buddhists celebrate Bodhi Day on December 8. A man named Siddhartha sat under a Bodhi tree and meditated for three days until he found the root of suffering and liberated himself from it. On the third day he discovered the answers he sought and became enlightened. He was then known as Buddha or the ‘Awakened One.’
A Hindu festival, Datta Jayanti, commemorates the birth day of the Hindu Deity Dattatreya or Datta, which is the combined form of the Hindu male divine trinity of Shiva, Vishnu, and Brahma. The festival takes place between November 30th and December 3rd in the temples throughout India.
December is a month full of historical events, festivals, and observances of special days. And it marks the end of the old year and a time to look forward to the new one.
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