The following article was written by my 12 Profils (advanced) English class in December, 1999.  It was published by the Vernon County Broadcaster in Viroqua, Wisconsin.
 

Most Latvians can’t imagine their Christmas without snow, candles in the Christmas tree, the smell of just-baked gingerbread, and very long nights.  We celebrate Christmas on the 25th of December, and December is the darkest time of the year.  The days become shorter and shorter until Christmas, and this day is like a sign that the darkness won’t go further and the light will come back.  It is the Winter Solstice and, when it comes to holidays, only the Summer Solstice has as much importance for Latvians.  The Solstice celebration comes from ancient Latvians.  Now these old traditions and newer Christian traditions are both celebrated.  The traditions live together, not disturbing each other.  Christmas has kept its importance in Latvia even through Soviet times (1945-1989), when people were not supposed to celebrate it.  This shows just how important the holiday is to the Latvian people.

Latvians were already celebrating a winter holiday around the solstice long before Christianity arrived.  There are statements from 1585 that around the 20th of December Latvians hunted wild animals, including hares and deer, in a forest called the Saint Wood.  It was forbidden to hunt there at other times of year.  The animals that were caught were cooked over a fire and put on a table which was decorated with straw.  All night the people were dancing, eating, and drinking.  Usually the celebration continued for three days and nights, but in some places it went on for a week.
    The ancient Latvian winter holiday celebrated the return of the sun and the beginning of the new year.  When the Germans conquered Latvia in the 12th century, they brought Christianity with them, and they wanted Latvians to believe in the German God.  But Latvians still continued to celebrate the winter holiday as they used to.  Over time, however, the Christian celebration became more common, and the ancient holiday became combined with the celebration of Christmas.  During Soviet times Christmas was a forbidden holiday, because the people who occupied Latvia said that there was no God.  But Christmas was, and still is, our most popular holiday, and even when it was forbidden people still celebrated it.  They put blankets in front of their windows so that no one could see in, and had their celebrations hidden in their houses.

The first things that come to mind when we hear the word “Christmas” are presents and the Christmas tree.  Ancient Latvians decorated their Christmas trees with straw ornaments, woolen balls, apples, and candles.  Nowadays people decorate their trees the same way most people in the world do: with different kinds of shiny ornaments, sparkling lights, candy, etc.  People put presents under the tree, and they sing songs and recite poems by the tree.  In every city and town there is one big Christmas tree where various activities for children take place.   Every year the Christmas trees bring warmth and light to all the houses.
    Presents are usually brought by Santa Claus and put under the tree, but sometimes he just knocks and leaves them outside the door.  Children and adults all get presents.  To receive a present, we must recite a poem or sing a song about Christmas, and every year we must learn new songs and poems.  This rule even applies to a little baby who is not talking yet. The baby’s poem is recited by someone else, usually the mother.  Those who were disobedient in the past year get twigs at first.  Only later do they get presents.
    Every Christmas we sing songs and recite poems, and we sing many of the same Christmas carols that Americans do, but with the words in Latvian.  We also have Latvian Christmas folk songs, but we usually listen to them on the radio instead of singing them ourselves.  We would rather recite traditional Christmas poems.  Children especially like these poems.  They start learning a poem about three weeks before Christmas.  They hope that Santa Claus will bring them a present.  Then they will sing a song or recite the poem so they can receive the gift.
 

Christmas in Latvia is a time when the whole family is together. On Christmas Eve the table is set in a special way with a white tablecloth, and it is usually decorated with a pine wreath, candles, gingerbread, (“peppercake” in Latvian), apples, and nuts.  Sometimes people also put flowerpots covered with white or green paper on the table.  We put napkins on the plates, and then on the napkins we put some gingerbread, apples or other small treat. There must be at least nine different kinds of food on the table, to ensure a good new year.
    One food that Latvians eat on Christmas Eve is toasted or boiled beans or peas.  This food has a symbolic meaning because it is round.  Having round food means that the next year will go more easily.  Other round foods that are served include: round sausages—served warm or cold, round bread—the favorite is “Karash” bread (a round, whole-wheat loaf), and big, round bacon pies.
    There are many popular foods served at Christmas, for example, various kinds of patés, roasts, and meat balls.  The traditional meat is a whole pig’s head or just the snout.  It can be boiled, salted, or dried.  Pig’s head is served warm or cold, with stewed or green sauerkraut (which is very popular), and fried vegetables.  But nowadays people cook whatever they like, not just pig’s head.  Salads are also a part of the Christmas Eve table, including cabbage salad, horseradish salad, and “Rossols” salad (made with potatoes, peas, onions, eggs, pickles, and sour cream or mayonnaise).
    Gingerbread cookies are the most popular cookie for Christmas.  They come in shapes which depict all that we see or meet on Christmas Eve: moons, presents, stars, hearts, and things like that.  Sometimes people put the cookies on the Christmas tree as well.

One Latvian Christmas tradition is making predictions.  Many people are superstitious and they want to know what will happen in the future.  There are many kinds of fortune telling, but the most popular is tin casting.  It is done like this: take a plate and put water on it, then melt some tin and put it in the water.  The tin will become hard and form different shapes.  From the shapes, people determine what the future will be.
     Here are some other ways to tell the future, handed down from our ancestors:

• On Christmas Eve, when you go to sleep, leave one stocking on.  Whoever comes in your dreams and takes it off will marry you.
• Look at who is the first person to come into your house on Christmas morning.  If it is a man, the next year will be lucky, but if it is a woman the year will be unlucky.
• On Christmas Eve, take a black cat and go to church.  Then you will have a lot of money in the next year. Or you can walk around the church three times, carrying the black cat, and bad things will stay away from your house in the new year.
• If you want to know what will happen with you in the future, go to a cattle shed at midnight and hide under a manger.  Then the horses will speak and tell your future.
• Eat a lot of peas and then you will have a lot of money.
• If the bees are singing on Christmas Eve it will be a hot summer.

Merry Christmas!

Laine Else, Olesja Genriha, Ieva Konovaluka, Evija Krumina, Iveta Lapenasa, Dace Ozola, Inga Rasa, Liga Rokpelne, Renate Vitola

Mazsalaca Secondary School, 12th Grade Advanced English Class Mazsalaca, Latvia
(With a little help from their teacher, Sarah Brehm, Latvia Group 8 Peace Corps Volunteer)