Judy Baker performs at a previous storytelling program.If you go
› What: “Breaking Up Christmas, An Old Christmas Celebration.”› When: 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 5› Where: Museum Center at Five Points, 200 E. Inman St., Cleveland, Tenn.› Admission: $5; family maximum of $20; free children under 5 and members of the Museum Center and Storytelling Guild› Phone: 423-479-7887› Email: tellone@bellsouth.net
The Cleveland Storytelling Guild and Museum Center at Five Points will revive an “Old Christmas” tradition Tuesday, Jan. 5. At least part of the tradition, says guild spokeswoman Judy Baker.
“Breaking Up Christmas, An Old Christmas Celebration” is a nod to the area’s Appalachian heritage, she says. The program will feature traditional Appalachian songs and stories, along with simple treats, “much like our ancestors may have done, without the bonfires, of course.”
More on the bonfires in a minute.
First it helps to know more about Old Christmas and Epiphany. Both occur on the same day, Jan. 6, but they are not the same, Baker explains.
The celebration of Epiphany, traditionally seen as the day the Magi visited the Christ Child, revealing him to the world, dates back to before AD 194, while the observance of the Nativity, in the form on Christmas, did not actually catch on until the fourth century. Jan. 6 was celebrated as Christmas in the Julian calendar until Pope Gregory reformed the calendar in 1582, removing 11 days between Dec. 25 and Jan. 6, making Dec. 25 the “official” Christmas Day.
Even though the British Empire and the American colonies adopted the new calendar in 1752, many communities, especially those in the Appalachian mountains, Baker says, continued to celebrate what became known as Old Christmas in addition to New Christmas, resulting in a 12-day celebration that became known as “Breaking Up Christmas.”
According to Baker, during the days between Dec. 25 and Jan. 6, neighbors in the mountains would gather in one another’s homes and celebrate with food, music and dancing. On Jan. 5, Old Christmas Eve, many would celebrate the end of the season with bonfires, gunfire, singing and storytelling.
Then, after the raucous celebrations, Old Christmas Day, Jan. 6, usually would be celebrated quietly, with church-going, family meals and other family-oriented events.
Baker says that much folklore surrounds Old Christmas. For example, many believed that on Old Christmas Eve, as the hour approached midnight, the animals in their stalls would kneel and begin to low as if praying or crying. It was believed that elder bushes would sprout and even burst into bloom, no matter how hard the ground might be frozen, and that bees would swarm, humming the 100th Psalm.
Tuesday’s family-friendly program will begin at 6:30 p.m. at the Museum Center.