With December comes the Holiday Season for a number of different cultures. Regardless of what you celebrate, please accept our sincere wishes for a wonderful Holiday Season and Happy New Year. Our founder Nicolas Allen has a Dutch background so we thought we would share a little bit about a European Holiday Tradition.
St. Nicholas Day
This December holiday isn’t largely celebrated in the United States or Canada, but is big in many European countries. On the anniversary of St. Nicholas’ death on December 6th 343 A.D., this holiday pays tribute to a man who spent most of his life helping those in need. December 5 and 6 are Sinterklaas/St. Nicholas’ Eve and Day in the Netherlands, when Saint Nicholas, also known as Sinterklaas, visits children and brings them presents. In the Netherlands, the main celebrations take place on December 5, rather than December 6.
Sinterklaas arrives from Spain in a boat and has a white horse that can walk across rooftops. Every little kid puts his shoe at the chimney (or the window) and sings a song, when the kid goes to sleep sinterklaas comes and puts a present in the shoe. Some children think they can get around the Sint by leaving a carrot for the bishop’s horse, accompanied by a wish list. In the olden days a disobedient child would find a potato in his/her shoe but these days this is deemed too traumatic. (DutchNews.nl)
There are many stories about his secret good deeds, but one seems particularly well known. A very poor man had three daughters, and because they did not have dowries, they faced futures likely including prostitution. To save them from this dark fate, St. Nicholas threw a bag of gold for each daughter through their windows. The treasures are said to have landed in stockings or shoes left by the fire to dry.
However you celebrate the holidays, all the best from the Staff at Human Integrated Performance.
Merry Christmas
Happy Hanukkah
Happy Kwanza
Happy End Mubarak
Happy New Year
-The Human Integrated Performance Team!