Unusual Christmas customs

Si on connaît bien les rites et traditions de Christmas, peut-être sommes-nous moins au courant des superstitions et coutumes insolites rattachées à ce jour spécial de l’année?

In Ancient Rome:

During the festivities, the Romans enjoyed a role-playing game that consisted of taking the place of their slaves. Among the latter, a "king" was appointed and had to preside over a large buffet where the master took care of serving the "guests" (the slaves). As all good things have an end, sometimes a tragic one, after the feast, the acting king was led to the arena to be put to death...

In the British Army:

One might wonder if this bizarre custom has not left its mark on the following centuries. For example, the British army tradition of serving soldiers Christmas dinner by their superiors.

Among the Greeks

La période de Noël ne constituait pas, chez les Grecs, un moment de réjouissances. En effet, si l’un de leurs enfants naissait dans cette période, ils croyaient que celui-ci risquait de se transformer en Kallikantzaros, sorte de elf noir énorme pourvu d’yeux noirs, de longues oreilles et d’ongles recourbés. Pour quelques jours, le pauvre nourrisson se retrouvait attaché avec des tiges d’ail et il fallait lui couper les ongles des pieds pour les passer à la flamme. Autre temps, autres mœurs…

In Cuba

There is a strange and noisy tradition in the town of Remédios near Cuba. Every Saturday night before Christmas, neighborhoods compete in imagination to create the greatest musical cacophony possible. This custom dates back to the 19th century.^e century, on Christmas Eve, when some residents had started making a hellish racket to wake up their friends and neighbors so that they would go with them to midnight mass. The following year, in a just revenge, the neighbors had declared a great challenge of deba