Thanks Buffalo! In Catalan it would be Bon Nadal... (I had to add my language...) Merry Christmas to you too! Jessica, this is only in Catalonia, that I know of... it's the equivalent of the Christmas tree, but for us it's a humanised log. Trees and logs meant fire, warmth and light a long time ago, and they were somehow "holy"... it's actually a tradition with pagan roots mixed with religion, as many others...
I didn't explain this so well, I'm afraid... A week or two before Christmas eve the children are supposed to feed it, so they leave cookies, oranges, chocolate... whatever they want right beside it. And the next morning the first thing they do is check if the food is gone, which means the tió ate it all! If the tió ate the food, it's good because the more food it gets, the more presents the kids will get on the 24th. Of course, the tió actually doesn't eat anything, the parents of the child will take the food away at night... if they want to make it realistic enough, they'll leave small crumbs. It's funny, because sometimes I forget to take the food away and then my girls are surprised "he didn't eat it!!" So I make up something... "Well, maybe he's alredy had too much food, maybe he doesn't like oranges..." It's fun... I'll record it this year and I'll try to post it so you can all see how it works...
7 comments:
Feliz Navidad.
Merry Christmas.
Happy Holidays.
Feliz Ano Nuevo.
I've never heard of a tió before, is that an equivalent to Santa Clause?
Thanks Buffalo! In Catalan it would be Bon Nadal... (I had to add my language...)
Merry Christmas to you too!
Jessica, this is only in Catalonia, that I know of... it's the equivalent of the Christmas tree, but for us it's a humanised log. Trees and logs meant fire, warmth and light a long time ago, and they were somehow "holy"... it's actually a tradition with pagan roots mixed with religion, as many others...
Interesting......I didn't get a tree this year but we have a pile of wood, maybe we should do one too!
So, a tio is a "log" filled with food? Tell us more; I am fascinted by the customs of other nations/cultures.
Merry Christmas to you and your family.
Sorry, Nuri. I know not one word of Catalan. Never heard it spoken either.
I didn't explain this so well, I'm afraid... A week or two before Christmas eve the children are supposed to feed it, so they leave cookies, oranges, chocolate... whatever they want right beside it. And the next morning the first thing they do is check if the food is gone, which means the tió ate it all! If the tió ate the food, it's good because the more food it gets, the more presents the kids will get on the 24th. Of course, the tió actually doesn't eat anything, the parents of the child will take the food away at night... if they want to make it realistic enough, they'll leave small crumbs. It's funny, because sometimes I forget to take the food away and then my girls are surprised "he didn't eat it!!" So I make up something... "Well, maybe he's alredy had too much food, maybe he doesn't like oranges..." It's fun... I'll record it this year and I'll try to post it so you can all see how it works...
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