Happy Armenian Christmas Friend! Or Little Christmas as its called as well. Not a lot of people are familiar with it so I wanted to explain it + shed some light on it.
Armenian Christmas is a combination of Jesus’s birth + baptism in the Jordan River. Fun fact I’ve heard is that the 12 Days of Christmas song was created from the 12 days between December 25th and January 6th.
In Armenian, on Christmas Eve, January 5th Armenians light their houses + churches to light the way and celebrate the end of the dark days and long nights. Not gonna lie but I kinda wished we did this on Christmas Eve. How fun would it be? Some even fast for a week before celebrating. The traditional Christmas Eve meal is called Khetum. It consists of rice, fish, Nevik (green chard and chick peas) and a yoghurt/wheat soup called Tanabur.
Some celebrate the holiday more with being with family + eating a good meal than exchanging gifts. Now they do exchange gifts + Santa or “Gaghant Baba” or “Dzmer Papik” comes with gifts as well. They do have “Christmas Trees” but they called “Donadzar” [Holiday Tree].
My family celebrates Christmas on December 25th but we do acknowledge Armenian Christmas by keeping our Nativity + Christmas decor up past January 6th. Plus all the local Armenian Churches hold services + such that we attend. This year it is all on zoom or you could go in person.
With everything going on in Armenia I wanted to shed some light on the beautiful parts of it. It’s a beautiful country with a beautiful story + history. Although like most countries it has its share of heartache, trials + tribulations. You can try to knock us [Armenians] down but you will never keep us down + we always get back up + succeed!
I can’t wait to visit it myself + see where my family came from, the beautiful landscape + the World’s oldest Cathedral.
So Merry Armenian Christmas to all and to all a good night!
Always Sparkle and Shine Bright…
xoxo,
Jen
PS- Oh + while I have you here lol don’t forget to subscribe to the blog via your email so you never miss a post! And then! Come say Hi! on Pinterest + Instagram: @jennniferlynn11! I’d love to hear from you + connect!
Thank you so much for being here + reading ✨ Happy Armenian Christmas! ✨ !! It means so much to me! 🤍✨