Merry Christmas to All

The English term Christmas (“mass on Christ's day”) is of recent origin.  The earlier term Yule may have derived from the Germanic jōl or the Anglo-Saxon geōl,which referred to the feast of the winter solstice.  Over 160 countries celebrate Christmas, many openly though for some it has to be a secretive affair.  For many people around the world, in different countries and in different Christian traditions, Christmas lasts for a lot longer than the 12 days and it is even celebrated at different times.

Juyna Lewis grew up in another country so the idea of a traditional English Christmas with its idyllic portrayal of snowy scenes, presents around a Christmas tree and the traditional festive foods were new to her.

Juyna studied anthropology at university and different cultures have always been a fascination.   She came across students from other countries and discussions about how they celebrate Christmas in their own cultures has been a voyage of discovery.   She particularly liked how the main characters associated with Christmas and traditional features were adapted to suit their own environments and ‘native’ beliefs.  This led her to start a large collection of nativity sets that reflected these ideas.   Juyna has many examples from tiny match-box ones to an elaborate ceramic set which not only has the main nativity characters but other figures such as the local village idiot!