24th December: Christmas Eve traditions from around the world

It's Christmas Eve. So here are 10 Christmas Eve customs from around the world.

1. Old England: Yule log. A huge log would be dragged into the house and lit with a sliver of last year's Yule log, which had been stored in the cellar all year as protection from fire. The resulting fire would burn out past wrongs; but it was considered very bad luck if anyone entered the room in bare feet while it was burning. A person with a squint or flat feet was also a bad omen.
2. New Forest: People would douse the Apple and Pear trees with cider to ensure a good harvest the following year.
3. Germany: not such a great place to be an apple tree, as there, the trees would be beaten to ensure a good harvest rather than having booze thrown at them. People there would leave a loaf of Bread out on the window sill nearest the church overnight. This would infuse the bread with healing powers and the family would eat it the next day.
4. Norway and Sweden: The traditional Christmas Eve meal is codfish treated with lye.
5. Former Czechoslovakia: People would tell tales about a mythical golden pig and eat cod's roe soup.
6. Venice: Here the traditional meal is Lasagne made with dried fruit, pine nuts and candied orange peel.
7. Nineteenth Century England: The game of snapdragon: brandy was poured over a dish of raisins and set alight. The object of the game was to pick a raisin out of the bowl using bare hands.
8. Finland: Ghosts of departed loved ones traditionally visit, so white candles are lit on family graves. Although in England, an old proverb says that a ghost will never appear on Christmas Eve - but it was a good idea to open all the doors on Christmas Eve and let negative energy out, just in case.
9. Old England: Divining of future husbands. Single girls would wear to church a Rose they had picked on Midsummers' Day and kept in white Paper. The man who came and took it from her would be her future husband. Forgot to pick a rose on Midsummer? Another spell involved baking a cake on Christmas Eve and marking your initials on it. By morning, the initials of your future spouse would have miraculously appeared.
10. Cornwall and Devon: It was believed that bees would hum the 100th psalm in their hives on Christmas Eve.

Happy Christmas!

My Christmas Novella!

A Very Variant Christmas

Last year, Jade and Gloria were embroiled in a bitter conflict to win back their throne and their ancestral home. This year, Queen Jade and Princess Gloria want to host the biggest and best Christmas party ever in their palace. They invite all their friends to come and bring guests. Not even the birth of Jade's heir just before Christmas will stop them.

The guest list includes most of Britain's complement of super-powered crime-fighters, their families and friends. What could possibly go wrong?

Gatecrashers, unexpected arrivals, exploding Christmas crackers and a kidnapping, for starters.

Far away in space, the Constellations, a cosmic peacekeeping force, have suffered a tragic loss. They need to recruit a new member to replace their dead colleague. The two top candidates are both at Jade and Gloria's party. The arrival of the recruitment delegation on Christmas Eve is a surprise for everyone; but their visit means one guest now faces a life-changing decision.

Meanwhile, an alliance of the enemies of various guests at the party has infiltrated the palace; they hide in the dungeon, plotting how best to get rid of the crime-fighters and the royal family once and for all. Problem is, they all have their own agendas and differences of opinion on how to achieve their aims.

Not to mention that this year, the ghosts who walk the corridors of the palace on Christmas Eve will be as surprised by the living as the living are by them.

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