Xmas Words You Don't Know: #9 Apophoret

9. Apophoret.  There are many traditions of gift giving associated with the close of the year. For fun, I’ll list all that I’ve managed to unearth in order by day of the year:

1. The Druids exchanged branches of mistletoe (a sacred plant) on the Winter solstice (the beginning of their year).
2. Gifts were delivered by Woden (at Yuletide) in exchange for straw left in children’s shoes to feed his mythical horse. This is the ancient German tradition from which the Santa Claus myth probably derives.
3. Gifts are delivered by Santa Claus or Father Christmas on Christmas Day, or (in some Latin American countries) gifts made by Father Christmas are delivered by Baby Jesus on Christmas Day.
4. In Ancient Rome, January 1st was fixed as New Year’s Day (in 153BC). Initially gifts were given to the emperor on this day from selected citizens, but the practice broadened out to a general exchange of gifts. Also, like our New Year’s Day, it was a time for reconciling differences and even abandoning litigation. New Year Resolutions originated with the ancient Babylonians, and were adopted by the Romans. Christians, in their bid to control all feast days, designated New Year’s Day as the Feast of the Circumcision.
5. English royalty, like the Roman Emperors, also demanded New Year’s gifts from selected citizens. Queen Elizabeth I even kept an inventory of the gifts presented to her. Oliver Cromwell killed the practice (and the monarch come to think of it.)
6. In England in the Middle Ages, husbands gave their wives money on New Year’s Day with which to buy pins for the whole year (hence the term “pin money”). The custom vanished when pins became inexpensive in the 1800s.
7. In some parts of Italy, Babbo Natale (Father Christmas) visits and delivers gifts and candy to children, which he puts in their shoes that are left by the door. This is not at Christmas, though, it is at the Feast of the Epiphany, January 6th.
8. Alternatively, in Italy, children hang up stockings on the Feast of the Epiphany. Instead of Babbo Natale, children expect a visit from Befana, a witch-like character who rides around on a broom. According to legend, the Three Wise Men stopped at Befana’s hut to ask directions on their way to Bethlehem and asked her to join them. She said “No, I’m busy.” Later a shepherd turned up and asked her to come and pay her respects to Baby Jesus. Again, she said, Befana said “No, I’m busy.” Later she realised she’d made a mistake and so she gathered some toys that had belonged to her own baby, who had died. She ran to find the kings and the shepherd, but could not find them or the stable. So now, each year she looks for the Baby Jesus and since she can not find him, she leaves the gifts for the good children of Italy.
9. Handsel Monday is the first Monday of the New Year, celebrated in parts of Scotland and Northern England. This traditionally involved the giving of gifts. Indeed, the word “handsel” means a gift given at the beginning of the year or at the starting of a new enterprise.

And that is also what “apophoret” means – a gift given at the New Year.

The following are links to all the Xmas words: #1 Hwoelor-tid, #2 Brumalia, #3 Protomartyr, #4 Dulocracy, #5 Pohutukawa, #6 Hagiolatry, #7 Sinterklaas, #8 Prolicide, #9 Apophoret,#10 Kenosis,#11 Psilanthropy,#12 Parepochism

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