The history of the forerunners of the modern Christmas card proves that the tradition of exchanging charm or small

tokens of good luck at this time of the year goes back to pre-Christian times when what was celebrated was the winter solstice, the reawakening of nature, the coming of spring, longer hours of daylight, the victory of life over death, light over darkness and vegetation over snow and ice. It was the time of magic for people, who could, from the signs of their gods, foretell the coming events during the New ear. The feasts and rites were aimed to propitiate the friendly and disarm the unfriendly gods or spirits. !ctors and their plays, mistletoe and the kiss beneath it, a number of traditional dishes" all have their origin in these ancient rites. It is the nature of human customs to survive long after their original meaning and significance have been forgotten. The Christmas tree and Christmas cards were a #erman tradition brought to $ritain about the middle of the %&th century by 'rince !lbert, (ueen )ictoria*s husband. The tree is beautifully decorated on Christmas +ve, but the presents are opened on the morning of Christmas ,ay. Christmas dinner consists mainly of roast turkey, with various vegetables and Christmas pudding. ,ecember -.th is called $oxing ,ay because, a long time ago, boys working in shops used to go from house to house carrying wooden boxes into which they put money people gave them as Christmas presents. /orerunner 0 stramos +xchange 0 a schimba Charm 0 amuleta, talisman Token 0 semn, symbol 1eawakening 0 redesteptare /oretell 0 a pre2ice, a prevesti /east 0 sarbatoare, petrecere !imed to propitiate 0 menite sa imbune, sa impace 3istletoe 0 vasc 4urvive 0 a supravietui /eature 0 caracteristica, particularitate 5bserve 0 a acorda o atentie, a pastra o datina !ppropriate 0 adecvat +xchange 0 schimb 4ince 0 deoarece, intrucat