Top 10 Bizarre Christmas Traditions

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5. Lose a Shoe, Gain a Man

Tired of being single? If you’re a woman you can do this simple Christmas Eve tradition from the Czech Republic. Just go outside in the daytime, stand with your back to your door, and toss one of your shoes over your shoulder. If it lands with the toe facing the door, it means you’ll get married within the year. If you aren’t tired of being single try it anyway. If the heel faces the door then you’re in luck!

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4. Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?

If luck is what you’re seeking, you should take a hint from the folks in Portugal. The ‘consoda’ feast takes place Christmas Day. You set extra places at your dinner table for the souls of the dead. Offer them food and they will bring you luck throughout the year.

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3. Don’t Throw Out That Horse Skull Just Yet…



Or, if you’re looking to make some extra cash you can follow this old tradition from Wales called the Mari Lwyd (Venerable Mary). It’s easy. Just find a horse skull, because you’ll need that. Also, make yourself a horsehair sheet (maybe out of the salvaged hair of the horse you get the skull from) because you’ll need that, too. Get yourself some mummers and a bucket. Now, go out about the town covered in the horsehair sheet holding the horse’s head up on a pike. Make the horse’s skeletal mouth bite people you meet in the street. If it “bites” them, they have to pay a fine. Put the money in the bucket. At the end you have a bucket of money, or a horse head on a pike in a very uncomfortable place.

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2. **** Log



Both of the top two bizarre Christmas traditions come from Catalonia, Spain. The first is a tradition that is fun for the whole family. Get a log. Hollow out the log. Put a face on the log, and some arms and legs. Make it look like a reindeer or a dog or something. Start “feeding” the log on December 8th. It should be full of candy and toys and stuff by Christmas. Then, beat the log (or “Caga Tio”) until he “****s” out all the goodies. If the stuff won’t come out, there is a song you can sing. It translates to “**** log, **** turron, hazelnuts and cottage cheese, if you don’t **** well, I’ll hit you with a stick, **** log!”

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1. El Caganer – The Great Defecator



His name is El Caganer. He’s a figurine for your nativity scene. He’s a red-capped peasant, or a monk, or another type of figure (nowadays you can buy them of famous people). You place him a little bit away from the rest of the figures in your nativity scene. Because he’s ****ping. Yep. El Caganer translates to “the great defecator” in Catalonian. It’s not sacrilegious – the “fertilizer” means the year will yield a good harvest. If not, it’s a heck of a conversation piece.