From Santa's creepy helper to a falling apart Christmas dinner.
In Caracas, it is customary to roll into the church for the morning service during the holidays. For the greatest possible safety of the faithful, the roads are closed to traffic.
In Austria, Santa Claus is accompanied by a truly terrifying satanic apparition called Krampus, who roams the streets and punishes naughty children.
In the Czech Republic, women stand with their backs to the neck and throw a shoe over their shoulder; if the shoe lands with the tip towards the neck, then they will be married in the coming year.
In Norway, it is believed that evil spirits and witches also arrive at Christmas, so it is necessary to hide brooms.
In Ukraine, it is customary to hang a spider web decoration on the Christmas tree, a tradition that originates from the story of a woman who was so poor that she could not afford decorations for the tree, and on Christmas morning the tree was decorated with a sparkling spider web .
In Britain, Ireland and France, many brave people traditionally "soak" themselves in the sea at Christmas.
The Catalan Christmas log or caga tió (pooping log) is a log with a painted face and a hat that is placed on the table and fed with fruit and sweets every day. On Christmas Eve, the whole family impales him with a stick while singing Christmas carols, forcing him to throw out the presents. If we stay with the Catalans and their penchant for excrement, then we must also mention the human figures called caganeros, which are precisely for the need and they like to be placed in the nativity scene.
In Portugal, you will also see placemats for deceased relatives at Christmas dinner; the spirit at dinner is supposed to bring good luck to the house.
In Estonia, families go to the sauna for Christmas.
In Greenland, matak - raw whale skin with a little fat and kiwiak - a type of arctic bird wrapped in whale skin and buried in the ground for several months are eaten at Christmas.
