For the rest of this month ... the rest of this year ... on days that don't have me needing to rant, rave, pass on info or otherwise blog from the heart, I'll be posting holiday traditions from around the world and season's greetings in many languages.

Taking a look at the way people not only celebrate their festive season, but also the roots of the traditions, can give a peek into the entire culture of a country. Although the methods of celebration can be as different as the comfort food that comes with, there is usually something very familiar, as well, that has us thinking of the big family of humanity in personal terms ... a unifying exercise that's especially fulfilling this time of the year.

Because it caught my eye, I'm starting with Christmas in Ukraine, where spiders play a big role in the holiday.

Combining Christian and Pagan traditions, the festive season begins with Pylypivka, advent, a four week period when houses are cleaned and painted and the people fast. A didukh ... a sheaf of wheat saved from the harvest and representing the family -- living, dead and unborn ... is decorated with ribbons, flowers and basil and placed near the family's icon.

As for the spiders, according to legend, they're the tree decorators:

There once was a widow, who lived in a small hut. One day a pinecone dropped on the floor and it took root. Her children were excited that they would have a tree for Christmas. All summer long they made plans on how they would decorate the tree. They were very poor, so poor that they did not have anything to decorate the tree with. The widow went to bed on Christmas Eve knowing that the tree would not be decorated. Early on Christmas morning, the woman was awakened by her children. "Mother, mother wake up and see the tree it is beautiful!" The mother arose and saw that during the night a spider had spun a web around the tree. The youngest child opened the window to the first light of Christmas Day. As the shafts of the sun crept along the floor, it touched one of the threads of the spider web and instantly the web was changed into gold and silver. And from that day forward the widow never wanted for anything.

So, Veselyhk Svyat to all with ties to Ukraine!