Suppose you celebrate Christmas or any other winter holiday. In that case, you may have family traditions that others may consider strange or unusual but what about the atypical traditions shared by many in different communities across the globe? First, let’s see what mythical felines have to do with the holiday season. In Icelandic folklore, there is a creature called “Jólakötturinn” meaning “Yule cat” in English, this feline-like beast is said to be over 10 feet tall and adorned with large glowing eyes. There are a few different interpretations of what exactly The Yule Cat does but in the original tale, it lurks in the woods during the holiday season and will eat children who do not receive new clothes on or before Christmas. The true originator of the story is unknown but it was first written and published by Jón Árnason in 1862 in a collection of folklore. Next, a much less vicious creature, The Gävle Goat is a 43-foot sculpture of a goat made of straw. It is raised yearly on the fourth Sunday before Christmas in Gävle, Sweden. It was first created in 1966 and sadly almost every year, since its first appearance, it has been torched, vandalized, and even once stolen. Currently, this year’s goat is still standing. The Legend of The Christmas Spider is a folktale from Ukraine (Some sources say it originated in Germany but is most popular in Ukraine). The story says that once a poor widowed woman and her children could not afford to decorate their Christmas tree. The children went to bed saddened and the next morning, the tree was covered in cobwebs when they woke up. A ray of sun hit the cobwebs, transforming them into silver and gold, and the family no longer had to live in poverty. Ukrainian people honor this story bye hanging shiny ornaments of spider or cobwebs on their Christmas trees. This is thought to bring good luck and riches during the holiday season. Would you implement any of these stories or traditions into your holiday festivities?