The setting of shoes at fireplace or door is because Saint Nickolas once gave a poor man enough gold to pay the dowry for all three his daughters. But the gold he threw through a window ended up in their stockings or socks.That evolved into shoes.

Thank you for explaining the difference quite well. As a Dutch Catholic, living in Asia, I would like to add on/clarify some details The celebration of St. Nicholas is originally a religious celebration in both the Catholic Church as well as in the Orthodox Church. Liturgically it is celebrated on 6 December, which is the day he died. The Dutch celebration ties in with this, as “pakjesavond” is celebrated on the eve on 6 Dec, thus on the evening of 5 Dec. Het Sinterklaasfeest still has some clear Catholic elements related to St. Nicholas, while some other details are cultural deviations. We still call him St. Nicholas (“Sinterklaas” or “de Sint” or “Sint Nicholaas”) and he dresses up like a Catholic bishop with a red liturgical cape, a stole and mitre. The cultural deviation is that he comes from Spain, instead of Turkey, and that he has helpers. One tradition of Zwarte Piet is that he was a slave sold on the slave market, and that St. Nicholas bought him and set him free. In gratitude for his freedom Piet served St. Nicholas as a free man, not as a slave. Unfortunately the woke discussion on this matter is driven by the American woke agenda, and they keep relating it their black face discussion. This totally misses the differences between black face and zwarte piet. To say that Catholics and the Orthodox “worship” St. Nicholas (or other saints) is to totally miss the point. As Christians we only worship God, not the saints. The saints are honoured for the way they inspire us to follow Christ. St. Nicholas is known for his love for children and the poor. Stories about his life tell us about how he saved some children and how he secretly provided a dowry for some poor girls who else couldn’t get married. This is the source of the secret gift giving at Sinterklaas. Though I haven’t lived in the Netherlands for more than a decade, so I can’t speak for recent times, from my experience most Dutch people celebrate both Christmas and Sinterklaas. But when it comes to gift-giving they choose either Sinterklaas or Christmas, but not both, as that would be too expensive, and we are known to be stingy, haha. At least in my family we celebrate Sinterklaas with gifts, while Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus as the Saviour of the world.

@dutchforexpats

Жыл бұрын

Thank you so much for your additions Mike!

@madamemichel5747

6 ай бұрын

This is no shade BTW. Im here learning im obsessed with this topic been looking into it for years. Enjoyed your input. Its not about being “woke” i cant stand that they took that concept and cheapened it so. Social media does that. “Woke” was always a hotep thing when the gay community got a hold of it they turned it into something else. I notice this happening with back culture a lot. I digress. Many holy days are commemorating the death and enslavement of dark people. These celebrations have to stop because the karma is what is making us all sick. Not just dark people but light also. These rituals are keeping us low. We cant advance. A ritual kinda does that keeps you in the same spot. I dont expect anyone to understand lol just trying to explain. Being enclosed and a circular unit. This is how things go. These are sacrificial celebrations. There are sacrifices you can’t always pin point who that is going to be. He’s the man riding the pale horse. Its keeping us sick 🙏🏽. They have us so divided we cant see we are both being made low. Makes me think of middle class center class. This is the variety of people you want to keep sick. They can pay medical. Also the middle class would spend the most money during this time. Rumors about not having a middle class anymore just rich and poor. Gosh please look a little deeper into this. Im mixed BTW probably why I see the center clause. Its dark and its not just hurting dark people. Its keeping karma chasing you too. All these things relate to illness of all kinds. Its kinda like the movie “IT” or the Sumerian pazuzu and lamashtu. All saying the same things “disease” the scapegoat krampus azazel its all related. Much love ❤️

@dutchforexpats

6 ай бұрын

Thanks for your comments. In my video I deliberately refrain from any personal judgement and allow everyone to draw their own conclusions from these celebrations. By the way, the black face tradition with the Sinterklaas festivities has been banned since a few years back. So nowadays the Pieten are not painted but have a few smudges on their face from the chimney climbing.

@madamemichel5747

6 ай бұрын

@@dutchforexpats I dont mean to come off harsh 🥰 im a Sagittarius direct as all get out 🥹. Lots of us are sensitive about race/gender. I like to bridge the gap. The misunderstandings the media puts out to confuse our culture differences and intent is CRINGE 😖 to me. I have such a bad feeling about it and I try to help people understand its not all of us 😩. Just like the media will make your feel like everyone white is racist. Its a ploy! White people are different you guys have a different kind of strength a different kind of drive its beautiful I’m happy to be able to cultivate this side of myself. When I started to sink into the white hate I moved to where there was nothing but white people. Im glad I was “woke” 😜 enough to check myself. Black face paint isnt as bad as the ritual, the paint is just telling. I have more respect for the honesty then trying to cover it up. Little white children come up missing just as much as brown at least in the US, I would think. Its not about color anymore its all of us that are affected by this Xmas ritual thing. 🙏🏽