• Welcome! The TrekBBS is the number one place to chat about Star Trek with like-minded fans.
    If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

Different Ways in Which Established Holidays are Celebrated

I plan to crash the science lab Christmas Party, get drunk and hit on the pretty psychiatrist with a background in rehabilitative therapy....:adore:
 
But this is not about you deciding to participate in an established holiday. It’s about the idea that more than one alien culture would become so invested in human holidays (known to them for decades or a couple of centuries at most) they’d create their own versions thereof....

On Fereneginar they celebrate Christmas by selling toys to humans.

They actually go from planet to planet, whether humans are inhabitants or not, trying to get them to start celebrating the ancient human holiday of Christmas. Then open toy stores.

There was a massive galaxy-wide campaign run by Ferenginar to spread Christmas traditions and Christmas cheer to children, and their rich parents, everywhere.

I once saw an episode of a show from Japan, Detective Conan/Case Closed, where a character talked about Christmas customs which sounded rather different from those in the USA. Since only a small minority of Japanese are Christians, it is a bit more surprising that anyone there celebrates Christmas than that they do it differently from in the USA. Considering the many differences between Christmas in various Christian majority countries, it should not be surprising that a basically polytheistic country might celebrate Christmass differently.

As I remember, Christianity would have been known only as an exotic religion practiced by a small number of Chinese and Central Asians until about 450 years ago, and then it would be known mostly as an exotic religion practiced by European visitors and a rather small group of converts. The Shogunate abolished Christianity in Japan almost 400 years ago, and many foreign and Japanese Christians were martyred.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martyrs_of_Japan

After Japan was opened to the west in the 1850s Christianity was legalized in Japan and missionaries began converting Japanese. I believe that about one percent of the Japanese population is more or less Christian now. But with considerable exposure to Western Culture a lot of western practices have caught on in Japan. Since most Japanese have no problem practicing Buddhism and Shinto at the same time, I hear that many also have no problem with Christian wedding ceremonies.

Anyway, here is a link to a page about Christmas in Japan, which is not totally similar to American Christmas:

https://www.whychristmas.com/cultures/japan.shtml

And so I think that it is possible that in the world of Star Trek some alien societies pick up a lot of practices from other planets and other species, and thus that some practice some Earth holidays and put their own twists on them.
 
Last edited:
On Earth, humans use Memorial Day to remember those who fell in the War on Christmas.
The Klingons almost began a war on Christmas, then Space General Washington crossed the Delaware Asteroid Belt to capture their invasion force. Now the Klingons celebrate Washington’s Birthday...for spite.

...I think it’s on Guy Fawkes Day on Earth. Which is now celebrated with Mariachi. And Romulan fireworks.
 
As for the Christmas (and Eastern) examples; those already are weird amalgams of both Christian and other (e.g. pagan) influences (even before considering Christmas is now also celebrated in non-christian countries). The church may have enforced its celebration, but it was not above 'marketing' it and allowing older customs to continue existing under a new guise.

Apparently 'transplanting' a celebration into another culture is not that hard.
 
Last edited:
As for the Christmas (and Eastern) example; that one is already a weird amalgam of both Christian and other (e.g. pagan) influences (cultures, if you will). The church may have enforced its celebration, but it was not above 'marketing' it and allowing older customs to continue existing under a new guise.

Or rather the church co opted much of what was already there and rebranded it?
 
Why not have humans celebrate alien holidays? There are certainly humans in the 24th century who really love alien cultures... at least, we've seen it in "CHILDREN OF TIME" and "REAL LIFE", even though he was a hologram.


Andorian holiday: General Thy'lek Shran Day - humans honor him the same way Andorians do: surviving a day in the coldest regions of Andoria (or Antarctica, if you're on Earth) with only an ice cutter as your tool.
 
But this isn’t about the fact that there will always be individuals or groups interested in cultural exchange. It’s about the imperialist, grand assumption that of course Klingons as a society celebrate Easter, so we only need to imagine how. Sure, it’s also a joke and not too funny (more like har-har, being far removed from the canon rather than rely on subtle insider knowledge like GQ does), so I don’t really see what it has to do with general Trek discussion — best to try and use these boards’ flexible notion of topic in order to steer the discussion elsewhere.
 
You have not read the Old Testament until you have read it in the original Klingon.
I'm trying to picture how the story of Noah's Ark would go. As Qo'nos only seems to have a single, all-purpose species of animal, the targ, I suspect the Ark would've been a lot smaller.

Wait, fridge brilliance: That's WHY they only have a single species of animal now!
 
Take Your Daughter To Work Day: Borg Edition: start by looking for the Hansen's space minivan

Ramadan as practiced by the Founders: they're so into it they don't eat AFTER sundown, either

Christmas on New Eden: only one building gets lit up on the whole planet and Pike has to bring replacement bulbs each year.

Risan Valentine's Day: Edible Horg'hans with little messages printed on them that I can't repeat, here

Vulcan Ayyam-i-Ha. Everyone exchange presents for four or five days and ponder how to reconcile a 19 day calendar with stardates and the equinox. The subsequent 19 days of fasting is only logical after all the plomeek consumed.

NX01 Thanksgiving: Trip ejects the pumpkin pie batter into space, forcing Chef to make Pecan Pie.
 
As for the Christmas (and Eastern) examples; those already are weird amalgams of both Christian and other (e.g. pagan) influences (even before considering Christmas is now also celebrated in non-christian countries). The church may have enforced its celebration, but it was not above 'marketing' it and allowing older customs to continue existing under a new guise.

Apparently 'transplanting' a celebration into another culture is not that hard.

04D2A582-B302-48A3-894B-A7441D936805.jpeg
 
Klingon Rite of Ascension Earth style - adopted by BDSM clubs all over Sol ' pain sticks turn us on'!

Klingon Rite of Ascension Vulcan style - adopted by Kolinaru trainees all over 40 Eridani 'there is no pain!'

Klingon Rite of Ascension Risian style - adopted by the Risian travel agency 'insert pain stick in lower orifice for jamaharon'

Klingon Rite of Ascension Andorian style - adopted by the Andor imperial guard 'painsticks re useful for cutting off antenna'

Klingon Rite of Ascension Betazoid style - not gonna happen! We'll take chocolate instead
 
Last edited:
I'm trying to picture how the story of Noah's Ark would go. As Qo'nos only seems to have a single, all-purpose species of animal, the targ, I suspect the Ark would've been a lot smaller.

Wait, fridge brilliance: That's WHY they only have a single species of animal now!

It would involve a Klingon sleeper ship, obviously.
 
Christmas on Vulcan - illogical
Easter on Vulcan - illogical
Thanksgiving on Vulcan - illogical
Diwali on Vulcan - illogical
Eaid on Vulcan - illogical
Valentine's day on Vulcan - every 7 Earth years
 
Klingon Christmas - The family gets together at the Great House for a banquet, thee to five bat'leth fights, gift giving. By the 24th century there are complaints it's become too commercialized, as evidenced by
Klingon Black Friday - It's a fucking battlefield at the mall, or especially at Klingon Wal-Mart.
 
If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

Sign up / Register


Back
Top