One may wonder why our ancestors chose to celebrate hope and new beginnings at the gloomiest time of the year in much of the inhabited world. Yet, the darkness and cold that people must endure during their holiday shopping and commutes to and from parties are exactly the point of winter holidays.Around the world, some lovingly decorate trees, and some "feed" their dead trunks until they “poop presents”; some get their thrills from dancing lion-monsters, while others wonder how reindeers get down the chimney. But ultimately, all pay their symbolic tributes to the same hope: that winter chills eventually give way to the arrival of new beginnings.