36. Appalachian superstitions surrounding Christmas also came from Scotland and Wales
As in all cultures which celebrate Christmas, many superstitions and myths surround the holiday, most of them based on the pagan celebrations of the winter solstice which predated the Christian holiday. One held in parts of Appalachia was that sitting under a pine tree on Christmas Day allowed the angels’ singing to be heard, though it was a mixed blessing because it also ensured for the listener it was their last Christmas on earth. January 6 – the twelfth day of Christmas – rendered powers of healing to those born on that date. It was also believed in some areas that coal should not be given or lent on Christmas Day, a tradition which descended from the Druid belief that at the solstice lumps of coal contained the souls of departed relatives.