WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Star Wars Life Day Treasury: Holiday Stories from a Galaxy Far, Far Away, by George Mann, Cavan Scott and Grant Griffin, on sale now.

In 1978, the infamous Star Wars Holiday Special introduced Life Day to the world. The special itself has never truly been considered canon, and it has never received official home release. However, certain elements of the story, such as Boba Fett, Chewbacca's family and Life Day, were canonized by later works, and the holiday has become the main Christmas-equivalent celebration within the Star Wars fandom.

However, while Life Day remains the best-known Star Wars holiday, there are many more celebrations in the galaxy far, far away. The Star Wars Life Day Treasury: Holiday Stories from a Galaxy Far, Far Away by George Mann, Cavan Scott and Grant Griffin, reveals multiple midwinter celebrations and legends. These new holidays breathe more life into Star Wars, and expand upon the galaxy's lore. By examining Life Day and these other holidays, we can see that midwinter celebrations across the Star Wars franchise focus mainly on warmth, both literal and metaphorical, as families and friends gather to remind themselves of what truly matters.

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Life Day Started on Kashyyyk, But Spread Across the Galaxy

The Star Wars Holiday Special

As first shown in the Star Wars Holiday Special, Life Day is a festival of family and remembrance. As the introduction to Star Wars Life Day Treasury explains, the festival "was centered on the fabled Tree of Life, thought by the Wookiees to be the source of all life, both on their lush green world and in the stars beyond. At its heart, the festival celebrated the core truths of Wookiee civilization: family, love, and happiness." During the festival, Wookiees decorate their cities with orbs and vines. During the Life Day ceremony, they wear long, red robes, and light orbs representing their memories. Overall, it is a time for families and friends to gather and to return to Kashyyyk to remember where they came from and reconnect with their loved ones.

However, Life Day takes different forms across the galaxy. For example, the short story "The Spirit of Life Day" shows a more haunted version of the holiday on the planet Monta. In Odes Town, a massacre occurred on Life Day during the Clone Wars, and the ghosts of those slaughtered walk once more on the holiday each year, reliving their deaths. The people of Odes Town, due to their grief, no longer celebrated Life Day, and hid from the spirits. However, after one girl, Emi, spoke to the ghost of a Bith woman, she realized the spirits only haunted them because they wanted them to remember Life Day and the hope it brings. While Odes Town then resumed its celebration, it nevertheless demonstrates that Life Day traditions have grown and changed as the holiday has spread.

The Gathering of the Clans on Tatooine Is a Large Family Reunion

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As a desert world, Tatooine seems like an unlikely place to find midwinter celebrations. However, "An Old Hope" depicts an annual gathering of the clans held at midwinter. As the astromech LA-R1 reflects, these congregations are when "relatives from all over Tatooine [come] together to exchange stories and share food." Because a large portion of Tatooine's population is far more spread out, these are an important part of maintaining the bonds of families scattered across the planet. Because Luke Skywalker grew up on Tatooine, he likely would have attended some of these gatherings in his childhood.

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The Kroolok of Endor Is a Cautionary Tale for Young Woklings

Wicket the Ewok

Unlike many of the other stories, the legend of the Kroolok instead is a cautionary tale of horror. Logray, chief shaman of the Bright Tree clan, explains, "The Kroolok is a monstrous troll that hibernates when the sun burns high but wakes to stalk the forests when the first snow falls, hungry from its long sleep.'" Logray claims that, although the Kroolok will eat anything, he especially enjoys Ewoks who venture off on their own. Throughout the course of "The Kroolok," it is revealed the creature was invented by older Ewoks to keep children from wandering off during the winter. Chief Chirpa and Logray take delight in disguising themselves as the creature to scare Wicket, Princess Kneesa and their friends away from the forest. Thus, the Kroolok holds a similar role to Christmas legends such as the Krampus and the Yule Cat in policing children's behavior through fear.

The Oil-Bringer Is the Droids' Version of Santa Claus

Obi-Wan reunites with Luke

The true focus of the story "An Old Hope" is the legend of the Oil-Bringer. As explained by a PK worker unit, "Once a year, a jolly old human travels the cosmos to ease the burdens of droids everywhere. He oils joints, fixes logic boards, even soothes troubled motivators." In "An Old Hope," LA-R1 is abducted by Jawas on Tatooine while gathering supplies for his owner’s gathering of the clans. After LA-R1 frees his fellow droids from the Jawas, depleting his power in the process, he believes he is saved by the Oil-Bringer himself, an old man with a snow-white beard. While the old man is never named, he was most likely Obi-Wan Kenobi. Thus, while Obi-Wan Kenobi is mainly known for his role as a Jedi Knight, he may also be remembered as the Droid’s Santa Claus, at least on Tatooine.

Jedha's Reflection Day Focuses on Resolutions and the Future

Zallo and Kasmira celebrate Reflection Day in the Star Wars Life Day Treasury

As the short story "Reflection Day" explains, "Once per year on this most auspicious of days, the faithful might look upon the famous Kyber Mirrors beneath the Dome of Deliverance and there be awarded a glimpse of their future path, to better understand what the Force might have in store for them." While this might seem like solely a Jedi holiday, other groups, such as the Guardians of the Whills and the Church of the Force, celebrated the holiday, and many of the members of these movements were not Jedi or Force-sensitive themselves. Reflection Eve involves parades featuring adherents to many different religions within the Force itself. As Kasmira, a scholar studying Jedha, explains in the story, only those who seek guidance actually stand in front of the mirrors on Reflection Day, but the holiday still focuses on new beginnings and striving to understand oneself better through the lens of the Force.

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Coruscant's Solstice Tide Seems... Artificial

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As depicted in "A Coruscant Solstice," Solstice Tide harks back to a time before Coruscant was built up into a planet-wide city, thousands of years before the Skywalker Saga or even the High Republic era. As Jedi Knight Stellan Gios reflects, Solstice Tide is a festival focused on warmth in the face of harsh winters and the importance of loved ones, even when the world grows colder. Also, Solstice Tide Feasts are an important part of the celebrations as a time for loved ones to gather. During Solstice Tide, Coruscant is filled with trees decorated with glowing light orbs to represent lighting up the darkness in Coruscant's past harsh winters. Because elemental engines now control Coruscant's weather, most of the wintry accoutrements are artificial, down to holo-snow. However, underneath these more superficial trappings lies the festival's true focus on warmth and family, similar to the other midwinter festivities in the Star Wars galaxy.

The Suutu Pouches of Aaloth Remind Everyone to Stand Against Darkness

A Twi'lek woman lights a suutu pouch in Star Wars Life Day Treasury

In "The Kindling," soldier Fanya tells the story of the meaning of suutu pouches to her fellow Rebel, Rorric, as they attempt to escape from an Imperial labor camp. According to legend, the planet Aaloth, a Twi'lek colony, used bonfires to ward off dark creatures during the winter months. After Darth Quellus, a Sith Lord, took over the planet, he banned the bonfires and "blighted the candles to only burn black." However, as Fanya explains, a woman named Silana started creating suutu pouches, filling them with moss and twigs. As she explained later, the contents of the pouches could be used as kindling when the time was right. After Darth Quellus sentenced Silana to death, the people of Aaloth rose up and used their pouches to start a fire, driving away the Sith from their planet forever. Fanya explains that in midwinter, the people of Aaloth"'make up pouches to honor [Silana], and to know that they always have the power to fight evil, wherever they are.'"  Fanya uses a similar strategy to ward off the Imperials pursuing her and Rorric, allowing them to escape, showing that Silana's wisdom still is a light against the darkness, even centuries later.

Alderaan's Winter's Heart Is a Bittersweet Memory of Those Who Were Lost

Like many of the other midwinter holidays in a galaxy far, far away, Winter's Heart focuses on gathering together with friends and family. Because she was raised on Alderaan, Leia Organa grew up celebrating the Winter's Heart festival, but whether she continues to celebrate in the aftermath is unknown. "The Song of Winter's Heart" depicts the celebrations as a banquet with presents and with carols to celebrate the importance of loved ones even when the world seems darkest. As one particular carol declares, "the true heart of winter is you and me." In this short story in particular, childhood friends Rel and Max continue to celebrate even though they are on opposite sides of the Galactic Civil War. Thus, the traditions of the Winter's Heart festival last even beyond the planet's destruction, continuing on as a bittersweet remembrance of Alderaan while also reforging bonds between the survivors.

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