The word tradition, comes from the Latin word traditio which means "to hand down" or "to hand over." It is used in a number of ways in the English language.
1 -- A custom or practice taught by one generation to another, often orally. For example, we can speak of the tradition of sending birth announcements.
2 -- A set of customs or practices. For example, we can speak of Christmas traditions.
3 -- A broad religious movement made up of denominations or church bodies that have a common history, customs, culture, and, to some extent, body of teachings. For example, we can speak of Islam's Sufi tradition or Christianity's Lutheran tradition.
However, on a more basis theoretical level, tradition(s) can be seen as information or composed of information. For that which is brought into the present from the past, in a particular societal context, is information. This is even more fundamental than particular acts or practices even if repeated over a long sequence of time. For such acts or practices, once performed, disappear unless they have been transformed into some manner of communicable information.
Although traditions are often presumed to be ancient, unalterable, and deeply important, they are often much less "natural" than is often presumed. Many traditions have been deliberately invented for one reason or another, often to highlight or enhance the importance of a certain institution. Traditions are also frequently changed to suit the needs of the day, and the changes quickly become accepted as a part of the ancient tradition. A famous book on the subject is The Invention of Tradition, edited by Eric Hobsbawm and Terrence Ranger.
Some examples include "the invention of tradition" in African and other Colonial holdings by the occupying forces. Requiring Legitimacy, the colonial power would often invent a "tradition" which they could use to legitimize their own position. For example, a certain succession to a chiefdom might be recognized by a colonial power as traditional in order to favour their own favourite candidates for the job. Often these inventions were based in some form of tradition, but were grossly exaggerated, distorted, or biased toward a particular interpretation.
Other traditions that have been altered through the years include various religious celebrations, for example Christmas. The actual date of Jesus' birth does not coincide with December 25 as in the Western Church. This was a convenient day for it to be held on so as to capitalize on the popularity of traditional Solstice celebrations.
Traditionalism may also refer to the concept of a fundamental human Tradition present in all orthodox religions and traditional forms of society. This view is put forward by the Traditionalist School.
Traditionalist Catholic refers to those who want the worship and practices of the church to be as they were before the 1960s.
"Radical Traditionalism" refers to a worldview that stresses a return to traditional values of hard work, craftsmanship, local culture, tribal or clan orientation, and non-material values in response to a perceived excess of materialism, consumerism, technology, and societal homogeneity. Most Radical Traditionalists choose this term for themselves to stress their reaction to 'modern' society, as well as an equal disdain for more 'recent' forms of traditionalism based on Judeo-Christian and early-Industrial Age values. It is often allied with branches of Paganism that stress a return to old cultural values that predated the existence of the state system.