Reclaiming Christmas: Let’s Party Like Pagans

[rug]

December 20, 2013 By Christine Kraemer 1 Comment

The boys of the NYPD choir still singing ‘Galway Bay’
And the bells are ringing out for Christmas day

–Pogues, “Fairy Tale of New York“

Merry Yule everybody! Let us celebrate the Unconquered Sun, and the unquenched flame in each and every one.

Merry Yule

If you are asked what is the most Pagan of festivals, you might think of your favorite sabbat – Beltane or Samhain, Lammas, or the hopeful season of Imbolc. But maybe the most Pagan festival is that of Midwinter, the Winter Solstice, when the whole hemisphere is looking for the turning of the year, the rebirth of the sun, the time of promise when we see the signs of the sun’s return. Seasonal festivals celebrate significant points in the seasonal and astronomical cycles when we are aware of change. The buds come and we celebrate spring and the rebirth of vegetation and animal life that allows human beings to sustain themselves. Dark nights draw in bringing cold and illness and increased mortality, and we celebrate Samhain the festival of death. These were probably some of the earliest of human celebrations.

Celebrating Yule



Winter Solstice Sunrise between the stones at Stonehenge, 1985 – by Mark Grant

Once our ancestors learned to observe the heavens, it was possible to record the exact movement of the sun’s position in the sky and to set up standing stones and other markers on the landscape so we could know when the changes would come and could assemble to honor and celebrate the solar festivals. Winter Solstice celebrates changes in the heavens and the world outside, but it is a time when psychologically we feel the urge to gather indoors, to huddle with others for warmth, to share precious fuel resources, and to make the long nights bearable with feasting and song and dance. We may have electric lighting and central heating but the instinct remains the same. These celebrations are instinctual and age-old and not specific to one faith or another. They can transcend differences of creed. Over the centuries, Christianity condemned Yuletide celebrations as profane, Pagan, sensual and not in keeping with the teaching of the new religion, but in the end the instinctual wins through. Christianity learned to embrace Yule.

Mirth and reverence

The Pogues singing ‘Fairytale of New York’ might not be everyone’s idea of a contemporary Pagan carol, but the sheer love of life of the song does convey the spirit of ancient Pagan midwinter celebrations such as the Roman Saturnalia. Saturnalia honored the god Saturn, God of agriculture. All social conventions were overturned and Romans celebrated a brief return to the mythological Golden Age, a kind of Roman version of the Garden of Eden, when humankind lived in harmony with nature, nature was so abundant that people could live without working, and all humans were equal. To honor this, the social order was temporarily reversed – masters and mistresses waited on their slaves. The celebrations led up to the Winter Solstice and just beyond, when in later times Rome celebrated the birth of Sol Invictus, the Unconquerable Sun, on the day that became eventually the celebration of the birth of Jesus.

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/viviannecrowley/2013/12/reclaiming-christmas-lets-party-like-pagans/

[okasha]

1. And Happy Sunstanding!

n/t

[rhett o rick]

2. Sorry but all that is meaningless

until we determine the exact genetic makeup of Santa. Er, and did Rudolph really have a red nose?

[cbayer]

4. Have you not seen it glow??

[okasha]

5. Well, if that don't beat all.

I thought that was a car with just one taillight.

[rhett o rick]

6. Well yes in fact I think I have. But that was after a few martini's. Something was glowing anywayz

[cbayer]

9. Lol, I think that's when I saw it too.

Poor Rudolph.

[okasha]

15. Given that you're in Mexico at the moment, listen for the ballad

about "Rodolfo."

[cbayer]

16. I will. I only get Spanish stations in the car, so I hear some, but not that much.

I did go to a little christmas concert by some local children last week. I did not recognize a single song, but it was lovely nonetheless.

[okasha]

17. Go to a posada

if you get the chance. A local animal protection organization has had one for the last two years in which Mary and Joseph were represented by a shelter cat and dog. A few fundies' heads exploded, but the point was made about the plight of homeless four-foots and two-foots.

[cbayer]

18. Had not even heard of it.

We are going to do some exploring tomorrow so will look for one. Are they generally found at churches?

I wanted to go to a christmas eve service at the cathedral, but my night driving presents a serious danger to the general public, so I probably won't.

We are about 5 km out of town on a road under construction. It's scary enough during the day!

[cbayer]

19. Ah, i just did the research and know what a posada is now.

There were a few when I first arrive in La Paz. One of them was at 4AM with the church bells ringing for a very long time.

Unfortunately, I did not get to see it, but I wish I had.

Christmas here seems less commercial and I anticipate that christmas day will be very quiet.

[pokerfan]

8. Dr. Frasier Crane on Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

Sam Malone: Oh, look at that will you? Nice Rudolph.

Woody Boyd: I made it myself.

Sam: No kidding?

Woody: You know, Rudolph is my favorite guy in the Christmas song.

Sam: Yeah.

Dr. Frasier Crane: Apparently then Woody, you're unaware that the story of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" is one of the most unrealistic and therefore potentially damaging in all of children's music. It gives them a horribly distorted view of reality.

Woody: Yeah, but you got to admit, it's easy to whistle.

Frasier: No, I'm serious. First the other reindeer tease and then ostracise him. And then when his abnormality proves of service, they use him.

<Sam and Woody are speechless>

Frasier: But then do they allow him to play in their stupid reindeer games?

Sam, Woody: Yes.

Frasier: Oh, no, I know how the song goes. In fact, not only do Donner, Blitzen, et al, not love him and laugh out loud with glee, but they doubly despise the bulbous-nosed little wimp. Well, I've got to be off. Happy Holidays!

[jtuck004]

13. The appeal of Teabagger Politics > ""...the most unrealistic and therefore potentially damaging...

...It gives them a horribly distorted view of reality."

But you got to admit, it's easy to whistle.

And thus we get Sarah Palin...Ho Ho Ho.

[alterfurz]

3. Merry we have met, and merry we have been--

Merry do we part, to merry meet again!

May the longtime sun shine upon you,
All love surround you,
And the pure light within you
Guide your way on.

[freshwest]

7. Always good to have something to look forward to in life... n/t

[Leontius]

10. I had been trying to remember that song title all day

Thanks.

[JaneyVee]

11. KEEP SATURN IN SATURNALIA!

[NeoGreen]

12. Sol Invictus...

... Happy Yule to Pagans One and All

[jtuck004]

14. K&R. Thank you. n/t