Merry Solstice/Christmas
I know you are going to get sick of me posting so many blogs together but this is an off the cuff unplanned one.
This is a result of seeing a post on a friends Facebook status. Apparently they (A Druid) had been having a chat with a Catholic Priest. The Priest had been expressing how sad he was that people kept telling him that 'Jesus Christ' wasn't actually born on 25th December and that Christmas is actually a stolen Pagan Festival!
Naturally the Priest found this upsetting, insulting and missed the whole point of the Celebration - New birth, light and renewal. Did these people really believe he did not know the historical facts?
First of all I would like to apologise to this unknown Priest that people that call themselves Pagans would say that Christmas is a 'Stolen Pagan Festival'. I also agree that they have missed the point of the Celebration Season.This sort of thing seriously annoys me and does nothing to foster good relations with other faiths.
I am going to go out on a limb here and I hope I don't offend people but this is my opinion and only my opinion. 'The Bible' is a book. It was written over hundreds of years by different people. It was not written in our language or our culture and I should imagine during times of persecution possibly in secret code. Therefore should not be taken word for word.
If you have ever played Chinese Whispers you will know how easily things change. A slip here, a slip there and the whole thing can change. Now imagine that across time,culture,language and geography.
How would you explain the workings of a DVD to the Victorians? I think it is probably quite possible. They did have electricity (I am of course when saying Victorians referring to men of science etc not the local populace). They also had Phonographs for sound and for what I shall entitle for ease 'What the Butler Saw' machines and their like. So if you suggested that a DVD was a combination of the two they would probably get an inkling of the end result.
That is going back roughly 150 years in our own culture. Now you try going back 500 years and see if you could explain it, then a 1000, 1500, 2000. Indeed by 2000 years by my dodgy mathematics Christ would only be in his teens and most of the things he is renowned for he hadn't done yet.
Finding this analogy difficult to do. Well the same works in reverse. So shall we say for arguments sake that 'The Bible' or any other religious book you may have to hand is a matter of interpretation. It is the essence of the message that is important!
So now we have settled not to take the literature literally let us move on. So Christ wasn't born on 25th December? Well first of all Christmas Day is Christ -Mas Day. I don't recall anywhere it stating that it was actually 25th December in the Bible. Which Calendar are you using?
'What do you mean which Calendar?
Well are you calculating the date using the Hebrew Calendar, the Roman Calendar, the Julian Calendar, the Gregorian Calendar or even a Solar or a Lunar Calendar? Time despite what you might think isn't fixed.
Christmas is Christ's Official Birthday you know like 'The Queen' has an actual birthday and an Official Birthday. So I am afraid 'So called Pagans' you are actually scoring an own goal there.
'Oh but they are using candles to celebrate like we do!' Please give me a break. Is that seriously your argument? Of course they use candles. Everybody used candles whether it was a celebration or not. My mother who is in her 70's can remember electricity being put in her house when she was little.
'But they put lights in the trees too.' Face palm. Okay I will make it simple. Look around your house. Where are the main lights? Unless you are exceptionally trendy I think you will find them in the ceiling. That is because a when a light is higher it sheds more light than when it is on the floor. Trees have this unerring tendency to be above ground and reasonably high up. Therefore using their height to place candles or even oil lamps makes sense. This is not some religious or mystical element it is simple physics.
'Incense?' Hmm. Let me think. 2000 years ago, sweaty humans and animals huddled together in a group in a hot country. Nope can't imagine why they would want something that smelt nice or repelled insects.
Look I am not really just wanting to have a go at you but please just think before you open your mouth. In fact try listening. You can't read one book and think you know it all, you can't, nobody can. Also you can disagree with other peoples faiths without forcing you own down peoples throats.
Christmas isn't stolen. It is a festival in its own right that depending on your point of view either coincides with or alternatively has been built on and incorporates existing traditions.
So if you are celebrating Christmas, Yuletide, Solstice, Saturnalia, Hanukkah or anything else this season I wish you all the best and try to remember:
'Tis the Season to be Jolly and other things ending in Olly.
