Should I be the one to point out that there is every chance that good old Saint Nick is potentially just as factious as Santa Claus (who by the way is named after the American bastardisation of the Dutch version of Saint Nicholas, ‘Saint Heer Klaas’ ), and that there are countless theories surrounding the virgin conception and the birth in the stable, etc., etc.

The point is this: much of the ‘myth’ surrounding Christmas, be it the baby Jesus, the fat guy in the red suit, or even the reindeer with the red nose, is probably exactly that: myth. But as humans, we need something to pin a little optimism on, and there’s nothing wrong with that. From an outsider looking in, it’s probably down right peculiar that we insist on promoting this myth about a guy who comes down the chimney and leaves gifts under a tree that for some reason is planted inside the house (don’t even get me started on the tree thing). But then again, to another outsider looking in , it’s probably stranger still that in an age of technological enlightenment and advancement, the like of which has never been seen before on this dust ball we call call home, we still insist on believing that a woman apparently got pregnant without the joy/inconvenience (delete as appropriate) of sexual intercourse, and that a celestial anomaly led people to the site of the birth.

Take that lot out of context and what’s weirder – the guy in the red suit leaving toys for good boys and girls, or a virgin conception and successful delivery in a stable? Who’s being sold the bigger lie, us or the kids?

Image via Wikipedia

For me, it’s a tricky and thorny issue that I’ve battled with over the last few years, and since having kids it’s got harder. If you’ve read this far you probably won’t believe me when I say that I do actually believe in God. My issue is with the con of religion (and by religion I mean the God marketing exercise). In short, I don’t go in for the whole ‘Nativity’ sales pitch. If I’m honest, I probably do go along with the Saint Nick thing; there probably was such a guy. His day, by the way, is December 6th; the 25th has nothing to do with it. My whole personal feeling is that the Church, in its impetuous youth, attempted to hijack Yuletide (the celebration of the winter solstice on the 21st December) in an attempt to sway sinful pagans in the direction of Christianity with similar, if slightly diffrent festival. I don’t know how wrong or right that assertion is, but going on the way religion manipulates the masses these days, I see no reason to believe that things were any different all those centuries ago – if a system works why break it?

So if the whole festival is a load of bunkum, why persist with it? Why get the tree? Why buy the gifts? Why get your kids to write to Santa and then write back in a shaky hand that takes all year to perfect? In short, why bother at all with this thing we call Christmas?

Simple. When it comes down to it, despite the advances in medicine, communication, and Ipod capacity, we’re not all that different from our ancestors. The year is long and hard, winter is cold and dreary. Christmas provides us with a chance to put the misery behind us, spend time with the ones we love, and generally have a happy time. Whatever your faith, whatever your feelings on the fact or fiction of the event, Christmas should be a time of light and happiness. Whether you are a pagan, a Christian, a Muslim, or a Jew, the week of December 20-27th marks the coming back of the light. The short dark days are passing and the lengthy light -filled days are coming back. That always was and always will be a cause for celebration.

Merry Christmas everybody, and have a great New Year.

Works Cited:

How Christmas Works, Dowdy Sarah, TLC Discovery communication Inc. 2010

Most of us know the story of Christmas, the nativity, three wise men, Shepard’s and the angel Gabriel.

The video above brings the story up to date and more appealing to A younger market. Notice how I am using the word story, as in fictional. Anyway, it’s nice to believe in fairy tales.

The video starts with Mary emailing Joseph about the fact that she is going to be pregnant. It is a humorous look on the nativity story.

The story is told using everyday aps that are found on the internet such as google maps. Pretty clever and funny.

Cover of The Story of Christmas

Many people find, set up and decorate the tree right after Thanksgiving.
Every year when we would decorate the tree we would use a theme of color
such as red and gold.  My favorite was the year we had a white tree with blue
and purple ornaments. 
We have always had to use the synthetic trees since I had allergies.  I always liked
The smell of the real trees, but could not have them.

When I was a young girl we would not only decorate our tree but one
my grandparents had as well. We for some reason no longer do that.

Christmas was always a fun time when the kids were little we would open all
of our gifts on Christmas Eve. Then,  on Christmas Morning they would open
the gifts from Santa. 

Another tradition I enjoyed was going to my Aunt’s house where my cousins and
I would help make Christmas cookies.  As, my cousins and I are now grown up
It is nice to see that our children have maintained this tradition.

We would usually have a family dinner on Christmas Eve and the kids would
get gifts from the family.  We used to draw names for the adults and have one
man’s gift and one women’s gift. The kids would usually get more than one gift
Depending on the ages.

On Christmas Day we would usually go to my Grandparents house for Christmas
dinner.  The one thing about my family they are alll great cooks. Unfortunately, my
Grandfather passed away a few years ago and my Grandma is in a nursinghome.

Some days I really miss the old days.

What are some of your family traditions, I would be interested to know.

For a number of years now, our local church has been seeking new ways to connect with the youngsters of our parish. One way in which we do this is to invite them to come and visit us from their schools at Christmas and to come on a special Journey with us.

When they arrive they are invited to sit down with the ‘Story Teller’ who asks them  school they are from, which teachers are with them, whether there are any parent with them and they are then introduced to various members of the Team.

My son , Michael for instance, takes the part of a small Group Leader.

The Story teller questions the children as to what preparations they made for their journey to the church, how had they arrived, what had they done before they left school etc.   She then goes on to tell them the story of  Mary and Joseph’s Journey and explains they will be meeting various people on their journey who will help them to get an idea of the firs Christmas journey.  She explains, with the help of nativity crib figures ,

who some of the characters are they will meet.

The children are now sent off in small groups to make their journeys – en route they will meet a shepherd, a king, the grumpy innkeepers wife, Mary, Joseph and the baby , who will all tell the story from their perspective and they will have the chance to put their names on a star which is put on a wall at the back of church so that over the week, a host of stars remembering who have attended grows – by the time all schools have visited there will be getting on for 400 or so names. They will also make  a Bookmark to taske away as a reminder of the occasion.

The Shepherd tells how the angels came and told him and his friends to go to Bethlehem, and a king explains how he and his colleagues followed the star.

Now they move on to talk to the Innkeeper’s wife, who when they arrive is decidedly grumpy at being disturbed from her work, when she is doing all she can to bring in money to pay the taxes imposed by the Romans.  However, when enticed by the children by their offer of a few pennies, she agrees to tell them the story of the strangers who had arrived at the inn a couple of days earlier, and who, in their urgent need of shelter had stayed in the stable where the young woman had given birth to her baby.  The few minutes rest to tell her story obviously put the Innkeeper’s wife in a better frame of mind.

Having finished here the children move off down to the stable to find Mary, Joseph and the baby, we have been lucky enough to have real live babies for all our Journey’s and this does add so much wonder to the children’s visits.  They love to sing their lullabies to the babies.

At this point , the children all go off to do their crafts before reassembling with the  Story Teller, who asks them to  tell her which has been there favourite part of the Journey. Most often it is quite rightly the visit to the baby.  But then they are asked a deeper question, do they feel that there any of the characters they think is not important to the story, and though they may start off with thinking maybe the donkey or the ass or even Joseph is not so important, they soon come to see that the donkey and Joseph give important support to Mary, if it wan’t for the Cow who gave up his manger and the Innkeeper’s wife for letting them use the stable where would the baby have been born? The shepherds and kings show that Christ was born for all people whether rich or poor, whatever nationality. So each character played his part.

At the end of the visit, we like to think that the children leave with a little more wonder for having ‘lived’ the experience of the first Christmas – certainly, we have some lovely letters come back from them, and accompanying staff say it has meant a lot to them too. And for those of us who take part it is a humbling experience to be able to join together in camaraderie, to give our time to use this way to show the magic of The Christmas Story, but a wonderful way to start our Christmas Journey for the year.

Wishing you all a Blessed and Holy Christmas.

Presepio image source

In Italy, Christmas is called ‘Il Natale,’ or ‘the birthday.’ The Christmas season in Italy officially starts eight days before Christmas.  They call this period the Novena, and it runs for three weeks. During the Novena, kids would dress in shepherd costumes and visit houses to recite Christmas poems, sing and play pipes. They often receive money during this activity. The Italians name their version of the Nativity scene the Presepio.  It has miniature figurines, carved in superb detail from clay or plaster, of the Nativity characters in the stable.  This has been the traditional Christmas focal point in many homes.  Around the Presepio, families say prayers and children recite poems. The main course in an Italian Christmas Eve dinner, called cenone, is a traditional dish of baked, roasted, or fried eel. 

panettone image source

In other regions, different types of fish are served for this dinner, as well as turkey stuffed with chestnuts, pork, or sausage in a pork leg. Christmas cakes are called panettone and are traditionally cooked with nuts and almonds.  It has also been a tradition on Christmas Eve for children set out their shoes for a kindly, old woman or a sinister witch named La Befana, who rides on a broomstick and goes down chimneys, to fill the shoes with presents of toys or candies. If they were naughty, their shoes will be stuffed with coal. Other children wait until the Epiphany, which is January 6 to receive their gifts.

Image via Wikipedia

This morning was a very special one in the build up to Christmas 2009 in our household.

 It brought the “stage debut” of our precious little man in the nursery school  production of the Nativity play.

However cynical we become about the ruthless commercialization of the holiday season, there are still some traditions that are worth holding on to and quite frankly this is what it’s supposed to be about after all.

As much as we love Santa and the presents, the sheer indulgence and all of the time off work, we really need to remember that we are commemorating new life, and one very special birth in particular.

~~~~Were Shepherds watched?~~~~

 Many years ago as a child growing up in the 1970s, I still remember my primary school production of this timeless tale.

 Long, long before any talk of “yummy mummies” splashing out hundreds of pounds to make sure their little darlings had the latest and greatest outfits, this was the age of make your own costumes.

I was delighted to be one of the shepherds.  Though an entirely non-speaking part felt rightly proud of myself as we trooped down to our little village church for the performance. Mum had draped me in old curtains and rounded things off with a nice checked tea towel and hair band – I was good to go.

Dad had to work late at the Steelworks, so Mum had come along to support me. I took my position “knave” left and on with the show.

After singing my heart out through shepherds watched and Away in a Manger I made my way over to Mum for a hug of approval. I was momentarily crestfallen to discover that as she’d sat behind Mrs Drake , owner of one enormous 1960’s style beehive haircut, my first walk on part had been almost entirely obscured from her view. Still, being there in the church, all dressed up, was a magical feeling that I have never forgotten.

~~~~A Christmas farewell~~~

Fast forward to Christmas 2002 and a deeply emotional return to the Nativity experience.

 My Mum died tragically in 1993 and my Dad remarried a few years later, and had a little boy in 1999. Just two years later in the summer of 2002 he was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. We knew deep down that in all probability Christmas 2002 would be his last, so we were determined to capture every last moment and memory.

 So in early December, my little brother got the stage front role of Joseph in his playgroup nativity play. Seeing my Dad so proudly looking on as they sang a mix of traditional and more contemporary tunes like “When Santa got stuck up the chimney” was incredibly moving. The little lad was so happy and contented, and I know it brought so much comfort to my dear old daddy, in amongst all the agonising chemotherapy and treatment he’d endured.

 Dad finally lost his fight only a few days before Christmas.

 The strength that came from knowing how much he loved this time of year and how important it for us kids to enjoy ourselves, kept us all going. To my dying day I will never forget the smile of contentment on his face when my little brother came running out after the show to give him a hug.

Image via Wikipedia

~~~~A new King is born, another one is dressed up…~~~~

 So here we are in 2009. A week or so back, we get the news that our little man has got an “upgrade” from King “Murd” (Myrrh) as he described it to King “Gold”. Then in the small print it says , please can parents provide costumes where possible.

 Cue mini-panic! With heavy snowfall across the weekend, not much chance to visit the shops. Luckily my younger sister stepped up to the plate on the crown out of cornflake box , gold paper and milk bottle tops front and his knights costume tunic made a surprise reappearance. Chuck in a shoe-box and some chocolate gold coins and he was ready for action.

 A sign of the times, as the nursery staff had to ask whether any of the parents objected to photos being taken. Then on with the show…

First all the children gathered together and sang the songs they’d been practising. Our little man was so taken with his box of gold he just kept shaking it up and down with delight, but they managed to get him back in line eventually.

Then our hostess for the proceedings announced that while the children knew it was the nativity play, they wanted to call it the donkey story.

More priceless moments as Mary and Joseph arrived at the Inn, and just as they knocked , the Nursery telephone rang right on cue– “we’ll put you through to reservations to see if they’ve got any availability….”

 Then a bouncy little King Herod enquires boldly “Where are you going!” to the three wise kings. Our fella silently explains the quest, and shuffles over to the stable, still a bit reluctant to part with the shiny stuff on the whole. Meantime, the narrator announces Herod is angry, and right on cue the mini-starlet produces a level of grumpy growls the Hulk would have been proud of.

 After 20 magical minutes, our performers head off for a well-earned rest. We the grown-ups are left beaming with collective pride, our spirits lifted to the highest levels

 Long may the tradition continue, and let us all remember what it really is all about.

We are celebrating new life and whatever your religion, whatever your creed, it’s a time to come together and be a family of mankind.

 Happy Holidays!

 -The True Love represents God                                                                                 -The partridge in a pear tree is Jesus Christ.
 -Two turtle doves are the Old and New Testaments.
 -Three French hens stand for faith, hope and love.-
 -The four calling birds are the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke & John.
 -The five golden rings recall the Torah or Law, the first five books of the Old         Testament.
 -The six geese a-laying stand for the six days of creation.
 -Seven swans a-swimming represented the sevenfold gifts of the Holy Spirit–Prophesy,  Serving, Teaching, Exhortation, Contribution, Leadership, and Mercy.
 -The eight maids a-milking were the eight beatitudes.
 -Nine ladies dancing were the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit–Love, Joy, Peace, Patience,  Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self Control.
 -The ten lords a-leaping were the ten commandments.
 -The eleven pipers piping stood for the eleven faithful disciples.
 -The twelve drummers drumming symbolized the twelve points of belief in the Apostles’ Creed.

So there is your history lesson for today. Now You know how that unusual song became a Christmas Carol

Image via Wikipedia

Merry Christmas Everyone

Image via Wikipedia

The interim between Thanksgiving and Christmas holds a special place as the flashback season.  It’s the most repetitious of months, with the mantras of each home sweeping away the year’s changes in favor of softly lit (and probably embellished) timelessness.  The fluffing of the tree and arrangement of the nativity brings last year’s holiday season back to life and, by association, every holiday preceding it with amplified nostalgia.  World events fall away as timeline dots so that decorative adjustments and family changes can step up to mark the years. 

   For this reason I feel that the greatest Holiday traditions are progressive ones.  Hitchcock never films a murder with pacing it with cuts to different camera angles, and I never have Christmas without climbing to its pinnacle rung by candy caned rung.  Advent calendars are easily the most popular form of this, and Hanukkah’s candles are great as well, but it’s always worthwhile to look into unique ways to create this build up.

My father insists on turning our outdoor nativity scene into a moving drama every year.  Most nativities settle for the static scene of everyone gathered around to ponder a born Christ, but there’s not enough engineering prowess in that for dad.  We set the thing up on Thanksgiving Day sans Jesus, the angel, the star, and the Wise Men; there are only shepherds, animals, and Christ’s parents.  The Wise Men are set at the other end of the yard thirty paces from the manger and move a step towards it each day.  The star hangs from wire strung between our poplar trees and the manger so that astronomical accuracy is maintained as it can edges closer to the scene with Christmas’ approach.  The angel and Jesus are stuck out there on Christmas Eve night when the Wise Men arrive with the star.  Of course, the whole process has grown over the years and I think that eventually we will have the animals graze in different parts of the yard and have a few of Herod’s baby killers on the sideline waiting to storm into Bethlehem. 

Most decorations are not progressive but can still be given a sense of distinction, and this can be as small as a single tree ornament.  For instance, there are many ornaments that I mildly oppose to owning, but I never get rid of any of them.  Instead, they become opportunities for making amusing statements.  I have Barry Bonds on my tree even though I resent his use of steroids; so he’s on the tree hanging upside down and is alwayslower on the tree than Hank Aaron.  I have a UNC football player from my childhood, and as a Wake Forest fan I always hang him so that he’s being trampled by another ornament.  My parents have an ornament that consists of a hideous brown wood frame in which is a clashing picture of them during their first year together in 1982.  They both have a bad case of ‘80s hair, they look hung over, and they’re in front of bland wood paneling.  I always do my best to get this hung in clear sight at eye level, but it always makes its way to the well hidden center of the tree within hours. 

Image via Wikipedia

   Many homes outline their frames with Christmas lights, but lights behind large windows can create a cozier aura for a house and prove less of a hassle.  For example, lights can be strung from exposed rafters in front of a window to and create a great source of light both for those driving by and inside.

As a kid, Christmas used to be primarily food and presents under the guise of a bizarre birth scenario of religious importance.  I was a militant child and would compare it to D-Day and mentally note how gifts from different parts of the family corresponded to waves of troops arriving in Normandy (Christmas Eve presents were the paratroopers, Santa’s gifts were Omaha Beach, etc.).  However, by making the most of different traditions I have been able to bring a fuller meaning to the holidays despite my religious disillusionment.  Traditions and decorations can easily prove as satisfying as church-house observances, and more human and satisfying to boot.  Just don’t use too many candles and steer clear of those damn inflatable snowmen.

To start let us first accept that in the old Julian Calender, the Winter Solstice, the 24 hour period with the least day light in the Northern hemisphere, was December 25, in our current calender it falls on or around December 21. Most cultures had some sort of celebration on this day, sometimes the festivities started a week earlier and ended on this day.

The Christmas Tree

Probably one of the most recognized symbols of Christmas, right? Wrong. Decorated trees were around long before Christmas. Because winter is typically a time of death, the evergreen was thought by ancient Druids to be magical, and brought protection if a part of it were brought inside during this time of year. Often it was just branches brought indoors, but trees outside were decorated with apples, additional pine cones, and lit candles. Roman pagans also noted that it was a special plant and would cut one down and offer it to Saturn, the God of agriculture, frequently adorning it first.

Photo from Wikimedia

Ball Ornaments

These round orbs, are representational of the Sun, and were symbols of worship to the Roman Sun God, Mithras, of course they were not made of plastic back then.

Gifts

Gifts have been exchanged at this time of year for many centuries, even predating the time of Christ.

The Nativity Scene

There have been numerous deities assigned the birth date of December 25 (which if you recall was the shortest time of light according to the older Julian Calendar). From Sol, to Apollo, to Mithras, and in Roman times nativity scenes were made to honor each.

Photo from Wikimedia

Stars

In ancient times the Romans celebrated Saturnalia, a day to honor the God Saturn, the god of Agriculture, seeds and planting. They did not know Saturn was a planet not a star. They also represented Saturn with yellow discs, we now refer to these as halos.

Wreaths

Wreaths, to the ancient Romans, were a symbol of eternal life, as winters were a time of hardships and death (yes, even in Rome), wreaths of evergreens were passed around as gifts at this time of the year.

Mistletoe

Mistletoe was known as a sacred plant, it lived in trees with no roots to the ground, quite unlike any other plant. Due to its’ special nature it was also considered a fertility symbol, hence the tradition of kissing under the Mistletoe. On the other hand, though it is poisonous and possibly used to poison a sacrificial victim. Early Christians tried to not include Mistletoe in any celebrations (mostly because of it being a fertility symbol), but it is still very common in people’s houses today at this time of year.

Red and Green

Red and Green are the colors of Holly, a plant that also comes into play in what people consider Christmas Traditions, however Holly was brought into decorate homes long before Christmas was celebrated as such. As another of those plants who mysteriously lived and retained its beauty into the winter it was considered magical. Green, of course was also associated with evergreens (life), and red with apples (food), both of which were important at this time of year.

Candles and Lights

Of course in ancient times lights did not exist, but candles did! In different regions the use of candles represented different functions the strongest being to honor, or welcome back, the Roman sun God, Mithras. It must be remembered that in the northern hemisphere December 21 is now the day with the least sunlight of all, but that in the Julian Calender, the date of the solstice was December 25.

Bells

In the dark times surrounding this time of year evil spirits were held to blame for death, so in Northern areas, bells were used to frighten the spirits away. The meaning of bells were later said to be happy rather than for protection.

Gingerbread Men

Back to ancient Rome again, the week long festivities often involved eating of cookies made in human form.

Santa Claus

The jolly fat man comes from a more recent time, and a man named Sinter Klaas, or Saint Nicholas. He became known later as the Patron Saint of Children because he reportedly saved many from lives of crime or prostitution. He frequently fed poor children and kept them from death. His death, December 6, was later marked by the giving of gifts in honor of him. This later was moved to December 25. Saint Nicholas was not fat, nor dressed in red and white, this image was created by the Coca Cola company for an advertising campaign, as a skinny Santa just didn’t have the same appeal as a jolly fat one.

Caroling

This is an ancient tradition that started it Rome, a group of people called “mummers” would dress up, or be totally naked, and stroll from house to house singing and dancing to entertain their neighbours. Over time only singing became the tradition, the name as changed to “Caroling”,and clothing was not optional.

The Feast and Parties

Different ancient groups feasted on this day, as a way to celebrate the return of the sun, the coming back of more daylight, and to welcome in good fortune for the future, it was also a way of demonstrating ones wealth, having more than enough food to eat. The feast often was of gluttonous levels. In Rome especially this carried onto ridiculous levels as the feasting and partying started one week earlier, and included orgies. It was a time when laws could be broken with no fear of prosecution, and drunkenness was common.

Kindness to the Poor

Again in ancient Rome, and the holiday celebrated as Saturnalia, Romans exhibited a bit of a role reversal, a time where slaves were treated well and included in the feast, occasionally even being fed by their masters.

Garland

Romans use to keep the statue of Saturn tied up, wrapped, in ropes, these ropes could very well be represented by garlands of today. The statue was only “untied” for the Saturnalia celebrations.

You might have been shocked to learn that so many of the Christmas traditions you thought were “Christian” were in fact around long Christ, and that many of these are indeed Pagan traditions. In fact in Massachusetts from 1659 to 1681, it was illegal to celebrate “Christmas”, due to its’ Pagan origins. As our openness to learn the truth about the past increases we will grow as people.