It's the celebration of the birth of Christ...but really, it's a pagan festival. Pretty much all the symbols that we associate with Christmas have pagan origins.
The Christmas tree:
Live evergreen trees represent fertility, and the Druids viewed the tree as a religious symbol.
And putting presents around the telly just doesn't seem so festive.
Mistletoe:
Other than being a great way to get snogged at the office Christmas party, Druids believe that mistletoe has special healing powers, for everything, including female infertility. It was considered a sacred plant, and the custom of kissing underneath it was actually a fertility ritual. So remember your birth control, and enjoy the eggnog.
Eggnog:
Eggs are a symbol of fertility, and eggnog was just a medicinal....oh fine, I'm making this one up. But it's true about something else found on the Christmas buffet table...
Yule logs:
They're not just delicious, chocolatey logs of delicious chocolate. The word Yule means “wheel"; the wheel being a pagan symbol for the sun. Huge Yule logs were burned in honor of the sun.
Candles:
were lit to encourage the Sun God to reappear the following year.
The colours red and green:
The traditional Christmas colours of red and green represent the fertility of the male and incubation by the female.
The date itself!
Everyone knows this one. Winter Solstice, Saturnalia, all that jazz.
But all that aside...
What exactly is Christmas to me?
To quote Abed from Community, "The meaning of Christmas is the idea that Christmas has meaning. And it can mean whatever we want."
Live evergreen trees represent fertility, and the Druids viewed the tree as a religious symbol.
And putting presents around the telly just doesn't seem so festive.
Mistletoe:
Other than being a great way to get snogged at the office Christmas party, Druids believe that mistletoe has special healing powers, for everything, including female infertility. It was considered a sacred plant, and the custom of kissing underneath it was actually a fertility ritual. So remember your birth control, and enjoy the eggnog.
Eggnog:
Eggs are a symbol of fertility, and eggnog was just a medicinal....oh fine, I'm making this one up. But it's true about something else found on the Christmas buffet table...
Yule logs:
They're not just delicious, chocolatey logs of delicious chocolate. The word Yule means “wheel"; the wheel being a pagan symbol for the sun. Huge Yule logs were burned in honor of the sun.
Candles:
were lit to encourage the Sun God to reappear the following year.
The colours red and green:
The traditional Christmas colours of red and green represent the fertility of the male and incubation by the female.
The date itself!
Everyone knows this one. Winter Solstice, Saturnalia, all that jazz.
But all that aside...
What exactly is Christmas to me?
To quote Abed from Community, "The meaning of Christmas is the idea that Christmas has meaning. And it can mean whatever we want."
Christmas is about family. It's about bonding with Mum over tart-making and cake-baking. It's about squabbling with Bro about putting up the lights. It's about hiding in my room to wrap presents.
Christmas is the stress of getting the decorations up, the goodies baked, the presents bought and wrapped, the getting dressed and ready for mass, the loud arguments that take place because of the differing ways of dealing with the rush.
It's about looking at tree decorations from two decades ago, remembering our wonderful childhood. It's about laughter and joy and hope for future Christmasses together.
About torn wrapping paper everywhere and children's laughter ringing. And noisy and messy toys that grandparents and childless aunts love, and make parents plot revenge.
Christmas is watching my sister's face light up when she receives lovely presents. About the kids getting all excited. About choosing presents that I hope the recipients like.
Christmas is about family.
And I can't wait to spend time with mine.
Christmas is the stress of getting the decorations up, the goodies baked, the presents bought and wrapped, the getting dressed and ready for mass, the loud arguments that take place because of the differing ways of dealing with the rush.
It's about looking at tree decorations from two decades ago, remembering our wonderful childhood. It's about laughter and joy and hope for future Christmasses together.
About torn wrapping paper everywhere and children's laughter ringing. And noisy and messy toys that grandparents and childless aunts love, and make parents plot revenge.
Christmas is watching my sister's face light up when she receives lovely presents. About the kids getting all excited. About choosing presents that I hope the recipients like.
Christmas is about family.
And I can't wait to spend time with mine.
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