Christmas or Yule? What to do?
I’m not saying I’ve completely embraced the Pagan religion. Sometimes I’ll refer to myself as Pagan, but only because there really isn’t another word for me unless I say “confused.” I feel kind of like an imposter if I call myself Pagan because I don’t actually practice. I suppose I’ve started celebrating holidays in my own way, such as Samhain. I did my own little thing on Halloween for that. But the next major holiday coming up is Yule. Most of you know it as Christmas.
Today on the radio show I listen to in the morning they were talking about the “holiday tree” put up on the White House front lawn. Basically there was a big discussion about political correctness and if it really is Christmas we celebrate. I was just about to write Preston (one of the DJs) an E-mail asking “what about Yule!?” when they had a Pagan woman call in. She made a good point in that yes the Christmas tree is a Pagan symbol (she made a joke saying something like “how many of you think there was an evergreen present at the birth of Jesus?” to which the other DJ, Steve, quipped back something about all the other symbols being present too), but even though it’s a Pagan thing she has no problem calling it a Christmas tree. Her family calls it a Christmas tree (as they are Christian and celebrate Christmas), and she grew up calling it that.
While I was procrastinating at work today (I do about a total of 2 hours of work all day :p I have NOTHING to do!!) I went to witchvox.com because I wanted to find out all the other Pagan symbols/traditions that the Christians adopted as their own. I ended up reading an article called “My Pagan Christmas.” In it she talks about keeping some of her old holidays while adopting the Pagan ones when she first became a neo-Pagan. This woman, Jonobie Ford, voiced pretty much everything I’m thinking and going through. Halloween, Christmas, Easter, Valentine’s Day, Birthdays, I don’t want to give them up; and I don’t have to.
To me, and I’m sure there are plenty that would agree with me, Christmas has become less about religion. Christmas has become a very cultural holiday. Traditional foods, family gatherings, the decorations we put up year after year, it’s all part of the festivity and celebration. Yes Christianity adopted many Pagan rituals and symbols in several of their holidays (to learn more about the ones regarding Christmas specifically I’ll refer you to this article entitled “You call it Christmas, We call it Yule” http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?a=usma&c=holidays&id=2079 It doesn’t cover everything, but you’ll get the general picture). And somehow Santa Claus got pulled into this holiday. But that’s just my point; everything has become so integrated it’s possible to celebrate it all. I don’t have to celebrate the birth of Christ, but I can celebrate the rebirth of the Sun and the Light of the World while at the same time as opening presents and eating traditional foods. It’s all cultural.
Cultural is also how I’ve begun looking at the Catholic religion. Oh yes, it is very much a religion, but to me Catholicism is my culture. I grew up in RI which is probably more Catholic than Massachusetts. Catholicism is practically engrained in the very soil in that state. My grandparents are Catholic, my Aunts and Uncles are Catholic, and I was raised that way as well. To them, yes, it probably is spirituality and religion. My grandmother gets all sorts of Catholic magazines, and she goes to church every Sunday. But what they might not realize is that being Catholic defines part of their culture. I suppose any religion does. That’s why I can celebrate Christmas without really having to celebrate the birth of Jesus.
Call it a Christmas tree. Christmas is pretty much what has replaced Yule. That’s not to say that Yule isn’t celebrated any more. No, as long as there is at least one person that celebrates it (and I can guarantee you that Lauren will ;) ) it stays alive. Yet everyone would look at you funny if you called it a Yule tree. So what if we call it Christmas? The word itself has pretty much come to symbolize the month of December (*cough* unless you’re in retail then you begin in October) where we celebrate the end of the year, birth of the light, generosity, good will towards men, and miracles. I know that the word Christmas might not encompass Chanukah and Kwanzaa, but it definitely represents the feeling of the season.
Today on the radio show I listen to in the morning they were talking about the “holiday tree” put up on the White House front lawn. Basically there was a big discussion about political correctness and if it really is Christmas we celebrate. I was just about to write Preston (one of the DJs) an E-mail asking “what about Yule!?” when they had a Pagan woman call in. She made a good point in that yes the Christmas tree is a Pagan symbol (she made a joke saying something like “how many of you think there was an evergreen present at the birth of Jesus?” to which the other DJ, Steve, quipped back something about all the other symbols being present too), but even though it’s a Pagan thing she has no problem calling it a Christmas tree. Her family calls it a Christmas tree (as they are Christian and celebrate Christmas), and she grew up calling it that.
While I was procrastinating at work today (I do about a total of 2 hours of work all day :p I have NOTHING to do!!) I went to witchvox.com because I wanted to find out all the other Pagan symbols/traditions that the Christians adopted as their own. I ended up reading an article called “My Pagan Christmas.” In it she talks about keeping some of her old holidays while adopting the Pagan ones when she first became a neo-Pagan. This woman, Jonobie Ford, voiced pretty much everything I’m thinking and going through. Halloween, Christmas, Easter, Valentine’s Day, Birthdays, I don’t want to give them up; and I don’t have to.
To me, and I’m sure there are plenty that would agree with me, Christmas has become less about religion. Christmas has become a very cultural holiday. Traditional foods, family gatherings, the decorations we put up year after year, it’s all part of the festivity and celebration. Yes Christianity adopted many Pagan rituals and symbols in several of their holidays (to learn more about the ones regarding Christmas specifically I’ll refer you to this article entitled “You call it Christmas, We call it Yule” http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?a=usma&c=holidays&id=2079 It doesn’t cover everything, but you’ll get the general picture). And somehow Santa Claus got pulled into this holiday. But that’s just my point; everything has become so integrated it’s possible to celebrate it all. I don’t have to celebrate the birth of Christ, but I can celebrate the rebirth of the Sun and the Light of the World while at the same time as opening presents and eating traditional foods. It’s all cultural.
Cultural is also how I’ve begun looking at the Catholic religion. Oh yes, it is very much a religion, but to me Catholicism is my culture. I grew up in RI which is probably more Catholic than Massachusetts. Catholicism is practically engrained in the very soil in that state. My grandparents are Catholic, my Aunts and Uncles are Catholic, and I was raised that way as well. To them, yes, it probably is spirituality and religion. My grandmother gets all sorts of Catholic magazines, and she goes to church every Sunday. But what they might not realize is that being Catholic defines part of their culture. I suppose any religion does. That’s why I can celebrate Christmas without really having to celebrate the birth of Jesus.
Call it a Christmas tree. Christmas is pretty much what has replaced Yule. That’s not to say that Yule isn’t celebrated any more. No, as long as there is at least one person that celebrates it (and I can guarantee you that Lauren will ;) ) it stays alive. Yet everyone would look at you funny if you called it a Yule tree. So what if we call it Christmas? The word itself has pretty much come to symbolize the month of December (*cough* unless you’re in retail then you begin in October) where we celebrate the end of the year, birth of the light, generosity, good will towards men, and miracles. I know that the word Christmas might not encompass Chanukah and Kwanzaa, but it definitely represents the feeling of the season.