Thomas and Nanci Kuykendall

>Jesus wasn't even born in December or anywhere near December for that
>matter. The whole Christmas celebration came about as Christianity spread
>through Europe. When the Church started converting the cultures and tribes
>they would many times integrate parts of the culture into the Christian
>traditions so as to make the conversion more smooth, easy. It was supposed
>to make it easier to convert folks but what it really did was compromise
>Christianity and clutter it up with a bunch of pagan ritual.

Speaking from a Pagan perspective, I always appreciate it when those of
varying religions, particularly Christians, are educated and open minded
enough to acknowledge the roots of this holiday, and the fact that many
popular traditions in modern America stem from those original roots.

>as it stands now we still hold to some of the basic Christmas traditions
such as a >tree

The tradition of bringing an evergreen tree indoors stems from a number of
European traditions, but it's meaning is clear enough. It is the
representation of Life within the season of the "little death" or winter.
Christmas (or Yule) is the celebration of the Winter Solstice, which is the
longest night and shortest day of the year. As such it is the clebration
of the birth/rebirth of the Sun god in many many cultures around the world,
because the days grow longer from the Winter Solstice on until the Wheel of
the Year turns at the Summer Solstice. The word Yule is believed to come
from the old Norse word "Iul" which means: Wheel.

It was naturally logical for the Christains to choose the time of so many
other religions' Sun God birth as the time for the Birth of the Son of God.
The Christian church adopted midwinter and the Winter Solstice as the
birth of Christ in 273 AD, for the reasons Mary mentioned (conversion) but
also for another reason. As St Chrysostom, Archbishop of Constantinople a
century later explained: "The Nativity of the 'Sun of Righteousness' had
been so fixed in order that while the heathen were busied with their
profane rights, the Christians might perform their holy ones without
disturbance."

>ever notice, 'Deck the Halls' is not a Christmas song but a Yule
>song?)

Yup!

>We do not do Santa (or that bunny or fairy either) just cause it is like
lying.

Well, I think of Santa as the embodiment of the spirit of giving. A jolly
elf who represents the joy of sharing. When the children outgrow the
belief of Santa as a reality, they become part of the tradition of playing
Santa. We all do stockings here, including adults, and have a lot of fun
with it. Santa is part of the magic of the season, which is a celebration
of life and loved ones, and a reaffirmation that spring will come again,
bringing the warmth of the Sun with it.

Nanci K. in Idaho

[email protected]

In a message dated 9/30/99 8:14:45 AM, tn-k4of5@... writes:

<<Well, I think of Santa as the embodiment of the spirit of giving. A jolly
elf who represents the joy of sharing. When the children outgrow the
belief of Santa as a reality, they become part of the tradition of playing
Santa. We all do stockings here, including adults, and have a lot of fun
with it. Santa is part of the magic of the season, which is a celebration
of life and loved ones, and a reaffirmation that spring will come again,
bringing the warmth of the Sun with it.
>>

Nanci, you said this so well, I just want to repeat and reaffirm it.

Betsy

Monica L. Molinar

>
> In a message dated 9/30/99 8:14:45 AM, tn-k4of5@... writes:
>
> <<Well, I think of Santa as the embodiment of the spirit of giving. A
jolly
> elf who represents the joy of sharing. When the children outgrow the
> belief of Santa as a reality, they become part of the tradition of playing
> Santa. We all do stockings here, including adults, and have a lot of fun
> with it. Santa is part of the magic of the season, which is a celebration
> of life and loved ones, and a reaffirmation that spring will come again,
> bringing the warmth of the Sun with it.
> >>
>
> Nanci, you said this so well, I just want to repeat and reaffirm it.
>
> Betsy


Betsy, thanks for reposting it.. I missed it the first time around... and
Nanci, what you wrote is just what I think and feel, too!

Happy Holidays!
Monica

[email protected]

Nanci,
I could highlight and copy your whole post and say "well said"!
I don't think it really matters when Christ was born, it is the one specific
time that the world can come to a something close to peace. I love Santa, it
is fun, but hey, I was raised in a time when we had a haunted house in the
basement of our church. Halloween was a time of fun and joy for the kids,
and people weren't lecturing us that it was the celebration of Satan, maybe
in other countries it was, but it was never that intent here and as a child
we had such fun, dressing up and getting free candy, and roaming for hours
outside, at night! by ourselves! Can't do that today. Wow, how did I get to
Halloween from Christmas? LOL, To get back to the point, Christmas for us is
a beautiful time, your family makes it what it is, and you do what you want.
I love the hustle and bustle, the carols and everything that goes with it.
Heck, my boys were born, Dec 3 and Dec 24. We have a joint birthday party
the second weekend of Dec. We have friends and family, at our home, the kids
play all day inside, outside, where ever. The parents then have their party
in the evening, and I usually end up with about 7or 8 little boys spending
the night and half the next day. We just hang out, cook burgers on the
grill, order pizza the next day. It is a fun time for all the families.
Sorry, seems I am replying to everybody's posts on holidays and bday parties!
Teresa