Here comes the sun,
Here comes the sun
And I say it’s all right. – George Harrison
Some people wonder why I, a pagan, celebrate Christmas. Certainly many pagans don’t, and the same could be said of many atheists and many others of non-Christian faiths. At the same time, many other non-Christians do indeed celebrate Christmas; it’s the single most popular holiday in the world, with thriving observances outside majority-Christian lands in Bangladesh, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Lebanon, Malaysia, Pakistan, Singapore and South Korea. It’s also the oldest, with roots reaching back roughly 6000 years to a land whose name is now lost to memory. In a very real sense, the story of Christmas is the story of human civilization, and it belongs to everyone rather than only to the members of the Johnny-come-lately religion whose label and rationale is now most commonly associated with it (and whose leaders, until quite recently, wanted absolutely nothing to do with it because they recognized it as the pagan rite it is).
Though people have affixed all sorts of mythology to the holiday, the real reason it exists is the event which occurred last night at 23:03 UTC: the winter solstice, when the apparent course of the sun reaches its southernmost point. Last night was the longest of the year, and for the next six months the days will increase in length while the sun’s apparent course moves northward. For modern people, wrapped in our technological cocoons and insulated from Nature, it hardly makes any difference; but for our ancestors, dependent upon the return of the spring for their crops to grow, the “rebirth” of the sun was a cause for joy and celebration. It meant they could be sure that, no matter how cold the rest of the winter to come might be, that it would eventually end; the snow would melt, the plants would blossom and the crops upon which civilization depended could be cultivated. There’s still a lesson there for us: no matter how bleak things may appear, and no matter how oppressive the weight of tribulation, there is yet hope; the sun always returns, and spring always comes, even if we must endure dreadful storms before it does. And if that isn’t a reason to celebrate, I can’t think of a better one.
The Syro-Malabar Nasrani Church is centred on Kottayam in Kerala, India. They claim to have been founded by Thomas the Apostle in the first century, though that’s probably untrue.
I’ve spent a couple of Christmases in nearby Trivandrum and was quite impressed by how enthusiastically the local Hindus and Muslims joined in. Christians are probably a minority at a typical Trivandrum Christmas Mass.
The Hindus are particularly into nativity dioramas (they love their holy dollies) and at this time of year Trivandrum streets are full of little models of baby Jesus, Mary, Joseph and the Magi in a stable with varying arrays of farm animals. Some are pretty garish, others are very tasteful and more than a few holy infants have a distinct blue tinge, a la baby Krishna (many Hindus believe Jesus – like Krishna and Rama – is an avatar of the god Vishnu).
It’s all very touching – especially when there has been recent communal conflict that is set aside for the duration – and I reckon it puts the consumerist bacchanalia of Australian Christmases in the shade.
Not for everyone.
Don’t forget, ’tis the season to commit murder and suicide.
The sun will return and spring will come, even for the ones who decided not to wait for it.
There is a better reason to celebrate the return of the sun… surviving. In truth, I believe that all our celebrations are about survival. That we have figured out the seasons is nothing compared to the revelry of knowing we survived again. It is the celebration of fortune, of winning, of defeat of our enemy. It is primal, genetic, central. Evolution ensures that the winners will celebrate survival, it is a trait of the most fit for the environment. Despite the genetics of it, it is also the essense of what we know to be true. Anything other than survival is bad. Celebrating survival, thriving, existing … these things are of value, not because the lights are pretty or the food is good but because it is the heart of what we are.
Anything other than survival is inevitable.
and so it is that we struggle through a meaningless life looking for meaning.
In 1969 a great Australian guru found the answer to that one.
Nice. I like it.
The great Buddhist bluesman from Maggie’s old stomping grounds also has a pretty good handle on that ‘meaning’ stuff.
Everything you ever wanted to know about how the church itself recounts the history of the Christmas holiday:
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03724b.htm
Doesn’t bother me that there’s some pagan/christian overlap about Christmas. Bothers a lot of protestants, though.
Question for thought: is traditional Christianity more compatible with paganism or protestantism?
Forgot to add: Merry Christmas, everyone.
Blessed Solstice to you, Maggie! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phZKDfhBcp4
Yesterday was dark, gloomy and damp in my part of Ireland, and it wasn’t any different around 80 miles south, at Newgrange. There’s a monument there, where the sun shines through to the very centre of the passageway of the tumulus at the solstice. When built, the sun shone through at dawn; it’s about 20 minutes late today because of the precession of the equinoxes.
It was built around 5000 years ago, and must be one of the world’s oldest calendars or clocks or sundials. Even then, the rebirth of the sun was a very significant event; the return of Spring, the proof of rebirth and the expectation of a future.
To be fair, one of the non-Christian-majority countries on your list– Lebanon– actually had a majority, or at least plurality, of Christians within the last century. And the Christians continued to dominate the country politically and economically for decades after they clearly became a minority.
And South Korea now has a Christian plurality according to some sources.
But your larger point is correct. Christmas is a very popular holiday even in some places without a large Christian population or history of Christian domination. Japan is definitely a well-known example.
I find this time of year to be the most difficult for me, and have, for years, and for a myriad of reasons. For the last decade or so I literally count the days to the Dark Day and back out. When it’s worst, I always forget that there’s hope and that the sun will return, as Maggie writes.
It doesn’t matter–and, in fat, it makes it worse, that my wife loves Christmas and the house is all decked out, and even more so, and her family is in town, almost of whom I like except her younger brother, who’s a competitive asshole and no one seems to care that he is.
So, thanks for the reminder, Maggie. It helps. It helps that the sun got out today and will be out for the next few, and it’s warm and like spring.
Happy Winter Solstice Maggie. May all the ideas, information, thoughts and desires you have planted so carefully, so wide, and so far rise and bloom across the minds of those most in need of receiving and appreciating them in the year ahead and beyond.
And good health and happiness to you and and all that you love. X
Ray
Doesn’t help that I go to work in the dark…work in a basement with no windows all day…and end up driving home in the dark. Loving my family, and the joy at knowing I’ll have a grandson next year, helps me get through it.
Vitamin D also helps. 🙂
I love the Christmas Story, but not what Christmas has become. If I ignore it all until the last couple of days it goes down much better.
“Fall on your knees,
Oh Hear the angel’s voices!
Oh night divine!
Oh night, when Christ was born!”
Gets to me every time.
May you all have a blessed Solstice, Christmas, Hanukah, Kwanza or day!
There are more than one significant Christian holidays with pagan roots. Many were kept for traditional reasons. Early Christians, not wanting to fall out of favor, simply wallpapered over the pagan holiday with a Christian theme.
wow. you’re a pagan. that’s so original.
Wow, you’re an asshole. That’s even more original.