There's Nothing Christian About Christmas

Gifts, feasting, caroling, lights, decorating evergreens, even charity:  all establishing pagan traditions centuries if not millenia before anyone invented christianity.


LiveScience:

When you gather around the Christmas tree or stuff goodies into a stocking, you're taking part in traditions that stretch back thousands of years — long before Christianity entered the mix.

Pagan, or non-Christian, traditions show up in this beloved winter holiday, a consequence of early church leaders melding Jesus' nativity celebration with pre-existing midwinter festivals. Since then, Christmas traditions have warped over time, arriving at their current state a little more than a century ago.

SNIP

The Christmas tree is a 17th-century German invention, University of Bristol's Hutton told LiveScience, but it clearly derives from the pagan practice of bringing greenery indoors to decorate in midwinter. The modern Santa Claus is a direct descendent of England's Father Christmas, who was not originally a gift-giver. However, Father Christmas and his other European variations are modern incarnations of old pagan ideas about spirits who traveled the sky in midwinter, Hutton said.


But why this fixation on partying in midwinter, anyway? According to historians, it's a natural time for a feast. In an agricultural society, the harvest work is done for the year, and there's nothing left to be done in the fields.

"It's a time when you have some time to devote to your religious life," said Shaw. "But also it's a period when, frankly, everyone needs cheering up."

The dark days that culminate with the shortest day of the year ­— the winter solstice — could be lightened with feasts and decorations, Hutton said.

But the big pagan source of Christmas - the one most blatantly stolen by Christians - is Saturnalia.

 It was a public holiday celebrated around December 25th in the family home. A time for feasting, goodwill, generosity to the poor, the exchange of gifts and the decoration of trees. But it wasn’t Christmas. This was Saturnalia, the pagan Roman winter solstice festival.

Winter Solstice 5:44 a.m. Wednesday

Of course the Xians stole it.  That's what they do. 

 

International Business Times:

For many who are already sick of long nights and wondering when the sun is going to start making a longer appearance in their lives, hope is right around the corner. Winter solstice will occur on Wednesday, marking the shortest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere, the moment when the North Pole is tilted furthest away from the sun – 23.5 degrees, to be precise. For 2016, the exact moment falls at 5.44 a.m. EST, Dec. 21.

While it also marks the start of astronomical winter, the winter solstice heralds the shift toward increasing sunlight hours. That is certainly something to be cherished today but for many cultures throughout history it has been considered a hugely significant event.

Pagans

Thousands of years ago, when people were dependent on the harvesting of crops for survival, the seasons and the sun were of crucial importance. Thus the winter solstice was seen as a rebirth, marking the start of lighter days. Many ancient civilizations, including the Egyptians, Greeks and Romans, made offerings to gods as a celebration of the sun’s return.

One of the most enduring pagan celebrations of the winter solstice is the ancient German festival of Yule. As well as sacrifices being offered to the god Odin, it was an occasion for much merriment, with feasts, ale drinking and singing.

Stonehenge

Celebrations of winter solstice continue to this day, with one of the most prominent set to take place at Stonehenge. The English historical landmark is believed to have been constructed thousands of years ago by Celtic druids to line up with the exact position of the sunset on winter solstice. It was then the sight for a festival featuring animal sacrifices and much eating and drinking. In 2016, people – druid or not – will be given free admission to the site to observe the solstice, sans-sacrifice.

Christmas

Winter solstice celebrations also continue to live on with Christmas. Many traditions of Yule are linked with the Christian holiday, such as the Yule Log, which was burnt during Yule celebrations in ancient times and has now been made into a tasty treat. Christmas trees, mistletoe and gift-giving also have their roots with the winter solstice.

But the very date Christmas is celebrated also has its roots in the Pagan rituals. No date is given for Jesus’ birth in the Bible and it was originally Easter that was given far greater significance in the Christian calendar. It wasn’t until the fourth century that celebrating Christmas was crystalized in the calendar. It is believed by some that the date of Dec. 25 was chosen for Christmas in part because it coincided with the Roman winter solstice celebration of Saturnalia.

The best way to celebrate the beginning return of light and life is to get naked outside friends, jump in a hot tub and fuck your brains out.

 

Welcome Back, Sol

The actual reason for the season:  days start getting longer starting today.

Divine Irony:

kidsneedscience:

Understanding the Solstice

The first day of winter and the shortest day of the year begin tomorrow, December 22, the day of the Winter solstice.  At 4:48 am Greenwich Mean time, the Solstice will arrive.  The word solstice is relatively old in English, dating back to the 13th century.  Solstice derives from the Latin word solstitium meaning very literally the point at which the sun stands still, a combination of the words sol meaning sun and the past participial stem of sistere meaning to come to a stop, make stand still.  Celebrated thoughout history as either a secular or religious day, the solstice marks the point on the ecliptic when the Northern Hemisphere is pointed most away from the sun and therefore has the shortest day. 

The easiest way to visualize the effect of the Earth’s  orbit around the sun and the changing seasons is to view it from space.  Above, the winter and summer solstices and the vernal and autumnal equinoxes from 2011.  On the equinox (Latin for equal night) you can clearly see that the shadow is straight up and down, giving us equal day and night, while in the solstices, the Earth is either inclined toward or away from the Sun, giving us days and nights of different lengths.  For reference, find the Arabian peninsula in the upper right quadrant of each image.  The second illustration shows what it looks like the Sun is doing, but remember that we travel around the Sun, not the other way around.

Satellite photos courtesy of NASA in the public domain.

Jeebus-Free Christmas Traditions

From Divine Irony:

confrontingbabble-on:

12 Christmas Traditions Even a Black-hearted Grinch of an Atheist Can Celebrate

by Valerie Tarico

Here are twelve traditions with ancient roots. If they have been adopted and adapted by those who choose this time of year to celebrate the birth of Christianity and so the birth of some of Christendom’s darker angels, don’t let that put you off. They can just as easily be adopted and adapted by those who have moved beyond belief.

1. Celebrating the End of December. All across the Northern Hemisphere our ancestors marked the winter solstice with festivals that acknowledge the cycle of life: death and birth, darkness and light. For cold, lean people it may have seemed like the sun might never reappear. Yet, a few days after solstice the days began to visibly lengthen, promising another spring. Persephone would return from Hades; King Winter would be beaten! Pagan Scandinavia celebrated Yule, the great turning of the wheel of life. The Roman Pope Julius 1 chose December 25 to honor the birthday of Jesus because it already hosted two related festivals of birth: natalis solis invicti (“birth of the unconquered sun”), and the birthday of Mithras, the “Sun of Righteousness.”  Today, mid-winter celebrations in the month of December include the Buddhist Bodhi Day (December 8); Hannukah (December 8); Solstice itself, which has many names; Hindu Pancha Ganapati (December 21-25); Festivus (December 23), Kwanzaa (December 26-January 1), New Years Eve, and of course, Hogmanay.
   
   
2. Candles & Lights
   Since ancient times, man-made lights have symbolized the light of the sun and the promise of brighter days to come. We are told that pagan Romans decorated living trees with fragments of metal and images of the fertility god Bacchus. Twelve candles on a tree honored the sun god. The writings of one early Church father, Tertullian, discuss early Christians who imitated their neighbors by decorating their homes with candles and laurel at the turn of the year. In the North of Europe, Germanic people honored Woden by tying candles to evergreen branches, along with fruit. The Jewish festival of Hanukkah, a time of remembering, is centered on the menorah and is also called the Festival of Lights.
   
   
3. Trees
   For many Pagan peoples of Europe, evergreen trees were symbols of enduring life. Their branches had the power to fend off evil spirits. Druids held ceremonies while gathered around sacred trees. Cutting entire trees and bringing them indoors may have been too destructive, but we know that Pagans brought in evergreen boughs. Because trees are so strongly associated with Pagan celebrations some Christians have opposed them being a part of Christmas festivities. The first record of a decorated Christmas tree dates to 1521, in Germany. At the time, a prominent Lutheran minister protested: “Better that they should look to the true tree of life, Christ.” But the appeal of evergreen branches indoors is so universal that it has since been adopted through much of Christianity and into some homes for the celebration of the Jewish Hanukkah.
   
   
4.  Wreaths
   In Scandinavia, the traditional Yule wreath symbolized the “Wheel of the Year,” which was also honored around the calendar with festivals marking winter and summer solstice and each equinoxes. Some ancient groups believed that the great wheel stopped turning at the point of the winter solstice and so it was taboo to turn a butter churn or wheel on the shortest day of the year. For Germanic people, wreaths decorated with small candles encouraged the return of spring: the circle of the wreath representing the seasons, and the candles representing warmth from the sun. When made of holly and ivy, a wreath was thought to provide protection to any household where it hung on the door.
   
   
5. Santa
   Given his ethnic roots, Santa Claus should be a symbol of multi-culturalism! His familiar form and story have been shaped most recently by 19th Century American and European media and marketers including the Bon Marche Department Store in Liverpool, Disney Studios, and Coca-Cola. They in turn drew on Scandinavian images of elves with red tunics and pointed hats, with sleighs and reindeer. Before that, the Italian/Greek/Spanish/Turkish story of St. Nicholas and the Germanic god Odin appear to have merged to create the Dutch figure, Sinterklaas, who rides through the sky on a white horse. His mischievous black-faced helpers listen at the chimneys to help him figure out whether children have been bad or good.
   
   
6. Mistletoe
   The magical status of Mistletoe goes so far back that it is lost in the mist of history. It played a role in Greek mythology and was likely the Golden Bough in the story of Aeneas. Across pagan Europe it was seen as a sacred symbol of male vitality and fertility. In one Norse story the goddess Frigga extracts a promise from each element and plant that it will not harm her son Balder, the god of the summer sun. But she overlooks the mistletoe, which lives not on the earth nor in the sky, but in between, in the arms of oak trees. The evil god Loki makes an arrow tip out of Mistletoe and gives it to Hoder, the blind god of winter, who kills Balder. For three days the other gods try in vain to restore him to life. Finally Frigga succeeds. Some versions of the story say that her tears turn into the mistletoe’s white berries and that afterwards Frigga kisses anyone who passes beneath a branch on which mistletoe grows.
   
   
7. Holly
   As Christianity spread across Europe, the red berries and spiny leaves of the holly plant became spiritual symbols representing the red blood of Jesus and his crown of thorns. But as with many other holiday favorites, Holly already had special meaning for local people. The familiar Christmas carol, “The Holly and the Ivy” contains vestiges of Celtic tradition in which a males and females were dressed in Holly and Ivy leaves and enacted a dance or ritual representing male and female energy. In the mythology of the British Isles, the Holly King was said to rule over the waning half of the year, from the summer solstice to the winter solstice, whereupon he fought with the Oak King, who ruled the season of planting and growth. In fact, the Holly King may be the Green Knight who Sir Gawain rose to fight at King Arthur’s Christmas feast.
   
   
8. Feasting!
   The Roman feast of Saturnalia lasted from December 17 through the 23. Picture a week-long progressive party in which normal roles are relaxed or reversed. At various times and places, white togas were replaced with colorful Greek garments, slaves dined with or before masters, and debauchery was widespread. But most of all, people ate. They ate at public banquets and private parties. Slaves ate foods normally reserved for the wealthy, and everyone ate well. Saturnalia recreated a mythical past in which bounty was the norm and all were free to indulge. The festival was popular enough that it may well have shaped early Christmas celebrations.
   
   But the reality is that happy humans feast together in virtually every culture and religion on the planet, and feasting is a part of many mid-winter traditions. In some cultures food was offered to the gods to help ease the winter or bring back the sun. But few ancient people could afford to waste large quantities of meat once it had been consecrated, so it was roasted and eaten, with appropriate ritual, storytelling, song and dance. The Saami people of Finland sacrificed white female reindeer for their solstice celebration.  Eastern Slavs celebrated the Feast of the winter mother goddess Rozhnitsa, at which deer shaped cookies were given as gifts and offerings to the goddess included honey bread and cheese .  In Iran, families and friends gather for a solstice celebration called Shabe Chelleh, where traditional foods include dried fruits and nuts.  Meat and ale were staples of the Germanic Yule feast.
   
   
9. Mulled Wine & Cider
   Some folks lament that wine is wasted by heating, but hot spiced wine and cider are long-standing staples of winter feasts. Traditional spices include cinnamon, mace, ginger, cloves, and orange, along with fortifications like black currant syrup and gin. Spiced wine dates back at least to the 1500s, when a version called “Hippocras” (named after Hippocrates) was sold to help heal muscle injuries. By early 1600, King Gustav I of Sweden was drinking a version of mulled wine he called “glodgad vin” known today simply as “glögg,” which means “to glow.” English villagers drank mulled cider while they went caroling or wassailing the apple orchards, where they banged together pots and pans to drive out evil spirits and then poured offerings of cider over tree roots.
   
   
10. Gift Giving
    The tradition of giving gifts at this time of year may owe some to the Roman god Saturn, patron of agriculture and plenty, and to his festival Saturnalia. For agricultural people, mid-winter can be a time of scarcity, and gift-giving during Saturnalia redistributed bounty from those who had excess to those who had little. Like feasting, though, giving gifts during celebrations is a tradition that has roots in many cultures, and perhaps even in biology. Our urge to give gifts is one that fascinates anthropologists, and one that many of us tackle with something between enthusiasm and exasperation. Whatever the roots, and however mixed we ourselves may feel, holiday merchants find the tradition a source of pure seasonal joy.
    
    
11. Hearth Fires
    Nothing says holiday cheer like an image of friends and family around a sparkling fireplace. The tradition of choosing a particularly hard, large log to burn, called the Yule log is a long-enduring English tradition that was adopted from the Germanic peoples of the Continent. British clergyman Robert Herrick wrote in the mid 17th Century that the young men who carried the log into the farmhouse were rewarded with free beer. With big enough fireplaces and dead trees and beer kegs this tradition alone might be enough to cheer some folks all the way through to the New Year.
    
    
12. Last But Not Least, The Number Twelve
    Twelve days of Christmasancient star worship! The number twelve has special significance in Judaism and Christianity. There are the twelve tribes of Israel, and the twelve disciples, and the 12,000 times 12 who, according to the book of Revelation, will make it into Heaven. Does that mean that those who have moved beyond belief should shun the number twelve? Absolutely not! Even the mythic significance of the number twelve has older roots, probably in the same that brought us the twelve signs of the zodiac and twelve months of the year and some parts of the Christmas story itself. Don’t forget the twelve feats of Hercules or the twelve Olympians. And perhaps you didn’t know about the twelve sons of Odin?
    

For as long as history has been recorded, and probably much longer, human culture has been a work in progress. We beg and borrow and mix and match. We live on the creative edge of chaos. Adopt Solstice as your holiday of choice, or Festivus, if you like. Or create your own tradition. But don’t be afraid to claim the Christmas customs that are dear to you, and then shape them as fits, and then hand them down, newly polished, to your children. That is part of what it means to be human.

Valerie Tarico is a psychologist and writer in Seattle, Washington. www.WisdomCommons.org    Awaypoint.Wordpress.com.

Winter at Kentucky State Parks

UPDATE Feb. 5

Yes, Kentucky State Parks are open all winter. If you haven't seen them in the snow, when the bare trees open scenic views invisible the rest of the year, you've got a treat coming.

• Woods Lore Weekend "Step back in time to the 18th century, when American Indians and European Americans lived closer to nature. Carter Caves State Resort Park at Olive Hill invites you to its Woods Lore and Tracking Weekend March 1-3. Participants will learn some of the skills that were necessary for everyday life, and of the cultural sharing that has made our modern lives richer."

• Oil Painting Weekend "If you've always wanted to learn how to paint, Pennyrile Forest State Resort Park has a weekend event for you Feb. 22-24. Learn the wet-on-wetmethod of oil painting by creating your very own 16x20 landscape painting. Our instructor, Bonita Mallory, will demonstrate her talents Friday night then instruct the class on Saturday and Sunday."

• Valentine's Day Events "Looking for that perfect place to celebrate Valentine’s Day? Consider a Kentucky State Park. Many parks are offering special events and packages in February to help celebrate Valentine’s Day." Click the link for a listing of special events.

• Wild Game and Bison Meals "After spending the day hiking, fishing or exploring, there’s no better way to take a break than to enjoy a good meal of bison or traditional wild game. The Kentucky State Parks are offering several opportunities like that during the winter months." Click the link for a listing of the special meals planned through January, February and March.

• Sandhill Crane Nature Watch "As it gets colder and you begin to hear the distinct cry of migrating birds overhead, you may want to take a second look at the flock soaring above you, because it just may be sandhill cranes rather than Canada geese. Barren River Lake State Resort Park is again offering two weekends in January and February to view these beautiful birds."

• Eagle Watch Weekends "Nature lovers should be making plans for a unique Kentucky State Park tradition – Eagle Watch Weekends in January and February 2013. The park system will sponsor this wildlife-watching opportunity as bald eagles gather around the major lakes of western Kentucky looking for food. The park tours allow you to observe and learn about these beautiful birds of prey."

• Military and Veteran Discounts "The Kentucky State Parks are offering lodging discounts to current and former members of our nation’s military services with the “USA Military Pass” program from Nov. 1, 2012, to March 31, 2013."

• Nature Preserves Exhibit "As a celebration of its 35th anniversary, the Kentucky State Nature Preserves Commission has put together a photo exhibit that is touring the state, including three Kentucky State Park locations."

• Elk Tours "Jenny Wiley and Buckhorn Lake State Parks in eastern Kentucky will offer guests a unique wildlife viewing opportunity this fall and winter – elk viewing tours."

Celebrate Human Light Dec. 23rd and All Year

Because 99 percent of the "Christmas" celebration was stolen by the freakazoids from the rest of us, so fuck 'em - this is ours.

Celebrate Human Light:

HumanLight illuminates Humanism's positive secular vision. In Western societies, late December is a season of good cheer and a time for gatherings of friends and families. During the winter holiday season, where the word "holiday" has taken on a more secular meaning, many events are observed. This tradition of celebrations, however, is grounded in supernatural religious beliefs that many people in modern society cannot accept. HumanLight presents an alternative reason to celebrate: a Humanist's vision of a good future. It is a future in which all people can identify with each other, behave with the highest moral standards, and work together toward a happy, just and peaceful world.

Winter Solstice is What You're Celebrating

Tomorrow - Thursday, Dec. 22 - is officially the "First Day of Winter," which is just a lazy way of saying that Earth's winter solstice arrives in the Northern Hemisphere at 12:30 a.m. Eastern.

Find the history and cultural background of Winter Solstice here. Did you know that Julius Caesar figured the date of the Winter Solstice to be December 25, and that he did so about 50 years before Herod called a census in Judea? What a coincidence! Also, just about every culture on the planet has a mid-winter festival to celebrate the end of shortening days and the return of lengthening days. Bringing evergreens indoors, decorating our homes with extra lights, feasting, singing and exchanging gifts are millennia-old traditions that long predate Herod.

But here's the really cool stuff: Everything You Need to Know About the Solstice from astronomy website earthsky.org.

The winter solstice is this week for us in the northern hemisphere. After the winter solstice, the days will get longer. Celebration time!

Late dawn. Early sunset. Short day. Long night. For us in the northern hemisphere, the December solstice marks the longest night and shortest day of the year.

If you live in this hemisphere, it’s your signal to celebrate. The shortest day is here! After the winter solstice, the days will get longer, and the nights shorter. It’s a seasonal shift that nearly everyone notices.

The solstice happens at the same instant for all of us, everywhere on Earth. But our clocks say different times.

In 2011, the December solstice takes place on Wednesday, December 21 at 11:30 p.m. CST (Thursday, December 22 at 5:30 UTC).

SNIP

The earliest humans knew that the sun’s path across the sky, the length of daylight, and the location of the sunrise and sunset all shifted in a regular way throughout the year. They built monuments, such as Stonehenge, to follow the sun’s yearly progress.

But we today see the solstice differently. We can picture it from the vantage point of space. Today, we know that the solstice is an astronomical event, caused by Earth’s tilt on its axis, and its motion in orbit around the sun.

Because Earth doesn’t orbit upright, but is instead tilted on its axis by 23-and-a-half degrees, Earth’s northern and southern hemispheres trade places in receiving the sun’s light and warmth most directly. That’s what causes winter and summer.

At the December solstice, Earth is positioned in its orbit so that the sun stays 23-and-a-half degrees below the north pole horizon. As seen from 23-and-a-half degrees south of the equator, at the imaginary line encircling the globe known as the Tropic of Capricorn, the sun shines directly overhead at noon. This is as far south as the sun ever gets. All locations south of the equator have day lengths greater than 12 hours at the December solstice. Meanwhile, all locations north of the equator have day lengths less than 12 hours.

Read the whole thing, including an explanation of why neither the earliest sunset nor the latest sunrise fall on the day of Winter Solstice.

The Reason for the Season: Light

Since the dawn of homo sapiens sapiens, human beings have celebrated in mid-winter for a simple reason: Light.

The day of the winter solstice is the shortest day of the year, with the longest night. With the next dawn, the days begin to lengthen. Light returns.

Even after we figured out why the sun seemed to almost disappear in winter, only to reappear, and realized that it did so regardless of our festivals to entice it to return, mid-winter celebrations remained essential cultural touchstones.

Call it what you wish; create whatever myth comforts you; consecrate it with music that represents the best and worst of human composition, it remains what it has always been: A Celebration of Light.

If none of the religious myths appeal to you, try Human Light Day on December 23.

HumanLight illuminates Humanism's positive secular vision. In Western societies, late December is a season of good cheer and a time for gatherings of friends and families. During the winter holiday season, where the word "holiday" has taken on a more secular meaning, many events are observed. This tradition of celebrations, however, is grounded in supernatural religious beliefs that many people in modern society cannot accept. HumanLight presents an alternative reason to celebrate: a Humanist's vision of a good future. It is a future in which all people can identify with each other, behave with the highest moral standards, and work together toward a happy, just and peaceful world.

Tomorrow, may you have Light.

Celebrate HumanLight Day

Yes, it's arbitrarily assigned to a date in early winter, but why not? So's everything else.

Human beings naturally feel the urge to celebrate the time when the shortening days finally begin to lengthen and life returns with the sun.

So call it HumanLight Day: Celebrating Humanity, Reason and Hope.

HumanLight illuminates Humanism's positive secular vision in late December.

In Western societies, late December is a season of good cheer and a time for gatherings of friends and families ... This tradition of celebrations, however, is grounded in supernatural religious beliefs that many people in modern society cannot accept.

HumanLight presents an alternative reason to celebrate: a Humanist's vision of a good future. It is a future in which all people can identify with each other, behave with the highest moral standards, and work together toward a happy, just and peaceful world.

It is a vision that we not only wish to celebrate, but which we also wish to communicate to our children, families and friends. We want the people important to us to understand the ideals that we hold most dear to our hearts and, in so doing, to have a fuller understanding of who we are as people.

Similarly, the celebration of HumanLight promises to give humanism a larger presence in the public view. It is an event that draws attention, often attracting reporters as well. Through the publicity that HumanLight generates, we can reach people who, because they cannot accept supernatural explanations or religious guidelines for living, feel alone and isolated in our society, unaware of the humanist organizations, events and publications that are available to them.

It is also important to us that people who are not Humanists know that we exist, that their society includes honest, generous, productive people who do not believe in gods or religions.

HumanLight encourages us to have fun enjoying music, art, food, and each other's company. It also gives us an opportunity to convey that although we don't believe in the supernatural, we do believe in the growth and betterment of all people through reason, science, empathy, joy, optimism and moral excellence. It is a message we present in kindness, at a moment when we come together not to engage in debate but to make both emotional and intellectual contact in a positive and constructive atmosphere.

Personally, I'd like to start a tradition of gathering those who have used superstitious religious beliefs to abuse, attack and murder others, and executing them by slow torture. But feel free to celebrate HumanLight Day as you see fit.

Cross-posted at BlueGrassRoots.