A Special Xmas Thread for WTWizard

cameo-d

WTWizard is crazy about Christmas. He talks about Xmas all year long because he soooo looks forward to the big ado of decorating. He loves the lights and the tinsel and the smells of scotch pine and cinnamon. It has been rumored that he doesn't take his Christmas lights down until the snow melts.

Anyway, I thought it would be fun to have a special thread of Christmas interest for WTWizard and any others who find this pagan holiday so exciting.

I'll start with Christmas Trees around the world, and you all can just jump in with your favorite things, whether it's customs and traditions, foods, decorations, songs, whatever.

This website gives a slide show of Xmas trees from different countries and a short blurb about what makes Xmas different or unusual in that particular country. Also some photos give close-ups of the ornaments. Enjoy!

http://easteuropeanfood.about.com/od/christmaseve/ig/Christmas-Trees/xmastreesmain.htm

VampireDCLXV

I thought it would be fun to have a special thread of Christmas interest for WTWizard and any others who find this pagan holiday so exciting.

Why the emphasis on the pagan side of it? What is it to you, cameo-d, that it's pagan? I simply don't give a crap about x-mas because it's over-commercialized, over-rated bullshit...

V665 V665

zeroday*

I'm an Atheist and I love Christmas...

cameo-d

Party poopers----go suck an egg.

Faberge Egg Ornaments

VampireDCLXV

No, cameo-d, nobody wants to suck on an egg... not even a Fabergé egg. Now answer my question about the pagan thing, dammit!

V665 V665

cameo-d

Sometimes you can't even have a Xmas thread without the

WTWizard

I believe that there are other reasons and benefits to Christmas other than Jesus. Yes, Jesus' birth is what is being honored on Christmas. Quite a few people do this because they are thankful that Jesus sacrificed his life for us. Others (myself included) believe that Jesus merely died trying to set us free from Jehovah, and that is enough to honor Jesus (and Satan, who is the other being that tried to free us from Jehovah's tyranny).

Christmas is also a day to enjoy one's material blessings. That is why we have gift giving, and people generally get the day off to enjoy their stuff. Traditionally, people give gifts because they want others to be able to share in this blessing, and in response to receiving gifts.

We also see this as a time to enjoy the lights (most people, myself included, enjoy colored lights), colors (red, green, silver, and gold go very nicely together), and shapes. A well decorated Christmas tree has the right balance of lights (clear and/or colored), sparkle, simple ornaments, intricate ornaments, and variety that most people enjoy. Even a poorly decorated tree can teach people to do better, and since decorating for Christmas is an art, it helps one to appreciate art that much more.

Christmas is also a time to enjoy family and friends, to reflect on peace, relax, enjoy fine food and drink (never drinking and driving--there is no proper time to drink and drive), enjoy the snow (instead of swearing and cursing at it), and is a transition to a new year when you have a chance to work on some aspect of your life that needs work. I think most of us can find at least one of thsee articles to enjoy, and that is sufficient reason to celebrate Christmas even if you don't like the other aspects.

And, for those who were Jehovah's Witlesses, celebrating Christmas has one more dimension. It serves as a slap in the face to those witlesses that would be trying to get you to continue wasting your life in their religion. Children also get the dimension of the excitement that leads to the big day--I think most small children that are brought up around Christmas look forward to it (and they wish every day was Christmas). Adults get the chance to enjoy it, returning themselves to childhood for the day.

chickpea

The Shortest Day -- Susan Cooper

So the shortest day came, and the year died,

And everywhere down the centuries of the snow-white world

Came people singing, dancing,

To drive the dark away.

They lighted candles in the winter trees;

They hung their homes with evergreen;

They burned beseeching fires all night long

To keep the year alive,

And when the new year's sunshine blazed awake

They shouted, reveling.

Through all the frosty ages you can hear them

Echoing behind us - Listen!

All the long echoes sing the same delight,

This shortest day,

As promise wakens in the sleeping land:

They carol, feast, give thanks,

And dearly love their friends,

And hope for peace.

And so do we, here, now,

This year and every year.

Welcome Yule!

relevant only in the northern hemisphere, lest we forget

A Special Xmas Thread for WTWizard

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