Winter Solstice

In an increasingly secular society here in the United States, Christmas has a diminishing meaning. Here in the United States stores now open on Christmas day and several banks are now offering holiday services. It is now almost endemic in our society that nothing can ever close. Americans have turned this day into a day of consumption.

As I sit here and stare at the beautiful blue sky through the windows which are helping keep the heat from our gas furnace inside, I know it is cold, and everyone's trying to get some heat to their hearts, but very few can actually do it. For many, Christmas is a time to be spent with friends and family, to put as much food and wine as possible within their already full-filled stomachs.

Instead, for me it is only a time of recapitulation, of remembrance of how many things I wanted to do and I couldn't.

It's difficult to be around people who are plastically saying "Merry Christmas"....and not really understanding the pain that is in the world today, that there are people being killed by our military, your sons, brothers, sisters, fathers, friends...and that there are starving people in this world, whose screams of agony that can never be heard because they would sound too horrible and perturbing to the society that commands one to smile always, no matter how much one is suffering, no matter how cold one is, no matter how much pain is within one's heart.

While for many, Christmas is a time to run into the stores to buy some happiness and to wait for presents that would hopefully give them a bit of that happiness they need. But for me Christmas is a time for being grateful for what I have achieved spiritually and intellectually throughout the year. Displaying acts of love, kindness and joy come naturally when you feel fulfilled and satisfied with yourself. I know that I could not have achieved so much without some spiritual strength, and from an eternal friend, Pholus - who allowed me to see the world through the eyes of another.

I feel that most people are missing the true point entirely. This religious holiday seems to have become nothing more than a time for people to express their religious traditions and are compared and unashamedly pronounced as being the "best" of the lot.

Yes, I do respect other people's religious beliefs, and if you feel no reason to celebrate this Pagan tradition, then you have the right to behave in the way that you have chosen. The the only reason Christmas seems to be such a universal festival is because of the unnecessary emphasis that corporations of the western world have placed on materialistism.

Most people are spending lots and lots of money on gifts instead of considering what Christmas really means. It's bizaar, you see it all around you. Christmas is a day of joy and it is a day of celebrating the Birth of Jesus Christ, right? There are some people, however, who do not know what Christmas is all about. They are programmed to celebrate it. Yes, gifts are wonderful to give out, and should be given throughout the year, when not expected. The meaning goes much much further.

Christmas was invented by the Christians to assist the wiping out of ancient pagan traditions and the brain washing of native Britons. This time of year is called Yule in those traditions and is celebrated still by a growing number of people. I believe in the existence of Jesus Christ, but not as a son of god. The spirit of Yule is older than Christianity, its a shame that so many have kneeled before a false image. Christmas has always been a pagan celebration. Even today, those that called themselves Christian, are actually pagan believers, they just haven't awakened to it. Christmas is celebrated by the masses who have no sense. As a non-christian belief, this can be quite a hostile time.

With religion penetrating every aspect of life in the US, people view you as being strange for not celebrating it. Ironic for a country with supposed freedom of religion, and more ironic that Christmas is not so important in the Holy Land. Go figure.

To me Christmas is a time when I grasp hold onto the simple messages of Peace and Love. In this complicated and hurry up world, somehow we have obscured this simple message. Unfortunately the noise, bright lights and ringing cash registers make the message, difficult to see and hear. It has become a pointless charade.

To most people, Christmas means only two things to them, getting drunk and receiving gifts. They have fallen prey to the commercialized, possession-orientated, advertisement-led, greedy "must have" society.

"Christmas is not a time or a season but a state of mind. To cherish peace and good will, to be plenteous in mercy, is to have the real spirit. If we think on these things, there will be born in us re-newed hope and over us will shine a star sending its gleam of hope to the world." - PowerSpirit3

Perhaps when thinking about what we're celebrating at this time of the year its worth noting that the original celebration (before it was hijacked by Christianity) was a pagan one to mark the end of the winter and shorter nights. As this was an occasion with large amounts of eating, drinking and merrymaking we could say that the occasion is getting back to what it was originally about! Your actually celebrating a Pagan holiday, the winter Solstice, which has started yesterday, and for the next six months, the days will once again get longer.

The word "solstice" comes to us from combining the Latin words "sol" (the sun) and "sistere" (to stand still), which is precisely what the sun appears to do in the arc it traces across the sky from our perspective here on Earth, and it does this twice every year: once in June, and again in December. For us here in the Northern Hemisphere, the June solstice marks the start of summer and the period of maximum daylight and shortest nighttime darkness, while the December solstice kicks off winter and represents the shortest days and longest nights.

These astronomical events have formed the basis for awe and celebration for cultures as ancient and as global as humanity itself. And the solstices would not occur at all were it not for a geometric quirk in the relationship between the Earth and the sun. If you think of the circular path around which the Earth travels around the sun as a plane, the axis that goes through the north and south poles on which Earth spins (thus giving us individual days) is at a tilt of about 23.5 degrees. If the axis were to be perpendicular to our orbital plane, we'd have 12 hour days and nights every day of the year, and the whole matter of seasons and of changes therein would be totally alien to us.

So on this solstice, let's all stand still for just a moment and appreciate what the day represents. Tomorrow is another day, and one that will feature just a little extra bit of daylight.

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