A Pagan Christmas – Eat, Drink And Be Merry

Okay, okay! We get it. Christmas is all about celebrating the birth of Christ and what we Pagans do is something different altogether. Except that it isn’t, not really.

Gwion: I was not brought up as a Christian. I did attend a Church of England school, which means I learned a great deal about the Gutenberg Press and Martin Luther (no, the other one) and how to identify which period in history certain churches were built based upon their architecture. I was also taught how to play snooker, make cups of tea, and eat Digestive biscuits.

I  learned (or learnt, if you prefer) that the birth of Christ wasn’t celebrated by the early Christians at all until about 336-ish CE and that the forerunner of Father Christmas started in about 400 CE, with a bloke from Asia Minor throwing gifts into people’s homes. Of course, we learned that Saturnalia and other recorded festivals from parts of the “heathen” world were also celebrated around Christmastime, but interestingly enough, we didn’t spend as much time delving into those stories. I suspect it’s because the drinking, cavorting and generally acting like that person at your parent’s office party that spiked the punch and had a quickie in the stock room, sounded like a lot more fun that sitting in a manger and the vicar didn’t want us to know that for fear of losing us at an early age.

Phoenix: I actually find myself super annoyed at this time of the year, at least partially. All of the “we’ve gotta save Christmas” and the “Christmas is really Pagan” arguments (and now memes) are totally played out; and I’m super over it.

Does it really matter anymore? The ‘Winter Holidays’ have taken on a life of their own and very few people are honoring this time the way any of our ancestors did, no matter what their religious proclivities might have been. And so I find myself saying very little, responding not at all, and ignoring some of the Bah Humbug! energy that is out there. The holiday season has become something else.

Yes, I drink egg nog, I have a Yule tree, and open presents on Christmas morning. None of these things feel like the religious or spiritual depths of the winter. They are about family and celebrating and having some fun when it’s cold outside (or not so cold, ’cause I live in California).

So as it’s pretty clear that neither of us are ever likely to be awarded The Christian of the Year trophy, we thought we’d look at how the Pagan and Christian traditions might not be as far apart as some people think.

1.  We eat a roast beast and/or roast tofu with friends and beloveds on or about the Solstice. We also do a traditional Christmas dinner on Christmas day replete with crackers, silly hats and Yorkshire puds from England (Where Gwion is from) and have pickle and relish plates and play family games like Pit and more recently Cards Against Humanity. Christians eat meals. Pagans eat meals. Pagans play games. Christians play games (we think).
2. We attend (and/or plan) a Winter Solstice Ritual (or rituals) every year. Sometimes this involves being up all night and waking up the sun. That’s like Midnight mass, right? Seems like we both like rituals at this time of year.
3. We praise the return of the sun and what we might accomplish and witness and bring forward into the light. It’s not that much of a stretch to see that those of the Christian faith praise the birth of the Son and what the Light of the World might bring into being.
4. We exchange gifts with each other on the Winter Solstice and on Christmas day (mostly for the kids). Whether these gifts are emblematic of the gifts little baby Jesus got or hearken back to older traditions or are purely consumerism at it’s worst, our guess is that all but the most fundamental of Christians probably exchange gifts too (JWs are a noted exception that we know of).
5. According to certain Pagan memes we’ve seen on the interwebs, witches aren’t evil and don’ t eat babies at Christmas for sacrifices. We’ve seen no memes that suggest Christians eat babies at Christmas either, so there’s another thing we have in common.

The Witches Next Door would like to wish you all a Merry whatever floats your boat at this time of year. We’ll be Enjoying a lovely Winter Solstice and observing our own rites. We wish you peace, justice and love.

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