Witch Willows WanderingsMerry Yul-Eid-Christ-Kwan-Hanu-Bodhi!
December 5th 2006 16:03
So Christmas, Yule, Hannukkah, or whatever you want to call it is just around the corner. There seems to be many different religions celebrating different “holidays” in December. Here is a short list along with approximate dates for the diverse celebrations that will be honored or acknowledged this year:
Dec. 8: Bodhi Day (Buddhist)
Dec. 16: First day of Hanukkah (Jewish)
Dec. 21: Winter Solstice/Yule (Wicca/Neo-paganism)
Dec. 25: Christmas (Christian)
Dec. 26: Kwanzaa (African Heritage)
Dec. 31: Eid ul-Adha (Islamic)
However, for the most part you will not really hear about the other religious days or celebrations, only Christmas and Hanukkah and maybe Yule. So why is it mostly Christmas we hear about around this time of year? The debate is still waging on about which religion was first, kind of like the chicken or the egg. I feel that it will be an everlasting debate because we all know that neither side will throw in the proverbial towel. Pagans insist we were the first official “Christmas” like holiday while the Christians say they were and Christmas is based solely on the birth of Christ even though it’s been proven that he was probably not born around this time of year. It’s a never ending battle and in the end it seems to only take away from all of the other religious celebrations. It’s pretty sad when retailers have to make the decision of what wording to use during the holidays so they won’t offend certain people.
Personally, I don’t care what it’s called. I was raised Christian, so I still tend to call it Christmas. I don’t walk around shouting “Merry Yule!” nor do I sing Yule carols or listen to “Yule music”. I don’t see any harm in calling it Christmas since it has been called that for so long, but apparently that term really bothers others. Well, maybe they need to lighten up and just go with it. Who cares, really, what the holiday is actually “called”. You should be focusing on how you celebrate it and the other more important aspects of this time of year such as family and friends or maybe even helping the less fortunate. But if we give in and let the Christians have their way and refer to the holiday season as Christmas, won’t that bury the other religious celebrations even further? Possibly, but does it truly matter? We will always have people like me that will be here to point out the “other” religious holidays and celebrations. And I think that as long as we celebrate for ourselves then let the Christians call it what they want and let them think it’s about them. Otherwise we will continue to battle over the issue and waste valuable time that we could be using doing other things such as celebrating our own beliefs or helping others.
So, on that note, what are “other” religions doing to celebrate this time of year? Wait for Part 2 of this post tomorrow where I will highlight the main “events” of the alternative holidays.
Blessed Be
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