"Joy and pleasure are as real as pain and sorrow and one must learn what they have to teach. . . ." -- Sean Russell, from Gatherer of Clouds

"If you're not having fun, you're not doing it right." -- Helyn D. Goldenberg

"I love you and I'm not afraid." -- Evanescence, "My Last Breath"

“If I hear ‘not allowed’ much oftener,” said Sam, “I’m going to get angry.” -- J.R.R. Tolkien, from Lord of the Rings

Monday, December 25, 2006

Season's Greetings

A general story about Pagans, sparked by the fact that the VA is being sued over grave markers. (Weird, that.)

I should point out one major inaccuracy in the story: "Wicca" is a -- hmm, call it a "denomination" -- within Paganism. It's a specific tradition with particular basic tenets that are not necessarily shared by all Pagans. However, most of the literature you're going to see on it (in the "Occult" section of the bookstore, rather than the "Religion" section, which seems somehow bigoted) is about Wicca. The best source I've seen for at least a brief description of other traditions is Margot Adler's Drawing Down the Moon, which is sort of a survey-history of Paganism in the US.

As far as Pagans and Christmas, I don't have any problem with celebrating Christmas -- the holiday in all its fundamentals is the same: the (re)birth of the Sun, who is also the Son of the Goddess. The actual holiday is Yule, observed at the solstice, but in the old calendar, everything is set five days back (hence Beltane, May 1, becomes Cinco de Mayo, and Yule could be celebrated on December 25 or 26). Besides, most of the traditions are Pagan anyway. (The hagiography of Christ fits in perfectly with that of the Pagan God anyway -- essentially a solar deity who sacrifices himself for his people and is resurrected/reborn. It's just that Christianity got the timing wrong, for political reasons, mostly.)

So, a Blessed Yule to all.

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