Ho Ho Ho, Merry...

Christmas. Yes, I guess Christmas is the right completion of that phrase. A phrase which to many means family, giving, receiving, and sharing joy. It's probably no shock. I don't celebrate Christmas either. Before you demonstrate the gesture for the evil eye, please hear me out.

I have many issues I have dealt with and deal with continually regarding Christmas. I don't begrudge anyone their choice to celebrate the holiday. I also don't want you to think that neither Pagans nor Wikkans observe the holiday celebrations either, some do and some don't. Some feel more comfortable with Yule than the Christian holiday. To some it doesn't matter. I enjoy all the good vibes which are generated by being in good company, sharing, and celebrating. I feel I can appreciate these feelings any time of the year. Many people have time off for travel and so this is a popular time of year for Christmas to occur. There are other times of year that facilitate family gatherings also.

I stopped celebrating Christmas when I was 15. I remember the incredible revulsion I felt as I sensed the stress, and anxiety this day, which should be the most happy of the year, caused for many. Why is it so necessary to give or receive? Why not just be? I remember driving through a parking lot in later years and experiencing several near misses as folks pulled into parking spaces directly in front of me. One woman even let out a few choice words when she wasn't able to nudge in ahead of me to a parking spot. Folks who would as soon spit on folks as speak to them, were so cloyingly nice, I found myself missing their true demeanor. I guess this goes hand-in-hand with my perception that many people are on some form of perception altering narcotic. Once it wears off (just after New Years) it is business as usual again. Why can't the illusions of joy and goodwill be sincere and a day-to-day norm?

Too, I have always derived some amusement from the practice of giving to everyone but the birthday celebrant. One of the reasons the 25th of December was selected for the official day of Christmas was its proximity to the Roman celebration (Saturnalia?) at that time. One of the ways Christians gained control over the peoples they conquered in the name of their gods (besides fear) was to usurp the traditional celebrations of the indigenous peoples. The Christian bible mentions in the Old Testament the practice of Pagans was to deck the trees.

I prefer to show appreciation to those I love throughout the

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