It is that time of year again. The sickly, manipulative adverts have begun. People are gearing themselves up to spend too much money on a bunch of made up, zombie nonsense. Eating, drinking and buying too much plastic tat that makes them feel like they are part of something. Walking mindlessly through the shopping and eating 'traditions' like something undead.
I am talking, of course, about 'Christmas' and 'New Year'. At the risk of being called 'a humbug' or a 'party-pooper,' it really is the worst time of year. The depths of a Northern Hemisphere winter spoilt by overly commercialised, overly religious festivals that nobody thinks about and that should have limited place in a modern society. Think about it. Creationism, prophecies, virgin births, angels, wise men, magical moving stars, stables, donkeys, trees, turkeys, crackers, reindeer, chimneys and gifts. Really? What a load of absolute hokum. Nothing more than a mixed up, patchwork quilt of Pagan,
Victorian and ancient religious 'traditions'. It can all be traced back to near history and most of it originates from European, Pagan celebrations of life and rebirth, the darkness of a Winter Solstice and the 'coming of the light'.
Take the 'tradition' of the Christmas Tree for example. Simply a Pagan celebration stretching back tens of thousands of years, using the evergreen tree to represent hope and rebirth through the winter and on in to spring. 'Offerings' were placed in the tree to placate (made up) spirits. It had very little to do with any organised religion until Queen Victoria popularised it in the early 1800s. Nature celebrated and later, hijacked. If you give any rational, objective thought to any of our 'customs', you will soon find that they are equally connected to such things. Nothing celebrates the yearning for springtime better than hacking down a small tree and decorating it as it slowly dies in the corner of the room.
In a modern society, we should be intelligent, sensible, rational, logical and informed people. We should not do myths or superstitions and they should not shape our daily lives. We should be standing at the very edge of human knowledge and celebrating our future achievements, not blindly accepting silly 'traditions' from days gone by. Days when people had less information and more reason to cling to such ridiculous notions, forced on them by power hungry despots. We have surely reached the point in human intellectual evolution where knowledge overtakes myth as our main source of celebration.
So why do we put up with these old stories that have absolutely no basis in reality or any relevance to our lives in, what should be, a forward thinking and modern country. Don't get me wrong, I think we should do something to celebrate the passing of the winter solstice, but let's at least make it relevant. It is about family, Winter, sharing and looking forward to days when the summer sun will once again grace our lives. Let's do lights to brighten the place up. I call mine 'Winter Enlightenment Lights' and they have been up since the clocks went back (GMT winter). Let's do presents to make each other feel better about the short, cold days. Let's get together and spend time with friends and family. Let's eat some nice food to remind us that our ancestors once struggled to get through the winter. Let's think about how lucky we are to have such wondrous opportunities and technologies. Enjoy it, but let's not pretend it has anything to do with any outdated, monotheistic religious claptrap.
It truly disappoints me that in the modern world we put so much emotional, financial and national emphasis on celebrating something that is so totally passe. As children we are bullied and brainwashed in to believing that this stuff has meaning. As adults we continue to allow these myths to be taught in schools, reinforce them with our actions at home and in society at large and the cycle goes on, plunging us deeper in to spiritual and financial bankruptcy. What we need to do is step back, have a good, hard look at our society and re-balance it. Let's be realistic, step up to the edge of human knowledge and achievement and celebrate something worthwhile. The entire world of human knowledge is available to us at the push of a button yet we persist in blindly celebrating plastic, meaningless, pale remnants of something truly beautiful. Happy Winter, northern hemisphere.
Take the 'tradition' of the Christmas Tree for example. Simply a Pagan celebration stretching back tens of thousands of years, using the evergreen tree to represent hope and rebirth through the winter and on in to spring. 'Offerings' were placed in the tree to placate (made up) spirits. It had very little to do with any organised religion until Queen Victoria popularised it in the early 1800s. Nature celebrated and later, hijacked. If you give any rational, objective thought to any of our 'customs', you will soon find that they are equally connected to such things. Nothing celebrates the yearning for springtime better than hacking down a small tree and decorating it as it slowly dies in the corner of the room.
In a modern society, we should be intelligent, sensible, rational, logical and informed people. We should not do myths or superstitions and they should not shape our daily lives. We should be standing at the very edge of human knowledge and celebrating our future achievements, not blindly accepting silly 'traditions' from days gone by. Days when people had less information and more reason to cling to such ridiculous notions, forced on them by power hungry despots. We have surely reached the point in human intellectual evolution where knowledge overtakes myth as our main source of celebration.
So why do we put up with these old stories that have absolutely no basis in reality or any relevance to our lives in, what should be, a forward thinking and modern country. Don't get me wrong, I think we should do something to celebrate the passing of the winter solstice, but let's at least make it relevant. It is about family, Winter, sharing and looking forward to days when the summer sun will once again grace our lives. Let's do lights to brighten the place up. I call mine 'Winter Enlightenment Lights' and they have been up since the clocks went back (GMT winter). Let's do presents to make each other feel better about the short, cold days. Let's get together and spend time with friends and family. Let's eat some nice food to remind us that our ancestors once struggled to get through the winter. Let's think about how lucky we are to have such wondrous opportunities and technologies. Enjoy it, but let's not pretend it has anything to do with any outdated, monotheistic religious claptrap.
It truly disappoints me that in the modern world we put so much emotional, financial and national emphasis on celebrating something that is so totally passe. As children we are bullied and brainwashed in to believing that this stuff has meaning. As adults we continue to allow these myths to be taught in schools, reinforce them with our actions at home and in society at large and the cycle goes on, plunging us deeper in to spiritual and financial bankruptcy. What we need to do is step back, have a good, hard look at our society and re-balance it. Let's be realistic, step up to the edge of human knowledge and achievement and celebrate something worthwhile. The entire world of human knowledge is available to us at the push of a button yet we persist in blindly celebrating plastic, meaningless, pale remnants of something truly beautiful. Happy Winter, northern hemisphere.
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