As a pagan, I’ve been asked a few times why I celebrate Christmas. It’s not a holiday in my faith, after all; I celebrate the eight holidays of the Wheel of the Year, and would celebrate at the winter solstice. And I do. That night I will hold a service at sunset and then we will keep a vigil all night until we see the sun rise. And of course there will be eating and drinking and games and laughter. Cause we like to have fun. So why do that and then do something else a few days later?
Well, there’s a lot of reasons. For one, most of the Western Christmas symbology is pagan. Ours is the fire that drives away the darkness, the carousing and feasting, the pine tree and the holly and the ivy, the giving of presents, and hanging on the tree representations of what we have received and what we hope for.
Secondly, I was raised in the United States in a Christian household, amongst a society that celebrated the secular Christmas with vigor. I’ve always liked the lights and the music and the color and the mood. Why should I cut myself off from that to be a purist? My faith doesn’t demand it. There’s much of Christmas in America that is cut off from religion and is simply cultural. That’s open for me to enjoy, and I do.
Thirdly, I have family members who aren’t pagan. It is an act of love for me to listen to the music at their house, and eat with them and open presents on Christmas Day. Why shove the fact that their relative is no longer Christian up their noses? That would be unkind. I won’t go to church with them, but I’ll stay home and make sure the feast is ready. After all, my faith says that where there is love and happiness, there is sacred space. I can be happy with that.
So a Blessed Solstice to my pagan sibs, and a wish to us all that we may know the hope against hope, the light in the darkness, in our own lives this month.
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