Christmas presants

[squeezebox]

About 10 yrs ago when my son was 10, I went to him and said that baby jesus did not get his presents Dec 25 he got them from the maiji on Jan 7. so let's do presents Jan 7. He accused me of trying to cheat him out of presents. I explained with the after Christmas sales he would probably twice as much. He said , twice as much? yea! pinkey swear? Yea!! We've done it since

[Ktaadn]

are you orthodox?

[kayak karl]

when i saw the thread the first thing i thought of was, you need to ask for a dictionary ;)

[MuddyWaters]

About 10 yrs ago when my son was 10, I went to him and said that baby jesus did not get his presents Dec 25 he got them from the maiji on Jan 7. so let's do presents Jan 7. He accused me of trying to cheat him out of presents. I explained with the after Christmas sales he would probably twice as much. He said , twice as much? yea! pinkey swear? Yea!! We've done it since

Actually, the best that historians can determine was that Jesus was born sometime in the spring. Dec.25 was chosen because it was around a pagan feast day, and it was easier to convert people to Christianity if you let them keep their traditional feast days, and just convert them. There are many pagan symbols in Christmas still, the christmas tree, yule logs, etc. red and green, etc.

Saturnalia was a festival held between 17 and 24 December, which began in the days of the Roman Empire. This was a week of feasting, gift-giving (http://www.seiyaku.com/humour/flowers02.html) and an excuse for an orgy during the Northern Hemisphere's winter solstice. The objective of the debauchery and dancing around (carol1 (http://www.seiyaku.com/customs/christmas.html#sup01)) was to give the sun a nudge and send a message to Mother Earth to begin reproducing for the spring. This seemed to work quite well because sure enough, in spring things started growing again.

Which burns longer; a green candle or a red candle?
http://www.seiyaku.com/images/christmas/candles.jpg (http://www.seiyaku.com/customs/candle.html)
Neither. They both burn shorter!The traditional Christmas colours of red and green, being complementary colours2 (http://www.seiyaku.com/customs/christmas.html#sup02), represent male and female, fertility and incubation. Pagan decorations still seen around Christmas include the red berries and green leaves of holly, mistletoe and wreaths (http://www.seiyaku.com/customs/crosses/wreath.html). Yule festivities are a mixture of customs and beliefs going back thousands of years.
Celebrating the winter solstice was forbidden by the early church, but customs survived anyway and it didn't take much to tempt Christians to join in the solstice feast in honour of the Pagan god Mithra. So the church provided an alternative with a festival in honour of the birth of Christ and celebrations were definitely in order.

[Damn Yankee]

"I explained with the after Christmas sales he would probably twice as much"

Not completely sure I like this phrase. I feel it is portraying the wrong idea. The meaning of Christmas has over the years become so commercialized that the true meaning of Christmas has been lost. This year, Halloween wasn't even over yet and stores were already starting to advertise and display. What happened to Thanksgiving? No mention, not even commercials of family gatherings. I have become increasingly irritated and put out by this that, it isn't until Christmas morning when family comes to gather at my house for dinner, that I get in the spirit.

[Damn Yankee]

One more comment before I jump off my soap box. "Political Correctness" Using the phrase "Merry Christmas" or more importantly, not being able to use this greeting or salutation in fear of offending. Really tee's me off to no end. OK, I'm down now. Sorry and Merry Christmas to everyone!

[MuddyWaters]

"I explained with the after Christmas sales he would probably twice as much"

Not completely sure I like this phrase. I feel it is portraying the wrong idea. The meaning of Christmas has over the years become so commercialized that the true meaning of Christmas has been lost. This year, Halloween wasn't even over yet and stores were already starting to advertise and display. What happened to Thanksgiving? No mention, not even commercials of family gatherings. I have become increasingly irritated and put out by this that, it isn't until Christmas morning when family comes to gather at my house for dinner, that I get in the spirit.


Gift giving gone wild has ruined Christmas IMO. Cheap imported crap from China permits us to buy multiple gifts for anyone and everyone. So we do. Spend too much time in stores, traffic. Its a giant hassle. Wasnt as bad when I was a kid because Moms didnt work, so they had time to take care of it for the most part. Definitely worse since then.

[Damn Yankee]

You don't even want to get me started on cheap foreign imports. That's a story for another time. Also, all the commercials for helping children in other countries, that get played at this time of year, trying to play on heart strings. How about showing commercials of starving families and children in the U.S. ? Aaarrrrhhhhh! Makes me sick.

[OCDave]

... How about showing commercials of starving families and children in the U.S. ? Aaarrrrhhhhh! Makes me sick.

Damn Yankee,

You can rest easy; very few, if any, starving children in the US. In that respect, we truly do live in one of the best countries in world.

Merry Christmas

[MuddyWaters]

Damn Yankee,

You can rest easy; very few, if any, starving children in the US. In that respect, we truly do live in one of the best countries in world.

Merry Christmas

Only in the US can you be poor, obese, and have an i-phone.

[saltysack]

Only in the US can you be poor, obese, and have an i-phone.

So true!


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