Last week, I wrote what Christmas meant to me but I feel the urge to mention that Christmas and the birth of Christ are not the only religious and cultural holiday’s celebrated in December.  Prior to leaving school last week, a teacher started to wish me Merry Christmas but stopped himself.  My reaction was the following comment: “Merry Christmas, Happy Winter Solstice, Happy Hanukkah, and Happy Kwanzaa, everybody has some type of holiday during winter break.”  You may or may not get my drift but in my opinion, too many people worry about what is politically correct during the multi-cultural holiday season.  As a multi-cultural white chick, I thought I would share a little info about some of the different holidays this month. 

Tomorrow, December 21, is the Winter Solstice in the northern hemisphere and falls on a full moon, a special day for my Wiccan friends.  Many celebrations will occur tomorrow around the globe celebrating diverse celebrations with very diverse roots ranging from ancient Brazil to Egypt to Iran to Ireland to the Indigenous of North America; all havee various celebrations honoring transition of darkness to light.

December 8^th was Bodhi Day, an annual celebration of the day Buddha achieved enlightenment in 596 BCE and honored by Buddhists as the day Buddhism was founded.

December 25^th Christmas Day, the accepted fictional day of Jesus birth and Christians around the world celebrates. I need to clarify I am not saying Jesus is fictional but rather that December 25^th is the agreed upon fictional date of birth because historical evidence does not have a record of Jesus or Yeshua of Nazareth’s birthday. A website I discovered has the following to say: “Many symbols and practices associated with Christmas are of Pagan origin: holly, ivy, mistletoe, yule log, the giving of gifts, decorated evergreen tree, magical reindeer, etc. Polydor Virgil, a 15th century British Christian, said “Dancing, masques, mummeries, stageplays, and other such Christmas disorders now in use with Christians, were derived from these Roman Saturnalian and Bacchanalian festivals; which should cause all pious Christians eternally to abominate them.” In Massachusetts, Puritans unsuccessfully tried to ban Christmas entirely during the 17th century, because of its heathenism. The English Parliament abolished Christmas in 1647. Some contemporary Christian faith groups do not celebrate Christmas.”[i]

Hanukkah was celebrated by people of Jewish descendent and practitioner’s of Judaism earlier this month.  A celebration recalling the triumph and retaking of the temple in Jerusalem from the Syrian king in which a menorah with only 24 hours worth of oil lasted 8 days. 

I could write much about the holiday season but you might tune out or fall asleep so I am going to close with the following thought.  It does not matter what your background or belief or religion because the holiday season can allow everyone to take time out of their busy schedules to reflect upon their blessings and their plans for the upcoming year by virtue of the secular seasonal celebrations giving time off from work or school. So in closing, I wish everyone a Merry Christmas!