Monday, December 21, 2009

Happy Winter Solstice


artist unatributed

Like a lot of people in the western world, I celebrate Christmas as a secularist. I don't consider myself a neo-pagan. Honestly, I don't consider myself a member of any religion, if Paganism is one. As if by nature, I reflect upon the Winter Solstice as the turning point from which the natural cycles of nature bring us back toward the light. From that perspective, it easy for me to understand and relate to how the pre-Christians celebrated in the way they did and how many of these traditions are still with us.

At Christmas, Christians are celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ; a story I find fascinating and humbling, though there appears to be some historical proof that Jesus was not born in winter. Feel free to correct me on this, as I am not aversed to being corrected on these matters. I am, in fact, quite interested to hear various perspectives.

I honor and respect the various ways people celebrate holidays at this time of year. Though I am not Christian, I will, on my blogs, honor Christmas through the art I select. Just as I do with virtually everything else I am thinking about.

Look forward to beautiful madonna and manger scenes depicted by early Renaissance painters, along with images that may show magic, faeries and elves, some picture book art and whatever else I stumble upon.

Happy Winter Solstice

8 comments:

  1. Happy Winter Solstice! I don't think it really matters exactly when Jesus was born - the fact that he was born sometime, somewhere is good enough for me.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Happy winter solstice to you as well.

    ReplyDelete
  3. And Happy Mike's birthday (my son-in-law). I think it's a really nice day to celebrate one's birthday.

    I don't think many people who know anything about anything really believe that Jesus was born on Dec.25th. It seems to be an arbitrary choice of days to celebrate. I know that Jehovah's Witnesses do not celebrate it, and some get rather huffy if you call it his birthday.

    Whatever, whenever, it's a fun time to celebrate, and then there's "White Christmas" and all of that. Personally, I would much rather see it in more pleasant weather.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Solstice Greetings!

    Christmas originally was an appropriation of the Roman Saturnalia, an orgy of sex, wine, and food. The only part of the original meaning of Christmas that our society officially sanctions is the orgy of food.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thanks, all!

    Libhom: "...an orgy of sex, wine and food" - they always get rid of the best stuff. Bastards! ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  6. winter solstice is a favorite of mine. it also was an ex and i anniversary. still think its the coolest anniversary date :P i really like how its the midpoint where the next days finally get longer.. :)

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for taking the time to say you've been here.

I am sorry to say that I don't publish anonymous comments unless I know you through your initials, first name or blog name. I don't publish comments that have ANY kind of commercial or 'for sale' links.

You are Invited to Scroll Down! :-)

Please feel free to scroll down and look at the followers list, badges, photos and tons and tons of great links!

Search This Blog

In Memory of Bobbie

In Memory of Bobbie
Almost There

ARTLEX Art Dictionary

Kick Homophobia in The Butt: Add Your Name to the List of Supporters

Kick Homophobia in The Butt:  Add Your Name to the List of Supporters
click photo

Northampton Prop 8 Protest

Northampton Prop 8 Protest

It's Only Love

It's Only Love
See More Elopment Pictures here
Thoughts from an Evil Overlord

Million Doors for Peace

Lines and Colors

Lines and Colors
A New Art Resource I Just Discovered!

Emily Dickinson - The Belle of Amherst

Emily Dickinson - The Belle of Amherst
"When the Amherst sphinx styled herself a pagan, she meant she didn’t believe in the biblical God. What sort of deity, if any, she did believe in is hard to pinpoint."
-- Gary Sloan, "Emily Dickinson: Pagan Sphinx,"

National Protest Against Prop 8

National Protest Against Prop 8

My Daughters

My Daughters

Code Pink

"The arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice."
~Martin Luther King Jr.
Love and compassion is the Universal religion. That is my religion.
~ The Dalai Lama

This site is certified 30% EVIL by the Gematriculator

Blog Archive

Fair Use

I believe that the images and writing posted here fall under the "fair use" section of the U.S. copyright law http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap1.html#107, as they are intended for educational purposes and are not in a medium that is of commercial nature.

Labels

LinkWithin

Blog Widget by LinkWithin