In a nutshell, the imperialistic self-righteousness judgmentalism of conservative and fundamental Christians who insist Christmas represents the one true religion, and the narcissistic knee-jerk liberal backlash of the non-religious who challenge them and insist that “Merry Christmas” should be replaced by “Happy Holidays” and “Season’s Greetings”, are both missing the point.
Regardless of one’s “religious” beliefs, all of the “holiday” celebrations are essentially ancient solstice celebrations that have been appropriated and incorporated into the various worlds’ religions. The Christian Christmas, the Jewish Hanukkah, the African-American Kwanzaa, the Santa Claus tradition, and Pagan solstice celebrations all represent the annual return of light, life, and hope to the world.
The ritual celebration of the winter solstice goes back at least 12,000 years in recorded human history. It is by far the most ancient and important ritual in human culture. Ancient cultures did not have the benefit of astronomy and modern science. For them, the sun represented the celestial movement of the god’s, magic, and deep mystery.
The growing darkness that preceded the winter solstice each year was a fearful time of impending death and the freeing of evil spirits They were never certain that their sacrifices and ritual celebrations had pleased the god’s enough to ensure that the sun would once again return to bring life and hope back to their world.
They knew that without the sun they could not survive. Without the sun there was no hope. Thus, the return of the sun each year during the winter solstice was a time of great anxiety. For our early ancestors the solstice represented the important existential issue of life after death.
Virtually every human culture in history has left evidence of having built celestial rock structures to observe and monitor the winter solstice and track the return of the sun.
The Newgrange in Ireland, Stonehenge in England, the Maeshowe on the Orkney Islands north of Scotland, the Great Zimbabwe in sub-Saharan Africa (the “African Stonehenge”), the Sun Dagger of Chaco Canyon in New Mexico, the ancient rocks found in Brazil, and the hundreds of megalithic structures found throughout Europe all stand as silent witness to the importance of the Winter Solstice for our ancient ancestors.
Because these primitive observatories were unable to precisely mark the movements of the sun, it was often several days after the actual solstice before they would be certain that the sun was indeed returning. For this reason, many solstice celebrations were held three or four days after December 21. It was the most important celebration of the year for ancient cultures.
We know a lot about the rituals of early human culture and the world we live in thanks to modern scholarship and science. We need to incorporate this knowledge into our day-to-day consciousness. Until we do, we will continue to bring conflict and violence into the world with our religious “judgmentalism” and our self-righteous prejudicial beliefs.
We are one global species. We share a common history. No one has the “true” path to God. To assume that humans “know” God is as ridiculous as assuming that a dog could somehow use a sniff test to “know” what it means to be human.
We need to bring the light of diversity, compassion, and tolerance into the world. This holiday season is a good time to make the commitment to personally bring life and hope into a world struggling with violence and judgmentalism; regardless of our personal “religious” or secular beliefs.
The Winter Solstice is the greatest and oldest human celebration; our most important celestial celebration; an ancient human celebration of light, life and hope. Just because our “modern” religions have adopted the winter solstice symbolism of renewed light, life, and hope does not mean they have the right to claim “exclusive” ownership of this ancient tradition.
Such an assumption is both ignorant and absurd; a narcissistic theology created by our primitive egos; the unconscious part of each of us that has to be right.
So Merry Christmas. Happy Hanukkah. Happy Holidays. Seasons Greetings. Happy Solstice. They all mean the promise of life and renewal. They all express our desire for light and hope. We should all have the right to use whichever greeting we are comfortable using.
(Readers can go to www.stonyhill.com for in-depth articles and past Newsletter discussions on the subjects of our inner-child’s primitive ego, happiness, authentic spiritual growth, and The Primitive Ego Theory of Human Social and Spiritual Development©.)
Personal Thoughts
I was on the Oregon coast last weekend celebrating a family wedding when the first ever class-two hurricane came ashore with heavy rain and winds as high as 129 miles per hour and hammered the coast for almost three days.
The wedding was held in a beach house on Depoe Bay overlooking the ocean so I had a front row seat on the storm. What an amazing opportunity it was to watch the incredible power of nature unfold before my eyes. It was a weekend that I will never forget!
Standing on the enclosed porch feeling the fierce winds buffet the house and watching the huge waves pounding the beach below me, I could not help noticing the birds that were aloft looking for food. They were fascinating. My first assumption was that they would not last long before they became exhausted and set out to look for shelter.
But as I continued to watch, I became aware that they were not struggling. They were not fighting the wind. They were using the shifting eddies and subtle variations in the wind as momentary opportunities to move easily and gracefully into what appeared to me to be ferocious hurricane force head winds.
Using what had to be very small changes in their wing tips, since I could detect no significant wing movement, they were able to fly effortlessly into the wind looking for food on the shore beneath them. They were simply floating with graceful elegance and beauty on the wind.
I was suddenly struck with the insight that perhaps this was how each of us could navigate the busy holidays that would soon be upon us. Perhaps we too could make small, almost imperceptible changes in our holiday activities that would allow us to effortlessly move with graceful elegance and beauty through a time that is often busy, stressful, and exhausting.
This insight has been running through my head off and on for the last week. The spiritual practices presented below are the thoughts and ideas that I have come up with. I hope they are helpful. Don’t hesitate to add your own ideas and keep a list of those that work for next year. That way you can check them twice.
I wish all my readers a happy and grace filled solstice celebration as you celebrate once again the return of the sun, the renewal of life, and hope for the New Year.
Quote:
Aim for success not perfection. Remember that fear always lurks behind perfectionism. Confronting your fears and allowing yourself the right to be human can, paradoxically, make you a far happier and more productive person."Dr. David Burns
If everybody is thinking alike, then somebody isn't thinking. General George S. Patton
A Spiritual Practice
The thoughts and ideas that I came up with for spiritual practices that will help to take some of the stress out of the holidays include:
- Take the time to lay down and take a short “power” nap whenever you feel the stress building.
- Take the time to disappear for a while, go outside for some fresh air, and take a walk. Even a walk around the block can help shake off stress and emotional fatigue. I suspect walking alone would be best, but going with a good friend might also be helpful. The important thing is we all need “head time” silence from time to time.
- Intentionally reduce the amount of alcohol and food that you are consuming. Stay awake when you are beginning to eat or drink your anxiety or feelings of being overwhelmed.
- Take a break and get some physical exercise. Again going outdoors is probably the best, but any exercise will be helpful. Stress builds up silently, so by the time you actually feel it, you probably should have taken a walk or gotten some exercise already.
- Make a point of getting to bed early. The guests will still be in your house in the morning, the cookies will still need cooking, and phone will still be ringing. The question will be are you rested enough to enjoy them. Getting overtired is probably the primary cause of stress and anxiety. When we are overtired, everything becomes more difficult.
- Prepare gifts and food ahead of time. That is why they invented freezers. Leaving too much cooking to do at the last minute is another major source of stress and anxiety. We usually know the meals we are going to serve and the parties we are going to go to that need a dish to pass. Last minute tasks = stress.
- Here is a big one; learn to delegate authority to others. Your older children, your spouse, your friends, your family members can all be put to work. Do not get caught in the trap of assuming that you have to do it all or it will not be perfect. Perfection is an illusion; ask for help and then let them do it…. do not micromanage the task you give them. The need for perfection creates criticism on yourself and on others. Sharing the work with others builds community. It gives others the sense that they are a part of the festivities. It’s good for their self-esteem; especially the children.
- And last but not least, remember that our happiness and sense of well-being always come from growth in self-awareness.
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