Just as much merry and bright season as Christmas
Re: “Christmas, not merry and bright season”, (Citizen, Dec. 13)
The author has apparently ignored the facts of the historical timeline. The winter solstice had been celebrated in the northern hemisphere with festivities involving merriness (singing, feasting, storytelling) and brightness (Yule logs, candles, bonfires) long before Christian missionaries added Christ’s Mass and the legend of the miraculous birth of Jesus to the season. This was akin to co-opting local gods to become saints in the Christian mythology, to make it an easier sell to gentiles/pagans.
Most of the “Christmas” traditions we cherish are holdovers from pre-Christian practices, much like the symbology of chicks, bunnies and coloured eggs at Easter.
Jennifer Dawes
Duncan