Happy RamaHanuKwanzMas, but what about Yule?

Part of this posting appeared on a Yahoo List that I belong to & I just wanted to expand on a few things here.

This is a 2 part discussion that I am laying the ground work for here, so just please bear with me if I am a little long winded while I put it on the table for discussion. Last night I was digging out our good china from the closet under the stairs for Thanksgiving next week because we host our family & friends every year as part of our family Tradition being Thanksgiving is our (my wife Sunnie's & mine) holiday. Anyhow, along with the china, I had half my Christmas decorations (Yikes, A Pagan celebrating Christmas!). So I got to thinking about a lot of things. A couple of years ago one of my close friends (yes, a member of my inner circle) got me a T-shirt as a present for Christmas from the Glen Beck Program on 1210 AM, in fact it's a politically correct satire t-shirt. On it says "Happy RamaHanuKwanzMas" , I wear that every Christmas Eve now as part of my yearly tradition as well as watching, or well at least having the TV tuned into 24 hours of A Christmas Story on either TNT or TBS. My old HPS was over last year on Christmas Eve & when she saw it, she mentioned how come Yule is not on it. That got me thinking for almost a year now. The only reason that I can think of is that Paganism & their related holidays that were not converted into a mainstreamed holidays such as Samhain (Halloween) & Ostara (Easter) are not taken seriously by mainstreamed America. You generally don't see people dancing around a May Pole or jumping over the Bale Fire or celebrating the Equinoxes.

I think that we have done this to ourselves due to so many different Traditions that are out there with many thinking that they are better than the next or this HPS or HP is smarter than that HP or HPS. Take for instance the Council of American Witches that came up with The 13 Wiccan Principles of Belief in April of 1974. This council met & came up with the 13 Principles then quickly disbanded. Even with these 13 Principles that define who & what we are, there are people that question that & say "Who are they to speak for us?", (sigh). I guess that coming from an organized Religion of Catholicism that I am used to an organized hierarchy, but this created unity. We do need some sort of unity if we want mainstreamed America to recognize us as an established Religion & not think that we are a bunch of tree hugging hippies or oversexed freaks who sacrifice animals & kids. We really do need a positive "United We Stand" image so that our Religion is basically the same as other Religions in that we do believe in the divine & that we do worship, but not the same as them. But in all reality & sadly to say, I really do think that at times, there really is not a lot unity between us fellow Pagans & all we do is hurt our cause due to pride that gets in the way & people that are vain & only care about inflating their own egos so that they look better in front of neophytes, but just have other members of the Pagan Community rolling their eyes & do their own thing. I do try to educate people I know about our Religion & try to portray a positive approach to this, but Hollywood stereotyping us along with everyone working against each other is getting us no where.

For those that don't know me, I have only been on the Pagan Path for a little more than 2 years now. In that 2 year span I have seen many a "Witch War" going on that really tears us apart as a community. I have seen solitaires or fellow Conveners who have only cared about themselves & not at all about the Pagan Community in whole or what the attitude of people towards Pagans in general is. Why is this? Why can't we have some form of unity so that mainstreamed America will take us seriously & that when we need a day off for a Sabbat, we will actually get it without burning a sick day at times. If Paganism is a Religion of Love & honoring Nature, why can't we love each other then? OK, that ends Part 1. Part 2 of this discussion is not as long.

As a Pagan, is it all right to celebrate Christmas? Not the Christmas as Christians celebrate it as the birth of Jesus Christ, but the Christmas season as it should be celebrated good will towards your fellow man, a time of giving to the less fortunate, celebrating with and exchanging gifts with your friends & family. Am I committing a major Faux Pas because I am a Wiccan Coven's High Priest and I celebrate the Season right down to singing Christmas Carols that also mention the Christian's celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ? I am Pagan, but my wife who is also very open minded when it comes to Religion & is still a Catholic & my 5 children & grand-daughter are being raised as Catholic too, so I will not deny them what I was brought up remembering when it comes to Christmas & Religion (when they are old enough, they can decide their own Path as I just did). I have seen Pagans who frown upon Christmas & refuse to celebrate it even though they were brought up celebrating it for many years. Like I said, I celebrate the Season, not the Christian approach that if you get down to it, Christ was actually born in the late Spring, so there's another example of the Christians attaching their own ideals on or close to a Pagan festival, Yule. Is that the right approach since I am a Pagan, more specifically a Wiccan?

Since I did mention Christ, am I suppose to stop believing in him since again I am a Pagan? Here's what I do believe. I believe in what he preached, Love. I do believe that he was a great man & that he was a Prophet. Was he the son of God? I don't know. Could Cernunnos (the God) have sent his son to walk among his people? Not on his own, he would of needed the Goddess to approve that one & if she did, was Jesus mortal or a God as well? Maybe both. He could of been the mortal version of a God, but what we know was written by man & also censored to be what they wanted people to know, but that's another topic for discussion.

I do hope that someday we do become a major Religion in America. Please don't take what I have said here as what all Pagans are. There are many great role models out there, but it only takes a few people to cause the problems that continue to plague us. I really want to see all Pagans care as much as I do about how people perceive us & that if all Pagans start to work together as one body of people & not just individual fingers & toes on a body, we can change things & we can have our holidays be as important & recognized in mainstream America as the Christian holidays are important & recognized & that we as Pagans are united as well.


Peace & Blessings,

Caedmon
High Priest
Coven of the 13 Moons
NE Philly