It’s December. Like most folks living in the northern hemisphere, I am looking forward to the arrival of the winter solstice and the return of spring. And wishing everyone the disappearing words in our society – Merry Christmas.
For centuries sun worshippers, such as my ancestors, were ready to party at winter solstice. In the good old days, most of our forebears held feasts with elaborate ceremonies with the intent of coaxing the sun god to return from his distant wanderings. Some, such as in Britain, lit huge bonfires or giant logs to give the winter god strength and bring him back to life again. For many cultures, celebrating the winter solstice was the most important festival of the year.
And so, wishing one another Season’s Greetings is a perfectly acceptable and historically accurate thing to say – recognizing ancient seasonal and national traditions – albeit of pagan origins.
As for Happy Holidays – the seemingly politically correct and corporate merchants’ escape from uttering Season’s Greetings –is based primarily on celebrations emanating from western and mid-eastern cultures situated in the northern hemisphere. A quick look at the words makes it quite clear that this is not an easy fix. Far from it. The word holiday is indeed a shortened form of holy days.
In fact, extending the greeting happy holidays at winter solstice recognizes the determination by the Christian church to celebrate the birth of Jesus of Nazareth at that very same time of year. It was a hugely successful sales pitch allowing painless transitioning from sun worship to accepting Christ as the light of the world – with celebratory traditions intact. That decision was made in about 440 A.D. At that time there was a maturing advancement of Christianity in supplanting a variety of pagan religions with the support of several successive Roman emperors. When the Roman Empire collapsed in 476 A.D. the Christian church was the only organization that had the political strength and structure to survive and grow during the dark ages of the sixth through the 13th centuries. As a point of historical reference, the Quran was written gradually over 23 years beginning in December 609 A.D.
Anyway, happy holidays may sound religiously neutral and politically safe but it isn’t – although it does simultaneously recognize Christmas and Hanukkah. I suppose we could try to include Mawlid an-Nabi, the birthday of Muhammad, which is celebrated on different days from late November to early January except that it is not considered acceptable to do so by some Sunnis.
So when all is said and done, I subscribe to the re-acceptance of Merry Christmas as a proper greeting not only as a church ceremonial but also as a home festival with family reunions, gifts, carols, and a pantomime for children – a day for Santa Claus – Father Christmas.
Why not just accept the true spirit of the day – with the sounds of Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus in our ears and the spirit of Charles Dickens message from ‘A Christmas Carol’ in our hearts.
Merry Christmas.
Alan Murdock is a local pediatrician.
