by Michael Smith (Veshengro)
It is that time of year again when the great majority of the people around the world are preparing for the feast of consumerism, that is referred to as Christmas and claimed to be the birth day of one Jesus of Nazareth, referred to as the Christ.
Over the decades and centuries this celebration has really taken on again the feast upon which it was based, namely that of Saturn in the Roman religions, with gift giving, overeating and getting drunk.
First of all the so-called Christmas has nothing to do with the birth of Christ; it is the wrong time of year for starters, but was placed on this day, December 25, by Emperor Constantine, as it suited the religions of Rome.
However, leaving that part out of the equation for the moment, Christmas, the supposed celebration of the birth of Christ, who was very much against consumerism, if one reads the Book properly, has turned into orgies similar to those in ancient Rome during Saturnalia.
At every quarter it is being geared to get people to spend, spend, and then still spend some more, and many people are worried that they don't buy expensive enough gifts for the children, their spouses, etc.
We should take a look at the winter celebrations of other people's, maybe, such as the Jewish Hanukkah or the Scandinavian Festival of Lights, where the giving of gifts was thus that those gifts were supposed to be made (by hand) by the giver for the person to be gifted.
Nowadays, however, it is all a mad rush to buy ever more expensive gifts for people (one does not want to be seen as a skinflint) and the same goes for food and accoutrements.
As, first of all, the feast of Christmas has absolutely nothing to do with Jesus, the Christ, but is just another winter festival, it is nothing but another day and there is no need to go overboard with foods and drinks, that much is certain, and the giving should be from the heart, as it is and was in the traditions of other people that have festivities around the Winter Solstice.
Let's celebrate the seasons, by all means, but for their true reason that we celebrate them (and no, I am not talking about the Christ idea) and let the giving be as it was to be; gifts from the heart made with love by the giver and not bought with lots of money “Made in China”, often by child slaves.
© 2012
