#like i know Christmas is a christian tradition but its not only celebrated by christians

[taichissu]

i always love the non-christian portrayal of christmas

[max1461]

>Have you seen religion discourse on this website?

I think so, I've lurked here for a while, but none of it included the Idea that the Japanese are especially religious (!?), which would seem to be contradicted by surveys, my anecdotal experience, and their general anglosphere stereotype(s).

Anyways, when Japanese people say "westerners" they usually mean Americans, and "Americans be unusually religious " is like, a super common and basically correct stereotype.

The opinion that you commonly see is that atheism or general irreligiosity are Western in origin, imposed on other parts of the world through either direct colonialism or general Western hegemony. This is not true, and our lovely memecucker has been doing the lord's work (ahem) in dispelling this idea from every angle, but people still cling to it.

Anyway, it's often pointed out that viewing irreligiosity as inherently Western is kind of weird, in light of the fact that many of the world's least religious countries are in Asia, and indeed (as far as I know) the only countries that continue to maintain an official state policy of atheism are in Asia. People try to rebuke this by saying something to the effect of "well, religiousness means something different over there, people only say they're not religious because the survey questions are Christian-centric" or something to that effect. Now, this rebuttal seems to be... sort of a misremembered version of an actually true fact, but the way it's used is total nonsense.

The true fact that I think it comes from is that religious identity in the Abrahamic faiths is centered around belief (usually) and is exclusive (if you're Christian you're not Muslim, and vice-versa), whereas in many other religious traditions, religious identity is centered around practice and is non-exclusive. So, for instance, in Japan people have historically engaged in a mix of Shinto and Buddhist practices, because there is nothing about the doctrines of either Shinto or Buddhism which says you have to believe one or the other, it doesn't work like that. And Shinto in particular does not consist of any one set of canonical doctrines or beliefs, it's more like a loose collection of different stories and practices that have existed in a huge array of variations across Japan and across its history.

I don't know much about Chinese folk religion, but I take it that it is in this regard similar.

In the present day, a lot of people in Japan still celebrate Shinto-Buddhist holidays and practice Shinto-Buddhist rituals, despite describing themselves as atheists or non-religious. And because Shinto has always had huge variation in doctrine and has always been defined more centrally by practices than beliefs, there's a case to be made that such people "are Shinto"—they fall well within the variation that Shinto has had in the past.

Except, no, that's fucking stupid! Because people will tell you that they're not religious, that they don't believe in the supernatural, and that they practice Shinto-Buddhist rituals mostly because it's part of their culture—the same way plenty of American atheists celebrate Christmas or, I don't know, knock on wood to avoid bad luck or whatever. Yes, religious identity outside of the Abrahamic faiths doesn't work the same way as it does in Christianity, Islam, and most forms of Judaism. And that's worth remembering. But does that mean that people who tell you they aren't religious actually are? No that's fucking dumb.

Anyway...

[starlightomatic]

I want to talk a little about what it was like to be a Jewish student with ADHD in a public school, and how culturally Christian and neurotypical norms — and the teachers who held up these norms — made things difficult for myself and my peers.

I was in marching band (color guard, specifically) and so was a close friend of mine who’s also Jewish. We often had competitions on Saturdays. That on its own already meant we couldn’t go to synagogue or rest on Shabbat, unlike our peers who could do that on Sunday (and even in public school in a largely “secular” area, it was normal for activities to be on Saturdays and rare for them to be on Sundays).

But anyway. We’d get to a competition in the morning for rehearsal, staging, etc, and then perform in the afternoon. The SATs were also on Saturdays, so on SAT days there’d be a few students missing who’d come join us in the afternoon. My friend, however, had ADHD and I think some learning disabilities and so she got extra time on the SATs. This meant she needed to come even later than the other SAT students, and the band director was mad about this. “But all the other students got here at [x time], why can’t you?” She had to let it go though because my friend couldn’t get there earlier.

Not too long after this, it was Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year. This is a major holiday for us — we go to synagogue (even folks who usually don’t go), eat a big festive meal with our families, etc. Now, it starts in the evening, and we had band practice in the afternoon. So we needed to leave early to make it to synagogue. The band director had looked up when Rosh Hashanah was and tried to give us that evening off, but she got the day wrong. She gave us the second night off.

For me this didn’t really matter, but my aforementioned friend is Reform, and the Reform tradition is to only celebrate the first day. So, my friend still had to ask to leave early to go celebrate Rosh Hashanah, and the band director got mad and said no, because “but I gave you Rosh Hashanah off!” and also because she was still mad at my friend for coming late to the competition due to extra time on the SAT.

My friend had to go to her parents, who had to go to the vice principal in charge of arts and languages, to get this band director to listen.

I also have a memory of staying as late at that practice session as possible so as to miss as little as I could, then being picked up at the field by my mom and changing into my nice synagogue holiday clothes in the car on the way to synagogue.

Another thing, also that year, was that I’d asked my English teacher for extensions on assignments due during Rosh Hashanah. By the rules of our county’s school district we were allowed a two-day extension for religious holidays. If you have ADHD you know two days isn’t enough to both catch up on past work and stay caught up on new work, so you’ll still end up turning things in late and getting points docked, but it’s better than nothing.

The teacher said no (against the rules of the county) because “I have two other Jewish students and they’re turning their work in early, before Rosh Hashanah.” I didn’t know how to say “but they don’t have ADHD. I can’t do that.” My mom had to go in and talk to the teacher until she agreed.

The impression that I got was that having both my neurotype and my Jewishness accommodated was a privilege, and one I was a nuisance for asking for. I got the sense that I needed to choose one: having ADHD or being Jewish. But obviously that’s not how it works.

Only about three months after this, I was in physics class, and the three boys who sat in front of me were complaining about how that year, the last day of school before winter break was December 23rd, rather than the 22nd. It was “too close to Christmas.” Silently, I was incredulous. They not only got both Christmas and Christmas Eve off but an entire week after that, and it still wasn’t enough? Where were they trying to go for Christmas that they needed more than 24 hours to get there?

They definitely had never had to change from their band practice clothes into their church clothes in the car because the gap between practice and Christmas was the 30 minutes it took to drive from school to church, and even getting that gap took asking for permission. No, they were mad because a full day’s gap wasn’t enough!

I think it just really threw into relief for me how their baseline expectation was to have space made for the rhythms of their lives and culture, and how mine was to beg for scraps.

And all of this added extra stress to my life. My friend and I, as neurodivergent students in a rigorous high school, were already under a lot of stress and did not need the added difficulties of having to fight with faculty (who should have been supporting us) for reasonable accommodations. We should have been allowed to just focus on schoolwork, extracurriculars, and, yes… on our cultural heritage too.

[alpaca-clouds]

Dear Worldbuilders: Please Understand Cultural Norms As Cultural Norms

Two days ago I had a discussion with my new roomie. Because we are two autistic guys, who will not stop talking politics all day, and were talking about the opening ceremony of the Olympics. To which he held the opinion: "I mean, I was not offended. But I can understand the Christians who are." To which I pointed out, that they really do not get to be offended after forcing their religion onto everyone.

Somehow the discussion however went to the horrible topic of "kink at pride". And he showed me videos he saw online, where some nudists were also participating at pride. To which I just shrugged and was like: "So what? They are naked. It is not as if they are doing something sexual. They are just naked, and there should be nothing taboo about the naked body. I mean, c'mon dude, we are living in Germany which is kinda known internationally for its nudist culture." And he went: "Yeah, sure, but usually if there is a nudist beach or a nudist swimming pool I will go there expecting to see naked people." And I kept relying on the point: "Well, but what harm is done to these people being naked?" To which he went: "Well, the children...!" And I was like: "Do you really think kids are getting traumatized by seeing a naked body? You are aware there are cultures around the world in which running around naked is pretty normalized, right? I know that 'don't be naked' feels super intuitive for someone growing up over here, but keep in mind that to someone from Afghanistan or Saudi Arabia 'women should cover their hair' would feel about as intuitive, because it is just a cultural norm." Which was the point I was given.

But thinking about it, I actually do see a lot of people struggling with this concept as well. Yesterday a friend and I also talked about how many western people just assume that Christmas is celebrated by everyone around the world - even though it isn't.

And I think this shows nowhere as strongly as in fantasy and scifi media. Because a lot of fantasy and scifi media just will go ahead and assume a baseline western culture - even in settings, where it does not make sense. More than that: It will assume either modern western cultural norms or - especially for fantasy - will kind of try to extrapolate how people imagine something to have been like at some time.

And I am staying with the nudity example, because it is actually a funny one. A lot of fantasy media will assume people in a medival setting to be super touchy about nude bodies, because Victorian's were crying (according to popular myths) when they saw a naked ankle.

However: This actually could not be further from the truth. Because we have ample evidence, that in medieval times not only public baths were not sex seggregated, but that on hot summer days the peasants would also work at least partially naked on the fields.

Sure, in some areas of Europe nobility was a bit more squeaming around naked bodies than the peasants. But that was then a nobility thing - and even this was not necessarily true throughout the entire middle ages (again: The period lasted around 1000 years), and especially not throughout all of Europe.

But you know what said nobility was also super iffed about? Yeah: Women's hair. That got hidden throughout medieval Europe as well. Especially in late medieval times. At times under headscarfs, at times under certain types of hats.

Then let's also talk about the Christmas thing. Because it is a classic of fantasy media especially. The world is going to have a winter festival that involves gift giving, family parties, and often enough also dead trees in prominent locations.

Now, on one hand: A lot of cultures around the world had winter solstice festivals, so assuming that your fantasy culture will have the same is not that far fetched to have that, too. But why give it the modern Christmas traditions? There are so many other traditions you could come up with. I am sure of that. You are a fantasy/scifi writer after all!

You might ask yourself right now: Why do I even have an issue with this?

Well, the answer is simple. Because this is about Eurocentrism. Building a world like that will just assume that western European traditions are "the norm", they are what we should assume to find everywhere. And when people read fantasy media and just find it all reflected there, it is what they will start to assume. And then they are going to be all "surprised pikachu", when they find out that indeed, the world does not celebrate Christmas.

Also... Just normalize naked bodies. There is literally no harm in seeing a naked body. None at all.

[creature-wizard]

Hii genuine question. Are Christian holidays not actually from a basis of paganism? I felt like from what I’ve read about it before made sense to me

So like, a lot of people basically jumped to conclusions whenever a Christian holiday was either celebrated near the time of an old pre-Christian holiday, or its name sounded superficially similar to something pre-Christian, or its popular celebrations included elements that didn't seem quite Christian enough.

So, let's take Easter, for example. At one point, this guy Bede mentioned that the holiday got its name from "Eostremonath," IE, Eostre Month, which was named after an old goddess, Eostre. Now, that may very well be true, but it doesn't demonstrate that the holiday had pagan origins. See, when it comes to words for the holiday celebrating Jesus's resurrections, English is an outlier. Most European languages use words that derive from Pascha, which is ultimately derived from the Hebrew word Pesach, as in Passover.

There's also no evidence that Eostre's symbols included eggs or hares. In fact, everything we know about Eostre comes from Bede. Anything else is just guesswork. Dr. Andrew Henry of ReligionForBreakfast on YouTube, by the way, has a decent video on the topic of Eostre.

So why eggs, anyway? Well, back in the day, eggs were forbidden during Lent, so by the time Easter rolled around people had like a month's worth of eggs stacked up. So like, why not eggs?

And then of course, Alexander Hislop completely pulled the Easter/Ishtar connection out of his ass, because he was an anti-Catholic conspiracy theorist who did not care about scholarship, only about demonizing the Catholic Church.

Christmas has been claimed to have been derived from Saturnalia or Sol Invictus based on similarities in dates, but scholars have found that there was this belief that holy men died on the same day they were conceived. So if we start with Good Friday and fast forward nine months, that puts us either in December or January, depending on when exactly you believe Jesus was crucified. So Western traditions, which went for March 25, settled on December 25, whereas Eastern traditions, which went with April 6, got January 6. Dr. Andrew Henry talks about this here.

Christmas trees are also claimed to be pagan, but in reality they weren't a thing until the late medieval period. The earliest known reference to a decorated tree goes back to 1419. Or, it might be a tree; the word used ("Bom") could also mean a pole, as in a decorated pole like a maypole. It was shortly after this that people began erecting trees out in public squares. Again, Dr. Andrew Henry has a video on this.

And yes, it's true that Christmas is called something like Yule or Jol in other languages, but as we've determined from Easter, a name doesn't necessarily tell us where something came from. Most languages don't use anything like Yule; for example, English uses Christmas, as in, "Christ's Mass," while many languages use a word deriving from the Latin natalis, as in "birth," as in "Jesus's birthday."

Just about every attempt to link a Christian holiday to a pre-Christian one is operating on similarly poor methodologies. People just kinda drew conclusions based on things looking kinda similar without looking closer to see if they were really actually connected, or based on things not lining up with their personal ideas of how Christians ought to behave. (This whole idea that pure, true Christianity is sourced 100% from the Bible and the Bible alone is very Protestant, btw. It's also a position that would have baffled the earliest Christians, who didn't even have a New Testament and didn't regard things like the the epistles as holy scripture yet.)

Now of course, the Christianization of Europe didn't overwrite its cultures entirely, and local cultural beliefs and traditions ultimately did influence holiday traditions in some way; Christmas elves are a pretty clear example of this. But this whole idea that the Catholic Church just stole all these pagan holidays and remade them into Christian ones is pseudohistory.

[warningsine]

The funniest show on television is Girls5Eva, which transplanted from the backwoods of Peacock to the mires of Netflix for its third season. While a lot of shows have taken off after landing on Netflix — You, for instance — Girls5Eva, from the data available publicly, didn’t get many viewers on the platform. I’m no expert on the mechanics of streaming, but I have one radical explanation for why this is happening: There are simply not enough episodes of Girls5Eva available to watch. On Peacock, the show had two eight-episode seasons. Netflix has given it an additional six. That means that Girls5Eva has aired, in total, only 22 episodes, about the same number as a full-season order of an old-fashioned network sitcom like 30 Rock, to which Meredith Scardino’s series is deeply indebted (Scardino wrote on 30 Rock; Tina Fey is a Girls5Eva executive producer). Over a three-year period? This is simply not enough!

Sitcoms are built for mass production and consumption, with dynamics between characters designed to generate an endless stream of story lines, and it can take a season or two to fully gel. Girls5Eva is lucky enough to have a distinct sensibility and a strong cast from the start, but it hasn’t had the space to work through all the possible material. There’s so much to mine in flashbacks to the girl group’s checkered early-aughts past, in Wickie’s failed solo career, in Summer’s wackadoo Christian upbringing, in Gloria’s fraught lesbian drama, and in Dawn’s attempts to find her own way as a songwriter (plus the larger meta arc of Sara Bareilles coming into her own as a comedic actor). Season three, in which the crew goes on tour around the country, tries to cover so much ground it’s like a distance runner sprinting at her vO2 max. The overarching plot — they want to perform at Radio City Music Hall — encroaches on all the fun along the way, rushing past a guest appearance from Cat Cohen, the reveal of Wickie’s real backstory, and an intricate Harry Styles parody. Sitcoms should be about all the fun everyone is having along the way, and we’ve lost that.

But there is another and perhaps more important reason that we need longer seasons of Girls5Eva: holidays. Network sitcoms, airing on a traditional schedule, have the opportunity to set episodes around the holidays near which they would air; think of the Thanksgiving episodes of Friends, The Office’s Christmas episodes, 30 Rock’s impeccable use of Leap Day. In my ideal universe where Girls5Eva has 22-episode seasons, Netflix would also abandon the binge strategy and air those episodes weekly, but that’s not a necessity. You could still drop them all at once, which gives me the opportunity to revisit the holiday episodes as those holidays occur throughout the year. If you need convincing, here are my suggestions for some holidays the Girls5Eva might celebrate:

Christmas (duh): Dawn tries to write a Christmas song; Wickie reveals a longstanding feud with Mariah Carey (she claims one of the items from her riff rolodex appears in “All I Want for Christmas Is You”; Mariah does not know her).

Thanksgiving: The girls try to book a gig at the Macy’s Parade (as Peacock actually had the stars do, to the confusion of my parents watching at home) while also atoning for their past sins at the event (revealed in flashback).

Valentine’s Day: Gloria revisits a past relationship with Taylor Lautner (she was his dentist).

Tax season: Summer reveals she hasn’t been paying taxes for years (thought you were covered if you already paid your church).

Presidents’ Day: Dawn tries to write a song about Lincoln being sexy, inadvertently offends a gay activist group.

Pride month: Return of Bowen Yang’s lip-sync influencer.

Cuffing season: Big for Gloria.

The Feast of San Gennaro: Big for Dawn (why is the show so all-in on Sara Bareilles being Italian??).

V-E Day: Wickie and Dawn’s husband, Scott, discover their mutual fascination with the Eastern Front: “I spent a lot of time touring post-Soviet states, okay!”

Casimir Pulaski Day: Gloria has beef with Sufjan Stevens.

[blackcrowing]

Hello! As an Irish reconstructionist, do you maybe know any specific traditions in celebrating Mean Geimhreadh (Alban Arthan?? Are these the same things??)

Ok, so for me personally this is a REALLY complicated question. I focus my reconstructionism on ~approximately~ Iron Age traditions (I feel this is an 'authentically' 'Celtic Irish' period being an age when there is abundant evidence of the Pre-Christian religion we know of as 'pagan Irish' being practiced and not yet being blended with Christian practices and beliefs).

So as such I don't do anything for Meán Geimhridh. That is not necessarily to say that the peoples of the Iron Age didn't recognize the long hours of darkness on this day, because I am certain they did, but that as far as the evidence that is available to us it was not something that held great religious importance. While the Stone Age religion being practiced seemed to place great importance on the solstices (marking them very clearly in the monolithic monuments and passage tombs they built) and later the dates held importance to the blended cultures of Irish/Scandinavian (yule) and Irish/Christian (Christmas), the period of time I focus on is oddly silent about these solar phenomenon. Apparently, only being noted by the classical writers as Alban Arthan.

However, even here there is a great level of debate. I subscribe to the theory that this particular description of religious activity was actually a case of mistaken identity and was actually speaking of, not the 'Keltoí' peoples, but the Germanic tribes further north (who we KNOW would have recognized this time of year and KNOW had a special religious connection with mistletoe). Furthermore, even IF this historical account WAS speaking of what we think of as the 'celtic' cultures it was obviously addressing an act preformed on the continent, which we know held similar but separate traditions from the insular 'Celts'.

Which brings us back to looking at any evidence for Pre-Christian/Post-Stone Age traditions that mark this time, and we do see some (just not in so much in Ireland). In the UK we see a widespread tradition at this time of year involving the Wren and straw boys, but as far as my research can tell it was likely spread through the UK in its Christian guise and any pagan roots it has are likely Welsh is origin.

Lastly, there is the widespread idea of the Mistletoe King and the Oak King.... this, in my opinion, is a jumbled fabrication of the pagan renaissance of the 1800s, and so while it can be considered 'traditional' at this point, holds no more historical weight then the Wiccan 'wheel of the year.'

At the end of the day, I don't hold any religious significance to the event BUT if I were to try doing something I felt was historically accurate I would keep a fire stoked, keep my family and friends close, eat and drink and share stories and songs to keep us all entertained as we enjoyed each others company (so the basic blueprint for any winter festival in most of the world 😅)

[church-history]

No, the Easter Season Isn’t Pagan

One of the most common arguments people make against Christianity is that several essential elements of our faith come from ancient pagan religions. For example, there are many books that contend that the entire story of Jesus is more or less plagiarized from earlier pagan stories, and many argue that our most important holidays, such as Christmas and Easter, are simply recycled pagan festivals.

Since it is the Easter season, you might encounter more of these claims than at other times of the year, so let’s take a look at some of them. In particular, let’s look at three of the most common ways that people try to argue that Easter is really just a recycled pagan holiday, and when we do that, we will see that they are little more than smoke and mirrors.

First, we have the argument based on the etymology of our English word “Easter.” Many people say that it comes from the name of the old Germanic goddess Eostre, which supposedly shows that it is just a recycled version of an ancient pagan festival celebrating her. Now, I don’t know enough about the history of the English language to assess the etymological claim here, but even if it is true, this argument still has a huge, gaping hole: the early Christians didn’t speak English.

In the earliest centuries of the Church, Christians spoke Aramaic, Greek, and Latin, and in those languages (as well as all of the Romance languages I am aware of), the word for “Easter” actually comes from the word for “Passover,” the Jewish feast that falls around this same time (and this is exactly what we should expect, since the death and resurrection of Jesus is our new Passover). To take just one example, the Greek word for “Easter” is pascha, which is the exact same word they use for “Passover.”

This shows that even if our English word “Easter” does come from the name of a pagan goddess, that is not the origin of the holiday itself. Christians were celebrating the resurrection of Jesus long before the advent of the English language, so the name “Easter” came about well after the feast was instituted. Consequently, as the names for the holiday in those older, more relevant languages shows, its origin lies elsewhere. The potential etymological link between our English name for it and the goddess Eostre is simply a linguistic curiosity with no relevance whatsoever to the origin of the holiday or the truth of the resurrection.

Pagan Traditions

Another common argument you will often hear is that many of our favorite Easter traditions come from paganism. For instance, people point out that bunnies and eggs, which have nothing to do with the story of Jesus, come from paganism, so once again, Easter is essentially a pagan holiday. But just like the first argument, the logic here just doesn’t hold up.

This argument confuses the substance of the holiday with the way we celebrate it. Sure, we may have borrowed some customs from paganism and incorporated them into our Easter celebrations, but that doesn’t mean that the holiday itself is essentially a pagan feast or that the resurrection never really happened. This has nothing to do with the origin of the feast itself. It simply means that somewhere along the line, some Christians saw some pagan celebrations that they liked, and they chose to incorporate them into their celebration of an already existing Christian holiday.

Paschal Plagiarism

Finally, we come to the only argument that has any real chance of being more than just smoke and mirrors. Many people claim that the whole idea of Jesus’ resurrection was simply plagiarized from stories about ancient pagan gods and goddesses, so it never really happened. For example, they often point to the stories of Osiris, Adonis, and Attis, who, according to these claims, died and rose just like Jesus. Now, if these claims are true, and if the Christian belief in the resurrection of Jesus is just a cheap knockoff of these pagan stories, then yes, this argument would be very strong, and our faith would be in serious trouble. But is that the case?

Not at all. There are a few problems here. First, even if all of these ancient pagan gods were said to have died and risen, that does not prove anything. The mere fact that there is a similarity here does not mean that there is any causal relationship between them. Instead, there is a much more likely background for the Christian belief in the resurrection of Jesus: the Jewish belief in the resurrection of all the dead.

Already in the time of Jesus, the Jews believed that at the end of what they called “this age” (basically what we would consider normal human history), the dead would rise and get their bodies back (Daniel 12:2; 2 Maccabees 7:9, 11, 14, 23), and the first Christians believed that Jesus’ resurrection was simply the beginning of that general resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:12-23, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-16). Now, since Christianity grew out of Judaism, this is a much more likely background for our belief in Jesus’ resurrection than any pagan stories about dying and rising gods.

Real Parallels?

Moreover, once we start looking a bit more deeply at the alleged pagan parallels to Jesus’ resurrection, the argument becomes even less convincing. These stories are actually not all that similar to the Christian story of Jesus’ resurrection, and the vast majority of them come to us from sources that are later than the rise of Christianity.

For example, the story of the Egyptian god Osiris ends with Osiris becoming the ruler of the underworld, which is very different from a real resurrection. On the other hand, the Greek god Adonis became connected to a resurrection only after the rise of Christianity, so even if his story presents a real parallel to Christian belief, the influence goes in the wrong direction for the argument to work properly. His story was almost certainly influenced by Christianity, not the other way around.

source: https://catholicexchange.com/no-the-easter-season-isnt-pagan/

[this-is-z-art-blog]

Hi, I saw your answer to someone asking about what a Hannuka celebration is usually like and I thought it was really well thought-out and helpful. I was wondering if you might be willing to give me some insight on other Jewish holidays. This was actually inspired by the DP Hannuka challenge. I'm writing a long DP fanfic that's largely from Sam's perspective and when I saw the challenge I thought this was a great time to write some holiday scenes. But when I started researching Hannuka I read that it's not really a major holiday I wanted to know which holidays hold more significant meaning and...well, I went down a rabbit hole and I feel like I HAVE to make sure I do Sam's cultural heritage justice.

The part I'm writing right now takes place in autumn. I wanted to include a little bit about her family celebrating/participating in Rosh Hashana and the ten days of awe. The thing is, I have absolutely no frame of reference; I hadn't even heard of it until a few days ago. Its surprisingly difficult to find descriptions of what exactly people do to observe that holiday besides food. There's plenty to read about the food haha.

I was wondering if you might be willing to share with me your experience with autumn traditions. Your description of Hannuka was so helpful and you seemed open to more questions. But if you're not comfortable please don't feel any pressure, my goal here is to be respectful and I honestly don't know enough about Jewish Culture to know if I'm being rude so please tell me if I am. I live in a predominantly Christian area and the majority of my cultural knowledge on the subject comes from TV which tends to only bring up Judaism when a character talks about Hannuka instead of Christmas so I am basically an uncultured goldfish.

First of all, thank you, and thank you for reaching out. I love talking about this stuff in general, and I especially really enjoy helping people navigate representing characters' Judaism in their works. I know it can be really intimidating to do research on your own- you don't know what questions to ask, or what's a reliable source, or what's unilaterally true vs what varies community to community, and you want to do a good job and not perpetuate something hurtful or harmful- it's a lot! So while I want to be clear I'm just one person speaking from my personal experience and knowledge, Jews are not a monolith and Jewish thought and experience varies a lot, you can always reach out and I'll do my best to help.

Note, the Jewish calendar is lunar, which is about ten days shorter than the solar year, which is why Jewish holidays don't have the same Gregorian date year to year. Every three years (roughly) we have a whole extra 'leap month' to keep the seasons on track, because certain holidays have to be in certain seasons (most notably Passover). Jewish days also begin at sundown and end at about an hour past ('three stars in the sky') the next day, ie Shabbat is Friday evening to Saturday night each week. The high holidays are in the fall, generally, but to know when specifically something is myjewishlearning or chabad are websites you can look up 'what date is [holiday] + [year]'

Rosh Hashanah (literally translated 'head of the year'), New Year's (one of four actually). Kicks off the high holidays, both very joyous and very reflective. Apples and honey is the classic holiday treat, for a sweet new year. Challah for this holiday is often made in a circular shape, for the cycle of the year, rather than the normal Shabbat braided loaves, and sometimes people will make it with cinnamon sugar or raisins for sweetness. You also begin reaching out to make amends to people you may have hurt over the past year, a process that continues throughout the high holidays. A big theme of the high holidays is Teshuva, which is sometimes translated as repentance but is more closely 'return'. It's about making sincere apologies and doing the work to get better and avoid repeating the same kinds of harm. I once texted a non-Jewish friend of mine an apology for a previous fight of ours around this time that for her came kind of out of nowhere, which made her think I was dying. People often have a family meal together. Fun fact, the current Jewish year is 5784. Two days long kinda. Holy

The ten days between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, as you flagged, the Days of Awe or Days of Return (or in Hebrew they're the aseret yamei teshuva) are more on this theme of reflection and amends. Many participate sometime in here in a practice called tashlich, where you symbolically release bread crumbs (or some other crumpled foodstuff that may be more suited to your local aquatic life) into the water (typically a river, but sometimes your local Water is a lake or ocean) as a way to release your guilt and regrets and move forward into the new year knowing you've done all you can and you now have a clean slate

Yom Kippur ('day of atonement'), holiest day of the Jewish calendar. One of two major fasts (full day, rather than dawn to dusk). Very thoughtful and contemplative, typically a full day of synagogue services reflecting. We spend most of the day thinking about death. For many communities it's traditional to wear white or to avoid gold. You think about your wrongdoings and how to improve in the coming year, and deeply consider whether you've made your amends and if you've sincerely put in the work to change and improve where you need it.

Sukkot! Rounds off the high holidays, eight day festival that starts five days after Yom Kippur. You build a small structure called a sukkah (you BET there are a hundred specific details) in your yard and take meals in it together, big holiday for guests and visiting. First two and last two days are holy, middle four are still part of the holiday but are more mundane, and you go about your regular life (ie you can use electronics and go to work). Many observe the daily mitzvot of eating something in the sukkah, and shaking the lulav and etrog (a gathering of four plants, the lulav (palm frond), myrtle branch, willow branch are bundled together and the etrog (citron) in your other hand, symbolizes gathering in all the different kinds of our people). At the last days of Sukkot is the holiday Simchat Torah ('the joy of the torah'), where we reach the end of the annual cycle of reading the Torah and begin it anew. VERY joyous and boisterous, big holiday for dancing.

Also, here's an extremely quick and dirty rundown of other the other more prominent Jewish holidays (I'm basically skipping a number of minor fasts and smaller celebrations, but also, hannukkah is on this list, and it is nowhere near the scale of importance as Rosh Hashaha).

Hannukkah. Eight day festival in the winter, lighting a nine branched menorah (the ninth candle lights the others, one more each night ie night one you light one night eight you light eight, once again a THOUSAND little laws and specifics. we are a pedantic people). You have heard of this one

Tu B'Shevat! Late winter/early spring holiday that is the new year for trees. (The name is just the date, the 15th of the month Shevat. Most though not all Jewish holidays are on the 1st or 15th of the month, or, the new or full moon). Big holiday for planting trees or trying new fruits

Purim! Early spring. In a leap year this happens twice (though 'little Purim' is a much smaller holiday). This one is bonkers and criminally underrated. Costumes, giving gifts both to charity and to your friends and family, telling the story of that time a guy tried to kill us all and failed so hard we eat cookies shaped like his stupid hat to this day (hamantaschen or oznei haman, it's just the Yiddish or Hebrew name for them respectively)

Pesach or Passover, you have probably heard of this one. Springtime! Can't eat leavened grains (wheat, spelt, barley, oats, rye) so you gotta clean ALL your stuff out. Most Orthodox Ashkenazim also don't eat 'kitniyot', basically, similar food categories that include nuts, beans, corn, and rice, so if that's your tradition it's pretty thorough. First two nights are the Seder, a large, meandering meal where we tell the story of the holiday (in my family we regularly sit down around seven, don't get to the 'eat the Meal' part until nine, and are at the table til midnight. Many families are a little more effecient but many are even less). First two and last two days are holy, first two days especially are a big time for visiting family

The seven weeks from Passover to Shavuot are a period of time called the Omer, mostly just focused on counting up (not down) the days to Shavout. On the 36th day, Lag B'Omer (name is once again just the day) it's a holiday celebrated largely with bonfire parties

Shavuot (name just means 'weeks', for the seven weeks we count to get here) is the holiday that celebrates receiving the Torah. Celebrated with study of Torah and many have a custom to eat dairy (or just not meat), holy, two days-ish

Tisha B'av is a day of mourning, and the other major fast. Commemorates a lot of various tragedies and traumas. The weeks leading up to it go through a few stages of mourning and mourning practices

Elul is the full month leading up to Rosh Hashanah, and is something of a 'ramp up' to the attitudes and festivities, where you start thinking about your past and coming year

Shabbat. As mentioned this one is every week, holy day of rest from sundown Friday to a little later Saturday. Many celebrate by going to synagogue and/or holding a meal together Friday night and/or Saturday afternoon

Miscellaneous note, safety always comes first. If there is an emergency that would require you to break a rule of the holiday, do it. The principle is called pikuach nefesh, or protection of the soul (life)

Holy days are traditionally (though not everyone observes in this way and specifics vary, it is none of my business, repsonsibility, or interest to tell other Jewish folks what to do) observed by a number of restricitons that I like the categorize as just being part of the world, not trying to create or destory anything within it. The specifics have a lot to do with laws tracing back to not participating in argricultural or textile labor, but most relevant to my life personally is not turning on or off electronics (or fire), and no writing/drawing/fabric crafts.

Again NOT every Jew does full traditional observances of every holiday and that a) is NONE of my or anyone's business b) does not somehow make them 'less' Jewish. Judaism belongs to every Jew and is theirs to decide what to do with. That said, it is a chip on my shoulder when the only Jewish characters I see depicted in media, overwhelmingly written by gentile creators, go over the top to stress how much they hate following Jewish law or how much they love not doing it; feels like people are only interested in having Jewish characters whose Judaism is either a total joke, or it has to be as unobtrusive as possible- which is another reason I try to make myself available to answer questions you might have about how TO include your characters' Judaism

[mask131]

I was trying to look around to see if I could find some more information about Père Noël in its pre-Americanized incarnation online, but unfortunately most websites share the misinformation that "Père Noël" only existed from the 50s onward and was a French invention... No. [Note: I know books exist folks, but I precisely wanted to do a web research first]

There is only one website that does not share this idea and does identify Père Noël as a typical French figure that was then overtaken by the American Santa Claus, and the most fascinating thing is that it points out (despite previous sources I shared claiming "Père Noël" was first recorded in literature in the mid-19th century, by people describing their youth around the turn of the 18th-19th century) that Père Noël seems to have existed since the Middle-Ages, with texts referring to "Père Noël" or to "Monseigneur Noël". But it does recognize that the Père Noël traditions really boomed in the 19th century and were associated with the bourgeoisie of the time...

The website in question however is mostly focused on the various local, regional incarnations of the gift-giver - because as with many things in France, this tradition is rather a set of various regional and localized specificities that were ultimately synthetized into one entity.

It reminds that in the Lorraine and Alsace region, the Germanic cultures and German influences make it so that Saint Nicholas and Christkindl are still the main gift-givers. In Lorraine it is Saint Nicolas who is most honored (he is after all the saint patron of Lorraine). Appearing in his bishop outfit that makes him look a lot like Santa Claus (thick white beard, large clothes of red and white), every 6th of December he brings gifts and treats to nice children - while naughty children are confronted by his dreaded companion, Père Fouettard dressed in blacks, who beats up with a stick bad children. Saint Nicolas is also still strongly celebrated in the North of France (aka, what is above the Parisian region, because despite what some foreigners believe, Paris is not part of the North).

While in Alsace it is the Christkindl that still goes strongly, with Hans Trapp as its own Père Fouettard. The website briefly reminds that Christkindl is an avatar/incarnation of the Child-Christ, or Baby Jesus, that ended up being fused with the 23rd of December Saint, Sainte Lucie (Saint Lucia), resulting in this unique Christmas figure appearing as a woman dressed in white with a crown made of fir branches topped by four candles. It also reminds how Christkindl stays a symbol of Protestant end-of-the-year celebrations, as they pushed the Christkindl figure to oppose and replaced the Catholic celebrations of Saint Nicolas. Finally, there is an Alsace-specific legend that claims Hans Trapp actually originated as an Alsacian lord that tyrannized his people - Hans von Trotha, the 15th century lord of Wissembourg.

[Given the Alsace region has a lot of website pages about its traditions I'll place here in brackets informations from other websites:

The Christkindl, also written Christkindel or Chriskindla, is a Christian figure that is supposed to be an embodiment of L'Enfant Jésus, Child Jésus (the name comes from Christ-Kindel ; Christus-Kindlein, Christus als Kind), but definitively was influenced by Saint Lucia, who is very big in Scandinavia. In fact, Saint Lucia and the Christkindl look a lot like each other - female entities dressed in white with a crown of candles... Though the Christkindl can appear both as an adult woman and as a little girl, and also tends to have white veils. People tend to also find in Christkindl remnants of the Germanic goddess Berchta. No need to tell you that the Christkindl is big in all parts of the world influenced by German culture - Germany, Austria, northern Italy, Croatia, Slovenia, Switzerland, Czech Republic, and even some parts of Brazil, the ones where there was strong German imigration.

The Christkindl appeared in the 16th century with the Protestant Reform. Up until this point the day of Saint Nicolas was a very big thing in Alsace - saint-patron of school students, he offered good children mandarines and "manala" (a brioche in shape of a child). But the Protestants did not agree with this (Protestants were known to strongly dislike saints in general), and so they replaced the saint with the Christic figure of Christkindl, while keeping Père Fouettard/Hans Trapp (whose job was to threaten with stern lectures naughty children... or take them in a bag to abandon them in the deep dark woods). The change occured over the 16th century, from 1530-1536 (last mentions of Saint Nicolas in Alsace) to 1570 (first mention of Christkindl, when the Klausemärik was replaced by Christkindelmärk). In fact, Christkindl still has some Saint Nicolas traits - she also goes around with a donkey, named Peckeresel, which carries two bags, one for the treats (mandarines and bredalas), one for the whips. People left hay or carrots for the donkey to eat by the front door. Pastor Johannes Flinner made a strong public attack against saint Nicolas in Strasbourg during the "cultural transition", by pointing out that distributing gifts to all should be the prerogative of the Christ and no one else.

During the 20th century the Christkindl lost popularity in Alsace (jee, I wonder why France would like to bury Germanic traditions in the century of World War II) - but it returned in the traditions from the 1990s onward.

Fascinatingly, despite being supposedly a Christ-figure of an angel, the Christkindl, or White Lady, is also frequently called in alsace, a "fée", a fairy, la fée de Noël, the Christmas fairy. It doesn't help that she sometimes carry around a wand with a star at the tip, that is strikingly reminding of the stereotypical fairy-wand. Another irony of fate - despite the Christkindl being brought over to replace Saint Nicolas, the two currently still coexist in Alsace thanks to people not wanting to abandon the good old bishop. A third fun fact: originally the Christkindl could be played as much by women as by men, due to being a truly androgynous entity. From the 16th century onward, the Saint Nicolas celebrations were replaced in Alsace by parades of teenagers of both sexes dressed in white, going from door to door to give gifts and sing Christmas songs. However you can't have teenage boys and girls go around late at night without getting some problems... And those "Saint Nicolas hook-ups" were a real problem in Alsace, you have records from the 17th and 18th centuries pointing out how authorities have to try to refrain all the Christkindl from... well you know.]

The next entity presented is the famous Pays Basque character of Olentzero, whose appearance is that of a coal-man. Well a bizarre coal man - he has a bag filled with coal in one hand, a sickle in the other, a large beard on his face and a béret on his head. According to the Basque-version of the Nativity lore, he lived at the top of the mountains but saw in the sky the announcement of the birth of Kixmi (Basque name for Jésus), and he descended from his mountains to announce the good news. While he is the gift-giver of Pays Basque, leaving gifts for children in the night between the 24th and 25th of December, entering in the house by the chimney ; he is also a bogeyman figure, as he was a scary-looking man who was said to take away in a bag naughty children. As with everything Basque, Olentzero is actually a pre-Christian figure, as the very name of the character is related to the "pagan" winter solstice celebrations of the old Basque religion.

[Again, time to bring some more information from other websites to make sure I give a more complete portrait:

Long story short, because the Basque folklore is very well documented and I can't spend too much time on this, the Olentzero (or Olentzaro, Orentzaro, Omentzaro, Orantzaro...) is at the same time the Basque name for Christmas and the Basque figure of the coal-man that brings gifts during Christmas. He is supposed to be a grotesque character - rude, fat, dirty, gluttonous, his face blackened by soot, with worn-out clothes... He is basically a caricature of mountain-men and forest-men. Sometimes he is even given monstrous traits such as "having as many eyes as there are days in the year, plus one" - which is reminding of a French being of the New Year folklore called L'Homme aux Nez who also has as many noses as there are days in the year...He typically holds branches of gorse in one hand and a sickle in the other.

He comes down from the mountains, enters houses by chimneys, goes into the kitchen once everybody goes to sleep to eat all leftover food, and he warms himself by the fire - either you had to leave a log burning just for him, either he used the flames of the fire to burn his gorse branches. In fact, "olentzero" was also the name of a special log that was left bruning in the fireplace from Christmas to the 1st or 6th of January. This theme of the "coal man" of winter or the burning of branches all answers to a deep motif of bringing back light and heat in the heart of the cold and the dark. Him holding a sickle has made people draw parallel between him and the figure of Saturn/Kronos.

In fact, there is an old tradition, long before the Olentzero was embodied by a disguised man or by a mannequin paraded through the villages, to embody the character simply by the sickle. The sickle hanged by the chimney, as a threat to all disobedient children, to all lying children, and to all children that refused to go to bed. Another symbol of the Olentzero, outside of the sickle and the coal-sack, is a wine-bag or wine-bottle that he carries around, because to add to the grotesque he is also a drunkard, and according to stories it is because he gets often drunk that his wife regularly beats him. (Because yes the Olentzero has a wife, a character named Mari Domingi and who is typically depicted wearing a medieval regional outfit). However it seems that all this grotesqueness is simply due to the Olentzero being a character from the old Basque mythology that got Christianized - think of how the Dagda of Celtic mythology also got more buffoonish/clownesque/grotesque as time passed. We do know that the roots and origins of the character lie in the valley of Bidassoa...)

Today gone is the creepy bogeyman and grotesque glutton ; the Olentzero has evolved into a kinder, nicer, cleaner incarnation that is closer to the Père Noël traditions. For example he now parades through streets during the day, riding a horse (pottok) or by foot, giving children candies and sweets (including fake-coal actually made of sugar) ; and the legend claims he goes down from the mountain to offer coal and wood-logs to the poor families that can't afford fuel for their fire]

And finally, we find back our good old Père Janvier! Here we have most of the same info as previous. Père Janvier was a Bourgogne character, most present in the Morvan and Nivernais regions up until the 1930s. He brings gifts in the night between the 31st of December and the 1st of January by going through the chimney - chimney which must be decorated with holy and mistletoe. Père Janvier (Father January) typically looks like a skinny old man with a long white beard, dressed in a brown monk-like robe, and he is usually bent due to wearing on his back a heavy wicker basket filled with toys. And he too has for companion the Père Fouettard.

Most interestingly, the website mentions "Père Janvier variations" across France, most notably the Savoie character of Père Chalande, and the Normandie character of Barbassioné.

More information from other website. Le Père Chalande (or Papa Chalande, Daddy Chalande) was indeed a figure of the Savoie region, but also of the Dauphiné, and he was also present in Geneva. Martyne Perrot, in her book "Faut-il croire au Père Noël? Idées reçues sur Noël" even lists the area of action of this figure as: Savoie, Suisse romande, Bresse, Forez, Ardèche, Gard, Lozère and Hérault. He is basically identical to Père Noël because "Chalande" is just an old word for "Noël" (Christmas) in the regional language known as arpitan.

There was a traditional song that went as such: Chalande est venu / Son chapeau pointu / Sa barbe de paille / Cassons les anailles (noisettes) / Mangeons du pain blanc / Jusqu’à Nouvel An. / Il monte dans sa chambre / Il trouve une orange / Il la pluche / Il la mange / On l’appelle le petit gourmand. / Il descend les escaliers / Il se casse le bout du nez / Il va chez le cordonnier / Se faire mettre une pièce au nez / Quand il est malade / Il mange de la salade / Quand il est guéri / Il mange des souris/ Toutes pourries !

I can't translate the full song, but it refers to various traditions. For example leaving an orange for Père Chalande ; Père Chalande wearing a "beard of straw and a pointy hat" (leftovers of Saint Nicolas, especially the pointy hat) ; Père Chalande giving "anailles" (walnuts) to children ; and the habit of placing inside the Christmas log (real log of the fire) chestnuts, so that the burning of the Christmas log doubled as the cooking of the wintery treats. Raymond Christinger wrote in 1965, in a set of research about Geneva folklore, an article studying the character of Chalande, if you know how to read French: here.

While doing Chalande research I stumbled upon a Swiss theory brought forward by a journalist named Bernard Léchot - I don't know how accurate this is when it comes to actual evolution of Christmas figures, but here it is. According to him, the Christmas archetype of the "Old Man" actually comes 18th century Germany. In this era of rationalism, the German Protestant landgraves decided to introduce some laicity to their country, and so cut-off all characters close to Christianity from their Christmas celebrations (from Saint Nicholas to Christkindl). As a result, pagan figures returned, including the Old Man in the shape of Weihnachtsmann. Which then spread to other European countries, each land creating its variation: Bonhomme Noël in France, Father Christmas in England, Père Chalande in Savoie.

As for the Barbassioné of Normandie, I found nothing about him. As in every says it is the Normandie name of Père Noël, but he doesn't have any specific thing to his character.

To conclude, I will link you to a page documenting a Père Noël/Christmas beings exposition that collected various visuals of the history of the Christmas gift-givers through time, right here.

And through it you will see the evolution from the "Scandinavian ancestors" (Thor and Odin) and Saint Nicolas (celebrated in Germanic countries and the Alsace region), to the American Santa Claus and the British "Old Father Christmas", passing by the Germanic Knecht Ruprecht, the also Germanic Weihnachtsmann, the Christinkindel (of Germany, Belgium and Alsace), the Jultomte of Sweden, and the Enfant Jésus/Child-Jesus of France and Italy...

Without forgetting the French Bonhomme Noël, the Italian Befana, the regional ancestors of Père Noël (Tante Arie, Père Chalande, or the Breton Ted Nedelec), the Russian Ded Moroz, and Mère Noël (Mother Christmas)... With additional sections about Santa Claus in advertisements, the theme of "outlaw Father Christmas", Père Noël during the World Wars, and more...

[immobiliter]

some miscellaneous birthday thoughts for everyone's favourite pretend archon~

i was hoping hoyo would elaborate on this but they did not, so i will: we learned last year from neuvillette's birthday message that furina's birthday is a public holiday in fontaine, and remains so to this day, presumably meaning that things weren't changed after the events of the archon quest.

this implies to me two things, one, that no matter fontaine's collective feelings about their archon after the flood, furina's birthday is actually less about furina herself and reflects more on fontaine as a whole. a public holiday that has been in existence in this nation for anywhere up to 500 years has likely taken on a life of its own, with its own traditions and rituals, and can probably exist without her, in all honesty. it's like how christmas is as much a cultural holiday as it is a religious one, and can be enjoyed even by those who aren't religious. and two, that someone ( probably neuvillette considering he brings it up lmao ) insisted that the tradition continue even after furina's retirement

going back to the theme of christmas, there are a lot of parallels with various elements of christianity within the fontaine archon quest. i don't consider myself enough of an expert to go into them all, but furina, as the human representation of the divine who is sent to her nation to "save" her people from their original sin, and then is subsequently turned on by those people but is still willing to die in order to save them, and is someone who can literally walk on water gameplay wise, has a lot of parallels to jesus. i do think that her birthday in many ways functions in fontainian society similarly to how christmas works in the western world. yes, it's about celebrating the birthday of their archon, but to many it's actually less about that than it is a celebration of fontaine as a whole. i also think it's fitting for furina that even her birthday isn't really about her, although during her time as archon i am sure that she insisted on certain things because it's a way to reinforce the idea that she is their god, after all

pre-AQ, i imagine there is a lot of ceremony involved. for those who know what trooping the colour involves here in the uk, i am thinking along the same lines — chevreuse's voice line about furina talks about her once insisting on some kind of ceremonial musketeer performance and i think there would be some kind of similar officialdom from the various sections of the maison gardiennage to show fealty to their archon, with a lot of pomp and ceremony. i suspect that sort of stuff is inevitably dropped from furina's birthday celebrations after the AQ, but any other traditions that have been adopted by the fontainian people ( and the nature of it being a public holiday where the fontainian people can be at home with their families ) remain.

this also means that this birthday, timeline wise, is not only the first birthday that furina gets to celebrate as an ordinary human being, but also the first birthday she gets to celebrate where she has actually aged. of course, her age always increased every birthday, but she was cursed by focalors to forever remain the way she is, and to never visibly look any older or show any signs of aging. the fact that she can now say that she is a whole year older, both mentally and physically, is a big, big deal to her.

[useless-catalanfacts]

El 25 de gener (“The 25th of January”) is a song by the Catalan band Manel that we could maybe describe as... doubtful post-Christmas music?

I really like the song and its lyrics. I’ve translated them here. Read until the end and let me know what you think what the story is talking about!

But before we get to the lyrics, I’ll give some context for people from other countries who might not be familiar with these characters. According to the tradition, the White King (Melchior), the Blonde King (Gaspar), and the Black King (Baltazar) are the Three Wise Men, who in Catalan we call the Eastern Kings (els Reis d’Orient). These kings were magicians and astronomers, and they followed a shooting star that would lead them to the birth of a child who would be the Messiah. On the night of January the 5th, they reached the barn where baby Jesus was, and offered him the gifts of gold, incense, and myrrh.

For this reason, Catalan people and other cultures with a Christian background celebrate the day of the Three Wise Men as our equivalent of what Santa Claus is to the USA. The Three Wise Men bring presents for all children and families meet to eat a cake.

This song is set after that event, on the 25th of January (a date they probably chose as the title as a reference to the most famous traditional Catalan Christmas song, titled El 25 de desembre, “the 25th of December”), when the kings are on their way to return back home.

These are the lyrics:

Segons els pastors de l'últim poble darrera els horts veurien uns pins, passats aquells pins el camp d'oliveres i, al fons, tres camins.

According to the shepherds from the last village behind the orchards they would see some pine trees, and past those pine trees, the olive trees field and, in the background, three paths.

Han pres el trencall i s'ha obert la clariana i han ordenat als homes descans. Al camp d'oliveres tres reis s'acomiaden i encaixen les mans.

They’ve taken the detour and the clearing has opened and they have ordered their men to rest. In the olive tree field, the three men say goodbye and shake their hands.

Melcior aixeca el cap i veu la muntanya que abans que enfosqueixi ha d'estar travessant i es treu la suor amb el coll de la capa tacada de fang.

Melchior raises his head and sees the mountain that he must be crossing before it goes dark and he sweeps away his sweat with his cape’s collar stained in mud.

I no vol ni pensar que les forces s'acaben i ni us imagineu com s'emprenya quan, en beure en el riu, només troba la cara d'un home gran.

And he doesn’t want to even think of the strength coming to its end and you can’t even imagine how angry he gets when, as he drinks from the river, he only finds the face of an elderly man.

El rei dóna l'ordre pel toc de corneta pensant en aquells que, no fa pas tant, li besaven l'escut i entregaven les armes agenollats.

The king gives the order for a bugle call thinking of those who, not so long ago, used to kiss his shield and turn in their weapons kneeling.

Des de dalt del camell fot un crit el rei negre, que faci el favor algun bon soldat d'aixecar el cul de terra i fer un ràpid recompte de racions de pa.

From on top of the horse, the black king shouts for some good soldier to raise his ass from the ground and quickly recount the rations of bread.

Qui pogués creuar el bosc i trobés una barca! Qui abans d'adormir-se amb el braç estirat notés com els dits mica en mica retallen l'aigua del mar!

Who could cross the forest and find a boat! Who, before falling asleep with his arm straight out, could feel how his fingers slowly cross the sea’s water!

Qui arribés a palau i triés una dona, arranqués unes roses i li allargués un ram! Baltasar té el desig corrent per les venes com si fos sang.

Who could reach the palace and choose a woman, pick a few roses and hold out a bouquet to her! Baltazar has desire running through his veins as if it were blood.

Gaspar pot sentir clavats a l'espatlla els ulls d'alguns patges que estan esperant un cop d'atenció, potser una mà alçada, una ordre reial.

Gaspar can feel fixed on his back the eyes of some page boys who are waiting for a shout of attention, maybe a raised hand, a royal order.

Un dels homes canta enmig d'una rotllana amb la veu més dolça que hagueu sentit mai una cançó antiga que el rei taral·leja amb els llavis tancats.

One of the men sings standing in the middle of a circle with the sweetest voice that you have ever heard an ancient song song that the king hums to with sealed lips.

El patge més vell es gira i comenta mirant un segon de reüll cap al cel “sembla mentida que bé que vivíem seguint un estel.”

The oldest page boy turns around and comments quickly glancing for a second at the sky “It’s hard to believe how well we used to live following a star.”

[one-abuse-survivor]

Hello.

Al anon here with bit of rant.

As you already know I have figured out my family is abusive about four months back during my summer. This means that I have figured it out in the times where no big holidays were about to come.

No big holidays until now.

It will be christmas in a few days and I find it harder and harder to keeo myself together. It is comming more and more apparent that my christmas don't carry the warm christmas spirit and it never truly did.

All the things you should do and enjoy with your family like baking cookies is not there. I don't know if it makes me feel more horrible to hear the guilt tripping my mother does, that I didn't help here despite her never asking for help and me being literally flooded by tests and exams from university that I couldn't really help her out, or if I should take that as a blessing because baking with her never was a good experience. It is so easy for a day to not go exactly as she wants and then she lashes out. I also remember many years When I did help her (Even though sometimes not fully but I put some part in helping) and she would accuse mw of that same thing anyway. When I think about it she did accuse me of nit helping right after I helped her.

Though its just one of many instances that happens. My parents never held closely to any tradition. The older we get the more things are being reduced or we stop doing which slowly makes christmas just feeling like a regular day.

And it feels so wrong. Why am I feeling so sad and overwhelmed hwen this should be a holiday that so many people cherish? And if it makes me sad and propably it would be better if Christmas were just an ordinary day why I am sad that I won't enjoy the Christmas as a holiday?

I was so frustraded when I have entered the survival mode once again especially when it was hurting my chances of passing tests in my university, but I don't know if I hate the blissful ignorance of the survival mode or the unbearable pain and tension that comes when I break out of it for a while, seeing everything my parents do that hurt me and making me emotionally break down over and over again. Especially now when I don't truly want to ruin any of my friends holidays and I try to keep the pain silent so they don't get worried and their day isn't ruined by me having to talk to someone about this.

The worst part is I wont have the chance for any recovery as I will have to do all the exams that I have in january. Reminding me how trapped and pained I feel in university. Not only that I have to bear the pain that comes from the place that should have unrequired love for me, dealing with all the lovely kinds of trauma that my family bestowed upon me, using all my strength to keep my distance and not get hurt by any of my parents remarks but I also have to deal with the fact that When I was surviving m circumstances yet oblivious to the abuse that I was in I wrongly have chosen my degree path.

Now I have to not only fight my doubts and having to deal with the decision if i continue my degree or I change it to a different field but also fight my parents and my family who keep saying that it's stupid to change it and that I deserve what I have chosen.

When I mentioned it my father has set the prophecies that I should have the lowest paying jo that no educated people choose because I will not find anything better and I have to say it still hurts so much that it leaves me paralyzed in the position I am in.

I wish that I could just leave, run away and start living, finding help, therapy and start from scratch but the only thing that I am able to do is break again, over and over before the time I will finally be able to leave comes.

And it terrifies me that this is the fate I will very likely have to be in for years.

Hey again ❤️

This is super late, but I'm really sorry Christmas felt like this for you. I think a lot of us who grew up Christian/celebrating Christmas have a hard time around that time of the year... it's a time that used to feel magical and special, and when it gets warped with trauma, it can be really hard to face. Personally, last year, I also found myself wishing it could just be a normal day, because the alternative was to experience a lot of unpleasant emotions that seemed to be surfacing without my permission. It's especially hard when everyone and everything around you seems coated in this layer of happiness that you just can't tap into, but you also don't want to ruin other people's happy times. So I really get you. And I'm really sorry you felt this way too. I hope your January exams went well in the end!

Also, what your father said was horrible, and so unhelpful and unnecessary. It's completely normal to regret the degree you chose, especially when you chose it under such stressful circumstances and while living in survival mode. It doesn't say anything bad about you. I know so many people who started one degree and then changed to a different one—that's just part of life! Whatever you decide, I really hope you can make that decision willingly. And I hope you know it's never too late to study something else. Even if you finish the degree you started so you can find a job and get away from home, it's never too late to study something else you like when you're older. And if you don't want to finish this degree, I really hope you can find an alternative way to become independent without having to finish a different degree first.

Sending all my support your way ❤️

[themousefromfantasyland]

The Creatures of Yuletide: Grandfather Frost, the Soviet Santa Claus

Grandfather Frost, or Ded Moroz, is a very peculiar character. Even with Soviet Union authorities looking down on Christmas traditions as pure bourgeois and religious propaganda, and initially looking down on him too for the same reasons, he rose in prominence as a symbol of the New Year festivities meant to replace Christmas and is to this day a symbol of Slavic holidays.

Grandfather Frost started his life as a snow demon in Slavic folklore, however, it's worth pointing out that before Christianity arrived the term had no negative connotations.

He was also called Morozko or Ded, and in this form, he appears in Russian Fairy Tales, a collection of tales collected by Alexander Afanasyev. In the story Morozko, or Father Frost, a little girl is abandoned by her wicked stepmother to die in the woods during the winter. Father Frost finds her there, and because the girl is polite and kind to him, he gives her a chest full of beautiful jewels and fine garments. When the greedy stepmother tries to do the same with her daughter in hopes the girl can get the same reward as her stepsister, Father Frost freezes her to death at the foot of the tree and carries her body back to her grief-stricken mother.

Some tales suggest he would kidnap children, and only return them when their parents provided him with gifts.

The character is from pre-Christian times, but under the Russian Orthodox Church, he was transformed.

By the end of the 19th century, Father Frost was a very popular character, appearing in operas and plays, but after the Soviet Revolution, by 1928, Soviet authorities declared Ded Moroz was "an ally of the priest and kulak",

On December 28, 1935, Pavel Postyshev, a Communist Party publicist and member of Joseph Stalin's inner circle, published a letter in Pravda, the official newspaper of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, in which he proposed to give Soviet children a return to “the atmosphere of fairytale and magic.” While the winter festival was rehabilitated, all religious references were removed. New Year's instead of Christmas became the main holiday, and Grandfather Frost became its symbol.

In 1998, the town of Veliky Ustyug in Vologda Oblast, Russia was declared the home of the Russian Ded Moroz by Yury Luzhkov, then Mayor of Moscow.

Now we need to talk about Snegurochka, the Snow Maiden, his granddaughter, and helper. She's inspired by a tragic character in Slavic fairy tales from the 19th century, where a snow doll comes to life and wants to experience the human world, only to end up melting as consequence.

In the play The Snow Maiden by Alexander Ostrovsky, she is the daughter of Ded Moroz and Весна-Красна, Spring Beauty. She wants to leave her parents behind and live in the human world, and her parents allow her to live as a peasant, arranging an adoption by two peasant parents. There she grows to like a shepherd named Lel, but her heart is unable to know love. Her mother takes pity and gives her this ability, but as soon as she falls in love, her heart warms and she melts.

Later this tale was adapted into an opera by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov.

And here's a Russian stop-motion adaptation of the story I found online.

In the late Russian Empire, Snegurochka was part of the Christmas celebrations, in the form of figurines to decorate the fir trees and as a character in children's pieces. When the New Year's celebration was allowed in 1935, she was included.

Usually, former members of the URSS had their variations of Grandfather Frost and the Snow Maiden. After the Soviet Union Collapsed in the early 1990s, people returned to their old customs. Today, Ded Moroz is mostly celebrated in Russia, having gone out of fashion in other countries. Ukraine seems to have shifted from Ded Moroz back to St. Nicholas. There were rumors that Ded Moroz imagery was discouraged by the authorities due to conflict with Russia, but the Ukrainian Ministry of Culture refuted this

@natache @ariel-seagull-wings @thealmightyemprex

[remastered-feedback]

There’s something I’ve been wanting to get off of my chest and I haven’t been able to think of a proper place to do so, and this seems as good as any:

It is indescribably exhausting living as a Jew in a society that doesn’t really know how to handle any religion that isn’t a denomination of Christianity.

Sometimes it’s the fact that I’m required to take Christmas, Easter, et al. off from work even though I don’t celebrate them, while if I want to take the holidays off that I actually celebrate, I have to burn vacation days. Let me work on the holidays I don’t celebrate and take off the ones I do!

Sometimes it’s the way that Jews and Judaism are taken and used as a shield to deflect criticism in the name of “Judeo Christian values” that often have very little to do with any mainstream interpretations of Judaism and the overwhelming majority of Jews disagree with, yet are accepted in popular consciousness as “A thing Jews agree with” because Judaism is treated in a lot of mainstream culture as “A funny version of Christianity that stops at the old testament.”

On that note, sometimes it’s the way that people act as if they have a thorough understanding of Jews, Judaism, and Jewish culture just by reading the old testament, which, putting aside alterations and differences between the Tanakh and the old testament, ignores literal millennia of scholarship and growth and traditions and evolution.

Sometimes it’s the way that conversations about what is and isn’t antisemitic often seem to end with Jewish voices spoken over and ignored by people who are more concerned with making sure it doesn’t apply to them than they are with the well-being of the Jewish community, a behavior that should be as gauche as a white person talking over people of color about racism or a cishet person talking over queer people about homophobia and transphobia, but is accepted an infuriating amount of the time. External voices do not get to define a minority community’s experiences of marginalization for them.

Sometimes it’s the way that popular conception of religion as a whole basically boils down to “Different flavors of Christianity” and all of its tendencies and baggages and stances are foisted onto religions that a lot of those things straight-up do not apply to. I’m looking at you ex-Christian Atheists, the number of people who have renounced their faith but are still very clearly looking at the world through a Christian lens is amazing.

Sometimes it’s the way that Jewish traditions and history are appropriated and used in ways that show no respect for Jews or Judaism. Please stop with the Easter Seders. They’re far from the only instance of Christianity appropriating elements of Judaism, but they’re easily the most obvious. They’re not cute, they’re not appreciated, they’re rarely done with any actual understanding of how a real Seder works, and frankly they show a real lack of historical understanding given the Passover meal that was observed by Jews of Jesus’ era bore little resemblance to the modern Seder.

Sometimes it’s the way that a disturbing number of Christians treat us like living relics, talking to our face as if we’re some proto-Christian time capsule from a long-lost era. Interest is cool and appreciated! Talking about me like I’m a museum piece is not appreciated! Assuming that I’m just a 1.0 Christian who’s a quick conversation about Jesus away from converting and getting that 2.0 update is very not appreciated!

And I can go on and on and on and fucking on about this for ages, because it is a literally daily thing. It’s fucking exhausting. And I’m sure other non-Christian groups have some very similar experiences.

[daimonclub]

Christmas holidays

Merry Christmas holiday time Christmas holidays, customs, story, and traditions in Anglo speaking countries, an article that explains the origin and development of this great Christian feast, with some quotes and useful links. Christmas it seems to me is a necessary festival; we require a season when we can regret all the flaws in our human relationships: it is the feast of failure, sad but consoling. Graham Greene Christmas Eve is my favorite... I think the anticipation is more fun than anything else. I kind of lost that. The idea that something - food, traditions, an arbitrary date on the calendar - can be special because we decide it should be. We make it special. Not just for ourselves, but for others. Kiersten White I sometimes think we expect too much of Christmas Day. We try to crowd into it the long arrears of kindliness and humanity of the whole year. As for me, I like to take my Christmas a little at a time, all through the year. And thus I drift along into the holidays - let them overtake me unexpectedly - waking up some find morning and suddenly saying to myself: 'Why, this is Christmas Day! Ray Stannard Baker I have always thought of Christmas-time... as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys. Charles Dickens Let the children have their night of fun and laughter. Let the gifts of Father Christmas delight their play. Let us grown-ups share to the full in their unstinted pleasures before we turn again to the stern task and the formidable years that lie before us, resolved that, by our sacrifice and daring, these same children shall not be robbed of their inheritance or denied their right to live in a free and decent world. Winston Churchill Christmas Holiday Christmas is undoubtedly the most important festival of the year. It is the celebration of the birthday of Christ. Christmas means "mass", or church service, for Christ. The abbreviation Xmas derives from the Greek letter X that was used as a symbol for Christ by early Christians. For most boys and girls these celebrations mean preparing the Christmas tree, singing carols, pantomime, the church service in the late evening, the sumptuous dinner at midday with the whole family and, of course, Santa Claus, the smiling old man with the beard who slides down the chimney during the night to bring presents for the children. These Christmas traditions are losing their religious and traditional aspect and are becoming more consumistic. This is happening in both the English-speaking countries and in the rest of the world.

Christmas nativity advent of Jesus Xmas yesterday To children Xmas means the season of joy, of family and of presents. Its festivities mark the magic moment of the whole year. The children of the English-speaking countries still feel Christmas this way, while the adults seem to have turned it into a festival of consumerism. Children still delight in preparing the Christmas tree, a fir tree which is decorated with small, brightly-coloured lights and glass ornaments. Their feast still has a "Carol Service" consisting of Xmas hymns and readings from a Bible. Xmas Eve is probably even nicer than Christmas itself. Before going to bed, children prepare the "old sock" at the foot of the bed in which Santa Claus will place the presents during the night. On Christmas day, after the church service, the family gathers around the tree. They open the presents and then they sit down to the traditional dinner. Later, the children go and see a pantomime, a kind of comedy play with singing and dancing based on a well-known fairy story or folk story such as Cinderella, Robin Hood, etc. This wonderful feast will last twelve days and nights up to the Epifany. Xmas today In Great Britain, the USA, Canada, Australia, etc., in families without children, Xmas is constantly becoming less a feast of love and more and more a consumer festival. Maybe we should speak of a religion of consumerism. Christmas trees have multiplied and have become bigger and more brightly lit. Around them are parcels of presents, lots of them. Even Santa Claus - whose name derives from St Nicolaus or Nicholas - has changed. He is no longer the little old man coming from the North Pole on his sleigh, but a cheery, rosy-cheeked gentleman sitting at the entrance of department stores to attract customers. Santa Claus, or Father Christmas, has therefore changed from children's dream to buyers attraction. Even Christmas dinner seems to have changed. The enormous turkey sitting on the table proves this as do also all the bottles of wine. Of Christmas - the one with traditions and family love - there seems to be left only the name. Christmas in New York New York is not only inhabited by rich people. The contrast between lights, warmth and wealth, represented by Santa Claus and his gifts, and the world of the poor and homeless is highlighted during the Christmas period. New York shines with lights at Christmas. The brightest part of the city is the Rockefeller Center, with its enormous Christmas Tree and its ice rink where skaters may have fun in the chilly New York winter. All towns are full of lights during Christmas-time and on New Year's Day. But New York is brighter that any other city: the Catholic traditions of the Irish, the Polish and the Italians have mixed with the Orthodox traditions of Slays and Greeks, and with those of the white Anglo-Saxon Protestants, so that all Christians (and non-Christians as well) participate in the Holy Night. St Nicholas Story They bring happiness St Nicholas was the bishop of the Italian town Bari. He was a very good and generous man. He died in December and parents started giving gifts' to their children on the anniversary of his death, in order to remind them of the saint's generosity. At the end of the Roman Era and during the Middle Ages, Europe was far more united than we can imagine: pilgrims' travelled to sanctuaries, scholars' went from one university to another - and so St Nicholas, or Nicolaus , became known all over Europe. And in northern Europe Santa Claus, who brings gifts during the Christmas period, is still St Nicholas from Bari with his new northern name. Yet, in the original Celtic tradition there were two other people who brought gifts during winter. Of course you know them. One is the Italian Befana, who is a good witch on her way back from the witches' Sabbath. The others were the tiny' gnomes from northern Europe, who lived in old trees in the forests. They also wore a big red hood'. A little girl who spoke to wolves' and walked in the forest wearing a red hood and carrying gifts is no doubt known to you: Little Red Riding Hood. CHRISTMAS DAY December 25th (Conversations) It is 1.30 on Christmas Day and the Browns are eating their Christmas dinner. Mrs Brown's father is carving the turkey and Mrs Brown is serving ... Mrs Brown: I hope the turkey's cooked properly, Father. Father: It looks fine to me. Mrs Brown: Will you have ham and sausages with your turkey, Barbara? Barbara: Yes, please, Mum. Mrs Brown: And bread sauce? Barbara: Yes. Mrs Brown: And chestnut stuffing? Barbara: Oh yes - I'll have everything. Mrs Brown: Here you are then. Barbara: It looks delicious. Pass the gravy, please, David. Mrs Brown: Don't wait for us, Barbara. Start yours or it'll get cold. Now, David, what'll you have? ... ... And after the main course the Browns had Christmas pudding with brandy butter, mince pies with cream followed by nuts and fruit and coffee. Then they all pulled crackers. Inside each cracker there was a coloured paper hat, a joke and a small toy - a whistle or a doll perhaps. After such a large meal - and a lot of washing-up they all settled down to watch the Queen on television. (A Christmas Day programme in which The Queen speaks to the Commonwealth.) In the evening they went carol singing with the church choir and visited an old people’s home. This is one of the carols they sang: I saw three ships come sailing in on Christmas Day, on Christmas Day. I saw three ships come sailing in on Christmas Day in the morning. And what was in those ships all three, / On Christmas Day, on Christmas Day? And what was in those ships all three, /On Christmas Day in the morning? Our Saviour Christ and His lady,/ On Christmas Day, on Christmas Day; Our Saviour Christ and His lady, / On Christmas Day in the morning. Write wish messages on some Christmas Cards. If you were invited to Christmas dinner with the Browns what would you like to eat? What would you say to Mrs Brown? Christmas in Scotland Mr Rogers is on the phone to a restaurant in Scotland. - Hello. Mees restaurant. - Hello. My name is Rogers. I'm spending a few days in Scotland for Christmas. Is it possible to reserve a table for Christmas dinner? - Yes, Mr Rogers. How many of you are there going to be? - Four. I've heard you serve traditional Scottish dinner. Do you? - Of course. May I have your full name and... (fades) Pudding The Jones are having their Christmas dinner. - How did you like the pudding? - It was great. Fantastic. - Do you want some more, Mary? - Well... yes, please. Just a little bit, though. - OK. Here you are. - That's enough, thank you. - What about you, John? Would you like some more? - Oh, no, thank you. It's got more calories than... than a volcano! Friends Mary meets Joey the day before Christmas. - Joey! Hi. Merry Christmas! - Merry Christmas, Mary. How's it going? I haven't seen you around these days. - I had a bout of flu! - Oh, poor thing... - But I'm all right now. Well, I'm in a bit of a hurry... Oh... Happy New Year! - The same to you! Hangover It's New Year's Day. John is walking the dog and he meets his friend Charles. - Hello, Charles. Happy New Year. - Happy New Year. Gosh, John: you look miserable. - I know. It's a hangover. I had too much Italian wine last night. - It always happens when one's used to beer. - But they think beer is not good enough for New Year's Eve. So the friends who invited us served wine. And we had brought some port as a present... and now I'm dying! - Come on! Tomorrow you'll be OK. - I hope so...

London Christmas lights decorations Holiday time The Christmas season, also called the festive season, the holiday season (mainly in the U.S. and Canada), or simply the holidays, is an annually recurring period recognized in many Western and Western-influenced countries that is generally considered to run from late November to early January. It is defined as incorporating at least Christmas, and usually New Year, and sometimes various other holidays and festivals. It also is associated with a period of shopping which comprises a peak season for the retail sector (the "Christmas (or holiday) shopping season"), and a period of sales at the end of the season (the "January sales"). Christmas window displays and Christmas tree lighting ceremonies when trees decorated with ornaments and light bulbs are illuminated, are traditions in many areas. In the denominations of Western Christianity, the term "Christmas season" is considered synonymous with Christmastide, a term associated with Yuletide, which runs from December 25 (Christmas Day) to January 5 (Epiphany Eve), popularly known as the 12 Days of Christmas. However, as the economic impact involving the anticipatory lead-up to Christmas Day grew in America and Europe into the 19th and 20th centuries, the term "Christmas season" began to become synonymous instead with the traditional Christian Advent season, the period observed in Western Christianity from the fourth Sunday before Christmas Day until Christmas Day itself. The term "Advent calendar" survives in secular Western parlance as a term referring to a countdown to Christmas Day from the beginning of December. And now enjoy some proverbs on Christmas: If I could wish a wish for you, it would be for peace and happiness not only now, but for the whole year through! Catherine Pulsifer, Christmas is more than just presents, it's love and harmony. Julie Hebert Peace on earth will come to stay, when we live Christmas every day. Helen Steiner Rice Christmas can't be bought from a store ... Maybe Christmas means a little bit more. Dr.Seuss Christmas comes but once a year. Proverb, (Italian) At Christmas the day stretches out of a rooster's step! Proverb, (Italian) But when it comes it brings good cheer. Proverb Read also our other posts on Christmas  ; Christmas quotes ; 60 great Christmas quotes ; Christmas tree origin and quotes ;  Traditional Christmas Carols ; Christmas jokes ; Christmas cracker jokes ; Christmas food ; Christmas thoughts ; Christmas story ; Christmas in Italy ; Christmas holidays ; Christmas songs ; Christmas poems ; An Essasy on Christmas by Chesterton ; International Days List ; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XT_ug0mFdoo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UT_PX9E_3-o Read the full article