One Astronomer's Noise

I love Christmastime.  I love the lights, the trees, the gift-giving, the hot chocolate by the fire… okay, I don’t have a fireplace anymore. For as much as I complain about cold and snow, less a problem now that I live in Virginia, I do love celebrating this particular holiday.

The day after Thanksgiving, I was already excited to start decorating. I’ve inherited my mother’s Dickens village, and I love putting it together every year, with all the little people in a quaint Victorian Christmas town.  When I mentioned this to one of my friends she replied, “But wait, aren’t you an atheist?”  I was a little confused and took a minute to think.  Oh right, Jesus is the reason for the season, isn’t he?

The things I like about Christmas aren’t related to the Christian story at all.  The winter solstice, or the shortest day of the year, in terms of daylight hours, was an important date in many ancient traditions.  This is now considered the first day of winter, but it also marks when the days will begin getting longer, a welcome event for farming communities and people who don’t like to come home from work when it’s dark.  It’s the day that the sun starts moving higher in the sky again, thus it is unconquered, or Sol Invictus.  Winter festivities around the world included Roman Saturnalia, full of gift-giving and merry-making (ancient eggnog anyone?), Roman new year celebrations , which helped to give us indoor greenery to celebrate life amongst the cold, and Scandinavia, which gave us the Yule log. Later, as Christianity became more established, they threw their holiday into the mix as to not be forgotten, and to reaffirm Jesus as the “unconquered son.”

Since Christmas was so heavily steeped in pagan tradition, it was rejected by the Puritans who settled the “New World.” Christmas had mixed popularity in colonial America but fell out of favor, along with other English customs like tea time and Doctor Who, after the Revolutionary War. In this era, Christmas continued to be celebrated in various forms in Europe where the Christmas tree and Santa Claus became part of the holiday.

Christmas as we know it was reinvented in 19th century America as a peaceful family holiday that focused on children. The practice of putting a Christmas tree in the house and giving presents to children from Santa were incorporated at this time, and the holiday grew up to be one of goodwill towards all mankind.  It was declared a national holiday in 1870.

So really, when you look at it, axial tilt is the REAL reason for the season, and we have a rich, complex history of traditions that have been invented and reinvented over the years to surround that. I think that as long as you don’t get wrapped up in cynical, crass commercialism, it can be the most wonderful time of year!

So I’ll happily have myself a godless little Christmas, but don’t get offended if I tell you “Happy Holidays.” I understand that some people celebrate Hanukkah instead of Christmas, or Kwanzaa or Festivus or the Solstice or even the Feast of the FSM, so “Happy Holidays” is perfectly appropriate, especially when I don’t know the person! I’m not attacking Christmas with that phrase.

Go ahead, fellow non-believers.  Turn up the holiday music, light your lights, put up your tree, and get something nice for your loved ones.  And, yes, flashing-light reindeer antlers are entirely appropriate.

Okay, who knocked over the kids? Must be the war on Christmas!