Yuletide

It's now the month of December and that means life revolves around one thing; this monster called Christmas. Every store you shop in will devote everything in one way or another to the concept, be it huge areas devoted strictly to gift items and toys, the way products are merchandised, or simply covering everything in tinsel and other such seasonal ornamentation. And of course the air will be filled with Christmas songs ad nauseam. And of course, when you get home, you turn on your television and the annual Christmas shows, episodes, you name it will not allow you to forget what time of year it is. There is utterly no escaping it. Resistance is FUTILE!
Here at Sandy Acre, I and the wife have always held an uneasy truce. I would try not to utterly ruin the spirit of the season, and my wife would take responsibility for ruining the decor of the house with all of her Christmas decorating. She would resent me for being such a grinch, I would do my best to tolerate her oppressing me with it all. Well, in a strange sort of way, things have changed remarkably in a way that makes both of us happy.
As you all well know by now, the wife has embraced the philosophy of Wicca, having finally gotten fed up with the hypocritical God of Christianity. As for myself, I still leave it to Bob, my own personal idea of the divine collective, to let me know what I need to know and when I need to know it, knowing full well that I can't be intimidated into believing something, especially if that belief is totally illogical and silly if one is allowed to question it. The reason I support my wife's exploration of Wicca is that the very basis of this "religion" is respect for the Earth and the life upon it, something which no other belief system, save perhaps Buddhism, is willing to hold dear. The "Gods" that witches pay homage to, to my understanding, are simply representations of the many aspects of the elements and forces that exist in nature, such as Sun, Moon, Wind, Fire, Earth, Water, etc, forces that we respect, seek to work with, and enjoin to bless us with whatever it is that they lend to the whole. There is no heaven or hell to compete for our loyalties, nor jealous or vengeful deities that we have to kowtow to, only respect and acknowledge. Wiccans see the forces of good and evil strictly for what they are, the intent of humans and the way they interact with the Earth and each other. Like Forrest's Momma said, sorta....."Evil is as Evil does......".
Thus, there is peace in our valley, as the wife has adjusted our holidays to celebrate the seasonal sabots that the early pagans respected in their day to day life living with the land and being dependent upon the nuances of the different seasons for their very existence's. Instead of Christmas, we will be celebrating Yule, or the Winter Solstice. Although we will be exchanging gifts, it will not have anything to do with Santa, Christ, or anything we have adopted since the christians co-opted the holiday to bring the pagans into the fold. The yule log, which was decorated with candles, replaces the Christmas tree, which evolved from the former. The wife HAS retained a small tree, with suitable ornamentation, as old habits die hard, but she did commission me to cut a nice log and drill the candle holes for it, which I'd much rather do than risk my neck again on the ladder putting up electric christmas lights on the house. This celebration seems more natural to me, even if I have not chosen to embrace Wicca as truth, as of yet, for I find nothing hypocritical about it, far less commercial, and closer to old ways that long ago gave way to artificiality and terroristic faith.
Even should I become a stout believer and practitioner, this is not the kind of "religion" that I could evangelize to anyone. This is something a person has to come to naturally, easily, when their soul has been left wanting elsewhere, and they have allowed themselves to sit in a forest, listening to the world, and hearing it for the first time. From this world we sprang, and to it we shall return, having left it for better or for worse. I am already burdened with the shame of my own contribution to the ugliness visited upon my home planet. Perhaps, in some way, I shall find some sense of peace and forgiveness for acknowledging this, before I die and return to the collective. Then, perhaps, I will not have totally wasted this life for lack of having learned anything of value as a sentient being.