I really like Christmas.

The winter holiday gift-giving season is a lovely time for me. My mom was the Queen of Christmas and it has always been a big deal in my family. I am an atheist, an armchair historian, and a humanist. I am always fascinated by the clusters of culture, beliefs and facts that surround the Christmas season. Examples might include little tidbits such as:

No one really knows if there was a baby Jesus, historically. That's why they call it faith. If he existed he certainly probably wasn't  born in late December. That was a date chosen by the Catholic church to try to supersede and bury the cluster of pagan rituals that were practiced across Europe during Roman times. They proliferated due to the fact that on Winter Solstice the sun finally begins to return.

The Romans actually kind of invented the "proto-Christmas" at that time. They had their own holy week of partying called Saturnalia for the Winter Solstice, and it looks like it was super-fun. 

Most of the carols that our grand-parents might consider the "Good Old Songs" are really no more than about 150 years old, coming from the Victorian era. The really old songs (dating back to the middle ages) often include references to their pagan roots, like "The Boars Head Carol" and "The Holly and the Ivy". Sometime they also sound like drinking songs, like "Good King Wenceslas".

That supposedly "English" tradition of having a Christmas tree came from the Germans. Prince Albert helped popularize it in the mid-19th Century. As such it is a pretty recent development for proliferation, and German to the core. I wonder What Queen Victoria would have thought of the weird electric versions of her beloved husband's tradition that one can buy at Home Depot.

A lot of those Germanic cultures on the continent have really awesome and terrifying Christmas traditions that include Krampus, who looks like something right out of a horror movie. Any present under my tree that I wrap comes from him by default.

Our "traditional" image of Santa Claus was created by Coca Cola to sell soda pop. He's really just an early form of modern marketing. That fat bastard is everywhere.... And I have never met a toddler at the mall who wasn't afraid of him.

Black Friday sales numbers are used to actually predict and define how well the American economy is doing. The weekend makes the year. Christmas is commerce.

I have no belief in a Christian or any other god. But I really like Christmas. I was raised to it. I love the family time, the generosity, the food and drink, and generally kicking against the darkness when the days are only about 8 hours long. It is a magical time, for whatever reason.

Occasionally you find an artist that can reach into your head and pull out exactly what you're thinking. Tim Minchin is one of those for me. Here is his exquisite and meaningful take on Christmas. I can only say, "me, too."

Merry Christmas to all.