jason_doust
The Bowling Geek
Merry Solstice Everyone,
Today is the Summer Solstice. But in the Northern Hemisphere, it's the Winter Solstice. The ancient pagan fertility festival of the horned man (you work it out), traditionally celebrating the longest night of the year with mind-altering-substance-infused naked dancing about a fire with lots of drumming going on and whatever else might follow such a night.
Then the Christians came along and hijacked it. Every theologian will tell you that while Bible scholars continue to debate the exact date of Jesus' birth (all data is based on positions of the stars, which is ironic as Christian faiths now deride astrology), they all agree it wasn't anything like December 25. So instead of a riotous night out, we got to get out of bed early and get dressed up for a sermon followed by a big fight with our relatives after eating too much! What a bunch of wowsers*.
Then the retailers got a hold of it and turned it into an even bigger debacle. Now we have endless lists of things to do, stuff to buy and don't get me started on Secret bloody Santa where we all get to give and receive stuff we neither want nor need. So now we get to have this awful charade dragging on for months! Bah Humbug!
The rave around a bonfire sounds like a much better time.
Merry Christmas anyway. And Happy Birthday Jesus. Whenever it may be.
* Wowser - as defined by Barry Humphries - A person who cannot stand the thought that someone, somewhere is having a good time.
Today is the Summer Solstice. But in the Northern Hemisphere, it's the Winter Solstice. The ancient pagan fertility festival of the horned man (you work it out), traditionally celebrating the longest night of the year with mind-altering-substance-infused naked dancing about a fire with lots of drumming going on and whatever else might follow such a night.
Then the Christians came along and hijacked it. Every theologian will tell you that while Bible scholars continue to debate the exact date of Jesus' birth (all data is based on positions of the stars, which is ironic as Christian faiths now deride astrology), they all agree it wasn't anything like December 25. So instead of a riotous night out, we got to get out of bed early and get dressed up for a sermon followed by a big fight with our relatives after eating too much! What a bunch of wowsers*.
Then the retailers got a hold of it and turned it into an even bigger debacle. Now we have endless lists of things to do, stuff to buy and don't get me started on Secret bloody Santa where we all get to give and receive stuff we neither want nor need. So now we get to have this awful charade dragging on for months! Bah Humbug!
The rave around a bonfire sounds like a much better time.
Merry Christmas anyway. And Happy Birthday Jesus. Whenever it may be.
* Wowser - as defined by Barry Humphries - A person who cannot stand the thought that someone, somewhere is having a good time.
