Christo-Pagans and the Holidays

[Ninjakitten]

Okay, I get the feeling with a title like that this will spread to other holidays, too, not just these winter ones, but do you guys celebrate Christmas, Yule, Hanukah (sp?), and/or other holidays? I personally celebrate Yule now, but if I have any ability to be around my Christian family and/or friends, I do celebrate Christmas, too, even though I don't believe Christ was born anywhere near this time of year.

[farm girl]

We do Yule & a secular kind of Christmas. :) We leave in the togetherness, giving, spirit of peace, and Santa.

[LacyRoze]

I celebrate Yule and Christmas. It really doesn't matter to me that Jesus wasn't actually born this time of year, all the presidents weren't born on Presidents Day either....

[Silver Ivy]

I also celebrate Yule and Christmas, but probably, Christmas a little more at the moment, because of my family. I don't think it really matters whether or not Jesus was born on that day ... it's just a celebration of the fact, that he was actually born :)

[Ninjakitten]

... and it would be kind of wierd having the only two major holidays every type of Christian celebrates in the same month. It's probably better that it got spread out, even if it was to make the transition from various blends of paganism into Christianity easier.

[LostSheep]

I'm lucky in that none of my family are remotely religious, and I don't have any younger brothers or sisters so we don't have to do the 'family Christmas' thing, so I'm free to ignore Christmas completley if i want to. This year, which is the first since I became Pagan (_inabox_), I think I'll mark Yule in a simple little ritual, but ignore Christmas Day completely, because that has nothing to do with Jesus at all. Can I still be even a little bit Christian if i don't observe Christmas? I dunno, I'm working on that. I think i look at it that it has nothing to do with when Christ was actually born, but it was just borrowed by the early Christrian church as a way of over riding pagan beliefs, so as it's just a date that was chosen purely arbitrarily I don't feel that I'm being disrespectful by not observing it.

Gosh ... arbitrarily ... I impressed myself there.

[SunFlowerJade]

_wiz_ Im happy to say that I celebrate both Christian AND Pagan holidays because BOTH are important to me.

[Ninjakitten]

I don't think ignoring a tradition within your path makes you bad in the path, especially when the tradition only has to do with your path in name only. I could do without it, too, but I do celebrate it as more of an excuse for friends and family to get together and to go ahead and celebrate an ancient event that was important to my faith, even if it is during the wrong time of year.

[LadyCelt]

i may becelebrating yule wednesday and the christmas on the weekend

[LostSheep]

Actually, going back to what i said, why I have contempt for Christmas is because of all the commercialised money grabbing crap, the way that pagan symbolism has been stolen just to make money, Santa, all that, and all the rubbish music you can't get away from. I think Christmas should be a religious holiday pure and simple, without Santa coming into it at all, and let the Christmas tree go back to being a Yule tree where it belongs. So actually I think i will observe Christmas from a religious point of view, just ignore all the crap that's been heaped on it since.

[David19]

I'll be celebrating christmas, although i don't actually go to church (only my dad goes to mass) and usually i just give out the presents i brought people and of course open the ones for me too :).

Usually it's spent with family and sometimes friends of family so it's kind of cool. I kind of wish i could also find a way to be with my friends but they're with their families so it doesn't really matter.

I defently think i'll always celebrate christmas despite whatever path i choose (whether it's Kemetism, Asatru, Canaanite paganism, Wicca, Christo-paganism, whatever, etc) since i always have. I have no idea what day Jesus was born but i don't think we'll ever know since it was 2000 years ago. It might have been in spring or whenever, i don't think it matters since when you see kids enjoying themselves, visiting Santa, it doesn't matter about the date, as long as people are enjoying themselves and having fun, and i may not have read the bible but i'm pretty sure, that's probably what Jesus, Mary and God want.

[CleftOfLight]

I observe christmas in respect to Jesus,and I do the gift thing only beause my parents still want to do it,but for me I think it should be more about Jesus and less about gift giving.Though he wasnt bornon christmas day,I still think its good to have a remeberance of his birth and Easter for his death,because ultimately whether you believe in hm or not he has forever changed history.Its been 2000 years and here we are still talking,worshipping,& learningfrom him.

Also,should Christain witches celebrate Jewish holidays? since Jesus was Jewish,and which of the Jewish holidays should be celebrated? Just some or all?

And are there minor christain holidays that most people do not celebrate? If so should we celebrate them too or not.And of course what about the Solstices and so forth,should they be acknowledged as well?

[PoisonIvy]

I will be spending time with friends and family this holiday and I will also be participating in gift exchanges and eating lots of good food! All of these things are christian and pagan traditions so you figure it out.:lol:

[Cyzarine]

We celebrate all of the Holidays. This time of year we celebrate Yule, Christmas, and the Three Kings.

[Christo Pagan]

I too celebrate Christmas in addition to Yule. I hope everyone here has a wonderful holiday week, no matter what you might celebrate. :)

[kystrawberry]

This is my first year celebrating Yule, Christmas or whatever December holiday we want to insert here as a pagan. I actually did a small ritual for Yule and will be spending Christmas day with my family. I am still seeking my path. Particularly at this time of year I am a little confused. I would like to know what is Christo Paganism.:idea:

[Ninjakitten]

I would like to know what is Christo Paganism.:idea:


Oh, Christo-Paganism is just a term that's used when describing someone who blends a Christian path/Diety/Pantheon with pagan paths/religion. It could generally (very generally) describe the path of a Christian who incorporates witchcraft into her form of worship (as I do), or it could be someone who is part of a pagan religion (like Wicca or Druidry for example) and uses the Christian mythos/pantheon as their way of looking at Diety. It's a wierd and somewhat contradictory term, I know, but the most accurate and most inclusive one for those who blend Christian and pagan paths, ideals, and practices to varying degrees.

[kystrawberry]

I am very interested in this. where can I find more information on this?

[LostSheep]

I think that, like most things to do with paganism, there's not really any hard and fast rules or checklists of what it involves. I mean, I respect Jesus and try to follow his teachings, as far as trying to help others, etc, but I don't buy into the biblical idea of God and so on, the pagan concept of God and Goddess speaks to me more, so I suppose I could call myself a christo-pagan to some extent at least.

[Ninjakitten]

I am very interested in this. where can I find more information on this?


You can pretty much Google "Christian" and whatever pagan path you want to blend it with at the same time. Of course, you will also get some Christian sites condemning the pagan path you put in, but you will also get ones that show blends. It really depends on what you want to blend. I know of an author on Christian Wicca (Wicca using the Christian pantheon) and she also has a website that's pretty easy to find. There's also different Druid Orders, some of which don't care what your religious background is and promode Druidry as more of a religious philosophy rather than it's own strict religion, so it's possible to blend Christianity and some forms of Druidry.

It's basically up to you and what you want out of your religious belief system. How do you want to approach the Divine? What truth do you see both within your path and outside of it? In what ways do you want to show the Divine that you love it/him/her/them? The answers to those questions should be able to give you an idea of how much paganism you want in your Christianity and vice versa. I can give you a little help if you have a little more specific things in mind, like what you want to blend, but the general information on Christo-paganism is so general that I probably just mentioned the "strict" details of it. Then again, Christo-paganism could even be used to describe someone that can also be considered an Eclectic Christian, just with more focus on the pagan expressions of Christian faith.

[gurlygurl2004]

Christmas is one of my favorite holidays. I agree that Christ wasn't born around Christmas. To me Christmas isn't a religious holiday. It celebrates the spirit of capitalism more than anything. And since Santa Claus is based on a real person I don't have a problem with the Santa sentiments.

[gurlygurl2004]

I also celebrate Yule and Christmas, but probably, Christmas a little more at the moment, because of my family. I don't think it really matters whether or not Jesus was born on that day ... it's just a celebration of the fact, that he was actually born :)

Personally I think Jesus was born in the April-Sept season. So Easter in my eyes shouldn't be just a celebration of Jesus' death but also his birth. It's sad that on a holiday of celebrating new life, the Christians had to take someone's death and celebrate it on Easter.

[Cyzarine]

Personally I think Jesus was born in the April-Sept season. So Easter in my eyes shouldn't be just a celebration of Jesus' death but also his birth. It's sad that on a holiday of celebrating new life, the Christians had to take someone's death and celebrate it on Easter.

Yeah, Byzantines believe this as well. Yet, we believe that it was switched so there would not be to many big holy days in one season. We believe the birth of Christ to be in April sometime.

[zionwood]

i LOVE holidays, so i'm bumping up this thread.
What about spring/summer holidays?
for Beltane, i set my watch for the moment exactly halfway between the spring equinox and summer solstice (see http://www.archaeoastronomy.com/) and when my watch went off i just sang "Sumer is icumen in" (Summer is coming in) a really old Old English song. that was just about it.
i'm celebrating Pentecost and thinking about celebrating Lag b'Omer (Jewish holiday), the summer solstice, the summer Ember Days, and various moons. still trying to figure it all out...

[omar]

In 353AD Pope Julius 1st,changed Christmas from Jan.6th to Dec. 25th. But Eastern Orthidox Christians still follow Jan.6th. Which do you observe?

[zionwood]

I observe Christmas on the 25th of December. and in future years i'll figure out some way to celebrate Epiphany on Jan. 6.