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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 30, 2016)
Wednesday, November 30, 2016 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon The Bunkhouse Chronicle Craig Rullman Columnist Boughs of holly Now that the nomi- nally Puritan tradition of Thanksgiving is in the bag, it’s interesting to look for- ward to the next big holiday extravaganza — Christmas — which was actually banned by those same Puritans in the 17th and 18th centuries. Fundamentalists across the spectrum never seem to tire of drawing up bans on activities they don’t like, particularly the fun ones. Governor Bradford, a dour if not practical guru of the first colonial take on com- munal living, punished sev- eral Puritans for playing ball on “Foolstide” by clapping them in stocks, which was also the New World’s first openly Humbug move. As late as 1712, Cotton Mather, a New England fire- brand, decried Christmas to his flock, writing that “the feast of Christ’s nativ- ity is spent in reveling, dic- ing, carding, masking, and in all licentious liberty ... by mad mirth, by long eat- ing, by hard drinking, by lewd gaming, by rude revel- ing!” In other words, it was fun. And in those days any ideas about fun sat on the polar opposite end of devo- tion. It wasn’t until 1870 that President U.S. Grant, a man who enjoyed his liba- tions without shame, made Christmas a federal holiday. But Christmas, as a holiday, has deep historical roots that pre-date Christianity as a world religion. Begin with the Romans, who celebrated a festival known as Saturnalia, which was essentially Mardi Gras on steroids, a state holi- day and a time when no citizen could be punished ISTOCKPHOTO.COM/ALISAFAROV for wreaking havoc in the Republic. The celebration shared a common theme with Christianity, however, in notions of salvation and rebirth, with the same tragic requirement of death. During Saturnalia, the Roman authorities — and “authorities” should always be considered a suspicious bunch — chose an “enemy of the Roman people” and anointed him the “Lord of Misrule.” After a week of mandatory fun, he was killed on December 25, in an act they believed would elimi- nate various forces of dark- ness. It’s likely that is the only reason we celebrate Christmas on December 25. In the 4th century, church leaders — hungry for souls and undoubtedly the finan- cial boon that came with them — enticed large num- bers of pagans to convert by dangling the promise that they could retain elements of their cherished Saturnalia. The Christmas tree, which is generally accepted as a 17th century German contribution to Christmas celebrations, most likely has its root in ancient northern European winter solstice festivities. In the long, dark, northern European winters, in William Manchester’s words “a world lit only by fire,” various tribes of pre- Christian peoples often brought boughs and other greenery inside to cheer things up and combat the seemingly endless gloom. The word “pagan” itself has a root in the Latin word for villager, but at least one lan- guage scholar finds a cor- ollary in an old Germanic word for “field.” The next big stop on the big Christmas tour is natu- rally Santa Claus, whose principle origin — as we know it — is with St. Nicolas, a fiery, skinny, defender of church doctrine from the town of Myra, in Roman Turkey. Defiant dur- ing the “Great Persecution” of Christianity, he was res- cued from ignominy by the Emperor Constantine, who elevated the faithful and sal- vaged St. Nicolas’ reputation for generosity. It is likely that Santa’s method of delivering happi- ness — from the sky — is a nod to the ancient, long- bearded Norse God Odin, who oversaw the feasting season of Yule, and led the Wild Hunt, a ghostly proces- sion of hunters in the sky. Flying reindeer and long- bearded hosts aside, it is interesting that actually see- ing the Wild Hunt was a por- tent of catastrophe. And then there is Krampus. In the early and, it seems, poorly orga- nized attempts to make this Christmas holiday into the orgy of free-enterprise and family fights that we all enjoy today, it was thought unseemly for St. Nick, a kindly man after all, to spend much time on children who had been naughty. Krampus fills a role for the bad kids, allowing Sinterklaas, as the Dutch would have it, to focus his energies on the righteous. Ultimately, Christmas needs a villain, much as Saturnalia did, though we can perhaps divine some evolution in our collec- tive world view by look- ing at the happier and more modern contributions of Ebenezer Scrooge — led by a ghost to examine his past and reconcile his faults — and The Grinch, whose heartfelt conversion to the Christmas spirit on the out- skirts of Whoville spares us the ancient requirements of bloodshed for retribution. How any of this became Black Friday riots, Shopping Mall Santas, and an endless commercial assault on our psyches escapes me, but in the quieter moments, next to the Christmas tree and the candles, with a cupful of hot cider under a — pray for it — fresh blanket of snow, we can rest assured that in many ways the new is still the old. More importantly, we can take a deep breath and remember that this whole event, as confusing as the messages become, is really about coming inside to the light and the warmth, in our own dark winters, to look ahead to spring and the sea- son of rebirth, and to share our appreciation for the pre- cious time we spend together on this earth. Come Meet Baby Alpacas 21 Free! at Alpaca Country C ountry Estates E s s Holiday Open House Nov. 24-30 & Dec. 1-18 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Unique gift s using our alpaca fi ber woven into one-of-a-kind garments, hats, kids’ stuff , socks, gloves & more! 541-504-4226 Just 20 min rs ut ! es from Siste 70397 Buckhorn Rd., Terrebonne FREE T-SHIRT! With any $ 25 purchase (Offers valid through 12-24-16) 541-549-2059 216 W. Cascade Ave. Canyon Creek Pottery 5411- 3 9 0-24 541-390-2449 44 9 Visit our website at CanyonCreekPotteryLLC.com 310 N. 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