Christmas fever is widespread as the orgy of spending takes hold.
Ordinarily sane people are in-debting themselves to a year ahead of pay-back as they tread wearily around shops filled with Chinese imports!
Some years ago I made a decision to opt out of mainstream.
I had come to the conclusion that much of what I lived by was the result of not questioning, but merely going along with everyone else.
Now, I must point out that once one begins to question the status quo, all sorts of issues raise their Medusa-like heads…religion, education, government, consumerism, et al! 
Every aspect of how I lived, and what moved me, was called to the fore of my interrogation.
In much the same way as I gave up eating meat, smoking and spending our civilisation out of recession, I gave up Christmas.
Christmas became something older and gentler for me…it morphed into Midwinter.
I say “morphed” because there are aspects of Christmas I continue to appreciate, such as gift-giving.
These are not the small-mortgage gifts however, but gifts of warmth and food and home-made trinkets.
Midwinter lasts longer too, for this is the time of Yule.
Yule marks the rebirth of the sun.
It is a potent symbol of death and rebirth – going from the darkness into the light.
Yule starts before the Solstice and continues on until New Year’s Day.
There’s no rush, no crazy dash for the check-out.
Yule is a time and a time that makes sense to me.
An Irish Christmas Blessing
The light of the Christmas star to you
The warmth of home and hearth to you
The cheer and good will of friends to you
The hope of a childlike heart to you
The joy of a thousand angels to you.
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