Editress: Ginger Strivelli
The “blizzard of '09” alas, canceled the local Yule gathering
but We all enjoied the yuletide season nonethelss.
Many of us 'APAer' now chat more on facebook than on our
yahoogroups group, but it is still open and 'active' to
some degree. We had several local Yuletide event notices
were on there this month, and even a bit of chit chat now
and then. I'd like to see it more active in the New year.
-----------Ghosts of Holidays story by Sybilsue Strivelli (aged 13)----
The Ghost of Holidays Past
I was laying in bed one night and I heard
a something outside my window. I got up to see what
it was and I saw a ghost outside. He was dressed in red and green and had holly in his hair. I opened
the window to get a better look.
“Who... what are you?” I asked
“I am the ghost of holidays past and I am
here to show you how people celebrated holidays thousands of years ago. Take my hand and I'll show
you what I mean.” he said as he held out his hand. I was a bit hesitant at first, but
I decided to go with him, deciding that all of
this was probably just a dream.
The moment I touched him, we were up off
the ground and light was swirling all around us. A
few seconds later, we ended up near a semi-circle
of huge stones. I recognized the monument
as Stonehenge. I started to ask someone what they
were doing, but the ghost stopped me.
“These people are unaware of us, we
are invisible to them. They can not see us or hear
us. These are the Druids building Stonehenge.
They are building it for Winter Solstice, or
Yule, which is the longest night of the year. It
is being built to, in a way, welcome back the
Sun.”
“What year is it?” I asked him.
“It is 2800 B.C.” he replied “they
are decorating with holly, which symbolizes
rebirth, in this case of the sun. They are
also decorating with mistletoe, which
symbolizes peace.”
“Next,” he said “I will show you how they
are celebrating in Luxor, Egypt 1,400 years
later.”
A few seconds later we were in the middle of
a desert. The Egyptians were building the
Luxor Temple.
“They are building the Luxor temple
to celebrate Yule,” said the ghost “They are
also welcoming back the sun. When the sun rises,
the temple aligns with it. They believe that the
God Hathor gives birth to the Sun God on Yule, it
is the rebirth of the Sun. They decorate the
palm trees as part of their celebration. They
use trees because they symbolize life.”
“Now, let's go to Rome in 200 B.C. -
1,200 years later.
We flew through the cities of Rome,
everyone was feasting.
“The Romans are celebrating Saturnalia.
It starts on December the 17th and ends on
December the 23rd. Saturnalia is the feast of the
God Saturn. People celebrate by exchanging gifts
and feasting. They also decorate fir trees. They
made offerings to the Gods of Winter, mainly
Saturn though.”
We returned back to my house later that
night. I learned a lot that night about how
people celebrated the holidays back then. I went
to sleep with all those thoughts about Winter
Solstice and Saturnalia.
Ghost of Holidays Present
The next night, there was another noise outside
my window. I opened it and saw a ghost dressed
like Santa Claus.
“So are you another ghost?” I
asked
“Yes! I am the ghost of holidays present
and I will show you how different types of
people celebrate the holidays these days.”
So we traveled to the other side of town, to
a church. They were doing a nativity play to
celebrate the birth of Jesus. Other people
celebrating Christmas were at home feasting or
opening presents. We traveled to a few houses
where people were celebrating Hanukkah.
“Hanukkah is the festival of lights.”
the ghost told me “They lighted the menorah
to symbolize the light in the oil lamp lasting
eight days. There are eight candles in a menorah
then a ninth one to light the others. It became
a holiday because there was only enough oil in
the lamp to last one day, but it lasted for eight.”
We then went to a Pagan gathering. They
were celebrating Yule like people did thousands
of years ago. They were all in a circle doing a
spiral dance to welcome back the sun. We went
through a few more holidays. There are many
different traditions and celebrations I never
even knew about.
We went back to my house later and I
realized that I learned a lot. I learned that
there are many different types of holidays
people celebrate even now. So the ghost left and
I went to bed, thinking of all those different
holiday traditions.
Ghost of Holidays Yet to Come
The next night, I expected another ghost
to come, so I sat by the window and waited.
After about 15 minutes, there was still no ghost,
so I turned around to go to bed. I was
surprised, though, to see another ghost right there
on my bed.
“What are you the ghost of?” I asked the
ghost.
“I am the ghost of holidays yet to come,”
He told me “I will show you how people will
celebrate holidays a few hundred years from
now!”
I took his hand and we traveled to a
strange place. I looked around for a few minutes
then asked the ghost,
“Where are we?”
“We are on the moon, in
man-made civilizations. Everyone is
celebrating different kinds of holidays,
with different traditions, just like people have
for thousands and thousands of years. They get some
of their traditions from how they celebrated
the holidays long ago. Some of them are passed
down from generation to generation in the family.
Some of the traditions are newer. People all
celebrate differently and have different
beliefs.”
He showed me different people celebrating
the holidays. I realized that all the ghosts showed
me how people celebrate the holidays
differently. People have for thousands of years,
they still do, and they will continue for years
to come. Everyone celebrates different holidays
and believe different things. That's just the way
it is and we should accept people even if they
believe different things.
The ghost took me back home later, and I
went to sleep, ready for the holidays to begin.