My mother used to tell me of her childhood Christmases with a wistful tone that seemed to sugest she really hated growing up; that her adulthood never really manifested to her satisfaction. She grew up in Detroit, Dearborn. And this is what she told me.
They didn't really have Christmas within the family. Gramma and Grampa had an open house every year the fourth week of December. Preparaions started in October. Grampa would make his famous yeast cake which he called a Holiday Roll. It was a golden raisin strudel dusted with powdered sugar. he made it in October because it had to sit in the freezer for a few months to properly mellow. When he got out the creamy ceramic bowl with the blue and pink stripe on it, mom knew they were entering the busy season.
After Thanksgiving, she and Aunt Anne would start making ornaments for the tree: teassel animals, acorn people and little boats of milkweed pods with colorful paper flags. They would gather greens to make garlands and buntings so that by the time the tree was brought in a week before the open house, the house already an antiseptic pine smell. During this time Gramma made several more trips to the butcher and grocer. She made mince pies and rum cakes that would also cure for several weeks in the freezer. They made jellies and spreads from pale pears, red raspberries, dark elderberries, black currants and firm orange pumpkins. Then the baking would begin. There were tarts, muffins, pies and cookies. Dozens of cookies. And candy: during the Thanksgiving holiday they hosted a taffy pull and made candies with their friends in the neighborhood. They made nut brittles, sea foam and toffee.
Mom mostly talked about Gramma and the baking. Somewhere in the middle of all the prep she'd start singing in German. And she'd sing and sing and sing until most people would have been hoarse. When it was time to make cookies, Grampa would appear in the kitchen. Springerle, gingerbread or Lebkuchen, and sugar cookies. Grampa bent and soldered the cookie cutters himself. I don't kow what shapes he made but I know why they didn't buy them: no money. Mom was born the day the market crashed in 29. Grampa made the cutters from the washed tins of the canned products gramma bought. He understood the cookie dough better than gramma. Gramma and mom couldn't work a lot of doughs. Their hands were always too warm and the dough would start to rise before they were done kneading it. It never had time to rest. Springerle, I have since found out, is a cookie that can not stand to be even the slightest bit "poofy".
Before she knew it, it would be time to decorate for the open house. Candles in the windows, the ornaments on the trees and then Gramma would bring out the glass bulbs that "came over from germany". Now the way that mom would tell the story had me believeing that Gramma brought them with her from Germany when she came in 27. But I have seen these honored bulbs listed in antigues magazines. Krebs is a German company. But the designs were manufactured in germany for the Kresge Corporation. Kresge as in Kresge Market as in K-Mart. No one other than gramma as allowed to hang them. Once the tree was lit then they would open a present. Then the next day they would set up the huge buffet tables and begin the task of polishing the silver. At the end of that day they opened another present. On day three there was more polishing, setting out china, pulling out things to begin to thaw and dressing the birds for the oven. And another present.
And each day was like this for a week until the doors were thrown open for the open house. Gramma's was the place to be in the neighborhood. She glittered like a christmas tree under her costume jewelery in the warmth of companionship. Grampa's booming voice vibrated above the din of clanking silverware when he laughed. And then it was time to clean up. The reward for the house being in order then next day was to open the jackpot of presents and have hot chocolate in front of the fire. Grampa had studied chemistry in Germany and came here as a druggist. He would mix up a concoction of chemicals, soak some small twigs in the mizture and when they were dry, he would drop them into the fire to punctuate the story he told. He cast a spell over mom and Aunt Anne with hot pink, blue, lime green and violet colored flames as each bundle of twigs caught.
I don't know what story he told the girls. It could have been the Christmas story. It could have been the Maccabean Victory that gives us Channukah... I'll never know now. What I do know is that Gramma Ada was Jewish and her traditions were buried under a Christian disguise; which from the last post you know I believe to be a disguise of a different color.
What mom had always said was that the glass ornaments and the cookie tradition in the family were more about German pride than religious example. The glass blowing tradition comes from the area where I have traced my roots- Thuringia and Bavaria, having close proximity to Czech glass blowers. It may even have been taught to the Northern Germans by Czech refugees at its inception. For what ever reason, Germans embraced Christmas with a fervor befitting religious conversion. It would seem odd on the surface. But then the pagan heart can find freedom in celebration while superficially serving Roman masters. As for the Jewish parts... the week of presents is reminiscent of Channukah. The candles lit in the windows each night share similarities. But I fear the German pride of excellent craftsmanship outshone all else during the winter holidays. Passover probably belonged to Gramma while Grampa revelled at Christmas.
I wish I knew more about these things on a personal level. The stories and the trees we had as I was a child have certainly informed my selections for ornamentation. I love the blown glass ornaments. The fruit especially, some of the flowers too. Some of them look so real... like the sugared fruits on which they were modelled. The tear drop shapes and glass icicles are also among my favorites. And there is a difference between the German bulbs and others. Even now with manufacturing secrets seemingly shared across borders... the German bulbs are distinctive... better.
The only thing I don't put on my tree is the tinsel. I can't stand picking it up forever and a day after the tree comes down. And My tree always has more lights than the saftey limits on the box. I can't stand a tree with dark patches. The whole season is a celebration of light. And that I think is the point in all the celebrations: lighting a dark season and remembering that the darkness won't last forever.
I need this reminder more this year than any other. But I won't have a tree for my new menorah ornament because there just isn't time for it when you live like a pioneer and you are a single woman with a job outside the home. Now I know what marriage is really for. And in some way I resent the need for it even more than I usually do. But that is definately a post for another day. I am going to go and shamelessly blend a bunch more holiday traditions...
Season's blessings to you.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
yuletide geek
It has been said that while reading scripture's is important for spiritual maturity, too much study rots the brain. What that means is that the acedemic seeker may learn so much in his or her studies that apostasy manifests. Rabbi and Reverend alike has warned that too much knowledge is not a good thing. I've posted about this before. I guess I could wear that lable. I no longer believe what the priests say. I've never listened to what the man says... well... not with any great success. But I still believe in the Divine Hand of God and the Breath of Heaven.
Studying Judiasm via Kabbalah has made the Christian education vibrant, living and in some instances more real than the uninformed readings of my youth. I think this is due mostly to the midrashic traditions that have been upheld for eons. And I am left with a burning question that no one alive can answer: why should the two religions have ever been seperate?
Why do I ask?
Because I bought my only new Christmas ornament of the year: a blown glass menorah ornament. Now, dear reader, your reaction is about what I imagined it would be. Now my brother's reaction would be similar. My christian friends would protest the menorah based on the fact that they believe that no Jew deserves the scriptural teachings of Christ because they rejected him. Wrong on many levels. First, Paul was a Jewish Roman convert so by that logic he should be invalidated. But as he is exalted as the Church's "first and best" interpretter of Christ's teaching, then no one should hold such a low opinion of anyone. On other levels I shall post later. My Jewish friends would react badly as well, since many Jews regard Christ as a false prophet who tried to lead jews into some abominated form of their religion. A menorah on a Christmas Tree would have to be the highest form of sacrelige.
My first reaction to the ornament was "OMFG No Way!" And I squeed as I took the second to the last one down. Immediately Seth's procclamation of Chrismukkah zipped through my memory banks. I cherished the ornament all the way through the store, up to the register and all the way home. That is when I realized that I wouldn't be putting up a tree this year. My second reaction to the ornament was that if I were to put this on a tree EVERYONE would be pissed because they just don't understand.
There is absolutely nothing Christian about a Christmas tree or any of the yuletide traditions that we hold. According the the book "Babylonian Mystery Religion", the roman catholic church who brought us the first bible translations, outlined the proper and acceptable garnishments on the holiday season in the 3rd century. Yes, the infamous Council of Nice. Roma desired to conquer more lands through control of religion since its military prowess had been diminished by political insanity. And, she has done a mighty fine job over the centuries. In order to make converts of the pagans, wiley little thorns in the side of roman governors everywhere, they simply assimilated pagan practices.
First they changed the birthday of Christ to coincide with an ancient babylonian legend of Tammuz and the Queen of Heaven. Mary the Queen gives birth to Christ, Tammuz. Birth records that archeaologists have found indicate that Christ was born July 29 or 30. One of the reasons the Jewish and Secular calendars don't mesh is to hide this fact. The incarnations of calendars further obscure this information. But, silly Holy Roman Empire, the church kept recods of all its alterations in something called the Catholic Encyclopedia kept in the Vatican's vault. Then, to make the converts comfortable in the church for mass, Roma allowed them to decorate with the greenery of their rituals. The glass ornaments and knick knacks that we know now are northern European contributions to the obscurring of pagan and christian rites. Thirdly, the names of the three kings, unnamed in all text but the King James version of the Christian Bible, have demon names attributed to them. Melchior, Balthazar and damn, I forgot the other guy's name. I'll look it up later. It's really quite a good scheme.
And it is so innocuous it works. But here's the kicker. I'm guessing that a lot of Jews recognized this assimilation for what it was. One of the Queen of Heaven's names is Astarte, Ishtar, but more commonly called Ashteroth, in the Jewish scripture. Moses and the boys were charged with tearing down her alters whenever they found them on their journey and to destroy every vistage of her presence in the promised land. So for the Catholic church to align itself with her, even if on the surface it seemed a thin veil over their greed, (lets not forget that with the establishment of the Holy Roman Empire, Rome was entitled to the tithes that individual governments collected since the church and state were one and the same- nice idea there Ceasar) would have to seem like the beginning of the end to every Jew during the 3rd century. And this would be one of the reasons that we aren't taught Judiasm... it would punch too many irreparable holes in the teachings.
So here's the thing Christmas is a pagan holiday. The purpose of Yule is to remind us that the seasonal darkness is necesary, that this is the time of the year where growth really occurs. Arborists will tell you that it takes the entire winter time season for the tree to generate the growing power necessary to make the buds manifest and grow their leaves and flowers in the Sring. The world looks dead on the outside, but there is light and heat and growth occurring every one of those dark days. And so it is true for us humans. Winter is dark and cold, almost forcing us into our homes and shutting us in so that we can find our reserves and a wellspring of strength inside of us. In the Summer with so many hours of sunlight we are so busy that time for reflection hardly seems possible and almost always seems unnecessary. In Winter we have time to go deep within ourselves to find our Fortitude. It is part of a cycle than humans need. The pagan traditions understood this and celebrated it. Christmas is off the Solstice mark by a few days. I am not sure how that happened... I think it was as a result of the Julian calendar and the measuring from the Crucifixion. But Channukah and Solstice begin the same day almost every year. Both are festivals of the light.
I'm not saying that Jews are pagans. What I am saying is that in both of those traditions, they paid close attention to G'd. The Jews have had a direct line to Heaven since time immemorial. The Pagans listen to the rythmns of nature, G'd in her purest form (they'd argue). Solstice is when the days begin to grow longer, the life that has been welling deep within is ready to Spring forward. And at Channukah, we remember that we are never alone and miracles abound.
as I reflect on these yuletide idosyncracies, I realize that the Jews and the Pagans have put up consistant resistance to Roma and her minions. These people with the festival of lights stand against the Roman perversions. Jews have done so outright and with great peril to themselves while the pagans have done so subversively from within the very system that Roma established.
I think that is the best non personal reason to put a menorah on my tree.
Yes, this is a simplistic overview.... but this is just a blog after all. Damn it Shayne, I'm a geek not a PhD candidate.
Studying Judiasm via Kabbalah has made the Christian education vibrant, living and in some instances more real than the uninformed readings of my youth. I think this is due mostly to the midrashic traditions that have been upheld for eons. And I am left with a burning question that no one alive can answer: why should the two religions have ever been seperate?
Why do I ask?
Because I bought my only new Christmas ornament of the year: a blown glass menorah ornament. Now, dear reader, your reaction is about what I imagined it would be. Now my brother's reaction would be similar. My christian friends would protest the menorah based on the fact that they believe that no Jew deserves the scriptural teachings of Christ because they rejected him. Wrong on many levels. First, Paul was a Jewish Roman convert so by that logic he should be invalidated. But as he is exalted as the Church's "first and best" interpretter of Christ's teaching, then no one should hold such a low opinion of anyone. On other levels I shall post later. My Jewish friends would react badly as well, since many Jews regard Christ as a false prophet who tried to lead jews into some abominated form of their religion. A menorah on a Christmas Tree would have to be the highest form of sacrelige.
My first reaction to the ornament was "OMFG No Way!" And I squeed as I took the second to the last one down. Immediately Seth's procclamation of Chrismukkah zipped through my memory banks. I cherished the ornament all the way through the store, up to the register and all the way home. That is when I realized that I wouldn't be putting up a tree this year. My second reaction to the ornament was that if I were to put this on a tree EVERYONE would be pissed because they just don't understand.
There is absolutely nothing Christian about a Christmas tree or any of the yuletide traditions that we hold. According the the book "Babylonian Mystery Religion", the roman catholic church who brought us the first bible translations, outlined the proper and acceptable garnishments on the holiday season in the 3rd century. Yes, the infamous Council of Nice. Roma desired to conquer more lands through control of religion since its military prowess had been diminished by political insanity. And, she has done a mighty fine job over the centuries. In order to make converts of the pagans, wiley little thorns in the side of roman governors everywhere, they simply assimilated pagan practices.
First they changed the birthday of Christ to coincide with an ancient babylonian legend of Tammuz and the Queen of Heaven. Mary the Queen gives birth to Christ, Tammuz. Birth records that archeaologists have found indicate that Christ was born July 29 or 30. One of the reasons the Jewish and Secular calendars don't mesh is to hide this fact. The incarnations of calendars further obscure this information. But, silly Holy Roman Empire, the church kept recods of all its alterations in something called the Catholic Encyclopedia kept in the Vatican's vault. Then, to make the converts comfortable in the church for mass, Roma allowed them to decorate with the greenery of their rituals. The glass ornaments and knick knacks that we know now are northern European contributions to the obscurring of pagan and christian rites. Thirdly, the names of the three kings, unnamed in all text but the King James version of the Christian Bible, have demon names attributed to them. Melchior, Balthazar and damn, I forgot the other guy's name. I'll look it up later. It's really quite a good scheme.
And it is so innocuous it works. But here's the kicker. I'm guessing that a lot of Jews recognized this assimilation for what it was. One of the Queen of Heaven's names is Astarte, Ishtar, but more commonly called Ashteroth, in the Jewish scripture. Moses and the boys were charged with tearing down her alters whenever they found them on their journey and to destroy every vistage of her presence in the promised land. So for the Catholic church to align itself with her, even if on the surface it seemed a thin veil over their greed, (lets not forget that with the establishment of the Holy Roman Empire, Rome was entitled to the tithes that individual governments collected since the church and state were one and the same- nice idea there Ceasar) would have to seem like the beginning of the end to every Jew during the 3rd century. And this would be one of the reasons that we aren't taught Judiasm... it would punch too many irreparable holes in the teachings.
So here's the thing Christmas is a pagan holiday. The purpose of Yule is to remind us that the seasonal darkness is necesary, that this is the time of the year where growth really occurs. Arborists will tell you that it takes the entire winter time season for the tree to generate the growing power necessary to make the buds manifest and grow their leaves and flowers in the Sring. The world looks dead on the outside, but there is light and heat and growth occurring every one of those dark days. And so it is true for us humans. Winter is dark and cold, almost forcing us into our homes and shutting us in so that we can find our reserves and a wellspring of strength inside of us. In the Summer with so many hours of sunlight we are so busy that time for reflection hardly seems possible and almost always seems unnecessary. In Winter we have time to go deep within ourselves to find our Fortitude. It is part of a cycle than humans need. The pagan traditions understood this and celebrated it. Christmas is off the Solstice mark by a few days. I am not sure how that happened... I think it was as a result of the Julian calendar and the measuring from the Crucifixion. But Channukah and Solstice begin the same day almost every year. Both are festivals of the light.
I'm not saying that Jews are pagans. What I am saying is that in both of those traditions, they paid close attention to G'd. The Jews have had a direct line to Heaven since time immemorial. The Pagans listen to the rythmns of nature, G'd in her purest form (they'd argue). Solstice is when the days begin to grow longer, the life that has been welling deep within is ready to Spring forward. And at Channukah, we remember that we are never alone and miracles abound.
as I reflect on these yuletide idosyncracies, I realize that the Jews and the Pagans have put up consistant resistance to Roma and her minions. These people with the festival of lights stand against the Roman perversions. Jews have done so outright and with great peril to themselves while the pagans have done so subversively from within the very system that Roma established.
I think that is the best non personal reason to put a menorah on my tree.
Yes, this is a simplistic overview.... but this is just a blog after all. Damn it Shayne, I'm a geek not a PhD candidate.
Sunday, December 7, 2008
I love Alan Alda
While I shiver in my bedroom, waiting for the space heater to do its job, I think back to episodes of M*A*S*H* when the gang from the 4077 endured temps frigid enough to keep plasma without a fridge. I remember Hawkeye complaining that if he fell asleep he wouldn't wake up; or that the pain of the cold would keep him awake until Summer.
I have felt cold enough in the last three years that I thought I would never feel warm again. I thought that this year would be the worst because I know there isn't enough money to buy propane yet. But thankfully there is plenty of snow to insulate the bottom part of the house. When I can run heters it is warm enough for a while. When I can get the wood stove working it will hold heat nicely. And that takes me back to the Winter that Dad and I spent Saturdays drywalling the house while brother and sister were bowling.
Until Dad was at the point in which he really needed my help, my job was to light the fire and keep the house warm so that the drywall would cure properly. It snowed a lot that Winter. There were several Saturdays that we had to walk in from the road. This year, ther is just as much snow on the ground as there was then. I got pretty good at getting the wood stove to burn hot and keep the heat. There were several Saturdays that we were expecting to find frozen joint compound but the house was still a little bit warm. I know I can do it again if I can only manage to get into the damn house.
Until then... my teeth will chatter like I am sleeping in a tent on the Korean plains.
I have felt cold enough in the last three years that I thought I would never feel warm again. I thought that this year would be the worst because I know there isn't enough money to buy propane yet. But thankfully there is plenty of snow to insulate the bottom part of the house. When I can run heters it is warm enough for a while. When I can get the wood stove working it will hold heat nicely. And that takes me back to the Winter that Dad and I spent Saturdays drywalling the house while brother and sister were bowling.
Until Dad was at the point in which he really needed my help, my job was to light the fire and keep the house warm so that the drywall would cure properly. It snowed a lot that Winter. There were several Saturdays that we had to walk in from the road. This year, ther is just as much snow on the ground as there was then. I got pretty good at getting the wood stove to burn hot and keep the heat. There were several Saturdays that we were expecting to find frozen joint compound but the house was still a little bit warm. I know I can do it again if I can only manage to get into the damn house.
Until then... my teeth will chatter like I am sleeping in a tent on the Korean plains.
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