In times of old, The Furies protected Mother Right. If a mother (or any woman) was harmed, The Furies swooped down and took their vengeance. They were one of the last vestiges of a world that existed before the patriarchy. When we feel righteous anger, it is The Furies who are calling out to us to make what is wrong right again.

Thursday, December 14, 2006

Great Xmas Jeer by Christopher Cooper 

Don't get me wrong: I love celebrating. I love celebrating the light. I love Solstice. I don't like that this time of year has been co-opted by Christians, not because I hate Christians or want any harm to come to anyone. I just don't enjoy smugness of any kind. Even my own. So I love this essay by Christopher Cooper. Some paragraphs are just so wonderful that I am in awe.

He writes, "Jesus was born on December the twenty-fifth because early Christian myth-makers and spin-doctors needed to co-opt the solstice revelries of hard-partying pagans. It was necessary to get Jesus born (and born without the stain of his mom and dad having had any joy in his engendering—just a long donkey trip through the desert). He must be born so he could be flogged and nailed and tortured to death, by which effort each of us who would buy into the whole of the church doctrine might gain life everlasting. And if Jesus didn't suffer enough to get that job done, you can add to it the millions of hours of anguish loosed unto the heavens by those of us alive after 1958 who have been subjected to a hundred (all bad) renditions of the thoroughly execrable 'Little Drummer Boy.'"

But that's not the heart of his essay. He sums it up beautifully by writing, "Good night. Good luck. Peace on Earth to men of goodwill. To all men. All women. Of all religious persuasions, not one having more to recommend itself than another, and none worth destroying a single life for. Don't buy so much. Kiss your babies, and keep them safe from the recruiting officers."

A must.

Happy holidays.
Posted by: Kim Antieau / 12/14/2006 03:54:00 PM
3 comments

3 Comments:

Darling Sister Kim Mermaid, this time of the year SHOULD be about the return of the light, love and community, but most of what I see and hear is retail feeding frenzies, appalling music and junk food. ICK. . . .

What will you be doing on Solstice night? I can't wait for longer days (but I guess I will have to). Love and BB, Cate

By kerrdelune, at 5:15 PM  

Happy Holidaze!!

By kevin, at 8:10 PM  

We will be telling stories at the Old Mermaid School of Telling Tales & Finding Art. At least, that is the plan!

Happy Holidaze to you, too, Kevin. And Vicki!

By Kim Antieau, at 10:13 PM  

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