Deck the Halls with Boughs of Holly...

Have you ever thought about the origins of our holidays? We all celebrate according to various traditions, but at the heart of all of them, a few things are found in common: renewal and gratitude. How much greener could you get? For example, Hanukkah, the festival of lights, is a celebration of the re-dedication of the Temple of Jerusalem, after it was sacked by Antiochus the Fourth. The holy ground was regained. And the temple's eternal flame was rekindled. Even though there was only enough oil for one day, miraculously, the oil burned for 8 days: the time it took to prepare more oil and consecrate it for the temple light.

So how about Christmas? Which a cousin has started calling "present day", much to the chagrin of her mom... Well, most of us know that Christmas is really a shortening of "Christ's Mass". It was first recorded in 1038. HUH???

Christmas prior to the year 800 was not celebrated much. There was a more prominent holiday called "Geol"... which is pronounced "yule". Sound familiar? Yule was a northern european celebration of the winter solstice... the shortest day of the year, when the northern hemisphere is furthest from the sun. Or, you could look at the Romans, who celebrated December 25th also, as Dies Natalis Solis Invicti, "the birthday of the unconquered sun." Even the Catholic Encyclopedia cites it as a probable predecessor of our Christmas holiday.

And knowing all this, many of the symbols make much more sense. Over time Christmas gained prominence and became the holiday we know today... a time of gift giving and celebration of the turning of the seasons. The holly and the ivy (and mistletoe!) are evergreen plants, and symbolize the triumph of life over death. We can credit Charles Dickens with turning those ideas to charity and goodwill toward our fellow men in 1843. It was only 7 years later, in 1850 that we hear the first criticism that the holiday has been corrupted by consumerism, from Harriet Beecher Stowe.

And in 2007, what is our burden? What kind of holidays do we want to leave for our children? Will they be hollow days, the same as any other where we simply count what we've gotten over the year and wonder what we'll get next? Or will they continue to be holy days, where we consider our place in the world and our duty to our fellow men and the future?

And most importantly, will they be fun? Absolutely. In fact, I think they'll be more fun, when we stop burdening ourselves with huge shopping lists and designer trees. Check out some of these articles for some suggestions...

How to Have a Green Christmas - Newsweek
A Guide to Green Christmas Decorations - Guardian Unlimited
Dreaming of a Green Christmas - The Decorating Diva
Rework your old incandescent bulbs into CUTE ornaments!
Bright Ideas for Hanukkah Decor - The Buffalo News
Go Green at Chanukah - JTA
Decorating for Kwanzaa - DIY

And if you're in a hurry, I can sum them ALL up in 3 steps:

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle - Your house doesn't know these are the same lights and decorations. The other houses will not make fun of it for wearing last year's accessories.
Buy Sustainable - This means live trees, compostable decorations, energy efficient lights and fair trade, organic gifts you can be proud of giving.
Buy Local - Why go further than you have to? The holidays are stressful. Sometimes it really is easier to be green.

Howdy Partners

Welcome to the Saratoga Cool Cities Blog! We are a group of concerned Saratogans who want to help our city become sustainable, stay green and beautiful and keep cool. When we found the national Cool Cities effort enabled by the Sierra Club, we joined the 775 other cities in pledging to work for change. Hundreds of communities just like ours are working hand in hand. It's not just the few of us, it's a movement. A declaration that Americans are tired of doing things the easy way. This is our revolution. And we'd love for you to come with us. In Saratoga or elsewhere, we're all in this together. Please visit our city page to learn more.