Have We Grown Up Yet?

New Year’s Eve will soon be upon us. The Millennium is now 20 years old. It is old enough to hold a job, drink, take out a loan, buy a car, enter into a contract, join the military, buy cigarettes, get married, get divorced and pay alimony/child support. Yes our new century is an adult. Or is it? Quite frankly it reminds me of a petulant teenager.

I remember 1999 very well. I had a new born baby (January 3) and Prince’s “Party Like It’s 1999” had reemerged and was very popular. There was an air of expectation for both the amazing and the dire. My husband was toiling fearlessly on the Y2K project so the bank he worked for wouldn’t crash on 01/01/00. The air was pregnant with hopes and fears. It was going to be amazing. It was going to be the end of the world. It was going to be something. It was destiny.

As the clocked ticked to Midnight on 31 December 1999, the world didn’t so much as hold its breath but rather tuned in to every TV station so they could to watch each part of the world explode in joy and fireworks as the New Millennium was born again and again. I watched the fireworks displayed on the bridge in Sydney, Australia and the riot of colour in the night sky from Moscow, Vienna, Rome, Paris and then London. Later is was New York, Los Angeles, Honolulu and the far Pacific Islands. It was amazing as the world celebrated this birth of a new time. I felt very lucky and blessed and honoured to be able to be part of this world. For the first time in a very long time there felt like there was Hope – hope for a better future, hope for a better life, hope for our children and our planet. It was a John Lennon song come true.

So our Baby Millennium began to grow. People across the globe tried to reach out to each other during those first few magical … months. Then reality checked in. The Chechen War reignited. The Colombians kicked off again, while both the Sri Lanka and Nepal had civil wars. Tensions were building and it all culminated in 9/11. September 11, 2001 was the day that some clever clog felt it was right to punch the USA in the eye. It began a war which to this day, 19 years later, is not finished much less won. Instead of bringing the United States and the Western World to collapse, it actually strengthened it, and has caused 34 new conflicts which has resulted in millions to be killed. It created division. That division is still here and only getting bigger.

Yet we were still filled with hope. People tried to be kinder to each other (when they weren’t killing each other). There was a sense in the Western World that old grievances were just that – old. It was a time for forgiving. We wanted to be nice to each other and try to work together to build a new, fair, and beautiful society. It was to be one where colour, race, gender, ethnicity, beliefs were to be respected and not oppressed. There was a gentleness to it all. The most wonderful and fruitful moment for this new optimism came with the election of the Barack Obama to the US Presidency. A black man was in the White House. America had finally overcome her dark past and proved she was what she always promised – a land for all peoples with opportunity for all. Baby Millennium was growing up to be a very nice 8 year old child.

Unfortunately, our 8 year old Baby grew older. As she became a tween-ager, she started to be less nice. Wars were becoming nastier and terrorism became commonplace. In fact the world no longer really had set-piece wars, but an on-going, unending stream of violence against an unarmed and unprepared populace. People on the street wanted to live in peace, but extremists and factions didn’t want that. It is now the practice that to change people’s minds about their government or religion, one simply has to blow them up or mow them down regularly. Like an irritating adult-child, people began to think it was okay to stamp their feet and cry "unfair" when they were not happy.

Our Milli, as she now likes to be called, proved what a teenage she could be. She liked to divide people and declared who would be the Cool Kids and who would be the Deplorables. The Cool Kids declared regularly that they were all for inclusion and love – as long as it was on their terms. The Deplorables lashed out at being ignored and unwanted – their world was deemed frightening and depraved. The Cool Kids found dynamic topics that everyone should be concerned about – global warming & climate change, economic inequality, refugees and immigrants – and insisted that those become the only issues of importance. As they partied at conferences and held large rallies, The Cool Kids insisted that they knew the solutions – solutions which required The Deplorables to pay for them. The Cool Kids failed to see how their evident hypocrisy was infuriating the The Deplorables. They were completely blindsided when The Deplorables banded together to fight them. As Milli giggled, twirled her hair and wore too much make-up, her society began to fall apart.

Milli is now coming to her 20^th birthday. She should be past her petulant teenage days, but I fear she is not. She is enjoying being one of the bitchy society girls, one of the mean girls. She says she is all for love, but it you fail to meet her definition of love, then you will feel her wrath. She is defiantly standing on the moral high ground to which she may not be entitled to hold. Milli is controlled and defined by The Cool Kids and this could end most tragically.

Milli’s Society should not be of two parts. It should be inclusive but it should not be one that panders. A strong society is one where the majority are happy with where they fit in and what the beliefs are. A strong society is one where The Cool Kids listen to The Less Cool Kids and no one is a Deplorable. Milli’s Society is now splintering. Her confusion is rapidly becoming a multiple personality syndrome where everything is said and nothing is truly meant. Milli’s Society is rapidly becoming one of quick point scoring, fast returns and an engorging number “Likes”. Hate, dressed as an all inclusive Love, is seeking to run the show.

Nastiness and vulgarity are common and, sadly, expected. Milli’s Society is exhibiting the same behaviour that my 17 year old son has, but at least he can be taught, directed, and if necessary grounded. Milli is lacking parental control. Her parents, that would be those us who are still alive and were adults 2 decades ago, have abrogated our responsibility. We have become self-centred. We want what we want and to the devil with anyone else. We think we are all Cool Kids without embracing that with makes us deplorable. As we fracture into smaller and smaller groups, each desiring power and hating all others, we are in fact killing our child.

Those of us who watched the birth of Milli, our Baby Millennium, need to take responsibility of where she is going and what she is doing. Our Millennium could be one of peace, but that means we need to listen with an open heart. Our Millennium could be one of respect, but that means we need to accept differences but not pander to them. Our Millennium could be one of positive change, but that means taking responsibility for our lives and our habitat. Our Millennium could be one of discernment, but that means we must use a rational judgement rather than emotional outburst. Our Millennium could be one of forgiveness, but that means we accept our sins and do not pass them on to others. Our Millennium could be one of unity, but that means looking for that which draws us together rather that than which separates us.

Our Millennium could be one of Hope and Love, but that means we all have to act in a way of peace, respect, discernment, forgiveness, unity and positive change. Our society, Our Millennium is Our Responsibility.

Gud Yule! And What It All May Mean

Gud Yule!

Today is December 20 and the Yuletide begins. This is ancient Northern European holiday, but it is not unique as it is a holiday of a seasonal change and many cultures celebrate that. And they should. Yule celebrations and traditions, however, are uniquely Northern, where it snows, European. Yule was celebrated in Scandinavia, Germany, Britain, northern France, the Baltic Countries and parts of Russia. So with an area so big what is it all about and why is it returning?

Yule was/is celebrated on the Winter Solstice – the shortest day of the year. It was seen as when the season changed to winter as this was a definite point in the celestial calendar that could be tracked. We see this today as mid-winter, but our fore-bearers knew that the coldest months were yet to come in January and February (you can fact check this). As the nights drew in and the darkness became more pronounced, people then just like people now suffered from the lack of light. What we call depression, they called melancholy. The response was to have a celebration of light, food and drink, activity and fun. And they did.

I’ve done a fair bit of research on this over many years because I really didn’t understand the whole Yule/Christmas thing. As a slightly-right-of-center, card carrying Christian I thought, as a child, that Yule was a weird foreign word for Christmas. Obviously I was wrong. But it is easy to come to such confusion because Christianity has tried, and until recently successfully, swallowed Yule up. How are they similar? Firstly it starts with a period of preparation. In days of yore, the house or dwelling was to be thoroughly cleaned. Walls and beams were to be washed or swept clear of all dust and insects before being treated with oils to preserve the wood. Soot was to be removed from the fire pit/ fireplace and the chimney was to be cleaned lest it catch fire. The structure was checked again for any draughts or holes and those were filled. The wood pile would be created and stacked for proper drying so that it would catch easily when lit. Candles or rush lights would be made and stored. Fresh rushes would need to be stroon across the floors. So much to do!

I would guess that it would be far more enjoyable to do this very necessary chores if it was tied into a big celebration. Like us, or at least my mother, each year would have a month (November) of cleaning, bringing out the winter clothes and checking them for wear/suitability/dirt/everything, and planning Christmas. We would always put our wreath up on the 1^st Sunday of Advent and our tree up on the 2^nd. My father and my brothers would hang the lights around our windows and into the bushes (which my middle brother hated as he always had to go behind the big pine shrub and got pricked by it) on the first weekend of December. We also had lighted figurines which had to be washed and, on occasion, repainted. It was busy and it was fun. Mom decorated the inside and made it magical. And like our ancestors, Dad would stack the wood on the back patio for the fireplace, hoping he would found the one place where the snow wouldn’t get it. So much to do!

During this season of preparation we were busy, they were busy. It kept everyone engaged in a daily activity which gave them a reason to get up out of bed and to interact with people. I don’t remember people being as grumpy about the season as they are now. My parents and their traditions weren’t unique. They didn’t make them up. They had learned them from their parents who had learned them from their parents and so on. Presents were special because you didn’t get them all the time and those presents were something you would need for the rest of the year. If you didn’t get those new boots for Christmas, then you were stuck with your old ones or hand-me-downs until either your birthday or they utterly died. It wasn’t about perfume but practicality. However, I digress.

As Yule drew closer, horses and dogs would be prepared for the Great Hunt, as well as the weapons needed. This hunt wasn’t just for getting outside for some fresh air and fun, but it would supply the much needed meat for the coming season. I’m sorry, but vegetarians were rather unheard of in the North. These people, usually men, were not looking for some poxy fox, but several large, old boars or stags. This hunt didn’t just feed some “lord” and his family, but a whole community. Yule was not a private event. Getting out and exercising in the fresh air is a well known aid in the prevention and treatment of depression. And this was part of life which everyone did. This is not to say that there were not people who were down or dour, but there was a planned effort to avoid something they didn’t understand but knew was destructive to the person.

The Day of Yule arrived and the Yuletide began with the rising of the sun. Some anthropologists have said it was the setting. Either way, Yule was here and the fires would begin. A large bonfire would be set up and ready to be lit at sunset. This party would continue for a week. There would be music, dancing, eating, storytelling, and yes, baby making. There would also be religious rites as practised by the local people. Odin/Wotan was usually the center of their adoration as he was not only leader of the gods, but also the leader of The Wild Hunt. A celestial version of what they would be doing during the Yuletide.

The Yule Log would be decorated and the personal prayers/pledges would be attached. This Log would then be processed to the firepit and burned. Some viewed the pledges as oaths because as the log burned they believed the smoke took their words to the gods. The homes were decorated with green boughs (but not Christmas trees! Modern invention), holly leaves and berries and in some places mistletoe. Herbs would be lit to freshen the air.

There would also share the Wassail. In England this would be served in a white oak bowl. It was a form of mulled wine or cider. It would have special herbs and spices in it which were supposed to bless the drinker with good health and happiness. This does make sense as most medicines were herb based and trying to avoid illness at this time of year would have been paramount. Chest infections and pneumonia are not new diseases. In Germany, Scandinavia and France, they would have had Glugwien (which you can purchase today at Ikea). Same thing but a different base – grapes versus apples.

Lastly came gifts. Like our Father Christmas or Santa Claus, Wotan was said to know which children were naughty or nice. He would reward the good children with a small gift or a sweetmeat (like our mince pies). For naughty children he would send a demon like creature which we now call Krampus. Krampus would put bad children in a sack and either throw them in the fire or take them home to eat. I know as a fact that Krampus survived into the the 21^st Century as I went to a St Nickolas Tag party for a friend’s children in Austria. Krampus came and the children were terrified until St Nickolas arrived and drove him away. Obviously the point of this was to teach children discipline in their lives from a young age and that actions have consequences. This Krampus was more than just Mum or Dad telling you off. This was a serious outsider and you must pay attention. I’m not sure that any children did not get hurt, but it seemed to do the trick for him to have survived so long – actually longer than an active Wotan.

Yule would come to an end about the 27^th of December. It is not the 12 Days of Christmas. That is the period from Christmas to Epiphany. This was also to be a period of celebration, music, food, dancing, drink, appropriate familial relations which would end with a child in September, and a lot of church services. Both of these holiday times ended when the days just started to get longer. The good feelings created could last for several weeks which would help counter the developing cold and snow with longer days and the beginning of the plans for the spring.

I’m no clergy member, but I don’t see why we can’t give a nod to our ancestral holiday. Burn the Yule Log, go on a hunt which fits your ethical perspective, party with your friends, drink sensibly to everyone’s good health, teach your children that a well behaved child will make a disciplined, successful adult, spread the love and, if you can, make a baby or two. Fight to overcome the darkness both inside and out. And if it works for you, spend some time with your god. Let him/her/them know that you appreciate this season and this life given to you. It’s all about the love, baby.