Amanda Pretlow- Christmas Rituals

I just got home from caroling with my sorority sisters an assisted living community. It got me thinking about Christmas rituals. We decorate trees, put lights on houses and lawns, sing carols, read stories, and exchange gifts. Christmas is pretty arts intensive. All of our decorations tell a story about what Christmas has become. It incorporates the customs of several different cultures and even religions. The story of our Christmas customs has always intrigued me. I knew the Christian story since I was a child, but when I was in high school I learn the Celtic pagan story. It was common for Christians to incorporate the holidays of pagans into Christianity in order to make Christianity more appealing. They took the customs of Yule and made them a part of Christmas. We tend to think that we don't have rituals as a modern society. But Christmas is one of our biggest rituals. Decorating our houses and trees is like decorating an altar. The songs we sing are in praise of the holiday. We feast. The exchange of gifts is like a dance, movement and countermovement. Christmas is itself an art and a ritual.