Gavin writes: I wonder how many of you still do the traditional things. What do I mean? Here are a couple of examples. Blowing out the candles on the banquet table and then relighting them. Or igniting the good rum that you’ve poured over the “Christmas” pudding, now to be borne into the darkened dining room. These are only two small ways to remember and honor the original, and only valid, reason for the festival–the return of the Sun. Even a solar deity needs a little help and encouragement from time to time, and the newly reborn Sun is no exception.
The steamed Christmas pudding is probably a no-no in every single one of today’s diet regimens; but still, once a year, why not? The one we eat has usually been kept back for a year on a quiet shelf in the fridge, in a timeless tradition kept by the Frost (or should I say Frith?) family. Mrs. Frith, Gavin’s maternal grandmother, was a cordon bleu chef in a time before women could officially gain that title.
In this season of benevolence and maxed-out credit cards, be kind to people.
BB Gavin and Yvonne
PS If you’d like the recipe for that Frith pudding, request it and I’ll post it on this site. Meanwhile, join us now for a rousing chorus:
Mithras loves me! Sun-God bright,
Lighting up the darkest night.
There’s no question He can’t answer.
Just be careful of skin cancer.
Yes, Mithras loves me (3 times)
A sunbeam told me so.
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Pagan Temple, thanks for the information re conjunctions. Oops! In listing world-shaking events of 1968, we omitted the deaths of Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King and the birth of St. Monty T. Keep us straight, boys and girls.
