Noted . Notable . Noteworthy . LGBT News & Views
Volume 23 .Number 16 December 13.2008 Printed on Recycled Paper FREE
Life like
no other
Rural gay nightlife
page I I ^
. by Matt Comer. Q-Notes staff
I Roque’s return
i Singer to perform
I in QC
\ page 17
q-notes.com
I t’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas — and Hanukkah, Kwanzaa,
Yule and Solstice. And I’ll bet you didn’t know there are many more
holidays just like those.
It’s true — the holidays are upon us. No matter how long you’ve tried
to put off shopping or visiting that aunt you love oh so dearly, but can only
stand to be around for half an hour, you’ll soon find yourself in the thick
of it, if you haven’t already. Come the end of December you’ll be making
merry with friends, family and loved ones. For billions of people around
the world — at least in the North Hemisphere, that is — the winter holi
days represent a time of new birth, light, life and renewal.
To really understand Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and a host of
other modern traditions, why not just go back to the beginning? Most
Americans associate the winter holidays with Christmas trees, candles,
wreaths and warm and friendly fires. Most of these traditions — in fact,
almost all of our modern Western traditions — are based on Old World
spiritual beliefs from way back Germanic and Scandinavian natives.
\^ether you even realized it or not, we’re all Pagans and Heathens this
time of year.
For millennia, people in the Northern Hemisphere have looked eagerly
toward the Winter Solstice — the real world, astronomical event that
occurs every year around Dec. 21 — the time when the days stop growing
shorter, start getting longer and when the sun returns.
With the sun comes light and warmth. Spring and the rebirth of the
earth and all its fruits aren’t too far off. For the traditional spiritualities of
indigenous Europeans — especially those who faced the harshest of win
ters in such northerly corners of the world as Scandinavia — the Winter
Solstice was more than just the shortest night of the year; it was the prom
ise of a new day, a new year and the guarantee that warmth and good
weather would once again allow them to feed their families, keep livestock
and survive.
Traditions of rebirth and the reawakening of the sun and light can be '
traced as far back as ancient periods in Egypt. Even in Japan and other
Asian cultures, the Winter Solstice has been celebrated and adored. If you
take just a minute to think about it, you realize that almost every civiliza
tion, culture and religion in the Northern Hemisphere has some sort of
celebration of light and life during the winter. Even Judaism, a religion
with Middle Eastern roots, celebrates its own winter holiday —
Hannakuh, the “festival of lights.”
Jim Henck, an openly gay Christian who lives in Charlotte, says he
finds comfort in celebrating traditional Pagan holidays like the Winter
Solstice.
“The reason I entertain the Winter Solstice is because Christmas has
become such a big commercial event,” he says. “Christmas is nowhere near
as traditional as it used to be. Winter Solstice, for me, leads me back to a
more traditional and spiritual meaning, instead of the commercial end of
it.”
Henck says he’s never felt out of place celebrating both Christmas and
Solstice with his Pagan and Wiccan friends, as well as others who come
from traditional Old World and alternative faith traditions.
And unlike many of his queer brothers and sisters, Henck has never
had to worry about how friends and loved ones will react to his sexual
see Winter on 14
Lifetime gift \
World’s children '•
need you
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