Christmas traditions

It seems that Boston's the Slutcracker is being called the "Latest Assault on Christmas: Sexualized Version of “Nutcracker”, including transsexuality and sado-masochism". Nevermind E.T.A. Hoffmann's "Nutcracker and Mouseking" (the Source of the Nutcracker's story) addresses Clara's sexual awakening. US performances shy away from this since they usually have real children and try to make the performance cute, which is why I hate seeing US performances of the Ballet (Well, except The Mark Morris Dance Group's Hard Nut, but I saw that a the Theatre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels: does that count???). The actual story is fairly scary since Drosselmeyer is portrayed as a sinister figure which is something that European versions of the ballet tend to show.

For those who don't know the Story, Princess Perlipat is a beautiful little girl. Unfortunately, the family runs afoul of the mouse queen who turns Pirlipat into an ugly creature. The only way to cure Pirlipat was to feed her the nut Crackatook. Drosselmeyer is sent to find a person who can perform the task and travels the world, only to find that the person in question is Drosselmeyer's nephew. Unfortunately, no sooner is Pirlipat cured than the Nephew is cursed by the mousequeen and becomes the nutcracker and the ungrateful princess refuses to marry him. Marie/Clara then swears that she would love the nephew no matter how he looks and breaks the curse.

Of course, that condensation doesn't get deeply into Marie/Clara's sexual awakening, but I don't feel like rewriting the story: especially since you can read it here.

It seems that the Slutcracker is a X rated version of the Nutcracker with burlesque and can-can dancers, drag kings, hoopers, ballerinas, acrobats, bellydancers, actors and actresses and where our young dreamer Clara finds a sex toy waiting for her under the Christmas tree. It leads her to a kinky-freaky-sexy land where she discovers…. Needless to say, this has the keep Christ in Christmas crowd freaking out. Although, it is amusing that this production is happening in Boston, where Christmas was banned for being a holiday that featured the lord of misrule and men dressing as women (and vice versa). Maybe they have finally discovered the true meaning of Christmas in Boston after shaking off the Puritan bullshit.

What would these people say about Philadelphia's Mummers?

Better yet, what would these people think about Matthew Bourne's Nutcracker?

Bourne's version takes place in a workhouse:

Bourne does away with the sanitized Victorian scenario of Christmas. Bourne, often at his most brilliant at re-working traditional ballet librettos (e.g. “Swan Lake,” “Cinderella,” and “The Car Man” -- all seen in Los Angeles within recent years), delivers no less with “Nutcracker!” Instead of the cozy Victorian home, Bourne gives us a veritable Dickensian Third Reich where the ballet’s only family embodies not holiday charity but avarice and exploitation. Instead of the bourgeois domesticity of the Stahlbaums, Clara is an inmate of Dr. Dross’ Orphanage for Waifs and Strays, a kind of Dotheboys Hall run by Dr. Dross (Scott Ambler as an SS commandant Wackford Squeers) and the Matron, His Wife, (Annabelle Dalling as a nightmarish combination of Mommie Dearest Joan Crawford and Bette Davis’ Baby Jane). These symbolic inversions are only a starting point for Bourne.

The Matthew Bourne Nutcracker is super! I am not sure what I think about the Slutcracker. From the little teaser clip, it looks amusing, but I wouldn't go out of my way to see it. I Also have to admit that most US Nutcrackers usually are pretty boring community productions. The ballet is super when performed by talented dancers as opposed to the patrons' Children.

The video below also has the Christ in Christmas crowd upset that the "family" holiday is being desecrated. I suggest that these people look into the pagan rituals that have been around longer than Christianity.



Maybe they will rethink their position and just ban Christmas again since things like the Slutcracker are far more traditional Christmas/Solstice traditions. Banning Christmas is the only way to end that sort of thing, but it has never worked in the past.

So, why would they think they can change a holiday that is more pagan than Christian.

Put the Mithra back in Christmas

Mithraism is frequently cited as a precursor to Christianity, a title which most Mystery Religions could also claim. The big difference between the mystery religions and Christianity was that some mystery relgions excluded women entirely, such as Mithraism, causing well-heeled Roman matrons with a pious frame of mind to explore first Judaism, and then Christianity. Also, unlike Christianity, they made no special overtures towards the uneducated, downtrodden and marginal elements of society. They were religions chosen by the emperors, not slaves. Much of the symbolism and many of the stories in the Bible may be traced to earlier myths of the Persians, Egyptians, and other people from the near east.

While some will say that the nativity scene isn't a pagan symbol, Mithra's birth was witnessed by shepherd and Magi, who brought gifts to his sacred birth-cave of the Rock.

Anyway, here are a couple of videos that will clue you in to the real "reason for the season".

More US Christmas

Did you know that Christmas wasn't a federal holiday in the US until 1870? Yes, Congress was in session on December 25, 1789, the first Christmas under America's new constitution!

Strange as this may sound, Protestant Christians such as the Pilgrims, Puritans, Congregationalists, Quakers, Baptists, and Presbyterians did not celebrate Christmas. Some Christian sects still do not recognise Christmas as being Christian, such as Seventh-day Adventists and Jehovah's Witnesses. Protestant Christians in New England during the seventeenth, eighteenth, and early nineteenth centuries knew that the festivities, traditions, and trappings of Christmas were simply pagan celebrations covered with a Christian veneer. In addition, they were all too familiar with the Saturnalian misrule, disorder, and revelry associated with the mid-winter festivities and wanted to suppress it.

The problem is that Christians have been trying to co-opt the holiday since the Christmas was established early in the fourth century. This was done to Christianise pagan mid-winter celebrations associated with the Saturnalia and birthday of Sol Invictus – the Sun god. But it didn’t end there! As Christianity spread into northern Europe, elements of the twelve day Scandinavian Yule festival to the god Thor and various other practices of the Germanic pagans were also incorporated into Christmas-time celebrations by the Roman Church.

"All of the incorporation of pagan traditions was done contrary to God’s clear instructions in Deuteronomy 12: 28-32, Jeremiah 10: 1-3, and Matthew 15: 3, 8-9."

Some people forget that the First Amendment states that: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof"

So, it seems a bit silly that Christmas was made a holiday, but I have said before that Christmas has 12 days and Hanukkah has 8 days--Why not combine the holidays and take the entire month of December off?

That's the American way!

The 12 Days of Christmas (not the Song)

Ever wonder what the Twelve Days of Christmas was about? Did you just think it was a very bizarre Christmas Carol?

Nope, it's a very real event and it takes place from Christmas Day to Epiphany (the 6th of January). The feast of Epiphany is also known as Twelfth Night. Twelfth Night also signified the end of the feasting season that began on Halloween in Tudor times. Twelfth Night was the time when the world was turned crazy. On this day the King and all those who were high would become the peasants and vice versa. This feast was governed by the Lord of Misrule. Epiphany is seeing a comeback in the US because of Latino culture where it is known as el Dia de los Reyes Magos or Three Kings Day.

There is a question as to whether the twelve days of Christmas has fallen victim to the secularisation of society or to the Puritans. Either way, it is a custom that is pretty much forgotten in the US. British culture celebrates Boxing Day (26 December or St. Stephen's Day) which is a national holiday in many Commonwealth nations. The Anglican Church and liturgical Calendar still has the verious feasts such as Childermas (the Feast of the Innocents) and Epiphany.

On the other hand, the traditions of the Twelve Days were adapted from the older pagan customs, in particular Saturnalia. The holiday falls firmly on the Winter Solstice in the Northern hemisphere. Many cultures in the Northern Hemisphere have performed solstice ceremonies since pre-historic times. At their root: an ancient fear that the failing light would never return unless humans intervened with anxious vigil or antic celebration. The Twelfth Night traditions of the Solstice also have an influence on modern day pantomime where traditional authority is mocked and the principal male lead is played by a woman, while the leading older female character, or 'Dame', is played by a man. It is this pagan influence and revelling that offended the puritans and led to them banning Christmas.

The Song "Carol of the Bells" is the Ukrainian carol called "Shchedryk". The word "Shchedryk" means the "Generous One". It refers to the god of generosity, the Dazh Boh - the Giver God, which is the sun. Dazh Boh's feast was on the winter solstice; after all, that is when he started his return. With the coming of Christianity to Ukraine in 988, the people did not forget their ancient customs; they incorporated them into their new beliefs. To this day Ukrainians sing the "Shchedryk" during Christmas season.

But the 12 Days of Christmas can be either sacred or profane depending on your outlook and personality. Does one choose the holiday of the Romans or that of the High Church Anglican? Either way, it is a holiday which is firmly engrained in the Northern Cultures. It is a holiday that does not stop the day after Christmas, but continues until the Sun is revived.