Christmas is an ancient mid-winter festival in the British Isles (and beyond). Something that comes with tenancy of the Islands and which all people whether they are born here or come to Britain learn about and absorb into their bones. It is a festival almost as old as the land itself and something which supports us as much as the soil of this Island. You can measure the state of culture in the British Isles by how it celebrates this festival from we can presume a Palaeolithic midwinter ceremony to help the end the increasing darkness of the nights, to Neolithic feasting, to Christian celebration of the birth of Christ and gift giving, to Saxon Yule, to Tudor Carol singing and Christmas cakes, to Victorian Christmas trees. A thread running through all these cultures is the mid-winter feast.
I know some people these days feels that Christmas does not represent them. This is very much the failing of modern British culture as people disintegrate and start to live separate individual lives as bubbles within the greater Islands. If Christmas sees any weakness that is a reflection not of the festival but of the people who currently inhabit the isles. Ultimately it is the weakness of and over reliance on Capitalism itself that may threaten the people of Britain.
If Christmas ever fails in UK after 20,000 years of going strong we can take this as a barometer of just how sick the people and society is here.
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