OK, we've got through the Yule festivities without anything really stupid happening. No animals disappeared from the Safari Park, no roadkill for Christmas dinner, nobody frostbitten on Aspley Heath - although to be honest that's probably down to the mild weather rather than any sort of common sense on the behalf of the current flock of Beaker Folk.
As far as we're aware, the first Beaker Folk celebrated New Year at All Hallows - or possibly 1 February - or 25 March - or possibly Christmast. It all depends what spurious point you're trying to make about paganism pre-dating Christian festivals.
In any case - what I'm trying to explain is, 31 Dec - 1 Jan is a totally arbitrary distinction. It has no real meaning. It's just the change between two dates.
Let's hit the mead!
I travelled all the way to the eastern outlying islands in Fiji just to be among the first to howl at the moon when the new millennium came round on 1 January 2000, and now you tell me that it is all arbitrary? ARBITRARY? Whatever next? Perhaps now you'll tell me that the new millennium actually only started on 1 Jan. 2001 anyway? AAAAAAAAHHHH!
ReplyDeleteP.S.: was that 'mead' or 'meat' in the final exhortation?
Definitely "mead".
ReplyDelete