Of goats and bears
Last I remember, the days when we all slowed down our busy little lives to purchase forgiveness from Sol Invictus was traditionally marked by the twirling rainbow goats in Braşov.
I may begin to spin new regionalist theories on anthropomorphism as relates to modern Romanian culture, because the east central area of Bucureşti appears to be represented by the famous Christmas bear.
Apparently, in his early 20s, Jesus hired a few singing bears to lead the sideshow component of his magic performances. Later, these pets turned into ticket salesmen then alms collectors. Hence, their relevancy.
January 6th, 2009 at 6:53 am
Actually, The Bear (but also The Goat, The Little Plough, etc) is a pagan, pre-Christian tradition, connected with the winter solstice celebration and not with the birth of Jesus.
This stuff is older than you think, it has nothing to do with consumerism or baby Jesus.
January 6th, 2009 at 1:58 pm
Ubu – I’m right there with ya! That’s why I included Sol Invictus and sprinkled some sarcasm about shopperism and ol’ JC. Most of my regular readers are astute enough to know what you and I are agreeing on. But, then again, there’s always the fly-by visitors who get confused or offended in their own ignorance, so keep it comin!