Daily Archives: December 26, 2010

        As promised, a photo of our family Nativity Scene.  Here’s the story behind this set.  It belonged to my grandmother.  That woman was a certifiable nut case, of the highest order.  Well balanced or not, she was also an inspiration to me.  I spent so much time with her growing up that really, it would be unreasonable to think that she hadn’t influenced my life greatly.  She took me to see things I never would have known about otherwise.  We visited Buddhist Temples, Shinto Shrines, Jesuit Missions, some of the very first original hippie juice bars, See’s Candy, a Polynesian Cultural Center, Pearl Harbor and the Arizona Memorial.  Just to name a few.  (Saying we spent time near oceans, well that goes without saying.)

          She was a devout, albeit, irreverent, life-long witchy Catholic.  She laundered the priests garments and repaired the altar cloths.  She also argued with these men until they were stuttering and nearly catatonic.  Her reasoning and beliefs were solid, no matter what her grasp on sanity was.  She didn’t have a lot of decorations in her home that I recall.  But she did have several little manger arrangements.  The one I inherited had the required Baby, Mary, Joseph, and Some Wise Men.  Plus a shepherd guy.

         Over the years, as my children grew older, they added special items that they felt compelled to contribute, and were comfortable with not seeing again until December rolled around again.  The collection lives in a very old tin, with a lid, when not out on the mantle, coffee table, or some other place of honor, as we start opening the red and green Totes.  We are thinking it might be about to outgrow its container.  (I put a penny out there for perspective, that isn’t part of the setting.)

        Right, well that’s a crappy picture.  Hope you can enlarge it.  What, your Christ child doesn’t have a yellow rubber Collie to guard him?  Or a life-like Homey at his back?  How about a watering can charm?  You don’t have a nice Santa dressed Troll?  No bouncy, wind-up shiny pony either?  How about a hand-made foil covered Kwanza cup (constructed from a toilet paper tube and two empty plastic Easter egg halves)?   You guys!  Really?  It’s just us then?

       The best part of our scene is that, as I said yesterday, Baby JC is not glued into his little hay bed.  He comes out.  You can play with him.  And we did, and my own kids did.  Until one year… he went missing!  True.  It was when the witchlings were pretty young, early elementary school grades.  We just woke up one day and he was not there.  No sign of him, no note saying he’d gone fishing, and no request for ransom.  We were concerned, but we were also kinda busy.  We cared, but we were also quite distracted.  What with life and all.

        Didn’t think too much about it.  Until the morning of the 25th.  Which didn’t mean a whole lot in our house.  We took the day off, or we didn’t.  Daniel had to work, or sleep, or he didn’t.  Except…. yes that’s right.  He was back!  The Blessed Child had re-appeared!  In his little plastic manger, right where he belonged, as if he had never disappeared, as if he had not actually been MIA for nearly a week.  It was a Pagan Christmas Miracle!

            The first of many such miraculous occurrences.  Some of which maybe weren’t exactly so magical.  But hey.  We take our Universal Mysteries where we can get them.  (If at this point, any of the people I have given birth to would like to admit to the kidnapping and later return of the Baby Cheeses, they may now do so without fear of recriminations.  If not, and it truly was our First Pagan Christmas Miracle, I’m good with that too.)

             We have discussed several holiday traditions here, but I’d like to draw your attention to one last bit of trivia and offer you this link to Deborah’s blog.  She has a great piece on seasonal history.

       Our card today is from my working deck, but instead of giving my own impression of it tonight (because it’s very late now, we went touring some neighborhoods, and then stopped for dinner about ten-ish) I’m going to give the two definitions I have in my books.  It came up reversed, so I’ll give you both of those too.  Just keep in mind, we read these with a tweak, moving into, or out of this position.

“Two of Wands (challenger)  ~

Seeker must avoid impatience.  Empty success.  Good beginnings go sour.  Surprise, wonder enchantment, emotion, and possibly fear relating to new adventures.”

“Two of Wands  ~

  Wait to see if plans bear fruit.  Kindness, generosity, intellect, well-balanced individual, creative.  Good things coming, fulfillment.  Opportunity in all phases of life, looking toward the future and what lay ahead just past the horizon.  Magnificence.  Brilliant insight as one seeks to move forward.”