Aaron's Christmas Tree Posting

[Guest guest]

To "Skud Thirteen",

I am so curious where you got your nickname, if one could call

it that? Thank you so much for posting the tradition of worshipping

Ganesh during Dec. 21-25. I have never heard of it before, and it

sounds so beautiful and healing to do with one's family during the

Christmas season. It sounds very similar to the Christian tradition

of Advent, where the family does spiritual practices and purification

for so many days before Christmas, to prepare the family to receive

the Christ Child into their hearts on Christmas. The Devi Mandir

family has a tradition of doing a homa (fire purification ceremony)

on Christmas Day where several different "Jesus" mantras are recited

108 times each at the fire, and on Christmas Eve there is a Shiva

Puja done to worship Lord Jesus, followed by a shortened Latin Mass

in which bread and wine are consecrated and shared among the

devotees.

To Chris, forget about materialism. Just remember to call on

the Spirit of Jesus, and He will show you how to celebrate the true

spirit of this holy season with Love, Peace, and unselfish Giving of

the Heart. During some years when I was living alone, I used to

prepare for Christmas by re-reading Kahlil Gibran's book of prose,

"Jesus, Son of Man", or listening to the music of the musical's

"Godspel" and "Jesus Christ Superstar", or watching the

movie "Jonathan Livingston Seagull" in order to re-light my candle.

When I lived outside of Santa Fe, N.M., one year when my daughter

was 6-mos. old, we made the small "farolito" lights by putting small

tealight candles in wet sand inside small brown paper sacks, and

lining them up in the snow along the stone pathway that lead to our

front door. We lighted the way for the Christ Child; my little

daughter that it was "bootiful".

Having been raised in the Roman Catholic tradition for the 1st

23 years of my life, Christmas meant "Christ's Mass" or the time of

coming into union with Christ in a special way. Do others have

special traditions that you might want to share on the forum?

My wish is that we will all prepare our hearts for a Holy and

happy Christ-Mass! :)Kamala