This
is not particularly fashion post but then again, Christmas has inspired a lot of fabric creations. Yep, its that time of the year and Christmas is already fluttering its wings in the air,causing joyful ripples in the
hearts of many. Funny how a place is literally lit up by the sheer idea of
Christmas. Remember that chubby white bearded man we all have grown to love and
see as the iconic representation of Christmas? YES, FATHER CHRISTMAS. Well I
thought long and hard and wondered, what Christmas look like if we were not
handed the image with which to define the season. But then again, what is
Christmas? I think it’s more, yeah, more than the blinking lights of many, many
colours with a towering plastic or freshly harvested Christmas trees. I must
say I am particularly fascinated by the tree-why does it have to be such with a
bust of decoration dripping all over it?
What
truly is the essence of Christmas beyond the tradition of lights? Randomly I
asked a few people what Christmas means to them, Theoretically, Pictorially and
summed in one word.
"For a long time,
Christmas meant a time when I had to endure the bad Christmas dresses and
awesome white rice and stew my mother made. As time went by and I understood
what it meant to have a relationship with God, I understood Christmas to mean a
time when the most miraculous event in the world took place; when God took the
position of man in order to elevate him to the position of God. It is still a
mystery that I am trying to unravel, but these days, I look forward to
Christmas because I love the contemplation of the love of a God who didn’t give
up on his own children.
I’m not sure I would
like to replace Christmas with any other word. It’s perfect for me
I would paint the
portrait of a father cradling a baby in his arms standing in front of a burning
house. Too many times the portrait of mothers with babies abound, taking away
the true essence of fatherhood."...Estrella Gada
"Christmas is
family time, when everyone come back home as we share thoughts and stories that
have resounded throughout the year. If I had to replace Christmas with one would
it would definitely be Family and for a picture, well, I would draw the
barbecue grill at the back space of our family house, steaming with a nice
turkey and my siblings chilling around"...Ijeoma Obi
Christmas is FAMILY;
the tearing down of borders to be with the ones you love, sharing memories and
good food. For one word I would say Family and my picture would definitely be a
picture of my Family...Nwandy Jen
Christmas for me is a replay and a reminder of the Birth of
our Lord Jesus Christ. If I were to replace Christmas with a word it would be
LOVE and a Christmas tree would be my pictorial representation. “...Joy Yakubu
"As a child, Christmas
meant new clothes (a dress with a hat n purse), pictures, hairstyles I wouldn’t
make ordinarily, moving from one friend's house to another and stuffing my
purse with my Christmas money - mints. Now, it means basically, a time to
reconnect with my family, friends and smile more. My other word for Christmas
would be 'Love’, people actually give more than they can imagine at Christmas,
to known and unknown persons. I'd draw a people from different tongues and tribes,
rich and poor, young and old together feasting and tearing chicken thighs with
love". Eliye EkeneChukwu
DID YOU KNOW...?
Long before the advent of Christianity,
plants and trees that remained green all year had a special meaning for people
in the winter. Just as people today decorate their homes during the festive
season with pine, spruce, and fir trees, ancient peoples hung evergreen boughs
over their doors and windows. In many countries it was believed that evergreens
would keep away witches, ghosts, evil spirits, and illness.
In the Northern hemisphere, the shortest
day and longest night of the year falls on December 21 or December 22 and is
called the winter solstice. Many ancient people believed that the sun was a god
and that winter came every year because the sun god had become sick and weak.
They celebrated the solstice because it meant that at last the sun god would
begin to get well. Evergreen boughs reminded them of all the green plants that
would grow again when the sun god was strong and summer would return.
The ancient Egyptians worshiped a god called Ra, who had
the head of a hawk and wore the sun as a blazing disk in his crown. At the
solstice, when Ra began to recover from the illness, the Egyptians filled their
homes with green palm rushes which symbolized for them the triumph of life over
death.
Early Romans marked the solstice with a feast called the
Saturnalia in honour of Saturn, the god of agriculture. The Romans knew that
the solstice meant that soon farms and orchards would be green and fruitful. To
mark the occasion, they decorated their homes and temples with evergreen
boughs. In Northern Europe the mysterious Druids, the priests of the ancient
Celts, also decorated their temples with evergreen boughs as a symbol of
everlasting life. The fierce Vikings in Scandinavia thought that evergreens were the special
plant of the sun god, Balder.
Germany is credited with starting the Christmas tree tradition as we now know it in the 16th century when
devout Christians brought decorated trees into their homes. Some built
Christmas pyramids of wood and decorated them with evergreens and candles if
wood was scarce. It is a widely held belief that Martin Luther, the
16th-century Protestant reformer, first added lighted candles to a tree.
Walking toward his home one winter evening, composing a sermon, he was awed by
the brilliance of stars twinkling amidst evergreens. To recapture the scene for
his family, he erected a tree in the main room and wired its branches with
lighted candles.
http://www.7-themes.com
http://www.haydenwilliamsillustrations.tumblr.com
http://www.newgirllook.wordpress.com
http://www.pinterest.com
