Is it a part of Christianity (at least, your flavor of it) that you're only supposed to observe holidays for things directly pertaining to Christianity? If so, what do you do about the 4th of July and New Year's Eve?
Perhaps, not being a Christian (nor, for that matter, a pagan), I'm missing something fundamental; I welcome correction. It seems to me that your observance of Samhain is not in conflict with Christianity.
Or put another way: if one grants that Samhain has some real difference on a metaphysical level, if one observes this for oneself, what then is one to do about it if one is a Christian? Ignore it? Temporarily stop being a Christian? Or find a way to be a Christian in the days between the years? It seems intergrity requires this third path, which is what you have chosen.
Independence Day and New Year's Eve are not religious holidays. The same is true of President's Day and Memorial Day. So there's no conflict and no cognitive dissonance there.
But Samhain is a Pagan religious holiday -- it's not just not-Christian, it's a religious holiday from another religion.
Now this is more a cognitive dissonance issue than an actual "in conflict with my religion" problem. If I felt it was actually in conflict, I would have to stop observing Samhain. Instead, what I've done is to focus on the secular traditions (ignoring for the moment their religious roots) and the magical aspects, and using those as a framework in which to worship my God. So while the Pagan origins make it odd, I'm not actually worshipping any of the pre-Christian Celtic deities.
(It helps that I see nothing amiss with a Christian being involved with magic -- the Biblical prohibitions pretty much amount to "do not consult the fortune-tellers of the people you just conquered". I'll write about what it's like to be a Christian in Circle some other time. For now I'll merely note that there are long traditions of Christian magi, and that I've seen "calling the quarters" done invoking archangels and using very Christian imagery.)
That leaves the notion of "the days between the years" in another religion's calendar as the mysterious part. (The secular calendar most of us use is, let's face it, the Christian calendar. It's just that if we're going to be polite about it, we say "common era" (CE) instead of "in the year of our Lord" (AD).) To that, I can only say that I feel it, though I can't explain it within the context of my religion, and note that yes, it does coincide date-wise with the explanation from another religion. That I can't explain it using only my religion isn't a big deal -- my religion doesn't explain how gravity warps space or the U.S. Supreme Court, either. That it happens to line up with a major holiday for someone else is ... interesting. So there is again strangeness but no outright conflict.
So while the Pagan origins make it odd, I'm not actually worshipping any of the pre-Christian Celtic deities.
Yeah, that's what I was getting at.
That leaves the notion of "the days between the years" in another religion's calendar as the mysterious part.
Just because ancient Babylonians worshiped the sun doesn't mean the sun doesn't exist, nor that Christianity requires it's adherents to disbelieve in or ignore the sun. It merely requires them not to worship it as a god.
The secular calendar most of us use is, let's face it, the Christian calendar.
Well, a Christian calendar, as my raised-Greek-Orthodox-bf would be happy to point out. :)
To that, I can only say that I feel it, though I can't explain it within the context of my religion, and note that yes, it does coincide date-wise with the explanation from another religion. That I can't explain it using only my religion isn't a big deal -- my religion doesn't explain how gravity warps space or the U.S. Supreme Court, either.
Right.
That it happens to line up with a major holiday for someone else is ... interesting. So there is again strangeness but no outright conflict.
Right, but furthermore, there's a difference between religious tradition and religious theology. Memorial Day is traditionally observed with religious observances, and, being here in the US, that means Christian observance. It is traditionally Christian. But what is being commemorated is not "owned" by Christianity. If/when I observe Memorial Day, I would not say that my non-Christian Memorial Day "happens to line up with" the Christian Memorial Day. It is Memorial Day, and I am observing precisely what my Christian neighbors are observing -- the sacrifice of those who have served this country -- and the fact that this tradition may mean something theological to them (e.g. a religious duty to pray for the souls of the dead) has nothing to do with me.
(no subject)
Perhaps, not being a Christian (nor, for that matter, a pagan), I'm missing something fundamental; I welcome correction. It seems to me that your observance of Samhain is not in conflict with Christianity.
Or put another way: if one grants that Samhain has some real difference on a metaphysical level, if one observes this for oneself, what then is one to do about it if one is a Christian? Ignore it? Temporarily stop being a Christian? Or find a way to be a Christian in the days between the years? It seems intergrity requires this third path, which is what you have chosen.
(no subject)
But Samhain is a Pagan religious holiday -- it's not just not-Christian, it's a religious holiday from another religion.
Now this is more a cognitive dissonance issue than an actual "in conflict with my religion" problem. If I felt it was actually in conflict, I would have to stop observing Samhain. Instead, what I've done is to focus on the secular traditions (ignoring for the moment their religious roots) and the magical aspects, and using those as a framework in which to worship my God. So while the Pagan origins make it odd, I'm not actually worshipping any of the pre-Christian Celtic deities.
(It helps that I see nothing amiss with a Christian being involved with magic -- the Biblical prohibitions pretty much amount to "do not consult the fortune-tellers of the people you just conquered". I'll write about what it's like to be a Christian in Circle some other time. For now I'll merely note that there are long traditions of Christian magi, and that I've seen "calling the quarters" done invoking archangels and using very Christian imagery.)
That leaves the notion of "the days between the years" in another religion's calendar as the mysterious part. (The secular calendar most of us use is, let's face it, the Christian calendar. It's just that if we're going to be polite about it, we say "common era" (CE) instead of "in the year of our Lord" (AD).) To that, I can only say that I feel it, though I can't explain it within the context of my religion, and note that yes, it does coincide date-wise with the explanation from another religion. That I can't explain it using only my religion isn't a big deal -- my religion doesn't explain how gravity warps space or the U.S. Supreme Court, either. That it happens to line up with a major holiday for someone else is ... interesting. So there is again strangeness but no outright conflict.
Am I still on your third path?
(no subject)
Yeah, that's what I was getting at.
Just because ancient Babylonians worshiped the sun doesn't mean the sun doesn't exist, nor that Christianity requires it's adherents to disbelieve in or ignore the sun. It merely requires them not to worship it as a god.
Well, a Christian calendar, as my raised-Greek-Orthodox-bf would be happy to point out. :)
Right.
Right, but furthermore, there's a difference between religious tradition and religious theology. Memorial Day is traditionally observed with religious observances, and, being here in the US, that means Christian observance. It is traditionally Christian. But what is being commemorated is not "owned" by Christianity. If/when I observe Memorial Day, I would not say that my non-Christian Memorial Day "happens to line up with" the Christian Memorial Day. It is Memorial Day, and I am observing precisely what my Christian neighbors are observing -- the sacrifice of those who have served this country -- and the fact that this tradition may mean something theological to them (e.g. a religious duty to pray for the souls of the dead) has nothing to do with me.
Am I making any sense?
Yes, precisely so.