Gypsy, do you think accordians would drive away the evil spirits too? Or would they call them up? *BG*

Kat, I am not Pagan but neither do I consider myself Christian. I generally answer undeclared to questions of spirituality. But I love Christmas for it represents to me the collision of so many cultures, past and present, which have accumulated into the holiday we now have. Gypsy ennumerated some of them. Others are found in the music, if you look for it. Some of the carols and visiting customs certainly predate Christianity's usurpation of the holiday and careful dissection can find the earlier beliefs peeking through. John Roberts and Tony Barrand's offerings of Nowell Sing We Clear do a lot to show these connections.

As far as decorating is concerned it is hard to make an Earth based item like evergreens and missletoe shine like a gaudy ornament. It kind of goes against what the Earth is all about. Yet if you decorate with evergreens and missletoe you stand the chance that people will not recognize your decorations for what they are. Sticky proposition.

Our own Christmas decorations celebrate as many of the old beliefs as we can fit on to the tree. We have the usual angels and Christian based items, we have a yarmulka from Bar Mitzvah on my ex-wife's side of the family, there is a little arm and leg representing the old Germanic tribe's use of human sacrifice, there are sprigs of holly and missletoe, small animals like birds and mice, and, of course, lights. (I don't have anything for Kwanza yet) I try to always have strings of popcorn and cranberries on the tree as an offering to the little creatures who share our little plot of Earth. The tree goes up in Mid December and stays up till January when Twelfth night has passed.

Joe - Have you considered that your library, by refering to it as THE Holiday, might be slighting those who do not recognize the 25th of December as a holiday? That would include both Jews and Muslims as well as (I think) many Pagans. You ought to call them to task and ask that they either go back to calling it Christmas or just call it "a" holiday. *BG*