Fradam

One of my Christmas presents (yes, near 6 months ago now!), was the acclaimed Riftwar saga from Raymond E. Feist — thanks Dave! The first in the series, the Magician is considered by many to be one of the finest fantasy reads of our time. I think I first heard of it when I was about 8; my eldest brother would have been reading Feist and encouraging me to get into it as well, having already set my feet upon the path of medieval literature with the world of Tolkien. This universe, filled with a myriad of amazing creatures and characters, drew me in, intoxicating me with its lore until I had searched far and wide (well, Warringah Library) for every book written about it. Bad idea; the Silmarillion kinda killed it for me. Yet, the idea of becoming a wizard was certainly one I had speculated upon.

Engaging Eddings only served to exacerbate that desire, as I encountered a boy who was only a wee bit older than me growing to learn about sorcery. Something about these lands filled with magic attracted me; I wasn’t sure what it was either. More than just the casual urge to turn a brother into a toad when the occasion suited, the idea of being able to alter the natural world seemed rather appealing.

Now, as I’ve grown older, such wishes have lain dormant, quietly being suppressed by the dusts of school and other non-wizardly things. So, receiving Riftwar for Christmas, began another saga of longing for a magical life. Reading another story of a boy-turned-magician brought to the surface thoughts and dreams long thought forgotten. As a result, I’ve decided my calling in life has been made. I will enter Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and become a wizard!

Wish me luck!

There are two questions commonly asked of me around this time of the year:

1. Fradam, how did you get so tall!?

2. Fradam, why don’t you celebrate Christmas like everyone else?

The answer to at least one of these questions is simple: drink lots of milk.

The other question however, is vastly more complex, primarily arising from most people being aware that I am a Christian, yet don’t seem too big on what many suppose to be the biggest Christian celebration around. But how Christian is Christmas? On a purely aesthetic level, yes, they share many of the same letters, but it is a bit more than that

As a Christian, I believe in what is in the Bible: which Christmas is not. Surprised? I hope not! Christmas is an amalgamation of many different cultures’ celebrations: Saturnalia, Sol Invictus, Yule, mid-winter night and the winter solstice. Between these, glory was given to the Roman Gods Saturn and Sol, the Syrian God Elah-Gabal, the Persian God Mithras and the Norse Gods Thor and Odin. It’s promotion into the Christian world was fuelled by Catholicism and the merging of pagan practices into less pagan equivalents. This is not particularly new knowledge — there was a lot of rioting and fighting about this in England and the US in the past few hundred years.

Ofcourse, that is what Christmas is technically defined to have originated from, but is that what Christmas is? Many would argue that Christmas is what you make of it, and that it means whatever you want it to mean — it can be a religious thing, it can be a secular thing, it can be a family thing, it can be a communal thing. Not everyone celebrates it the same way, and yet all are valid, right?

With my family, we take advantage of the fact that nobody is at work and can actually spend a degree of time with each other. It is not a religious acknowledgement of Christ’s supposed birth day. There’s rarely a tree. No candy cane, or stockings. It is simply time spent with those closest, those that are loved the most, with the joy of giving. Is that a form of Christmas? Well… considering the above thoughts, I suppose it is. Might not be the same as everyone, but it’s something

So on that note: Merry Christmas everyone!