The Times Online are reporting that five priests and two police officers have been hurt in punch-up at Church of the Nativity…in Bethlehem of all places! Nothing like a good fight at Christmas time hey. Who said religion and war were unconnected?
“Witnesses said that the robed and bearded priests scuffled for more than an hour using fists, brooms and iron rods as weapons.”
You couldn’t make it up could you. [via]
Candy Killer (aka Brian Taylor) is still producing some amazing work. Of note is that he’s started selling the occasional letterpress print including this now sold out 8″ x 10″ edition of 90 for the paltry sum of £18! Keep an eye on his blog for more print news if you want a chance of grabbing some of this letterpressed goodness.
The Beatnix play a live mashup version of Led Zep’s Stairway To Heaven. Very very great. [via]
Shawn Barber, one of the greatest painters in the world in my opinion, shares what he’s been up to in the second half of 2007 over at his blog. The highlight for me is the amazing painting he did of Genevive Zacconi (partly shown above, the full image isn’t safe for viewing at work). I hadn’t heard of her before so headed over to her site, which in under re-construction. However, there is some stuff on show over at her MySpace page including this ace painting, Stigma (below). I’ve also managed to find Genevive’s Live Journal so there’s somewhere else to get the low-down on what’s going on in her world. I’ll write a proper post about her once her main site is up and running.
There’s a time and place for everything. I’m not convinced that Christmas is the time or that Ektopia is the place but I sure do like this Christ coat hanger. Kind of like a step up from last year’s Jesus Welcomes You coat hangers. Equally bad taste and equally as great. [via]
God bless Wikipedia…I’m enjoying Christmas day a lot more for knowing the history behind it!
A winter festival was traditionally the most popular festival of the year in many cultures. Reasons included less agricultural work needing to be done during the winter, as well as people expecting longer days and shorter nights after the winter solstice in the Northern Hemisphere. In part, the Christmas celebration was created by the early Church in order to entice pagan Romans to convert to Christianity without losing their own winter celebrations. Certain prominent gods and goddesses of other religions in the region had their birthdays celebrated on December 25, including Ishtar, Sol Invictus and Mithras. Various traditions are considered to have been syncretised from winter festivals including the following:
Saturnalia
In Roman times, the best-known winter festival was Saturnalia, which was popular throughout Italy. Saturnalia was a time of general relaxation, feasting, merry-making, and a cessation of formal rules. It included the making and giving of small presents (Saturnalia et Sigillaricia), including small dolls for children and candles for adults. During Saturnalia, business was postponed and even slaves feasted. There was drinking, gambling, and singing, and even public nudity. It was the “best of days,” according to the poet Catullus. Saturnalia honored the god Saturn and began on December 17. The festival gradually lengthened until the late Republican period, when it was seven days (December 17–24). In imperial times, Saturnalia was shortened to five days.
Natalis Solis Invicti
The Romans held a festival on December 25 called Dies Natalis Solis Invicti, “the birthday of the undefeated sun.” The use of the title Sol Invictus allowed several solar deities to be worshipped collectively, including Elah-Gabal, a Syrian sun god; Sol, the god of Emperor Aurelian (AD 270–274); and Mithras, a soldiers’ god of Persian origin. Emperor Elagabalus (218–222) introduced the festival, and it reached the height of its popularity under Aurelian, who promoted it as an empire-wide holiday.
December 25 was also considered to be the date of the winter solstice, which the Romans called bruma. It was therefore the day the Sun proved itself to be “unconquered” despite the shortening of daylight hours. (When Julius Caesar introduced the Julian Calendar in 45 BC, December 25 was approximately the date of the solstice. In modern times, the solstice falls on December 21 or 22.) The Sol Invictus festival has a “strong claim on the responsibility” for the date of Christmas, according to the Catholic Encyclopedia. Several early Christian writers connected the rebirth of the sun to the birth of Jesus “O, how wonderfully acted Providence that on that day on which that Sun was born . . . Christ should be born”, Cyprian wrote.
Yule
Pagan Scandinavia celebrated a winter festival called Yule, held in the late December to early January period. Yule logs were lit to honor Thor, the god of thunder, with the belief that each spark from the fire represented a new pig or calf that would be born during the coming year. Feasting would continue until the log burned out, which could take as many as twelve days. In pagan Germania (not to be confused with Germany), the equivalent holiday was the mid-winter night which was followed by 12 “wild nights”, filled with eating, drinking and partying. As Northern Europe was the last part to Christianize, its pagan celebrations had a major influence on Christmas. Scandinavians still call Christmas Jul. In English, the Germanic word Yule is synonymous with Christmas, a usage first recorded in 900.
Metalosis Maligna is a well made video, by Microba, about a made up disease. The body’s defence mechanism rejects metal implants and it’s ultimate effect is that the metalwork itself starts to grow till it takes up the space of the human tissues. It’s as far fetched as it is thought provoking.
Camouflage Toilet Paper. I have nothing else to say about this apart from it’s so much beter than plain black toilet paper. [via]
I’ve recently discovered the mighty work of Usugrow. See more of his skills here and here. Also of note is that he has a book, Love Hate from Jp, coming out soon too.