Lands of Red and Gold
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There are two major elf traditions in popular culture OTL, at least here in the USA: the cute pixie type with mushroom hat (by way of Victorian twee-ness) and the more human-sized noble (and often hot) magical nature-child (by way of Tolkien and his spawn). With neither Tolkien or victorians as we know them, someone else has to come up with elf memes for the modern age...
Bruce
Bruce
mojojojo
Gone Fishin'
That brings up an interesting question.We know that Sci-Fi (or at least Alternate History) exists as a genre of literature in this TL. With Tolkien,Robert E.Howard, the Brothers Grimm,Hans Christian Andersen and who know how many others buterflyed away does Fantasy as a genre of fiction ever develop?
I say go the way of Ents or Dryads for Wood Elves Elves, making toys from their fallen brethren.
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At least in English speaking places I could see the Krampus evolving into Grampa Thorn, Grampa Birch, or possibly Grampa Bell (This could be another reason for the Plirites to dislike Christmas - another association with Chimes). Could even have it associated with OTL legends of the Jersey Devil/Leeds Devil in eastern North America (PA/NJ/NY...)
If you have elves associated more with the darker-side of things, which is what I assume your are implying, perhaps they work more for TTL's version of the Krampus. They could be more like gremlins and if a toy/gift is broken or doesn't work on Christmas day it is blamed on the dastardly doings of a elf, puca, or boggar. You could possibly have the elves be Changelings that were naughty children that were so bad, that the Krampus took them away to work for him and on Christmas Day the Elves return to do the same to other naughty children.
In some Scandinavian versions, the Elves are Eve's "hidden children," the ones she hid from God because they were dirty or something like that.
Here it seems we sort of combine it with stories like the Greek Lamia, Hebrew (perhaps generically Mesopotamian/Semitic?) legends of Lilith, or the Mexican La Llorena--these are all female figures infamous for bad motherhood, cursed to wander the Earth weeping for their own lost children and stealing (and presumably killing and eating) other children; certainly in Mexico the "Weeping One" is used as a threat to keep children in line.
La Llorena is also associated with Cortez's Native American bride, La Malanche. I first heard of her in a story in the early '80s in the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction that suggested (perhaps this is simply a scholarly commonplace) that she is really a syncretic refashioning of an Aztec goddess.
But of course Krampus, I gather, is male? And perhaps children would be more frightened of being enslaved by him forever than being horrifically eaten once and for all?
Certainly I've never heard of any of the "evil mother" tropes getting intertwined with Yuletide.
Now I have to wonder if the Congxie overlap Mexican culture areas much, and if they pick up La Llorena and make her a Yuletide figure, just to further heap contempt on the Christian version of the holiday.
Personally I believe Northern-hemisphere societies, even those living more in the Mediterranean/desert belts, develop mid-winter holidays for reasons brought starkly home to me my first (of just a few!) winters in Humboldt County, California--the mid-winter is bleak and grim, and food is scarce; reason would suggest hoarding it and carefully rationing it through the winter until Spring food is available, but people rebel at that, and instead make a holiday of pulling out all festive stops and making as bright a spot as they can in the middle of it. The warm memories would seem, on the whole, to sustain people through the hard part of the year better than a miserly canniness.
So, in the Southern Hemisphere, where Aururia obviously is, it's rather perverse to insist on holding Yuletide in the midst of the Southern summer. This probably helps explain some Plirite resistance. Among the Congxie, they are certainly living in a North-hemisphere regulated climate, and having spent most of my childhood years in various parts of OTL Dixie I'm here to tell you, most of it gets winters that fully justify Yuletide. But it's typically moderated enough that I can see them making a point of defying it.
Now I'm wondering--Pliriteism is a religion of "God helps those who help themselves," right? That would explain a rather obstinate resistance to Yuletide even among people who live where it climatically makes sense (it got quite cold in Montgomery, Alabama the year I lived there, I suppose in the Appalachian (excuse me, Alleghenian!) mountains it gets much colder still); if the purpose of Yuletide is to celebrate the spirit of the Grasshopper over that of the Ant, I can see why it miffs the Congxie.
This sort of gives them a common bond with the Puritans, whatever else might divide them. I wonder now--apparently New England (which of all English colonial areas, seems likeliest to have largely developed as OTL, and to retain that name for the general area) is separated from Alleghenia by Tigeria, right? It may or may not still be associated with England in the 20th century.
Is it possible NE has a sort of ongoing, on and off again cultural, social, political alliance with the Congxie, setting them against Tigeria and Alleghenia between them, and while lands where Congxie ways prevail (if any are left) might in many ways be at odds with New English ways, they often find it surprisingly convenient and even congenial to stand together, against the greater powers they sandwich? Perhaps metaphorically more often than in overt acts of hostility--but I'm suggesting that Congxie and New Englanders often line up on the same side.
Like say, Congxie I imagine sometimes become sailors, and other Plirites who show up in this part of the world generally will be too. When they show up in New England ports, by all the logic of their experience with these New Englanders Tigerian or Alleghenian observers would expect conflict. Indeed (unless NE has gone through an agnostic phase or greatly de-emphasized the role of formal religion) I daresay there are conflicts with these stubborn "heathen." But amazingly often, relations prove cordial, if perhaps very proper--both sides generally avoid rubbing religious challenges in each other's faces where they would with other Christians, and things go smoothly in ways others can only envy--and similarly New Englanders traveling in Congxie lands get along especially well, to the confusion and consternation of anyone from the other two nations.
Does that make any sense?
Here it seems we sort of combine it with stories like the Greek Lamia, Hebrew (perhaps generically Mesopotamian/Semitic?) legends of Lilith, or the Mexican La Llorena--these are all female figures infamous for bad motherhood, cursed to wander the Earth weeping for their own lost children and stealing (and presumably killing and eating) other children; certainly in Mexico the "Weeping One" is used as a threat to keep children in line.
La Llorena is also associated with Cortez's Native American bride, La Malanche. I first heard of her in a story in the early '80s in the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction that suggested (perhaps this is simply a scholarly commonplace) that she is really a syncretic refashioning of an Aztec goddess.
But of course Krampus, I gather, is male? And perhaps children would be more frightened of being enslaved by him forever than being horrifically eaten once and for all?
Certainly I've never heard of any of the "evil mother" tropes getting intertwined with Yuletide.
Now I have to wonder if the Congxie overlap Mexican culture areas much, and if they pick up La Llorena and make her a Yuletide figure, just to further heap contempt on the Christian version of the holiday.
Personally I believe Northern-hemisphere societies, even those living more in the Mediterranean/desert belts, develop mid-winter holidays for reasons brought starkly home to me my first (of just a few!) winters in Humboldt County, California--the mid-winter is bleak and grim, and food is scarce; reason would suggest hoarding it and carefully rationing it through the winter until Spring food is available, but people rebel at that, and instead make a holiday of pulling out all festive stops and making as bright a spot as they can in the middle of it. The warm memories would seem, on the whole, to sustain people through the hard part of the year better than a miserly canniness.
So, in the Southern Hemisphere, where Aururia obviously is, it's rather perverse to insist on holding Yuletide in the midst of the Southern summer. This probably helps explain some Plirite resistance. Among the Congxie, they are certainly living in a North-hemisphere regulated climate, and having spent most of my childhood years in various parts of OTL Dixie I'm here to tell you, most of it gets winters that fully justify Yuletide. But it's typically moderated enough that I can see them making a point of defying it.
Now I'm wondering--Pliriteism is a religion of "God helps those who help themselves," right? That would explain a rather obstinate resistance to Yuletide even among people who live where it climatically makes sense (it got quite cold in Montgomery, Alabama the year I lived there, I suppose in the Appalachian (excuse me, Alleghenian!) mountains it gets much colder still); if the purpose of Yuletide is to celebrate the spirit of the Grasshopper over that of the Ant, I can see why it miffs the Congxie.
This sort of gives them a common bond with the Puritans, whatever else might divide them. I wonder now--apparently New England (which of all English colonial areas, seems likeliest to have largely developed as OTL, and to retain that name for the general area) is separated from Alleghenia by Tigeria, right? It may or may not still be associated with England in the 20th century.
Is it possible NE has a sort of ongoing, on and off again cultural, social, political alliance with the Congxie, setting them against Tigeria and Alleghenia between them, and while lands where Congxie ways prevail (if any are left) might in many ways be at odds with New English ways, they often find it surprisingly convenient and even congenial to stand together, against the greater powers they sandwich? Perhaps metaphorically more often than in overt acts of hostility--but I'm suggesting that Congxie and New Englanders often line up on the same side.
Like say, Congxie I imagine sometimes become sailors, and other Plirites who show up in this part of the world generally will be too. When they show up in New England ports, by all the logic of their experience with these New Englanders Tigerian or Alleghenian observers would expect conflict. Indeed (unless NE has gone through an agnostic phase or greatly de-emphasized the role of formal religion) I daresay there are conflicts with these stubborn "heathen." But amazingly often, relations prove cordial, if perhaps very proper--both sides generally avoid rubbing religious challenges in each other's faces where they would with other Christians, and things go smoothly in ways others can only envy--and similarly New Englanders traveling in Congxie lands get along especially well, to the confusion and consternation of anyone from the other two nations.
Does that make any sense?
First off, I should mention that with the ideas that people have provided, and a few more of my own which I didn't work into the original post, I'm now going to rework this Christmas special. I'll complete an expanded version, with some new sections and additions to existing sections, then post it here in the next couple of days.
Much like the first Christmas special last year, in fact. So there now seems to be a tradition that the LRG Christmas specials always get rewritten.
Credit for the basic inspiration has to go to Terry Pratchett, but I think I've added a few twists.
Yes, someone else gets to popularise elves.
The pixie elf Victorian tradition simply doesn't appear ITTL, so other things get associated with Christmas.
There's no exact Tolkien analogue ITTL, but the literary tradition of elves which is created has them as rather darker, more malicious beings than the Tolkienesque pointy-eared noble tradition. It draws on some of the Scandinavian view of elves, but is also reworked into a form which has them as beautiful but deadly.
Well, fantastical literature (and its oral equivalents) are much older than the PoD, so yes, fantasy will exist in some form. Other than the plans for *elves, though, I haven't really worked out the details. Too many other things to work out first.
Does this mean that we have to imagine Liv Tyler and Orlando Bloom making the next Santa Claus movie?
Ents in the mobile, talking tree tradition are largely a creation of Tolkien, as far as I know. So they won't really exist ITTL. (Other forms of talking trees did exist in older traditions, but they weren't very ent-like.)
Dryads are more intriguing. They are classical mythological figures, of course, but haven't been incorporated as widely into modern fantasy. Their modern conception seems to owe more to CS Lewis than anyone else, as I understand it, but they don't seem to be major figures even there. So while there may be something to work with in terms of dryads, there doesn't to have been much interest in a modern revival in OTL.
On a broader note, I'm not sure whether the Christmas traditions will have anyone making the toys. Father Christmas's magic sack may just produce whatever's needed whenever he reaches into it.
Hmm. Grampa Thorn sounds rather entertaining.
The bell/chime association probably isn't necessary, though. The Plirite dislike of Christmas is older than chimes; it has to do with the Congxie defining themselves as anti-Christian as much as anything else.
And the association of Christmas with chimes is one of those things which seemed like a good idea at the time, but which turned out to offend people on both sides. Some Christians dislike the inclusion of chimes because they view its inclusion as a pagan symbol; most Congxie Plirites (not necessarily other Plirits, though) dislike what they see as the co-option of one of their more sacred symbols into a pagan ceremony.
Oh, I like this idea! Of course, it's complicated because most of NY, at least, (and probably much of NJ and PA) will not be English-speaking ITTL, but there's definitely some fun to be had there.
Elves, in TL's use of the word, simply aren't associated with Christmas at all. However, there may well be scope for other mythological being working with *Krampus.
Oh, that's brilliant. The punishment is to be taken away for a year making the toys for the good children? Gives a whole new meaning to the question of whether you've been naughty or nice...
This makes for some intriguing possibilities for how the literary tradition of *elves develops ITTL. As mentioned above, though, elves per se aren't associated with Christmas ITTL at all, in either positive or negative context. They just have other motifs.
Of course, something will probably accompany *Krampus. One option is to use the characters who are associated with the Wild Hunt, suitably watered down to become a hunt for naughty children. Another option is that they are some kind of gremlins or other mythical figures, but just not called elves.
The tradition probably started out as being enslaved forever, but in the *modern tradition, I'm liking the idea that naughty children get punished by being taken away for a year to make the toys for next year's good children.
And yes, Krampus is male.
The odd Congxie may make it into Mexican cultural areas - they do range about a fair bit. The core of their area of contact, though, is most of the OTL Deep South, except that they range a bit further north too (the Ozarks in Arkansas, particularly), and while they do have some contact with *Texas, it's not major. They do have contact with the Spanish, though - they trade with the Spanish at *Pensacola for a while.
And yes, it would be intriguing if the Congxie pick up on La Llorena and use her as a Yuletide, midwinter or "new year" figure.
Makes sense as to why cultures in general develop midwinter holidays, and particularly their relation to agricultural festivals.
However, the Congxie opposition to Christmas comes specifically from the Christian connotations. This isn't automatically the Plirite reaction to Christmas - as noted in the post, there are other Plirite minorities who accept Christmas as a secular holiday. But given the Congxie's particular history, they more or less define their identity as non-Christian. So they get very... curt with anyone who suggests that they, personally, should celebrate Christmas.
The Congxie wouldn't be automatically opposed to other midwinter festivals, provided that they were clearly distinguished from Christmas and had no Christian connotations. A "new year" holiday has perhaps the most potential.
Also, on something of a tangent, the introduction of Aururian crops is going to rework the agricultural calendar anyway. The harvest times are quite different, and in some cases spread out more over the year.
For instance, the root crops can be harvested any time from late autumn to spring, snow cover permitting. Wattles are divided into two varieties: early-flowering are harvested in mid-late spring (Oct-November in the southern hemisphere, April-May in the northern) and late-flowering varieties which are harvested in mid-late summer (Jan-Feb in the southern hem, June-July in the north).
I'm not sure about how these differences would affect agricultural calendars & festivals in those areas which adopt Aururian crops, but there'd have to be some changes.
This will play a part in the reluctance of Plirite Aururians to take up Yuletide type festivals, along with it being rather a different agricultural calendar. (In the Aururian agricultural calendar, winter is the season for labour corvées and military campaigning, more than anything else.) Along, of course, with the fact that if they are majority Plirite areas, a Christian festival is meaningless to them.
The relatively moderated winters will probably help to limit the Congxie's concerns, but as per above, I think that if they want to hold a midwinter festival, they'll just pick something that's different enough from Christmas to have no danger of overlap. They're not against the idea of feasting or festivals in general, but those which have Christian origins or connotations.
Plirism can be summed up as "every person's actions have consequences on the world. You need to understand how your own actions affect the world, build your understanding, and then act appropriately". Their most common response [1] to the Christian concepts of original sin and salvation is along the lines of "take responsibility for what you do, don't expect someone else to save you".
So, yes, in the context of the Congxie, there's nothing wrong with a feast if you know that you'll still have enough food until the next harvest. But there is something wrong with a feast to celebrate the birth of someone who claims to do the saving for you, or if you know that you're using up food which means you will risk starvation later... it's not so good.
[1] Some Plirites will develop a view of Christ's crucifixion as being a moral example, rather than an act of salvation. That is, his conduct in knowing to order Peter to put up his sword, and accepting crucifixion without fighting back, was the most appropriate given the circumstances, and it will help when reborn into his next life. However, this view isn't really the predominant one amongst the Congxie.
*New England is probably the most similar region of North America to OTL, although of course it's not that similar. Its exact borders have not been defined in the TL yet, but certainly include OTL's New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and most of Connecticut, Massachussets, and Vermont (possibly not some of the westernmost portions of those states, but that's not yet decided), and also includes roughly the eastern half of Long Island.
Its settlement pattern ITTL is driven by the changed religious dynamics of TTL, in which the averted English Civil War means that the staunchly Church of England monarchy stays on the throne, and Nonconformists of various kinds find the British Isles even more unwelcoming than they did in OTL. The initial settlement is rather disrupted when compared to OTL - the 1630s, which were the great decade in OTL, are ITTL the recovery from the Aururian plagues, and so settlement is relatively minimal during this period. Plymouth, which was established before the plagues hit, gets more of a headstart on *Boston, and so on. But yes, in broad terms, it's something which would be vaguely recognisable.
And yes, Tigeria (*New York) separates New England from the other British colonies further south - Virginia, *South Carolina, and Pembroke (a kind of Greater Delaware), and possibly others which have not yet been named. This long-term separation, plus various other cultural and economic differences, leads New England to develop separately from the future Alleghania. Its 20th century relations with Old England have not yet been determined.
A tacit cooperation between Congxie and New Englanders is, at least, possible. Much depends, of course, on the broader political dynamics: relations between Tigeria and New England, whether the Congxie retain sovereignty (partial or total), and so forth. Also on how overtly religious the New Englanders are.
Religiosity can certainly change over time; New England was settled for religious reasons in OTL, but it has ended up as one of the least overtly religious parts of the USA. (Where, in contrast, the South at the American Revolution was one of the least religious parts of the country, but that's changed over time, too.)
A few Congxie will become sailors, although they are cramped by their core territory. They start in upland *South Carolina, and move further west from there. While they have some contact with the coast, of course, its mostly various European powers who hold coastal territory. So if Congxie are sailors, they mostly won't be doing it on their own ships.
Other Plirites, of course, may sail to North America. The Nuttana have already been mentioned.
It makes sense, and it is a possibility. One thing which springs to mind, though, is that the New Englanders will probably have better relations with Nuttana traders than with the Congxie. The Nuttana are descendants of the Nangu diaspora who learned to restrain their religious impulses in pursuit of profit. (In the pre-European era, the Nangu traded with the Atjuntja and Yadji, both of whom placed restrictions on proselytisation.) While they will certainly discuss their religion if asked, they can learn to control their mouths in pursuit of
The Congxie, for their part, are proudly non-Christian, in a way which has became part of their identity. (At least for most of their history.) However, their distrust focused mainly on Cavendia (*South Carolina/Georgia). If New Englanders don't actively try to send missionaries amongst the Congxie - not necessarily a given - and given that the Congxie would view the New Englanders as a lesser evil than the Cavendians, the two peoples may get along all right.
The other interesting question, of course, is how the Catholic nations (France and Spain) view Plirism. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Catholics tended to make more missionary efforts amongst "heathens" than Protestant powers. Protestant missionary efforts, such as they were, mostly focused on converting other Christians.
So, it will be intriguing how the French in Louisiana and the Spanish in *Florida (and maybe *Texas) interact with the Congxie. One thing is for sure: the Congxie will not take kindly to missionary efforts, and if anything will try to convert right back.
Much like the first Christmas special last year, in fact. So there now seems to be a tradition that the LRG Christmas specials always get rewritten.
I think I am going to like your elves
Credit for the basic inspiration has to go to Terry Pratchett, but I think I've added a few twists.
Yes, someone else gets to popularise elves.
The pixie elf Victorian tradition simply doesn't appear ITTL, so other things get associated with Christmas.
There's no exact Tolkien analogue ITTL, but the literary tradition of elves which is created has them as rather darker, more malicious beings than the Tolkienesque pointy-eared noble tradition. It draws on some of the Scandinavian view of elves, but is also reworked into a form which has them as beautiful but deadly.
Well, fantastical literature (and its oral equivalents) are much older than the PoD, so yes, fantasy will exist in some form. Other than the plans for *elves, though, I haven't really worked out the details. Too many other things to work out first.
Does this mean that we have to imagine Liv Tyler and Orlando Bloom making the next Santa Claus movie?
Ents in the mobile, talking tree tradition are largely a creation of Tolkien, as far as I know. So they won't really exist ITTL. (Other forms of talking trees did exist in older traditions, but they weren't very ent-like.)
Dryads are more intriguing. They are classical mythological figures, of course, but haven't been incorporated as widely into modern fantasy. Their modern conception seems to owe more to CS Lewis than anyone else, as I understand it, but they don't seem to be major figures even there. So while there may be something to work with in terms of dryads, there doesn't to have been much interest in a modern revival in OTL.
On a broader note, I'm not sure whether the Christmas traditions will have anyone making the toys. Father Christmas's magic sack may just produce whatever's needed whenever he reaches into it.
Hmm. Grampa Thorn sounds rather entertaining.
The bell/chime association probably isn't necessary, though. The Plirite dislike of Christmas is older than chimes; it has to do with the Congxie defining themselves as anti-Christian as much as anything else.
And the association of Christmas with chimes is one of those things which seemed like a good idea at the time, but which turned out to offend people on both sides. Some Christians dislike the inclusion of chimes because they view its inclusion as a pagan symbol; most Congxie Plirites (not necessarily other Plirits, though) dislike what they see as the co-option of one of their more sacred symbols into a pagan ceremony.
Oh, I like this idea!
Of course, it's complicated because most of NY, at least, (and probably much of NJ and PA) will not be English-speaking ITTL, but there's definitely some fun to be had there.Elves, in TL's use of the word, simply aren't associated with Christmas at all. However, there may well be scope for other mythological being working with *Krampus.
Oh, that's brilliant. The punishment is to be taken away for a year making the toys for the good children? Gives a whole new meaning to the question of whether you've been naughty or nice...
This makes for some intriguing possibilities for how the literary tradition of *elves develops ITTL. As mentioned above, though, elves per se aren't associated with Christmas ITTL at all, in either positive or negative context. They just have other motifs.
Of course, something will probably accompany *Krampus. One option is to use the characters who are associated with the Wild Hunt, suitably watered down to become a hunt for naughty children. Another option is that they are some kind of gremlins or other mythical figures, but just not called elves.
The tradition probably started out as being enslaved forever, but in the *modern tradition, I'm liking the idea that naughty children get punished by being taken away for a year to make the toys for next year's good children.
And yes, Krampus is male.
The odd Congxie may make it into Mexican cultural areas - they do range about a fair bit. The core of their area of contact, though, is most of the OTL Deep South, except that they range a bit further north too (the Ozarks in Arkansas, particularly), and while they do have some contact with *Texas, it's not major. They do have contact with the Spanish, though - they trade with the Spanish at *Pensacola for a while.
And yes, it would be intriguing if the Congxie pick up on La Llorena and use her as a Yuletide, midwinter or "new year" figure.
Makes sense as to why cultures in general develop midwinter holidays, and particularly their relation to agricultural festivals.
However, the Congxie opposition to Christmas comes specifically from the Christian connotations. This isn't automatically the Plirite reaction to Christmas - as noted in the post, there are other Plirite minorities who accept Christmas as a secular holiday. But given the Congxie's particular history, they more or less define their identity as non-Christian. So they get very... curt with anyone who suggests that they, personally, should celebrate Christmas.
The Congxie wouldn't be automatically opposed to other midwinter festivals, provided that they were clearly distinguished from Christmas and had no Christian connotations. A "new year" holiday has perhaps the most potential.
Also, on something of a tangent, the introduction of Aururian crops is going to rework the agricultural calendar anyway. The harvest times are quite different, and in some cases spread out more over the year.
For instance, the root crops can be harvested any time from late autumn to spring, snow cover permitting. Wattles are divided into two varieties: early-flowering are harvested in mid-late spring (Oct-November in the southern hemisphere, April-May in the northern) and late-flowering varieties which are harvested in mid-late summer (Jan-Feb in the southern hem, June-July in the north).
I'm not sure about how these differences would affect agricultural calendars & festivals in those areas which adopt Aururian crops, but there'd have to be some changes.
This will play a part in the reluctance of Plirite Aururians to take up Yuletide type festivals, along with it being rather a different agricultural calendar. (In the Aururian agricultural calendar, winter is the season for labour corvées and military campaigning, more than anything else.) Along, of course, with the fact that if they are majority Plirite areas, a Christian festival is meaningless to them.
The relatively moderated winters will probably help to limit the Congxie's concerns, but as per above, I think that if they want to hold a midwinter festival, they'll just pick something that's different enough from Christmas to have no danger of overlap. They're not against the idea of feasting or festivals in general, but those which have Christian origins or connotations.
Plirism can be summed up as "every person's actions have consequences on the world. You need to understand how your own actions affect the world, build your understanding, and then act appropriately". Their most common response [1] to the Christian concepts of original sin and salvation is along the lines of "take responsibility for what you do, don't expect someone else to save you".
So, yes, in the context of the Congxie, there's nothing wrong with a feast if you know that you'll still have enough food until the next harvest. But there is something wrong with a feast to celebrate the birth of someone who claims to do the saving for you, or if you know that you're using up food which means you will risk starvation later... it's not so good.
[1] Some Plirites will develop a view of Christ's crucifixion as being a moral example, rather than an act of salvation. That is, his conduct in knowing to order Peter to put up his sword, and accepting crucifixion without fighting back, was the most appropriate given the circumstances, and it will help when reborn into his next life. However, this view isn't really the predominant one amongst the Congxie.
*New England is probably the most similar region of North America to OTL, although of course it's not that similar. Its exact borders have not been defined in the TL yet, but certainly include OTL's New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and most of Connecticut, Massachussets, and Vermont (possibly not some of the westernmost portions of those states, but that's not yet decided), and also includes roughly the eastern half of Long Island.
Its settlement pattern ITTL is driven by the changed religious dynamics of TTL, in which the averted English Civil War means that the staunchly Church of England monarchy stays on the throne, and Nonconformists of various kinds find the British Isles even more unwelcoming than they did in OTL. The initial settlement is rather disrupted when compared to OTL - the 1630s, which were the great decade in OTL, are ITTL the recovery from the Aururian plagues, and so settlement is relatively minimal during this period. Plymouth, which was established before the plagues hit, gets more of a headstart on *Boston, and so on. But yes, in broad terms, it's something which would be vaguely recognisable.
And yes, Tigeria (*New York) separates New England from the other British colonies further south - Virginia, *South Carolina, and Pembroke (a kind of Greater Delaware), and possibly others which have not yet been named. This long-term separation, plus various other cultural and economic differences, leads New England to develop separately from the future Alleghania. Its 20th century relations with Old England have not yet been determined.
A tacit cooperation between Congxie and New Englanders is, at least, possible. Much depends, of course, on the broader political dynamics: relations between Tigeria and New England, whether the Congxie retain sovereignty (partial or total), and so forth. Also on how overtly religious the New Englanders are.
Religiosity can certainly change over time; New England was settled for religious reasons in OTL, but it has ended up as one of the least overtly religious parts of the USA. (Where, in contrast, the South at the American Revolution was one of the least religious parts of the country, but that's changed over time, too.)
A few Congxie will become sailors, although they are cramped by their core territory. They start in upland *South Carolina, and move further west from there. While they have some contact with the coast, of course, its mostly various European powers who hold coastal territory. So if Congxie are sailors, they mostly won't be doing it on their own ships.
Other Plirites, of course, may sail to North America. The Nuttana have already been mentioned.
It makes sense, and it is a possibility. One thing which springs to mind, though, is that the New Englanders will probably have better relations with Nuttana traders than with the Congxie. The Nuttana are descendants of the Nangu diaspora who learned to restrain their religious impulses in pursuit of profit. (In the pre-European era, the Nangu traded with the Atjuntja and Yadji, both of whom placed restrictions on proselytisation.) While they will certainly discuss their religion if asked, they can learn to control their mouths in pursuit of
The Congxie, for their part, are proudly non-Christian, in a way which has became part of their identity. (At least for most of their history.) However, their distrust focused mainly on Cavendia (*South Carolina/Georgia). If New Englanders don't actively try to send missionaries amongst the Congxie - not necessarily a given - and given that the Congxie would view the New Englanders as a lesser evil than the Cavendians, the two peoples may get along all right.
The other interesting question, of course, is how the Catholic nations (France and Spain) view Plirism. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Catholics tended to make more missionary efforts amongst "heathens" than Protestant powers. Protestant missionary efforts, such as they were, mostly focused on converting other Christians.
So, it will be intriguing how the French in Louisiana and the Spanish in *Florida (and maybe *Texas) interact with the Congxie. One thing is for sure: the Congxie will not take kindly to missionary efforts, and if anything will try to convert right back.
Quite possibly, although I'm still working on the revisions to the Christmas special. If not then, Mighty Mouse will probably show up somewhere in a future excerpt.
That depends what country you're talking about. After all, in OTL the last country to officially abolish slavery (Mauritania) did so in 1981, and slavery is still around today, if illegal.
If you're talking about the Atlantic system of chattel slavery, I haven't worked out an exact year yet, but in general I can say that the institution is weaker than in OTL.
In a North American context, while small numbers of slaves are used in English and Dutch colonies, there are on the whole less than in OTL. There is lower supply due to Aururian diseases, and lower demand since tobacco is not a really viable cash crop, and 'true' indigo is not economical either due to competition from Spanish (Aururian) indigo.
The only really significant concentration of slaves in colonial North America are established in Cavendia (*South Carolina/Georgia) and around *Lousiana (which actually has the same name, but is named after a different King Louis and has slightly different borders). In Cavendia, the early cash crop is rice, which is later joined by tea and long-staple cotton, but the latter are grown almost exclusively on the Sea Islands. Indigo is grown only as an off-season crop to keep slaves busy. In Louisiana, the main early cash crop is sugar, and later a couple of other cash crops become important (including lemon myrtle).
When Alleghania is formed by the union of Virginia and Cavendia (among other colonies), the equivalent to the Mason-Dixon line will be much further south - *Virginia is effectively an early free soil colony.
In *New England, slavery never really becomes a crucial economic institution - a few are used in agricultural and domestic purposes, but they never form a significant percentage of the population.
For some reason Jared, I feel like you saw the map from the Seventh Son series and decided "Im gonna make this real." It does have a lot of similar names.
Lands of Red and Gold Interlude #2: The Twelve Tales of Christ’s Mass (v2)
Lands of Red and Gold Interlude #2: The Twelve Tales of Christ’s Mass
In the spirit of the festive season, this is a glimpse of how Christmas may be viewed in the future of the Lands of Red and Gold timeline. As with other Christmas specials, this should be taken in a light-hearted vein.
Note that I’ve made some additions to this instalment, based on reader feedback and further ideas, and reposted it. The additions are in blue font.
* * *
For the prevention of disorders, as have arisen in diverse places within this dominion by reason of some still observing such festivals as were superstitiously kept in other communities, to the great dishonor of God and offense of others: it is therefore ordered by my authority that whosoever shall be found observing any such day as Christmas or All Hallows’ Eve or the like, either by forbearing of labor, feasting, or in any other way, every such person so offending shall pay for every such offence a fine, not exceeding six shilling, as shall be set by the court of each county.
Set this day by my hand and seal,
Martin Armstrong
Governor of New England
4 July 1697
* * *
Taken from The Westmoreland [Williamsburg, Virginia] Courant
26 December 1954
CHRISTMAS TRUCE HOLDS!
With the passing of midnight, Alleghania has reason to celebrate. The old proverb has been confirmed: no news is good news. No reports of acts of terrorism have been received from anywhere in the country.
This proves a fact which many found hard to credit, including your humble commentator. The CJP [1] were sincere in their announcement of a truce. For the first time in more than a decade, they have refrained from their traditional Christmas bombing campaign...
* * *
23 December 1962
Shrewsbury, Pembroke [Cambridge, Maryland]
Two dozen men, with varying skin tone and varying height, but all dressed in similar attire: forest green jackets and pointed caps, with chestnut pants. The traditional costume of a wassailer out to sing evening noëls [Christmas carols].
Jamet Byrne is third from the front as the group moves on to the next house. A large two-level white building, almost a mansion, with four mature chestnut trees growing in its front garden. No point going wassailing in a poor district, of course. What would they gain from that?
“This is the true spirit of Christmas,” Byrne murmurs, to quiet sounds of acclamation around him. Wassailing is a grand old tradition, and part of a proper Christmas as far as he is concerned. Not like all of the new-fangled gimmicks which are celebrated these days, which are driven by traders and merchants. Scarcely Christian in most cases, and explicitly non-Christian in a few cases. Why, for the last few years, the Christmas decorations around the Shrewsbury town hall had included chimes, of all godless things.
No, Christmas should be celebrated in the proper way, with hearty singing, drinking, gifts, and wassailing.
The wassailers reach the front of the white building, which now he sees really should be called a mansion. So much the better. With loud but marvellous harmony, the wassailers begin their performance:
“Noël, noël, noël, noël.
Who is there that sings so: Noël, noël, noël?
I am here, Father Christmas.
Welcome, my lord, Father Christmas!
Welcome to us all, both more and less!
Come near, Noël.” [2]
The wassailers continue with the noël, describing the story of the Nativity, while Jamet hopes that the owners will come out soon. Wassailing is an exhausting task, and requires the traditional gifts of pudding and good sweet wine for the wassailers to recover from their efforts before they move on to the next house.
* * *
17 December 1976
Offices of Wyatt & Rolfe Shipbuilding
Newport News, Virginia
Friday night a week before Christmas Eve: the perfect time for an office Christmas party, in John Thomas Rolfe’s not so humble opinion. His fellow director Edmund Wyatt had disagreed, which was why he was nowhere to be found tonight, along with virtually all of the workers who were directly involved in ship construction. Those who had come to the party were the office workers: finance, office administration, sales, and manpower [personnel].
For all of that, Rolfe thought that he organised a damned fine party. Quiet music played in the background; instrumental tunes only that had a suitably festive feel if not actually Christmas songs. Gifts for everyone who came, as befit a good host: candies, chocolates, perfume. Food enough for all who came – two roast turkeys had pride of place on the table – and, most of all, alcohol. Wine, ale, duranj [gum cider], brandy, whiskey... something for everyone, or so he hoped.
Everything seemed to be going well. Until he heard raised voices coming from the other side of the room. Very raised voices, of the kind which could only not be called shouting because it was nearly Christmas and he was feeling kind.
As he strode over, Rolfe saw there were two people involved in the argument: William Beal and Generosity Enoli. A handful of other men and women looked on, with expressions ranging from amusement to horror. But it was the two men in the middle who held his attention: short, pale, blond and muscular William looked up at tall, thin, dark and black-haired Generosity with no sign of backing down, either literally or metaphorically.
They were arguing something about the merits of the Populists. Of course, the content of their argument mattered nothing to Rolfe, only their volume. “Come on, partners, cool it down. Show some Christmas spirit.”
Generosity raised an eyebrow. “What, assume that someone will show up and magically make everything right for you, rather than taking responsibility for your own actions?”
“This isn’t the place to start religious arguments,” Rolfe said.
“Then why did you bring it up?” Generosity said. “I don’t expect you to celebrate Mamabula [3]; Rene here doesn’t expect you to celebrate Passover. Why do you think we should care about the day your holy man was born?”
For the first time, Rolfe understood why Wyatt had not wanted to hold a Christmas party.
* * *
Episode Guide: Mighty Mouse Saves Christmas [4]
Episode No. 21 (also called the first Christmas special)
First broadcast 24 December 1977
Cast:
Mighty Mouse – a mouse
El Gato – a cat
Lechien – a dog and part-time used furniture dealer
Father Christmas – an anthropomorphic personification and spirit of Christmas
Mary Christmas – a recurring pun
White Bess – a horse
Grampa Thorn – an anthropomorphic personification and head of the Child Hunt
Davey Cricket – a Hunter
Bison Bill – a Hunter
Danielle Bloom – a Hunter
Freddy Flames – a Hunter
Hopi Smith – a Hunter
Guido Folks – a man with an apparently bottomless, multidimensional toolbox
Synopsis
The episode opens in Greenland, where Father Christmas and Mary Christmas are relaxing over cups of tea, talking about how good it is that everything is ready for Yuletide. They are visited by Grampa Thorn [5] and a couple of his fellow Hunters. They have an argument about a few children who Thorn says have been naughty, but eventually Father Christmas produces his list, and says that they are good, so Thorn has to leave them alone.
After Grampa Thorn leaves, Father Christmas gets suspicious about the visit, and goes to check the rest of the ice cave. He finds that while Thorn had been distracting him, the rest of the Hunters have tunnelled inside and stolen his magic sack, which contains all of the gifts needed for the good children.
Meanwhile, unaware of this catastrophic turn of events, Mighty Mouse is preparing an ambush for El Gato. He collects an elaborate set of items in preparation: a birdbath, a clutch of feathers, a rope, quick-setting cement, a cape, and an apple pie.
The precise plan for these items is never revealed, for when El Gato is about to enter the room, Lechien stops the ambush. The Dog, whose canine hearing is unsurpassed, says that he has heard the sound of ultimate despair coming from the north. Given where it is coming from, and the season, that can only be Father Christmas who is unhappy.
Realising that something has gone wrong with Christmas, El Gato and Mighty Mouse agree to a truce until things are fixed. Since they need a quick way to get to Greenland, they call on Guido to help them [6]. Guido appears, and after hearing their problem, reaches into his toolbox, and pulls out a hyper-powered shovel.
Mighty Mouse and El Gato take it in turns to dig to dig under the house, under the city, and then under the sea. They get exhausted along the way and have to come up to Kesteven [Boston, Massachusetts] for a meal. They go back, keep digging, and come up just outside the entrance to Father Christmas’s ice cave.
They find Lechien waiting for them. When they ask how he got there ahead of them, the Dog simply shrugs and says, “Atlantic Flyways”.
The three of them go in to visit Father Christmas, who explains how Grampa Thorn has stolen the sack. Father Christmas tells them that they will have to retrieve the sack, and that he cannot help them since White Bess is powerless without the sack.
Mighty Mouse leads his friends down the tunnel which the Hunters used to sneak in, and find that it comes out near a walrus-covered beach, but with no way to find out where the Hunters have gone. The Mouse wants to call Guido again, but there is no mirror nearby. Eventually, El Gato realises that ice can be polished enough to act as a mirror, and so the three scrape clear a patch of ice, and smooth it until they can use it as a mirror and call on Guido again.
Guido gives them a magic carpet which he says will let them chase Grampa Thorn, although what happens when they get there is up to them. The magic carpet takes them on a wild ride around the world, showing people of a variety of nations preparing for Christmas, including children who are writing their letters, before stopping somewhere on nameless tundra covered by wandering reindeer.
The three find the entrance to Grampa Thorn’s cave, whereupon Mighty Mouse, in traditional style, decides to charge right in and attack Thorn. The other two chase after him, and find Thorn inside along with five of the Hunters. Mighty Mouse does not wait any further, but starts a fight with Thorn. El Gato and Lechien need to hold off the other Hunters, leaving the Mouse to fight off Thorn and retrieve the sack. The three run back out, leaving Thorn cursing and swearing behind them, and take the carpet back to Father Christmas.
* * *
Song list for “It’s Christmas Time”, a popular Christmas album released by Yvonne [7] in 1987
1. Messiah
2. Feliz Navidad
3. Desire of Ages
4. God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen
5. See the Mistletoe?
6. Yuletide Hunt
7. Big, Fat Father Christmas
8. Glory to the King
9. Hear Heaven Sing
10. Coming Home for Christmas
11. Three Red Candles
12. Blue Wine
13. Night of Nights
* * *
24 December 1994
Université de Bourbon
Chaleurs, Louisiana [Alexandria, Louisiana]
Mid-afternoon on the eve of Noël. The sandstone buildings and courtyards of Bourbon University, so crowded with students only the day before, are nearly deserted now. Only a relative handful of students and faculty remain here, those who for one reason or another have not returned to their homes and family over the week’s break.
Alix Bourque is one of those. Except for her youngest sister, none of her family would not welcome her at any time. They would tolerate her attending a funeral, she muses briefly, even if a couple would be secretly hoping that she had been the guest of honour at that event.
The thought is only a passing one, though. Alix returns her focus to the immediate surroundings, which are much more pleasant. She nestles her head against Tsiyu’s welcoming shoulder, leaving her long black hair to fall over his arm.
A slight breeze blows across the courtyard, carrying a sweet lemony fragrance with it. The university is set just outside the town limits of Chaleurs proper, and ringed on three sides by groves of lemon verbena [lemon myrtle]. That distinctive odour is one of the most pleasant aspects of life at Bourbon University, although the spice farmers have hardly planted the trees for the students’ benefit.
Tsiyu starts to run his fingers along her shoulder in that electric touch which she knows so well. She murmurs softly in response, in that way where the words do not matter so much as the tone in which they are said.
Before his fingers or lips can move much further, though, the breeze shifts and brings a fresh set of smells with it: the odours of cooking. Frying fish, pork or some similar meat being smoked, and boiling mixtures of seafood and vegetables, with the smell of onions predominating.
She glances over at the kitchen window; fortunately, it does not mean she needs to move her head much or disturb Tsiyu’s actions. “It’ll be a change, celebrating Christmas properly,” she says.
“How so?” he murmurs, though his fingers keep moving.
“I’ve missed réveillon,” Alix says. All of the students and lecturers who are still at the university are automatically invited to the long dinner-cum-party that will last past midnight and the proper arrival of Noël. A much more attractive prospect than a caustic evening with her parents and sisters, even setting aside Tsiyu’s attentions.
“It happens every year,” he says, bemused.
“Not everywhere,” she says. “The last two years, I was at the Panipat [8]. A place to learn, like few others, but I missed Noël. They don’t care about it at all there; it’s just another day on the calendar.”
“How odd,” Tsiyu says, but a moment later he moves his lips to kiss her. Alix forgets, for the moment, about her sojourn overseas and even about the coming réveillon feast.
* * *
25 December 1995
Gustavsburg [Bangor, Maine]
“I do declare: I doubt I can move,” Astrid Kruse said.
It had, in fact, been an excellent Christmas lunch. Just four people, but easygoing, relaxed conversation. The lunch had featured a wide variety of scrumptious food, though the goose took pride of place. The overall effect was splendid; it just meant that staying in place for the next hour or two would probably be the wisest course of action.
“Oh, no room for dessert?” Irma said.
“Not for a good long while,” Astrid answered. “Digestion essential: motion non-trivial.” Both of their husbands made similar comments.
Irma laughed. “Just as long as you spared room for a genu-wine Christmas toast.”
Astrid raised an eyebrow. “You mean...?”
Irma produced a bottle of wine with a flourish. A blue-tinted bottle. “Yes. The proper article. No Virginian imitation or Cali-fornication. Real Castilian blue, just for you.”
Scott rose to get the glasses, but Irma managed the uncorking and pouring herself. So she should, if she’d obtained a real bottle of Castilian blue. At Christmas, anyone could find something which called itself blue wine, but a decent bouquet was another thing altogether.
Bubbles rose and sparkled within the glass as Irma passed it over. Astrid took it, and inhaled the spicy bouquet of verbena, and the promise of more to come.
Ingrid proposed the traditional toast, and they repeated it: “To Christmas and the New Year!”
The first sip of the blue delivered everything it promised: a spicy, sparkling flavour of anise and cinnamon, with a hint of lemon. Astrid could not fit any more in, yet, but that was all to the good: it would be a long, pleasant afternoon.
* * *
25 December 1996
Reading, Berkshire
Getting up before the children is always a challenge on Christmas morning. Fortunately for Jerome Duke’s sanity, getting them to sleep early on Christmas Eve is not. So he and Anne set everything out ready the night before, and only need to wake up at a suitably early hour. This is still difficult, with two boys who have internal alarm clocks more efficient than any mere human construction, and a girl who could sneak up on a werewolf.
This year, at least, something has worked properly. Jerome wakes up in the winter darkness, and quietly moves back out to the living room. He flicks on a lamp and gives everything one final check.
The Christmas fir tree is in place, with the bulkier gifts stored beneath it. By the front door, four boots have been filled with small toys and candies; four because Electra, with impeccable eight-year-old logic, argues that fairness requires that the boys and girls divide equal numbers of presents. The four-branched candlestick is in place opposite the fir tree, with four rows of three candles pointing in each cardinal direction, and the larger thirteenth candle in the centre.
The candlestick is the only task that remains undone, so he lights the candles, starting with the central candle, then the east, south and western branches, and finally the northern branch. Thank God that the children are old enough nowadays that he doesn’t need to dress up in bright green and act as Father Christmas any more.
Now, he needs only to wait for the storm that will begin when the children come out.
* * *
Taken from: “The Guide to the Perfect Christmas”
Together with the Christmas tree, the Christmas candelabra is one of the two iconic elements of a proper Christmas. In many ways, the candelabra is the more cherished of the two. A natural Christmas tree must be replaced every year, and even artificial trees are often likewise obtained anew each year. Yet a high-quality, exquisite Christmas candelabra is an artefact which will last for a lifetime.
While many elements of the modern Christmas tradition have antecedents which go back for a millennium or more, the candelabra is a relatively recent addition. Candles have been used in various Christmas roles for centuries, such as being held for nightly vigils or inclusion in an Advent wreath. But the particular use of a dedicated candle-holder is first known from southern France in the late eighteenth century, where four-candle holders were used. The number of candles increased over time, until the modern version which holds thirteen candles in total: four candles for each cardinal direction and a larger central candle.
Candelabras were first introduced into North America in Louisiana around 1820, and gradually spread to other countries. By 1890, they were well-known in Cavendia and Virginia, and were adopted in Tigeria around the turn of the century, and are now popular over the continent...
Selection of a proper candelabra is an important decision. Quality workmanship is important, as is durability, but it should not be over-decorated or elaborate. The best candelabras have an elegant simplicity to them. Height of the candelabra is equally important; it should stand within easy reach for an adult, but should never be taller than the Christmas tree.
Tradition dictates that the candelabra should be lit at the central candle, and then the branches should be lit east, south, west, then finally north. Within each branch, the closest candle to the centre must be lit first, and then the next closest, then the third. The candelabra must be lit sometime over Christmas Eve and kept alight for the following morning, with candles replaced if necessary. It is usually considered unlucky to open Christmas gifts if the candelabra is unlit.
* * *
Taken from Intellipedia.
Christmas (Old English: Crīstesmæsse, literally “Christ's mass”) is an annual celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, generally conducted on 25 December. Commemorated as a religious and cultural holiday by billions around the globe, and a legal holiday in many nations, Christmas is celebrated throughout the Christian world, and by growing numbers of non-Christians. Although only rarely in predominantly Muslim nations, and virtually never in the Plirite world [citation needed]. However, Plirites in majority-Christian nations often celebrate Christmas as a secular holiday. Christmas is a fundamental part of the festive season.
The date of Jesus’ birth is not known [discuss]. The celebration of Christmas on 25 December is first recorded in the early fourth century. Christianity adopted the date of the Roman winter solstice and linked it to ancient pre-Christian winter festivals to incorporate those of pagan faith into Christianity, and reduce the appeal of pagan holdouts. [This sentence has been tagged as offensive and flagged for removal. Refer to the discussion page.]
Celebratory customs associated with Christmas include a hodge-podge of pagan, Christian and secular themes which have been blended into the modern event [informal tone: discuss]. Popular modern holiday customs include giving or exchange of Christmas gifts and cards, Christmas music both religious and secular, special meals, church commemorations, wassailing, evening vigils, and displaying a variety of special decorations, including Christmas trees and candles, Christmas lights, religious scenes (usually of the Nativity), mistletoe, wreaths, holly and chimes. [This sentence has been locked due to repeated attempted vandalism to remove the reference to chimes. Refer to the discussion page.]
Also, several related figures are associated with bringing gifts during the Christmas season, and have their own body of traditions and lore. These figures are variously known as Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, and the Christkind. In the English-speaking world, Father Christmas is the traditional figure: an old man dressed in a bright green suit trimmed with white fur, and associated with drinking, singing and merry-making. And gifts, which he traditionally produces from a magic sack that he carries with him. The sack knows which children have been good or naughty, and will only provide gifts for the good children.
An additional mythological figure has also been associated with the negative aspects of Christmas, variously called Grampa Thorn, Krampus, or Gumphinckel. Grampa Thorn has his own body of tradition and lore, and is generally depicted as a figure who travels the countryside on Christmas Eve (or another winter night) searching for bad children, and either warning them or punishing them. In the English-speaking world, Grampa Thorn is said to play tricks or scare naughty children, or give them a useless gift such as a lump of coal. For children who have been particularly badly behaved, Grampa Thorn is said to carry them away for a year, where they have to make the gifts which next year will be given to the good children.
Due to gift-giving and associated festival aspects of Christmas, economic activity grows during the holiday say, and this is a critical sales period for the retail sector. However, this increasing trend of commercialisation is widely regarded [by whom?] as harming the religious aspects of Christmas [bias: discuss].
Name
The word “Christmas” originated as a compound meaning “Christ’s mass”. It is derived from the Middle English Cristemasse, which is from Old English Crīstesmæsse. The form “Christenmas” was also historically used, but is now considered archaic.
In addition to “Christmas”, the holiday has been known by various other names throughout its history. The Anglo-Saxons referred to the feast as Midwinter, or, more rarely as Nativity. Yule (or Yuletide) was previously used to refer to the December-January period, and the name has been revived as a secular alternative to refer to the holiday season, although rarely to refer to Christmas Day itself. Noel (or Nowell or Noël) entered English in the late 14th century, derived from Old French.
Celebration
Main article: Christmas globewards [worldwide]
Christmas Day is a major festival and public holiday in many countries around the world, including some whose populations are mostly non-Christian. In some non-Christian countries, periods of former colonial rule introduced the celebration, while in others, Christian minorities or foreign cultural influences have led populations to observe the holiday. In such countries, the main secular aspects of Christmas which have been adopted include gift-giving, Christmas trees and candlesticks.
Christmas celebrations around the world vary considerably, based on different cultural and national traditions. In countries with a strong Christian tradition, participating in a religious service is usually an important part of the season. Christmas, along with Easter, is the period of highest annual church attendance.
In Catholic and Orthodox countries, a range of religious processions or parades are held in the days leading up to Christmas. In Protestant and non-Christian countries, secular processions or parades featuring Father Christmas and other seasonal figures are often held.
Family reunions are an integral part of Christmas in most traditions; Christmas is usually held to be the day when dispersed families reunite. Exchange of gifts is likewise a major feature of the season, either on Christmas Day or on a nearby religiously significant day (eg 6 December, Saint Nicholas Day, is used in Tigeria).
While many non-Christian countries observe Christmas as a secular holiday, in some non-Christian countries, public celebration of Christmas is considered offensive [by whom?]. In particular, in several Plirite countries, Christmas Day is not a public holiday and public Christmas displays are stigmatised. Plirite minorities in some majority-Christian countries have adopted Christmas as a secular holiday (eg the Kogung), while in other countries, Plirite non-observation of Christmas has become a mark of cultural identity (eg the Congxie).
Also, even in some countries with a strong Christmas tradition, celebration of Christmas is predominantly secular. In New England, the early colonists strongly disapproved of public celebrations of Christmas, based on religious objections. Observation of Christmas was legally forbidden, and later socially prohibited even when no longer outlawed. Recent adoption of Christmas traditions in New England has focused on the secular aspects of gift-giving and decoration, rather than religious celebrations...
* * *
22 December 1999
Horeb [Providence, Rhode Island], Narragansett
Evening draws near, but the night is not yet come. The chill is growing, but snow has not yet fallen. The perfect time to take to the streets as Old Man Thorn, or so John Beckwith thinks.
His costume is modelled on the devil which is said to inhabit the great swamp to the south: brown fur covering his body, hoofed feet, unfurled bat wings, and clawed hands. His face is covered in a devil-mask, too, complete with fangs and forward-curving horns.
Not the most traditional form for Grampa Thorn, but it will do well, he thinks. It needs to be scary enough, but not horrific. The chains are wrapped around his wrist, to be clanked whenever children come near.
As he starts his walk through the streets, lights begin to flicker on in a few houses. Elaborate Christmas decorations, those, even if they will be better appreciated once night has truly fallen.
In the meantime, the most soothing sound is the chimes hung outside most of the houses he passes. The breeze off the bay is slight, but enough to set them ringing from time to time. A reassuring part of Christmas, as far as he is concerned. He’s heard that down in Alleghania, too many people complain that they are a pagan symbol, but who cares [9]? They are part of Christmas now.
As he walks, he starts to sing the traditional song. “You’d better watch out, you’d better take care, Old Man Thorn is coming to town...”
* * *
[1] Congxie Jamaane Pliri, or roughly translated into in English, Congxie Homeland and Harmony. Congxie comes from the most widespread name which that people use for themselves. Jamaane is a Congxie word adapted from the Soninke language, which in a Congxie sense means something like “territory” or “homeland”. Pliri is from a Gunnagalic root (via the Nangu and Nuttana) which means “harmony”, although in this context it is used in a largely non-religious sense to mean stability or security.
[2] This is a historical carol, with words slightly changed by the passage of allohistorical time. It was composed by Robert Smert sometime in the fifteenth century, although the real modern form has changed considerably.
[3] Mamabula, or Liberty Day, is a celebration of the day when the forefathers (and foremothers) of the Congxie revolted in Cavendia (*South Carolina/Georgia) and began their flight to freedom in the uplands. It is celebrated on the June new moon, to mark the historical use of that new moon as a sign to trigger a unified revolt.
[4] Mighty Mouse is an allohistorical cartoon character who has very little in common with the historical version. He is a small-sized, big-talking mouse who knows martial arts, and who often gets himself into trouble due to his combative attitude. (The allohistorical author based in the name in part on a pun about “mighty mouth”).
His main foil is a cat named El Gato; the two often clash, although they occasionally cooperate too, as in this Christmas special. Another recurring character is Lechien (the dog), who oddly enough gets on with Mighty Mouse rather well.
[5] Grampa Thorn is the English-speaking world’s version of Krampus, who hunts down naughty children. He has been incorporated into a version of the old Germanic tradition of the Wild Hunt, and has several Hunters who accompany him. Traditions differ as to the number and names of those Hunters, although there are rarely more than 12.
[6] In this cartoon, the way to call on Guido Folks is to stand in front of a mirror, say “handy man” five times in a row, and Guido will appear behind you, holding his toolbox above his head.
[7] Her full name is Yvonne Martin, but her musical career has been successful enough that she simply goes by Yvonne.
[8] In full, the Tjagarr Panipat. This is a Gunnagalic name which, literally translated, means “Place of Great Disputation”.
[9] This is because chimes are an integral part of Plirite worship, being used in most of their temples. In Alleghania, some efforts have been made to adopt chimes as a Christmas symbol, to show that it is a secular holiday that is not exclusive to Christians. This has not been particularly well-received either by Christians or by the Congxie who follow the Plirite faith. Nevertheless, the use of chimes has been publicised enough that they have been adopted in some other nations, particularly in New England, where the observation of Christmas is largely a secular affair anyway.
* * *
Thoughts?
In the spirit of the festive season, this is a glimpse of how Christmas may be viewed in the future of the Lands of Red and Gold timeline. As with other Christmas specials, this should be taken in a light-hearted vein.
Note that I’ve made some additions to this instalment, based on reader feedback and further ideas, and reposted it. The additions are in blue font.
* * *
For the prevention of disorders, as have arisen in diverse places within this dominion by reason of some still observing such festivals as were superstitiously kept in other communities, to the great dishonor of God and offense of others: it is therefore ordered by my authority that whosoever shall be found observing any such day as Christmas or All Hallows’ Eve or the like, either by forbearing of labor, feasting, or in any other way, every such person so offending shall pay for every such offence a fine, not exceeding six shilling, as shall be set by the court of each county.
Set this day by my hand and seal,
Martin Armstrong
Governor of New England
4 July 1697
* * *
Taken from The Westmoreland [Williamsburg, Virginia] Courant
26 December 1954
CHRISTMAS TRUCE HOLDS!
With the passing of midnight, Alleghania has reason to celebrate. The old proverb has been confirmed: no news is good news. No reports of acts of terrorism have been received from anywhere in the country.
This proves a fact which many found hard to credit, including your humble commentator. The CJP [1] were sincere in their announcement of a truce. For the first time in more than a decade, they have refrained from their traditional Christmas bombing campaign...
* * *
23 December 1962
Shrewsbury, Pembroke [Cambridge, Maryland]
Two dozen men, with varying skin tone and varying height, but all dressed in similar attire: forest green jackets and pointed caps, with chestnut pants. The traditional costume of a wassailer out to sing evening noëls [Christmas carols].
Jamet Byrne is third from the front as the group moves on to the next house. A large two-level white building, almost a mansion, with four mature chestnut trees growing in its front garden. No point going wassailing in a poor district, of course. What would they gain from that?
“This is the true spirit of Christmas,” Byrne murmurs, to quiet sounds of acclamation around him. Wassailing is a grand old tradition, and part of a proper Christmas as far as he is concerned. Not like all of the new-fangled gimmicks which are celebrated these days, which are driven by traders and merchants. Scarcely Christian in most cases, and explicitly non-Christian in a few cases. Why, for the last few years, the Christmas decorations around the Shrewsbury town hall had included chimes, of all godless things.
No, Christmas should be celebrated in the proper way, with hearty singing, drinking, gifts, and wassailing.
The wassailers reach the front of the white building, which now he sees really should be called a mansion. So much the better. With loud but marvellous harmony, the wassailers begin their performance:
“Noël, noël, noël, noël.
Who is there that sings so: Noël, noël, noël?
I am here, Father Christmas.
Welcome, my lord, Father Christmas!
Welcome to us all, both more and less!
Come near, Noël.” [2]
The wassailers continue with the noël, describing the story of the Nativity, while Jamet hopes that the owners will come out soon. Wassailing is an exhausting task, and requires the traditional gifts of pudding and good sweet wine for the wassailers to recover from their efforts before they move on to the next house.
* * *
17 December 1976
Offices of Wyatt & Rolfe Shipbuilding
Newport News, Virginia
Friday night a week before Christmas Eve: the perfect time for an office Christmas party, in John Thomas Rolfe’s not so humble opinion. His fellow director Edmund Wyatt had disagreed, which was why he was nowhere to be found tonight, along with virtually all of the workers who were directly involved in ship construction. Those who had come to the party were the office workers: finance, office administration, sales, and manpower [personnel].
For all of that, Rolfe thought that he organised a damned fine party. Quiet music played in the background; instrumental tunes only that had a suitably festive feel if not actually Christmas songs. Gifts for everyone who came, as befit a good host: candies, chocolates, perfume. Food enough for all who came – two roast turkeys had pride of place on the table – and, most of all, alcohol. Wine, ale, duranj [gum cider], brandy, whiskey... something for everyone, or so he hoped.
Everything seemed to be going well. Until he heard raised voices coming from the other side of the room. Very raised voices, of the kind which could only not be called shouting because it was nearly Christmas and he was feeling kind.
As he strode over, Rolfe saw there were two people involved in the argument: William Beal and Generosity Enoli. A handful of other men and women looked on, with expressions ranging from amusement to horror. But it was the two men in the middle who held his attention: short, pale, blond and muscular William looked up at tall, thin, dark and black-haired Generosity with no sign of backing down, either literally or metaphorically.
They were arguing something about the merits of the Populists. Of course, the content of their argument mattered nothing to Rolfe, only their volume. “Come on, partners, cool it down. Show some Christmas spirit.”
Generosity raised an eyebrow. “What, assume that someone will show up and magically make everything right for you, rather than taking responsibility for your own actions?”
“This isn’t the place to start religious arguments,” Rolfe said.
“Then why did you bring it up?” Generosity said. “I don’t expect you to celebrate Mamabula [3]; Rene here doesn’t expect you to celebrate Passover. Why do you think we should care about the day your holy man was born?”
For the first time, Rolfe understood why Wyatt had not wanted to hold a Christmas party.
* * *
Episode Guide: Mighty Mouse Saves Christmas [4]
Episode No. 21 (also called the first Christmas special)
First broadcast 24 December 1977
Cast:
Mighty Mouse – a mouse
El Gato – a cat
Lechien – a dog and part-time used furniture dealer
Father Christmas – an anthropomorphic personification and spirit of Christmas
Mary Christmas – a recurring pun
White Bess – a horse
Grampa Thorn – an anthropomorphic personification and head of the Child Hunt
Davey Cricket – a Hunter
Bison Bill – a Hunter
Danielle Bloom – a Hunter
Freddy Flames – a Hunter
Hopi Smith – a Hunter
Guido Folks – a man with an apparently bottomless, multidimensional toolbox
Synopsis
The episode opens in Greenland, where Father Christmas and Mary Christmas are relaxing over cups of tea, talking about how good it is that everything is ready for Yuletide. They are visited by Grampa Thorn [5] and a couple of his fellow Hunters. They have an argument about a few children who Thorn says have been naughty, but eventually Father Christmas produces his list, and says that they are good, so Thorn has to leave them alone.
After Grampa Thorn leaves, Father Christmas gets suspicious about the visit, and goes to check the rest of the ice cave. He finds that while Thorn had been distracting him, the rest of the Hunters have tunnelled inside and stolen his magic sack, which contains all of the gifts needed for the good children.
Meanwhile, unaware of this catastrophic turn of events, Mighty Mouse is preparing an ambush for El Gato. He collects an elaborate set of items in preparation: a birdbath, a clutch of feathers, a rope, quick-setting cement, a cape, and an apple pie.
The precise plan for these items is never revealed, for when El Gato is about to enter the room, Lechien stops the ambush. The Dog, whose canine hearing is unsurpassed, says that he has heard the sound of ultimate despair coming from the north. Given where it is coming from, and the season, that can only be Father Christmas who is unhappy.
Realising that something has gone wrong with Christmas, El Gato and Mighty Mouse agree to a truce until things are fixed. Since they need a quick way to get to Greenland, they call on Guido to help them [6]. Guido appears, and after hearing their problem, reaches into his toolbox, and pulls out a hyper-powered shovel.
Mighty Mouse and El Gato take it in turns to dig to dig under the house, under the city, and then under the sea. They get exhausted along the way and have to come up to Kesteven [Boston, Massachusetts] for a meal. They go back, keep digging, and come up just outside the entrance to Father Christmas’s ice cave.
They find Lechien waiting for them. When they ask how he got there ahead of them, the Dog simply shrugs and says, “Atlantic Flyways”.
The three of them go in to visit Father Christmas, who explains how Grampa Thorn has stolen the sack. Father Christmas tells them that they will have to retrieve the sack, and that he cannot help them since White Bess is powerless without the sack.
Mighty Mouse leads his friends down the tunnel which the Hunters used to sneak in, and find that it comes out near a walrus-covered beach, but with no way to find out where the Hunters have gone. The Mouse wants to call Guido again, but there is no mirror nearby. Eventually, El Gato realises that ice can be polished enough to act as a mirror, and so the three scrape clear a patch of ice, and smooth it until they can use it as a mirror and call on Guido again.
Guido gives them a magic carpet which he says will let them chase Grampa Thorn, although what happens when they get there is up to them. The magic carpet takes them on a wild ride around the world, showing people of a variety of nations preparing for Christmas, including children who are writing their letters, before stopping somewhere on nameless tundra covered by wandering reindeer.
The three find the entrance to Grampa Thorn’s cave, whereupon Mighty Mouse, in traditional style, decides to charge right in and attack Thorn. The other two chase after him, and find Thorn inside along with five of the Hunters. Mighty Mouse does not wait any further, but starts a fight with Thorn. El Gato and Lechien need to hold off the other Hunters, leaving the Mouse to fight off Thorn and retrieve the sack. The three run back out, leaving Thorn cursing and swearing behind them, and take the carpet back to Father Christmas.
* * *
Song list for “It’s Christmas Time”, a popular Christmas album released by Yvonne [7] in 1987
1. Messiah
2. Feliz Navidad
3. Desire of Ages
4. God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen
5. See the Mistletoe?
6. Yuletide Hunt
7. Big, Fat Father Christmas
8. Glory to the King
9. Hear Heaven Sing
10. Coming Home for Christmas
11. Three Red Candles
12. Blue Wine
13. Night of Nights
* * *
24 December 1994
Université de Bourbon
Chaleurs, Louisiana [Alexandria, Louisiana]
Mid-afternoon on the eve of Noël. The sandstone buildings and courtyards of Bourbon University, so crowded with students only the day before, are nearly deserted now. Only a relative handful of students and faculty remain here, those who for one reason or another have not returned to their homes and family over the week’s break.
Alix Bourque is one of those. Except for her youngest sister, none of her family would not welcome her at any time. They would tolerate her attending a funeral, she muses briefly, even if a couple would be secretly hoping that she had been the guest of honour at that event.
The thought is only a passing one, though. Alix returns her focus to the immediate surroundings, which are much more pleasant. She nestles her head against Tsiyu’s welcoming shoulder, leaving her long black hair to fall over his arm.
A slight breeze blows across the courtyard, carrying a sweet lemony fragrance with it. The university is set just outside the town limits of Chaleurs proper, and ringed on three sides by groves of lemon verbena [lemon myrtle]. That distinctive odour is one of the most pleasant aspects of life at Bourbon University, although the spice farmers have hardly planted the trees for the students’ benefit.
Tsiyu starts to run his fingers along her shoulder in that electric touch which she knows so well. She murmurs softly in response, in that way where the words do not matter so much as the tone in which they are said.
Before his fingers or lips can move much further, though, the breeze shifts and brings a fresh set of smells with it: the odours of cooking. Frying fish, pork or some similar meat being smoked, and boiling mixtures of seafood and vegetables, with the smell of onions predominating.
She glances over at the kitchen window; fortunately, it does not mean she needs to move her head much or disturb Tsiyu’s actions. “It’ll be a change, celebrating Christmas properly,” she says.
“How so?” he murmurs, though his fingers keep moving.
“I’ve missed réveillon,” Alix says. All of the students and lecturers who are still at the university are automatically invited to the long dinner-cum-party that will last past midnight and the proper arrival of Noël. A much more attractive prospect than a caustic evening with her parents and sisters, even setting aside Tsiyu’s attentions.
“It happens every year,” he says, bemused.
“Not everywhere,” she says. “The last two years, I was at the Panipat [8]. A place to learn, like few others, but I missed Noël. They don’t care about it at all there; it’s just another day on the calendar.”
“How odd,” Tsiyu says, but a moment later he moves his lips to kiss her. Alix forgets, for the moment, about her sojourn overseas and even about the coming réveillon feast.
* * *
25 December 1995
Gustavsburg [Bangor, Maine]
“I do declare: I doubt I can move,” Astrid Kruse said.
It had, in fact, been an excellent Christmas lunch. Just four people, but easygoing, relaxed conversation. The lunch had featured a wide variety of scrumptious food, though the goose took pride of place. The overall effect was splendid; it just meant that staying in place for the next hour or two would probably be the wisest course of action.
“Oh, no room for dessert?” Irma said.
“Not for a good long while,” Astrid answered. “Digestion essential: motion non-trivial.” Both of their husbands made similar comments.
Irma laughed. “Just as long as you spared room for a genu-wine Christmas toast.”
Astrid raised an eyebrow. “You mean...?”
Irma produced a bottle of wine with a flourish. A blue-tinted bottle. “Yes. The proper article. No Virginian imitation or Cali-fornication. Real Castilian blue, just for you.”
Scott rose to get the glasses, but Irma managed the uncorking and pouring herself. So she should, if she’d obtained a real bottle of Castilian blue. At Christmas, anyone could find something which called itself blue wine, but a decent bouquet was another thing altogether.
Bubbles rose and sparkled within the glass as Irma passed it over. Astrid took it, and inhaled the spicy bouquet of verbena, and the promise of more to come.
Ingrid proposed the traditional toast, and they repeated it: “To Christmas and the New Year!”
The first sip of the blue delivered everything it promised: a spicy, sparkling flavour of anise and cinnamon, with a hint of lemon. Astrid could not fit any more in, yet, but that was all to the good: it would be a long, pleasant afternoon.
* * *
25 December 1996
Reading, Berkshire
Getting up before the children is always a challenge on Christmas morning. Fortunately for Jerome Duke’s sanity, getting them to sleep early on Christmas Eve is not. So he and Anne set everything out ready the night before, and only need to wake up at a suitably early hour. This is still difficult, with two boys who have internal alarm clocks more efficient than any mere human construction, and a girl who could sneak up on a werewolf.
This year, at least, something has worked properly. Jerome wakes up in the winter darkness, and quietly moves back out to the living room. He flicks on a lamp and gives everything one final check.
The Christmas fir tree is in place, with the bulkier gifts stored beneath it. By the front door, four boots have been filled with small toys and candies; four because Electra, with impeccable eight-year-old logic, argues that fairness requires that the boys and girls divide equal numbers of presents. The four-branched candlestick is in place opposite the fir tree, with four rows of three candles pointing in each cardinal direction, and the larger thirteenth candle in the centre.
The candlestick is the only task that remains undone, so he lights the candles, starting with the central candle, then the east, south and western branches, and finally the northern branch. Thank God that the children are old enough nowadays that he doesn’t need to dress up in bright green and act as Father Christmas any more.
Now, he needs only to wait for the storm that will begin when the children come out.
* * *
Taken from: “The Guide to the Perfect Christmas”
Together with the Christmas tree, the Christmas candelabra is one of the two iconic elements of a proper Christmas. In many ways, the candelabra is the more cherished of the two. A natural Christmas tree must be replaced every year, and even artificial trees are often likewise obtained anew each year. Yet a high-quality, exquisite Christmas candelabra is an artefact which will last for a lifetime.
While many elements of the modern Christmas tradition have antecedents which go back for a millennium or more, the candelabra is a relatively recent addition. Candles have been used in various Christmas roles for centuries, such as being held for nightly vigils or inclusion in an Advent wreath. But the particular use of a dedicated candle-holder is first known from southern France in the late eighteenth century, where four-candle holders were used. The number of candles increased over time, until the modern version which holds thirteen candles in total: four candles for each cardinal direction and a larger central candle.
Candelabras were first introduced into North America in Louisiana around 1820, and gradually spread to other countries. By 1890, they were well-known in Cavendia and Virginia, and were adopted in Tigeria around the turn of the century, and are now popular over the continent...
Selection of a proper candelabra is an important decision. Quality workmanship is important, as is durability, but it should not be over-decorated or elaborate. The best candelabras have an elegant simplicity to them. Height of the candelabra is equally important; it should stand within easy reach for an adult, but should never be taller than the Christmas tree.
Tradition dictates that the candelabra should be lit at the central candle, and then the branches should be lit east, south, west, then finally north. Within each branch, the closest candle to the centre must be lit first, and then the next closest, then the third. The candelabra must be lit sometime over Christmas Eve and kept alight for the following morning, with candles replaced if necessary. It is usually considered unlucky to open Christmas gifts if the candelabra is unlit.
* * *
Taken from Intellipedia.
Christmas (Old English: Crīstesmæsse, literally “Christ's mass”) is an annual celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, generally conducted on 25 December. Commemorated as a religious and cultural holiday by billions around the globe, and a legal holiday in many nations, Christmas is celebrated throughout the Christian world, and by growing numbers of non-Christians. Although only rarely in predominantly Muslim nations, and virtually never in the Plirite world [citation needed]. However, Plirites in majority-Christian nations often celebrate Christmas as a secular holiday. Christmas is a fundamental part of the festive season.
The date of Jesus’ birth is not known [discuss]. The celebration of Christmas on 25 December is first recorded in the early fourth century. Christianity adopted the date of the Roman winter solstice and linked it to ancient pre-Christian winter festivals to incorporate those of pagan faith into Christianity, and reduce the appeal of pagan holdouts. [This sentence has been tagged as offensive and flagged for removal. Refer to the discussion page.]
Celebratory customs associated with Christmas include a hodge-podge of pagan, Christian and secular themes which have been blended into the modern event [informal tone: discuss]. Popular modern holiday customs include giving or exchange of Christmas gifts and cards, Christmas music both religious and secular, special meals, church commemorations, wassailing, evening vigils, and displaying a variety of special decorations, including Christmas trees and candles, Christmas lights, religious scenes (usually of the Nativity), mistletoe, wreaths, holly and chimes. [This sentence has been locked due to repeated attempted vandalism to remove the reference to chimes. Refer to the discussion page.]
Also, several related figures are associated with bringing gifts during the Christmas season, and have their own body of traditions and lore. These figures are variously known as Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, and the Christkind. In the English-speaking world, Father Christmas is the traditional figure: an old man dressed in a bright green suit trimmed with white fur, and associated with drinking, singing and merry-making. And gifts, which he traditionally produces from a magic sack that he carries with him. The sack knows which children have been good or naughty, and will only provide gifts for the good children.
An additional mythological figure has also been associated with the negative aspects of Christmas, variously called Grampa Thorn, Krampus, or Gumphinckel. Grampa Thorn has his own body of tradition and lore, and is generally depicted as a figure who travels the countryside on Christmas Eve (or another winter night) searching for bad children, and either warning them or punishing them. In the English-speaking world, Grampa Thorn is said to play tricks or scare naughty children, or give them a useless gift such as a lump of coal. For children who have been particularly badly behaved, Grampa Thorn is said to carry them away for a year, where they have to make the gifts which next year will be given to the good children.
Due to gift-giving and associated festival aspects of Christmas, economic activity grows during the holiday say, and this is a critical sales period for the retail sector. However, this increasing trend of commercialisation is widely regarded [by whom?] as harming the religious aspects of Christmas [bias: discuss].
Name
The word “Christmas” originated as a compound meaning “Christ’s mass”. It is derived from the Middle English Cristemasse, which is from Old English Crīstesmæsse. The form “Christenmas” was also historically used, but is now considered archaic.
In addition to “Christmas”, the holiday has been known by various other names throughout its history. The Anglo-Saxons referred to the feast as Midwinter, or, more rarely as Nativity. Yule (or Yuletide) was previously used to refer to the December-January period, and the name has been revived as a secular alternative to refer to the holiday season, although rarely to refer to Christmas Day itself. Noel (or Nowell or Noël) entered English in the late 14th century, derived from Old French.
Celebration
Main article: Christmas globewards [worldwide]
Christmas Day is a major festival and public holiday in many countries around the world, including some whose populations are mostly non-Christian. In some non-Christian countries, periods of former colonial rule introduced the celebration, while in others, Christian minorities or foreign cultural influences have led populations to observe the holiday. In such countries, the main secular aspects of Christmas which have been adopted include gift-giving, Christmas trees and candlesticks.
Christmas celebrations around the world vary considerably, based on different cultural and national traditions. In countries with a strong Christian tradition, participating in a religious service is usually an important part of the season. Christmas, along with Easter, is the period of highest annual church attendance.
In Catholic and Orthodox countries, a range of religious processions or parades are held in the days leading up to Christmas. In Protestant and non-Christian countries, secular processions or parades featuring Father Christmas and other seasonal figures are often held.
Family reunions are an integral part of Christmas in most traditions; Christmas is usually held to be the day when dispersed families reunite. Exchange of gifts is likewise a major feature of the season, either on Christmas Day or on a nearby religiously significant day (eg 6 December, Saint Nicholas Day, is used in Tigeria).
While many non-Christian countries observe Christmas as a secular holiday, in some non-Christian countries, public celebration of Christmas is considered offensive [by whom?]. In particular, in several Plirite countries, Christmas Day is not a public holiday and public Christmas displays are stigmatised. Plirite minorities in some majority-Christian countries have adopted Christmas as a secular holiday (eg the Kogung), while in other countries, Plirite non-observation of Christmas has become a mark of cultural identity (eg the Congxie).
Also, even in some countries with a strong Christmas tradition, celebration of Christmas is predominantly secular. In New England, the early colonists strongly disapproved of public celebrations of Christmas, based on religious objections. Observation of Christmas was legally forbidden, and later socially prohibited even when no longer outlawed. Recent adoption of Christmas traditions in New England has focused on the secular aspects of gift-giving and decoration, rather than religious celebrations...
* * *
22 December 1999
Horeb [Providence, Rhode Island], Narragansett
Evening draws near, but the night is not yet come. The chill is growing, but snow has not yet fallen. The perfect time to take to the streets as Old Man Thorn, or so John Beckwith thinks.
His costume is modelled on the devil which is said to inhabit the great swamp to the south: brown fur covering his body, hoofed feet, unfurled bat wings, and clawed hands. His face is covered in a devil-mask, too, complete with fangs and forward-curving horns.
Not the most traditional form for Grampa Thorn, but it will do well, he thinks. It needs to be scary enough, but not horrific. The chains are wrapped around his wrist, to be clanked whenever children come near.
As he starts his walk through the streets, lights begin to flicker on in a few houses. Elaborate Christmas decorations, those, even if they will be better appreciated once night has truly fallen.
In the meantime, the most soothing sound is the chimes hung outside most of the houses he passes. The breeze off the bay is slight, but enough to set them ringing from time to time. A reassuring part of Christmas, as far as he is concerned. He’s heard that down in Alleghania, too many people complain that they are a pagan symbol, but who cares [9]? They are part of Christmas now.
As he walks, he starts to sing the traditional song. “You’d better watch out, you’d better take care, Old Man Thorn is coming to town...”
* * *
[1] Congxie Jamaane Pliri, or roughly translated into in English, Congxie Homeland and Harmony. Congxie comes from the most widespread name which that people use for themselves. Jamaane is a Congxie word adapted from the Soninke language, which in a Congxie sense means something like “territory” or “homeland”. Pliri is from a Gunnagalic root (via the Nangu and Nuttana) which means “harmony”, although in this context it is used in a largely non-religious sense to mean stability or security.
[2] This is a historical carol, with words slightly changed by the passage of allohistorical time. It was composed by Robert Smert sometime in the fifteenth century, although the real modern form has changed considerably.
[3] Mamabula, or Liberty Day, is a celebration of the day when the forefathers (and foremothers) of the Congxie revolted in Cavendia (*South Carolina/Georgia) and began their flight to freedom in the uplands. It is celebrated on the June new moon, to mark the historical use of that new moon as a sign to trigger a unified revolt.
[4] Mighty Mouse is an allohistorical cartoon character who has very little in common with the historical version. He is a small-sized, big-talking mouse who knows martial arts, and who often gets himself into trouble due to his combative attitude. (The allohistorical author based in the name in part on a pun about “mighty mouth”).
His main foil is a cat named El Gato; the two often clash, although they occasionally cooperate too, as in this Christmas special. Another recurring character is Lechien (the dog), who oddly enough gets on with Mighty Mouse rather well.
[5] Grampa Thorn is the English-speaking world’s version of Krampus, who hunts down naughty children. He has been incorporated into a version of the old Germanic tradition of the Wild Hunt, and has several Hunters who accompany him. Traditions differ as to the number and names of those Hunters, although there are rarely more than 12.
[6] In this cartoon, the way to call on Guido Folks is to stand in front of a mirror, say “handy man” five times in a row, and Guido will appear behind you, holding his toolbox above his head.
[7] Her full name is Yvonne Martin, but her musical career has been successful enough that she simply goes by Yvonne.
[8] In full, the Tjagarr Panipat. This is a Gunnagalic name which, literally translated, means “Place of Great Disputation”.
[9] This is because chimes are an integral part of Plirite worship, being used in most of their temples. In Alleghania, some efforts have been made to adopt chimes as a Christmas symbol, to show that it is a secular holiday that is not exclusive to Christians. This has not been particularly well-received either by Christians or by the Congxie who follow the Plirite faith. Nevertheless, the use of chimes has been publicised enough that they have been adopted in some other nations, particularly in New England, where the observation of Christmas is largely a secular affair anyway.
* * *
Thoughts?
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Lycaon pictus
Donor
I like it. Just put in the rest of the footnotes.
And I just noticed the bit about "mature chestnut trees" in America. So does the blight never spread, or does the American chestnut evolve resistance?
And I just noticed the bit about "mature chestnut trees" in America. So does the blight never spread, or does the American chestnut evolve resistance?
Again, great work with the Christmas special, and the TL in general!
Here's something I noticed after the first footnote of the Christmas special:
In this sense, does Pliri come to be like an ATL form of the word "jihad"? As in, is the meaning of Pliri reinterpreted from its original meaning of peace and spiritual harmony, towards being something with explicit political implications? Or is that always part of the word?
Here's something I noticed after the first footnote of the Christmas special:
In this sense, does Pliri come to be like an ATL form of the word "jihad"? As in, is the meaning of Pliri reinterpreted from its original meaning of peace and spiritual harmony, towards being something with explicit political implications? Or is that always part of the word?
mojojojo
Gone Fishin'
Loved it, I wish Blue Wine existed in our world! It sounds delicious!
Davy Crockett
Buffalo Bill
Daniel Boone
Do those figures exist in this TL or is this just a coincidence (and a clever pun) likewise dose the name Hopi Smith indicate that the Hopi tribe has not gone extinct in this TL? Are the hunters supposed to be human or something else?
Are the names of the hunters plays on
Davy Crockett
Buffalo Bill
Daniel Boone
Do those figures exist in this TL or is this just a coincidence (and a clever pun
) likewise dose the name Hopi Smith indicate that the Hopi tribe has not gone extinct in this TL? Are the hunters supposed to be human or something else?- Status