Comments on: Christmas - The First Magic

By: Constance Ash

Constance Ash — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 18:51:19 +0000

Carol —

“Lo, I bring you tidings of great joy ….”

That line from King James seems to encapsulate why this is Magic. Great joy is magic, and for most of us, great joy is rare and precious, like magic is rumored to be.

This is why I have continued to embrace Christmas and the Nativity, and why I so early on turned my back on the Bloody Suffering Sacrifice of Easter — which too has the Year Cycle embedded in it.

That Great Joy’s purpose was bloody torture just didn’t work for me.

Love, C.

By: Carol Berg

Carol Berg — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 18:13:25 +0000

Really beautiful, evoking my own memories of peeking through a frosty window into the December night, waiting for the Magic, which always came.

Thanks,
Carol

By: Tami Dunn

Tami Dunn — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 00:34:42 +0000

As an avid SF & F reader I find that the most ‘believeable’ and engrossing stories require some sort of holiday celebration (as both Constance & Katharine noted). Perhaps this is to have a reference point in our own lives. So many of us, whether of a religous background or not, feel the need to bring to joy to others. this is to me the real meaning of the season!

Being a resident down-under, our Christmas is nothing I can compare with you in the northern hemisphere, and I often find myself being more observant reading the rituals in your novels to get the holiday feeling.

I have always appreciated your descriptions and thank you for allowing my fellow readers to learn more about our world through yours.

Happy holidays.
Tami

By: Constance Ash

Constance Ash — Sun, 10 Dec 2006 00:07:56 +0000

It gives me so much pleasure that my Christmas card to you all has been liked!

Kisses to you all, and I wish we could have a big group hug.

I feel the Seasonal Wheel more strongly than ever, even though global climate change is effecting us more than ever.

December skies in late afternoon are so beautiful.

Love, C.

By: Katharine Kerr

Katharine Kerr — Tue, 05 Dec 2006 04:53:35 +0000

The year-cycle is embedded in the very idea of Christmas. The man whose legend later became inflated into Jesus was probably born in August or February, times of Roman and romanized censuses. The pull of the winter solstice is a strong one and attracts all kinds of things into its space in time.

The word “magus” comes from the Persian and means “astrologer”, something the current fundis are doubtless going to ignore in their anti-occult hysterias. Forget kings and wise men; it’s the “Three Astrologers.”

I also spent my childhood in a religious household, and indeed, the first tales of magic and fantasy I heard were biblical tales. The wide range of Old Testament stories were not a bad introduction to all kinds of narratives, really.

That is a lovely essay, Constance.

By: Lois Tilton

Lois Tilton — Tue, 05 Dec 2006 02:36:06 +0000

I feel the pull of the seasons most strongly at this time of year, the winter solstice, the long dark, the festival of sunreturn.

If I could feel some connection to a religion, it would be the religion of the year-cycle.

By: Sherwood Smith

Sherwood Smith — Tue, 05 Dec 2006 00:53:30 +0000

That was a lovely essay, Constance. Thank you for sharing it.

By: Constance Ash

Constance Ash — Mon, 04 Dec 2006 23:52:06 +0000

Wouldn’t you love to see a (good) film made from Sir Gawain and the Green Knight as a holiday movie?

Love, C.