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Christmas goes deeper than religion, commercialism, snow, and even December. I’m not talking about pot-bellied angels and handsome men on snowy bridges. Christmas is another face of the festival spirit that dwells in all of us.
     
Sometimes we need to stop and reflect on our tenuous existence. Sometimes some of us need a stiff glass of egg nog. Fortunately, we have an occasion for both. We call it Christmas. Unfortunately, Christmas has been shanghaied by shopping malls. What’s the bonafide man or woman to do? Our answer comes from Italy via Brooklyn, New York.
     
We all know Italians have souls more vast than everyone but poets and jazz musicians. Leave it to the Romans, then, to manifest the festival spirit in a way more faithful to the spirit of said spirit: Festivus.

Originating in ancient Rome and occurring on December 23, Festivus is something like the poor man’s Christmas. No gifts, no tree, no carols. All that’s needed for a proper Festivus celebration is a pole, food, wine, and a chip on your shoulder.
     
The pole is a stripped-down version of the Christmas tree. The chip on your shoulder comes in handy during rituals like the airing of grievances, when everyone complains about who and what has irked them during the year. This leads directly to the feats of strength portion of the evening, where one-by-one guests wrestle the host, trying to pin him to the floor. This served to remind both guest and host of the importance of strength and skill in battle. Traditionally, Festivus is not over until the host is pinned.
     
Leave it to Jerry Seinfeld to repackage Festivus for contemporary celebrators. Most of us know the holiday from an episode of “Seinfeld” that aired in 1997. One can easily see, however, that the ritual is not simply an ancient cultural idiosyncrasy but an expression of the human spirit. So this year forget the gifts, the carp, and the Christmas tree. Celebrate Festivus; a holiday for the rest of us.

*editors' note-

(Apologies for being a little late in posting this to you all.

 Take it out on us next year in the "airing of the grievances".)

For a complete run down of Festivus Festivies check out Coalition on the War the War On Christmas

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