Today we celebrate Tet . . .
. . though some may consider Tet offensive (is it too long after the war for that joke?).
On Sunday I went to Vietnam (San Gabriel) for some supplies. The market was crowded with people buying food for the celebration. The colors yellow and red are very important to Tet, so people were buying lots of red and yellow flowers for their home alters.
People here think of Vietnamese as Buddhist and Catholic, but those are small minorities (12% & 8.5%). The vast majority adheres either to the local Paganism or Commie Atheism, leaning to the Pagan side. Apparently the Pagan side has been expanding rapidly since the 1980's.
They also had Tet melons, so I bought two for a photo on my melon page. These are grown in Mexico specifically for the celebration and each sported a big red Tet sticker. They are watermelons with brilliant yellow skin and bright red inside, the perfect color scheme. At $0.99 a pound, a little pricy for watermelon but acceptable for the purpose.
I returned today for a couple specific items, and the San Gabriel Superstore's vast parking lots were FULL!. The market, however, was at normal level, so the folks must have been in the two dozen or so gift and specialty stores. The Tet melons were nearly sold out.
I cut the big Tet melon and submitted a good wedge as an offering on my Deities Altar (opposite corner from my Shamanistic Altar). We Pagans don't mind at all celebrating each others holidays, or even the ones the Christians have tried to purloin.
The Christians have been trying to hold on to Easter, but it's still named for the Goddess, and her fertility symbols (bunnies, eggs, etc.) are everywhere to be seen. As for Christmas, today it sure looks a whole lot more like Saternalia than a Christian festival. Of course there are the manger scenes here and there, concepts borrowed from various Pagan sects in the first place.
I tell the "True meaning of Christmas" complainers, "Hey, you stole our holiday - we've taken it back. Have a cup of the rum punch and relax".
On Sunday I went to Vietnam (San Gabriel) for some supplies. The market was crowded with people buying food for the celebration. The colors yellow and red are very important to Tet, so people were buying lots of red and yellow flowers for their home alters.
People here think of Vietnamese as Buddhist and Catholic, but those are small minorities (12% & 8.5%). The vast majority adheres either to the local Paganism or Commie Atheism, leaning to the Pagan side. Apparently the Pagan side has been expanding rapidly since the 1980's.
They also had Tet melons, so I bought two for a photo on my melon page. These are grown in Mexico specifically for the celebration and each sported a big red Tet sticker. They are watermelons with brilliant yellow skin and bright red inside, the perfect color scheme. At $0.99 a pound, a little pricy for watermelon but acceptable for the purpose.
I returned today for a couple specific items, and the San Gabriel Superstore's vast parking lots were FULL!. The market, however, was at normal level, so the folks must have been in the two dozen or so gift and specialty stores. The Tet melons were nearly sold out.
I cut the big Tet melon and submitted a good wedge as an offering on my Deities Altar (opposite corner from my Shamanistic Altar). We Pagans don't mind at all celebrating each others holidays, or even the ones the Christians have tried to purloin.
The Christians have been trying to hold on to Easter, but it's still named for the Goddess, and her fertility symbols (bunnies, eggs, etc.) are everywhere to be seen. As for Christmas, today it sure looks a whole lot more like Saternalia than a Christian festival. Of course there are the manger scenes here and there, concepts borrowed from various Pagan sects in the first place.
I tell the "True meaning of Christmas" complainers, "Hey, you stole our holiday - we've taken it back. Have a cup of the rum punch and relax".
