The existential meaning of the holidays

Holidays have always existed, long before capitalism transformed them into cool days off from work with lots of glitter and very expensive rituals. Although they look quite nice visually and tease us with the promise of magic (especially Christmas ), the modern approach of holidays sadly trivialised this very important existential rite for us human beings....or, should I say, capitalised it? Practically, although we somehow appreciate the value of the holidays, we ended up aloof at best, but in many cases depressed, deluded, hopeless and poor when it comes to "the most wonderful time of the year". Yet, they are meant to be magical and this is my plea to bring the real magic of the holidays back on.

Mircea Eliade, my favourite Romanian philosopher, wrote a whole thesis about the history of religions focusing on the value of rite around holidays or celebrations. I will explain it in more common terms, but not before saying what great impact Eliade's thesis had on me as a teenager and follows me to this day. I've always been a believer in the transcendent so Eliade's work gave me a lot of hope. What he wrote about was that it is in our nature as human beings to celebrate and whether we are aware or not, like it or not, pretend to care or not care, we are drawn towards festive celebrations...for a few different reasons. Firstly, take a moment to observe how the whole holidaying happens in anticipation, so before the actual holiday. Eliade said this is the actual lived experience of the holidays, anticipating their coming, preparing with hope and kind-heartedness. Season after season, year after year we will let ourselves be graciously fooled by the same old wish that the holidays will bring something better, more kindness, more prosperity, love, dreams coming true. And this is how it works, our existence, fuelled by hope. We move on into the unknown of life that there is someone or something somehow somewhere who will save us from existential suffering and give us eternal bliss. Hope is a fantastic tool to help us through life. There are plenty of sceptics out there, but you know the saying, 'those who don't believe in magic will never find it'. The holidays have this power to reignite hope in us that come from way back in our ancestral lineage. Isn't it amazing to think that for thousands of years season after season, year after year, people kept celebrating the same causes at the same time? This is the actual magic of the holidays: our ability to hope.

The other reason why we are drawn towards celebrations is that it brings people together. This is physically but also spiritually. We celebrate events that have been celebrated for millennia and this makes us part of a collective spirit that is eternal. This helps us feel less insignificant in the grand scheme of things called life, and that after all, we do have a purpose which is to belong in this grand scheme of existence contributing no matter how little to making it work, season after season and year after year.

This holiday season and those next to come, try to engage with it more spiritually and less materialistically. Connect with the feeling of hope within and let it do its magic.

Hopeful holidays!

#theholidays #themeaningofholidays #existentialthoughts #christmas #meaning #existential #rite #trancendental #seasonafterseason #yearafteryear #eternal #collective #magic #hope #anscestors