Playing With Fire
It started with a question about Santa.
What in the world do I tell my son about Christmas? Do I lie to him? Do I preserve the magic?
Investigating this with a 3 month old in hands, (who is now a 5 year old), I came to some surprising answers. Not just about Santa, but about the seasonal holidays we often participate in but have no idea where they come from, or even what, if any, religion they are part of.
Opening the door to this brought me to somewhere interesting at first, a tidbit to say, oh that’s cool. But when I looked at Easter, it felt like everything exploded. Easter lead me to a revelation: that this is so much bigger than Christmas or silly little holidays. Each storyline brings us to a much broader pattern of history. This is about how- and why- society feels so disconnected from nature, a part of ourselves. We are part of an ecosystem that breathes in and out another creature’s in and out breath- yet we see ourselves as separate. It makes no sense.
Follow me on an adventure of discovery, one that brings you along the journey as it unraveled for me to figure out how we got here, and how we find our way back to coherence. This is a roadmap for getting us home. This is what I needed to feel like I finally understand what the heck is going on.
I am a little obsessive. I don’t stop until I find what I feel like is the real root. I found the strands that were never answered- like why Santa comes down the chimney, to find a place in the world where at least a strand of the story could come from. I found natives in Siberia, people who’s story was not yet erased, that became integral to one of our own. And we have no idea.
Follow that back even further in time, to when nature was seen as part of us. How did they see the world, and how long did they see it that way? I confront power struggles and shifts, but more importantly, I found patterns that showed a way of life that lasted for so long it couldn’t help but have an imprint on us.
This is what I found: For at least 40,000 years, women were in power. Not ruling over men, but revered, because life itself came from their bodies. Then, about 5,000 years ago, something shifted. Writing, religion, weapons, and land all became tools that a new power structure wanted to lock away. That is not how it always was- in fact, for a much longer time, embedded in our ways of life for at least 10x longer, we understood something bigger- that we are part of nature, not above it.
Playing With Fire traces that whole path, one piece at a time, through etymology, archaeology, and the myths and legends and religions we still live by today.
The best part is that I think everyone is reaching for the same thing. I think we are good at heart. But we have not been told the whole story. None of us could really have seen it until now.
My biggest revelation in all of this is that LOVE CREATES LIFE. The goal of most religions comes down to questions about what life is, who the creator is, the designer. And ideas of how to continue it. It comes down to LIFE. Celebrating it.
And what creates life? Sex. A combination of forces. One being could never be in charge, alone. Life requires more than that. And along with that : diversity leads to longevity. We cannot do anything alone. LOVE CREATES LIFE. Love heals, it creates, and it gives us a reason for being, and a way to keep going, keep living on as a species.
And when the power structure shifted, so did the way we think about sex, and creation- away from a combination of powers to a single old man in the sky. But that is not how life is generated- not from a man god and his son and a ghost- but from something more sensical: a woman and a man, creating life together. That is what the seasons are all about. That is what birthdays are about. That information is what has been attempted to be burned so many times over.
Nothing was created in a vacuum. No one person, thing, or event got us here. It was a compilation of things, over many generations, and once you can see that, it gives you empathy for the past instead of anger at it. And a chance to heal.
And I came at all of this from Santa Claus.
I am an engineer turned herbalist, turned mother. I love the data. I love the story. I love the magic. What I found made everything more hopeful and more beautiful, but forces you to dredge through some painful things. This journey helps to give context to things that still feel too dangerous to talk about.
Once upon a time, people were killed for saying even part of what I am trying to say here. Do you dare look?
Want a taste first? Watch my talking about the topic and book here.
And please tell me what you think! Message me at rationalbody@gmail.com.
With all my love,
-Victoria
