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So Ive noticed that since its the happiest holiday of the year, that alot of us dakkites make the xmas avatar a must. But Ive noticed, so far pretty much everyone that puts a Santa hat on..... the fluffy part is tipped to the right of the Avatar.
Why is that?

I have noticed that, maybe its because the creators are right handed. However, BAH HUMBUG!!!!

The OC-D

Thats nonsense. It has something to do with the egg-nogg conspiracy!

Mine's to the left!

however this is to cover up the fringe which would otherwise sway to the left and as there was more space to the left side...

if you look at the top of my avatar's hat it looks really bulged as I had 2 cover up the hair that would stick out!

However, as new to Dakka this year I did find it really cheerful to see everyone decorating their avatars so nicely!

I like to break the curve

That figures the only 2 on the left post first lol

From YOUR point of view, the santa hat is tiliting to the right. But for santa (depending on whether or not he's running away as he gets stabbed) could have his santa hat tilting to the left. Or right. I don't know.

That is why I changed mine... Well, the fact that I noticed everyone just put Santa hats on. I wanted mine to be more traditional for this season and unique.

I don't exactly think of a half-naked man with an axe as 'traditional' in a Christmas sense.

Emperors Faithful wrote:I don't exactly think of a half-naked man with an axe as 'traditional' in a Christmas sense.

You can talk. You've got a half naked man with a sword and a hat on top of his, er, rampant, um, thingy.

What's all that about? Space Mariens don't celebrate Christmas.

Emperors Faithful wrote:I don't exactly think of a half-naked man with an axe as 'traditional' in a Christmas sense.

How we inherited Christmas from The Viking Yule
The celebration of Yule in Scandinavia predates the Christian holiday by thousands of years

Winter Solstice, the time of the year when the days get longer and the sun begins to return was truly a cause for celebration among our ancestors in Scandinavia. Their Midwinter Feast lasted at least twelve days. So there are the twelve days of Christmas.

Most Christmas traditions are rooted deep in ancient Yule rituals, many coming from the Vikings. Historic evidence indicates that Jesus was not born on December 25, but in the Spring. Why is then Christmas celebrated on December 25? A common theory is that the Christian church designated this date as the day of Christ's birth to coincide with the Nordic Midvinter Solstice celebrations, as well as with a Roman midwinder fest called Saturnalia, in order to "facilitate" the conversion of "heathens" to Christianity.

At Midwinter, or Solstice, the Vikings honored their Asa Gods with religious rituals and feasting. They sacrificed a wild boar to Frey, the God of fertility and farming, to assure a good growing season in the coming year. The meat was then cooked and eaten at the feast. This is the origin of today's Christmas ham in Scandinavia.

During the festivities they burned a giant Sunwheel, which was put on fire and rolled down a hill to entice the Sun to return. According to one theory, this is the origin of the Christmas wreath.

Another Viking tradition was the Yulelog, a large oak log decorated with sprigs of fir, holly or yew. They carved runes on it, asking the Gods to protect them from misfortune. A piece of the log was saved to protect the home during the coming year and light next year's fire. Today, most know the Yulelog as a cake or cheese log rolled in nuts.

Even the Christmas tree goes back to pre-Christian times. The Vikings decorated evergreen trees with pieces of food and clothes, small statues of the Gods, carved runes, etc., to entice the tree spirits to come back in the spring.

Ancient myths surround the Mistletoe. The Vikings believed it could resurrect the dead, a belief based on a legend about the resurrection of Balder, God of Light and Goodness, who was killed by a mistletoe arrow but resurrected when tears of his mother Frigga turned the red mistletoe berries white.

The Yule Goat, (Swedish julbock, Finnish joulupukki, Norwegian julebukk) is one of the oldest Scandinavian Christmas symbols. Its origin is the legend about the Thundergod Thor who rode in the sky in a wagon pulled by two goats. An old custom was for young people to dress up in goat skins and go from house to house and sing and perform simple plays. They were rewarded with food and drink. The Yule Goat at one time also brought Yule gifts. This character was later replaced with "jultomten" (Santa Claus).

Our pre-Christian ancestors would dress up someone to represent Old Man Winter, who was welcomed into homes to join the festivities. Dressed in a hooded fur coat, Father Christmas traveled either by foot or on a giant white horse. Some think that this horse may have been Odin's horse Sleipnir and that Father Christmas was originally Odin, who was often depicted with a long beard. When the Vikings conquered Britain in the 8th and 9th centuries, he was introduced there and became the English Father Christmas.

Today, Viking Yule is celebrated in reconstructed Viking Villages such as Foteviken in Skåne and Jörvik in England, where visitors in December can make Christmas decorations with the Vikings, listen to Viking legends and hang their wishes in Odin's Yule Tree. Viking Yule is also celebrated by Asatruers, who revive the old Nordic religion, called Asatru.

A lot of Christian fundamentalists realize that there is a lot of "paganism" in Christmas (not to mention commercialization) , and so they come up with slogans like, "let's put Christ back in Christmas." But wouldn't it be more accurate to say, "let's put Odin back in Yule?"

Easy...

BAAAAAAAH BAAAAAAAAH BAAAAAAAAAH!

However i used a .PNG, seems everyone else use the old MS Paint trick.


Baaaaaah!

Kilkrazy wrote:

Emperors Faithful wrote:I don't exactly think of a half-naked man with an axe as 'traditional' in a Christmas sense.

You can talk. You've got a half naked man with a sword and a hat on top of his, er, rampant, um, thingy.

What's all that about? Space Mariens don't celebrate Christmas.

1) He's not half-naked. Not wearing a helmet does not make him half-naked.

2) Of course Marines don't celebrate Christmas. Children being happy in the Imperium? HERESY! That's why he's killing Santa Cluas.

Christmas, Empramas, only different in your mind

@tblock1984: I know. I know. I was talking about from a 'Modern' point of view. (Space Marines are modern. I think )

Emperors Faithful wrote:@tblock1984: I know. I know. I was talking about from a 'Modern' point of view. (Space Marines are modern. I think )

You know what? You're right... History has no relevence to any of us in this shiny modern society...
I am now going to stop reading about my ancestor's culture on the internet because it doesn't have ANY relevance to us living in the modern day.

The Importance of History

David Crabtree wrote:History is important. In centuries past this statement would have seemed self-evident. Ancient cultures devoted much time and effort to teaching their children family history. It was thought that the past helps a child understand who he is. Modern society, however, has turned its back on the past. We live in a time of rapid change, a time of progress. We prefer to define ourselves in terms of where we are going, not where we come from. Our ancestors hold no importance for us. They lived in times so different from our own that they are incapable of shedding light on our experience. Man is so much smarter now than he was even ten years ago that anything from the past is outdated and irrelevant to us. Therefore the past, even the relatively recent past, is, in the minds of most of us, enshrouded by mists and only very vaguely perceived. Our ignorance of the past is not the result of a lack of information, but of indifference. We do not believe that history matters.

And FYI, that comment was about as offensive to me as you will probably find this:


Let me append that by stating I do not worship Thor, or Odin, and that I am sorry to any one (Christian or not) who found that offensive. It's just, you know... Do unto others...

i think which way the pom pom dangles depends on which side of the equator you live on. kind of like the difference in the way the water swirls when you flush the toilet.

I don't understand what you may be implying?


Automatically Appended Next Post:

tblock1984 wrote:

Well I ate your God's Dad. And he was delicious!

GoFenris wrote:Well I ate your God's Dad. And he was delicious!

Took me a minute, but I see what you did there... +1 to the 42nd power

lol at funny god pictures.

(I meant how we celebrate christmas today, not how vikings celebrated it in the past. But YMMV, maybe your family DOES do all that stuff.)

I am all for drinking like the Vikings did in Yors.. I think that's what Viking Xmas is called.

Emperors Faithful wrote:lol at funny god pictures.

(I meant how we celebrate christmas today, not how vikings celebrated it in the past. But YMMV, maybe your family DOES do all that stuff.)

LOL, Why didn't you say so? Hehe, just kidding... I guess I got overly defensive...

The most important symbols of Christmas time, such as the "Christmas tree" and Santa Claus both have pagan origins. The tree was originally one in the forest, an ancestral tree, which received sacrificial gifts during the Yule-Tide and was illuminated and decorated with symbolic signs and tokens to attract the ancestral spirits. When the church banned such practices the tree, or a symbol of it, was simply brought inside, away from the prying eyes of the churchmen. Santa Claus is a "jolly old elf," as we all know. In the Germanic world, elves are ancestral spirits.

Santa dresses in red, which is the traditional color of the garments of the elves. He is also related to the old gods Thor and Odin he lives in the North Pole, he flies through the air distributing blessings and his sled is drawn by reindeer called Donner and Blitzen, German for "thunder' and "lightning."

One of the most important aspects of the Yule-Tide is economic. In ancient times all the best things were saved for Yule-Tide celebrations and then splurged during those celebrations. This has translated to our whole worldwide economy, where a huge portion of business is done in and for the so-called "holiday season."

NOW, CUE THE VIKING MUSIC!!!



Automatically Appended Next Post:

Shadowbrand wrote:I am all for drinking like the Vikings did in Yors.. I think that's what Viking Xmas is called.

Wiki wrote:The modern English word Yule likely derives from the word yoole, from 1450, which developed from the Old English term geōl and geōla before 899. The term has been linked to and may originate from the Old Norse Jōl.[1] The etymology of the name of the feast of Yule (Old Norse jól, Anglo-Saxon geohol and gehol) and the winter month (Anglo-Saxon giuli, geóla, Gothic fruma jiuleis, Old Norse ýlir) has not yet been completely explained, but the term may have originally meant something similar to "magic" or "feast of entreaty".[2] This word is also the root of the English word "jolly."[3]

Jól has alternately been theorized as deriving from Old Norse hjól, wheel, referring to the moment when the wheel of the year is at its low point, ready to rise again (compare to the Slavic karachun). This theory may be more based on similarities between the words jul (Christmas) and hjul (with a mute h, wheel) in modern Scandinavian languages, than on older cognates or historical sources.

The celebration of Yule in Scandinavia predates the Christian holiday by thousands of years

I think that might be over-stating things a little.

When the Vikings conquered Britain in the 8th and 9th centuries, he was introduced there and became the English Father Christmas.

The Vikings didn't 'conquer' Britain - they settled in parts of Northern England and Scotland. Similar practices to the ones you mentioned were practiced by native Britons at least as early as the first Roman occupations. However 'Celtic' Britains didn't celebrate 'Yule' as such - rather, they celebrated 'Imbolc' on 1st February.

Your right is my left... Think in terms of mirror image.

G

tblock1984 wrote:
How we inherited Christmas from The Viking Yule
The celebration of Yule in Scandinavia predates the Christian holiday by thousands of years

Winter Solstice, the time of the year when the days get longer and the sun begins to return was truly a cause for celebration among our ancestors in Scandinavia. Their Midwinter Feast lasted at least twelve days. So there are the twelve days of Christmas.

Most Christmas traditions are rooted deep in ancient Yule rituals, many coming from the Vikings. Historic evidence indicates that Jesus was not born on December 25, but in the Spring. Why is then Christmas celebrated on December 25? A common theory is that the Christian church designated this date as the day of Christ's birth to coincide with the Nordic Midvinter Solstice celebrations, as well as with a Roman midwinder fest called Saturnalia, in order to "facilitate" the conversion of "heathens" to Christianity.

At Midwinter, or Solstice, the Orks honored their Asa Gods with religious rituals and feasting. They sacrificed a wild boar to Frey, the God of fertility and farming, to assure a good growing season in the coming year. The meat was then cooked and eaten at the feast. This is the origin of today's Christmas ham in Scandinavia.

During the festivities they burned a giant Sunwheel, which was put on fire and rolled down a hill to entice the Sun to return. According to one theory, this is the origin of the Christmas wreath.

Another Viking tradition was the Yulelog, a large oak log decorated with sprigs of fir, holly or yew. They carved runes on it, asking the Gods to protect them from misfortune. A piece of the log was saved to protect the home during the coming year and light next year's fire. Today, most know the Yulelog as a cake or cheese log rolled in nuts.

Even the Christmas tree goes back to pre-Christian times. The Vikings decorated evergreen trees with pieces of food and clothes, small statues of the Gods, carved runes, etc., to entice the tree spirits to come back in the spring.

Ancient myths surround the Mistletoe. The Vikings believed it could resurrect the dead, a belief based on a legend about the resurrection of Balder, God of Light and Goodness, who was killed by a mistletoe arrow but resurrected when tears of his mother Frigga turned the red mistletoe berries white.

The Yule Goat, (Swedish julbock, Finnish joulupukki, Norwegian julebukk) is one of the oldest Scandinavian Christmas symbols. Its origin is the legend about the Thundergod Thor who rode in the sky in a wagon pulled by two goats. An old custom was for young people to dress up in goat skins and go from house to house and sing and perform simple plays. They were rewarded with food and drink. The Yule Goat at one time also brought Yule gifts. This character was later replaced with "jultomten" (Santa Claus).

Our pre-Christian ancestors would dress up someone to represent Old Man Winter, who was welcomed into homes to join the festivities. Dressed in a hooded fur coat, Father Christmas traveled either by foot or on a giant white horse. Some think that this horse may have been Odin's horse Sleipnir and that Father Christmas was originally Odin, who was often depicted with a long beard. When the Vikings conquered Britain in the 8th and 9th centuries, he was introduced there and became the English Father Christmas.

Today, Viking Yule is celebrated in reconstructed Viking Villages such as Foteviken in Skåne and Jörvik in England, where visitors in December can make Christmas decorations with the Vikings, listen to Viking legends and hang their wishes in Odin's Yule Tree. Viking Yule is also celebrated by Asatruers, who revive the old Nordic religion, called Asatru.

A lot of Christian fundamentalists realize that there is a lot of "paganism" in Christmas (not to mention commercialization) , and so they come up with slogans like, "let's put Christ back in Christmas." But wouldn't it be more accurate to say, "let's put Odin back in Yule?"

Oh man, this is just riddled with inaccuracies. Here, let me fix this for you:

How we inherited Christmas from Da Space Orkz
The celebration of Squigday in Armageddon predates the Christian holiday by thousands of years

Winter Solstice, the time of the year when the days get longer and the sun begins to return was completely ignored while da boys got drunk and shot each other. Their big drinking match lasted at least twelve days. So there are the twelve days of Christmas.

Most Christmas traditions are rooted deep in ancient Squigday rituals, many coming from the Orks. Historic evidence indicates that Jesus was not born on December 25, but in the Spring. Why is then Christmas celebrated on December 25? A common theory is that the Christian church designated this date as the day of Christ's birth to coincide with the face squig eating competition, as well as with a Eldar midwinder fest called Homosexula, in order to "facilitate" the conversion of "heathens" to Christianity.

At Midwinter, or Solstice, the Orks honored Gork n Mork with religious rituals and feasting. They sacrificed a wild boar their stomachs, to assure not being hungry. The meat was then cooked and eaten at the feast. This is the origin of today's Christmas ham in Armageddon.

During the festivities they burned a giant Bombwheel, which was put on fire and rolled down a hill to blow things up. According to one theory, this killed thousands of people.

Another Ork tradition was the Squiglog, a large oak log decorated with severed heads, teeth or fingers. They carved glyphs on it, asking the Gods to protect them from misfortune. Then they would beat people to death with them. Today, most know the Squiglog as a cake or cheese log rolled in nuts.

Even the Christmas tree goes back to pre-Christian times. The Orks decorated evergreen trees with pieces of metal and bones, small statues of the Gods, carved glyphs, etc., to show that they were tuffist and the badist.

Ancient myths surround the Missilelauncha. The Orks believed it could make you dead, a belief based on a legend about the destruction of Badzul, Boss of Bigness and Stompyness, who was blown to bits by a bunch of missles.

The Squiggoth, (Swedish julbock, Finnish joulupukki, Norwegian julebukk) is one of the oldest Ork Christmas symbols. Its origin is the legend about the Snakebite "Gor" who rode in the sky in a battlewagon pulled by two squiggoths. An old custom was for grots to dress up in squig skins and go from house to house and sing and perform simple plays. They were rewarded with being kicked in the face. The Squiggoth at one time also brought Squigday gifts. This character was later replaced with "jultomten" (Santa Claus).

Our pre-Christian aliens would dress up someone to represent Old Man Winter, who was welcomed into homes to join the festivities. Dressed in a hooded fur coat, Father Christmas traveled either by foot or on a giant white boar. Some think that this boar may have been Gork's boar Piggy and that Father Christmas was originally Gork, who was often depicted with a long beard even though Orks never have hair. When the Orks conquered Britain in the 8th and 9th centuries, he was introduced there and became the English Father Christmas.

Today, Ork Squigday is celebrated in reconstructed Ork towns such as Gorkamorka in Skåne and Deffville in England, where visitors in December can get shot by the Orks, listen to Ork shouting and have grots steal their stuff. Ork Squigday is also celebrated by Diggas, who revive the old Ork religion, called "listenin ta Gork an Mork when dey say sumfink.

A lot of Christian fundamentalists realize that there is a lot of "orkiness" in Christmas (not to mention commercialization) , and so they come up with slogans like, "let's put Christ back in Christmas." But wouldn't it be more accurate to say, "let's put Squig back in Squigday?"

And that is why my avatar is the most fitting, and yours isn't.

Hey there's nothing wrong with a little bling!

GG

I put mine on this side so that the pom pom does't block my aim when I'm shooting at anti-vigilante protestors...

@Orkeo: You made me lol.

I'm supposed to be writing a paper. But I don't want to.

:(

Albatross wrote:

The celebration of Yule in Scandinavia predates the Christian holiday by thousands of years

I think that might be over-stating things a little.

When the Vikings conquered Britain in the 8th and 9th centuries, he was introduced there and became the English Father Christmas.

The Vikings didn't 'conquer' Britain - they settled in parts of Northern England and Scotland. Similar practices to the ones you mentioned were practiced by native Britons at least as early as the first Roman occupations. However 'Celtic' Britains didn't celebrate 'Yule' as such - rather, they celebrated 'Imbolc' on 1st February.

True, Celtic Druids did celebrate Imbolc, and they didn't celebrate Yule, but they did celebrate the winter solstice and the return of the sun. The druids conducted essentially the same holiday on Samhain (Celtic New Year), IIRC.

Asatru is thousands of years old. Its beginnings are lost in prehistory, but it is older than Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, or most other religions. The spiritual impulses it expresses are as ancient as the European peoples themselves. For the sake of argument, let's say the bronze age, around 1700 BC... True, not the Viking age, but I that isn't what my copy pasta actually said... YMMV, besides, I didn't author the statement. I am not going to try that hard to defend it. But by my count, that is about 2000 years between Bronze Age men carving visages of Odin and Thor on walls to the delcaration that the 25th was Jesus Day...

Telesphorus, the second Bishop of Rome (125-136 AD) declared that public Church services should be held to celebrate "The Nativity of our Lord and Saviour." In 320 AD, Pope Julius I and other religious leaders specified 25 December as the official date of the birth of Jesus Christ.

Correct me if I am wrong, but after the Christians jacked the date from the Pagan traditions of Winter Solstice, it still wasn't until the 19th century when we began celebrating Christmas the way we do now, right? Wasn't there actually a ban on Christmas in the US in the 17th century? Christmas in the US was not considered a holiday until 1870, no? I could totally be full of gak...

Orky... You get this:


I am out of internets at the moment...