_____ as a goat

Seasoned Goats

Published 12.24.2005 by MWM | E-mail this post

The Yule Goat

So it turns out goats and Christmas go together like peanut butter and jelly. Those crazy Scandinavian rascals have a tradition of carolers shepherding one of their peers door-to-door, subjugating the neighbors with amatuer singing. The sweet skinny? The peer in question is dressed as a goat! What will they think of next?

But as they must, all good things come to an end and somewhere around the turn of the century (thank you, Coca-Cola drinkin' Christians!) the goatery was replaced by a less Pagan symbol, and simply included Santa Claus riding atop a goat. At least, I think that's less Paganism than before...

In the holiday classic A Wicker Man Christmas, townsfolk celebrate the tradition of erecting gigantic straw and hay goats, only to set them ablaze (sometimes), showing that once again, man is better than the animal kingdom whose members can't burn any effigy, one of man or otherwise.

So from my family to yours, have a Happy Holiday (your choice, or rather, that which your parents have forced upon you), and if any of the above has offended you in any way, remeber that I'm only kidding*.