By Penelope A. Domogo, MD
We celebrate Christmas because it is Jesus Christ’s supposed birthday anniversary. It is a foreign tradition introduced by the Spaniards and Americans and which many Filipino families have now adopted. Whether Jesus was really born on December 25 doesn’t matter. For us, Igorots, dates are not of much consequence so we don’t debate on that. Before our conquistadores introduced the Roman calendar, Igorots were ageless. In the 1980s in Bontoc, when I asked my older patients how old were they, they would smile and say “ay ammok pay.” Without the Gregorian calendar or Chinese calendar, and without the pen and paper, who would remember how many moons have passed and how many planting seasons have passed since one was born?
What we, Igorots in general, mark and celebrate are certain milestones in life – birth, when the baby’s umbilical cord stump drops off, when the baby is given a name, when the baby first begins to eat solid food (I learned this in Besao), marriage, death. We don’t have indigenous practice for anniversaries. Come to think of it, the western practice we inherited from our Christian conquistadores – that of celebrating anniversaries- is more expensive than our traditional practices, isn’t it?
How about the Jews? Jesus was a Jew. Do you think Mary & Joseph celebrated Jesus’ 30+ birthdays? It doesn’t say in the Bible so birthday anniversary celebrations among the Jews may not be of much consequence. Just like us, Igorots, perhaps. How about Mohammed, I wonder. Or Buddha. Well, anyways, birthdays were supposedly first celebrated by the Pharaohs and it was not their natal day anniversary they celebrated but the day they became “gods”. Naturally, only the “haves” could afford these celebrations, considering the great expense incurred. In the early Christian period, birthday celebrations were considered “pagan” but later, Christians adopted the practice and started celebrating Jesus birthday on December 25 as a strategy to recruit believers among communities celebrating Saturnalia, a popular traditional practice among the ancient Romans to honor their god, Saturn. Actually, if we read the history of many so-called “Christian” practices today, they had their roots in traditional practices that existed before Christianity was introduced. So let us not condemn indigenous practices as “pagan” or “primitive” or “unchristian”. Instead, let us build on them.
I know some people don’t celebrate their birthdays. Some even forgot their birthday. I have a rich friend whose Mom made it a practice that they celebrate their birthdays by working! Many celebrate birthdays of their children only while they are young. It doesn’t matter. My parents were second generation Christians and during our birthdays as kids, we would attend mass and we would just have a special dish- pinikpikan- for one meal only. We are a big family and we could only afford to butcher one chicken so this was rationed by Dad one piece (one part of the chicken) per person. And we were contented. As young as we were then, we knew that we cannot all have drumstick, because we knew chickens have only two legs. Oh, by the way, the reason why we “pikpik” the chicken is to put mass in the wings and neck so the person who gets this part will have as much as the others who get the more meaty parts.
With influence of media and the affluent over the years, some birthdays soon became lavish parties in the town centers of Igorotland. And soon, not only people celebrate birthdays. Places, too, celebrate birthdays. They became valid reasons to indulge in meat, not just one piece but eat all you can.
In this age of commerce and trade and technology, a birthday meal isn’t just pinikpikan. We learned to cook fried chicken, lechong manok, lechong baboy, adobo, afritada. Soon, with the abundance of chemicalized pigs, pigs were butchered just to celebrate a birthday. In addition to the pinikpikan or fried chicken! Whew! This was unthinkable in the past- it is too lavish! And as if these were not excessive enough, foreign dishes were happily included in the birthday party menu – cakes, soft drinks, spaghetti, macaroni salad, etc. How we love to copy what the rich and powerful are doing! Birthday celebrations surely have become good business. And when profit takes over any practice, we better watch out. How we celebrate birthdays matter…. at least health-wise and money-wise and spirit-wise.
Celebrating Jesus birthday, which we call Christmas, has become a reason for splurging on unnecessary food, drinks and material things we call gifts which later end up gathering dust in our shelves or as basura. We get stressed on what to food to prepare and what gifts to give. For Christmas, we even forget our gift to the celebrant, Jesus Christ. Oftentimes we forget the real reason for celebrating.
So why do we celebrate or mark our birthdays? To thank the Creator for our lives. For Jesus Christ’s birthday this December 25, we celebrate to thank the Creator for giving us Jesus, savior for our sins and model for our lives. Major Christian churches the world over allot 4 weeks of Advent as preparation time for Jesus birthday celebration. Advent ends the day before 25th! Advent is a penitential season- it is a season of sacrifice, of fasting, reflection, repentance. It is a good preparation for celebration if we take it seriously- we cleanse our body-mind-spirit before bingeing on Christmas day. The church knows also how to regulate our excesses if only we cooperate. I think Jesus and his earthly family didn’t celebrate his birthday. I know many families will be busy tilling their “payeo” and garden this Christmas or earning their keep and stithey would also be blessed. Skipping lavish celebrations would prevent the bloated feeling and hangovers and empty wallet after. A blessed Christmas to everybody!***
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“Real joy comes not from ease or riches or from the praise of men, but from doing something worthwhile.” Pierre Coneille**
