#dechristianization

Vincent Bernard, a Vendean peasant, in response to the French Republic’s enactment of forced military conscription in 1793.

16 November 1793 – Ninety dissident Roman Catholic priests are executed by drowning in the River Loire at Nantes on the order of Jean-Baptiste Carrier, représentant en mission to Nantes, during the Reign of Terror.

16 November 1793: Drownings at Nantes

I wanna remind everyone that Xtians stole, erased and diluted everybody’s ancient traditions and cultures and they’re still doing it. Yes, they did it in Scandinavia too and Jól, the original way, is the decolonized/deXtianized Xmas 🧡

It is open to anybody willing to learn or curious. It is also completely doable without seasonal-section-shopping or even corporations at all. Go get some regular ass oranges, cut them into wheels, dehydrate them in your oven, decorate with them and celebrate Yule or Jól instead if you wanna get festive in some way. You can also use some oranges to make a stovetop potpourri and make your home smell good. They either represent the memory of the sun in winter and/or the wheel of the year if you’re pagan. Get firewood and carve deep enough holes for some regular, non-Xmas-marketed tea light/pillar candles (yes they can be fake if you can’t have candles, it’s the intention and comfort that counts) and decorate it with greenery from Mother Nature outside your own home. This is an actual Yule Log. It’s not a cake. Use some of the wood and learn how to whittle and carve something for your family as a gift. You only need a pocket knife, but you can get fancy tools now if you want to. As long as you’re not getting anything from the seasonal section, you are not contributing to it. Buy the generic, non-Xmas products off-holiday/season. Don’t go out on Black Friday.

You can get candles from a local or online candle shop or such if you’d like. Your local farm might also be selling firewood. Might have to get oranges from the grocery store or hopefully if you know a farmer’s market that has them, definitely use that instead, but they aren’t an Xmas specific item.

You can support your local Xmas tree farm or if you have winter-adapted trees around your home and put reindeer snacks, healthy vegetables for wildlife on it for “Santa” if you have kids, also, again, anything from outside. Santa and his 8 reindeer may come from from Odin and Sleipnir, the Loki-born, yes Loki, 8-legged horse. Leaving out cookies, getting clothes for Xmas, and Decorating Xmas trees may come from leaving for the Yule Lads and the Yule Cat to leave you alone and treats out offerings on/near trees to the Wild Hunt in Scandinavian folklore. You don’t have to believe this religiously, but it’s important to question what you’re fed from birth about the world.

11 March 1793: First Massacre of Machecoul

On this day in 1793, peasants from the countryside surrounding the city of Machecoul in western France revolted against the National Guard, which had been sent to conscript soldiers from the provinces by the National Convention in Paris. The city was a thriving center of grain trade; most of the victims were administrators, merchants and citizens of the city.

In the regions south of the Loire, resistance to conscription was particularly intense, and much of this area also resented intrusion by partisans of the Republic, called “blue coats”, who brought with them new ideas about district and judicial organization, and who required reorganization of parishes with the so-called juring priests (those who had taken the civil oath of allegiance to the state).

On Monday, 11 March 1793, a crowd arrived in the center of the town, from the surrounding countryside; they started the chant Pas de milice (no enlistments) and surrounded the Republic's conscription officers in the town. A nervous soldier opened fire and the enraged crowd retaliated. Between 22 and 26 soldiers were killed, including their lieutenant, Pierre-Claude Ferré.

The National Guard was routed, and the rebels, including many women, seized those they called "patriots" —also called the "Blues", or the people who supported the republican cause—and led them to prison in the old castle and the convent of Sisters of Cavalry. There they killed the guardsmen and some notable inhabitants, about 20 in total.