Not only is the Canonical Christian Bible useful for telling the story of the Nativity of Jesus, but we can also look to the apocrypha:
“there she brought forth a son, and the angels surrounded Him when He was being born… she began to cry aloud, and to tell the wonderful things which she had seen… And some shepherds also affirmed that they had seen angels singing a hymn at midnight, praising and blessing the God of heaven, and saying: There has been born the Saviour of all, who is Christ the Lord, in whom salvation shall be brought back to Israel… Moreover, a great star, larger than any that had been seen since the beginning of the world, shone over the cave from the evening till the morning. And the prophets who were in Jerusalem said that this star pointed out the birth of Christ, who should restore the promise not only to Israel, but to all nations.” Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew (an apocryphal text)
“the wise men said: We saw a very great star shining among those stars and dimming them so that the stars appeared not: and thereby knew we that a king was born unto Israel, and we came to worship him” Gospel of James (an apocryphal text)
You do not have to be Christmas to understand the real meaning of Christmas, for example look at me — I am not sure what I am, I like Paganism, Buddhism and Christianity and I believe bits of all of them, I understand (or try to understand) where each of them are coming from. Here is how I see it:
Christmas is all about the world gaining spirituality, as Christianity describes it Jesus was put on Earth to help humanity, to try to fix badness and to promote goodness. Christianity suggests that Jesus is the Son of God, and in Christianity God is Love, Life and Power… is it not logical to say that Jesus was the embodiment of Love, Life and Power - here on Earth to help the human race get back on track and to become nice again?
So how can Paganism fit into this, well very basically Paganism has Yule on the 21st/22nd of December, Yule is related to the Birth of a Divine King (and has been since BC-times). This Divine King tends to be related to the Sun, the Sun is coming back into our lives, and we can look forward to warmer weather - new crops and harvests - better times. The Divine King has a mother (a goddess in paganism), could this mother be related to the Christian Mary or even the Gnostic-Christian Sophia? Who knows? But the concept is the same, a life/spirit has been brought to the Earth to help life on Earth.
From a Buddhist point of view, we must remember there has been many connections between Buddhist teachings and the teachings of Jesus Christ - it has even been claimed in the past that Jesus travelled around the further East. Jesus could have been a Buddha, a few non-Christian religions even say he was a prophet to them. The word “Buddha” means “Enlightened One”, fusing Buddhism and Christianity together for a second; Jesus was placed on Earch as an Enlightened one, to teach, to provide love and to help others become Enlightened.
Buddhist and Gnostic Christian thoughts often agree, knowledge and wisdom can be found within. A spark that is wholly good is within (Holy Spirit? Chakra?), so whether it was Jesus or Siddhartha Gautama or Krishna that brought some sort of goodness to the world can be seen as irrelevant. Because it is the fact that there is goodness in the world and in ourselves that is the important thing, and we must realise this.
So, I suggest everyone thinks about Love and Life on Christmas day, it doesn’t matter which religion you are… we all agree that Love and Life are important concepts, its not a time for conflicts, its not a time for war, its not a time for disagreements - its a time for new beginnings, its a time for thinking about other people, time to find your inner spark and time to do the best at caring for yourself and other people. It doesn’t matter what religion you are, truly it doesn’t.
Here is my tarot card for today (one card picked randomly):
Four of Swords, on this picture a young lad is sat in an arid environment with four swords overlapping (two crosses overlapping - Christian Cross and Buddhist Wheel come to mind). This young lad is sat in a meditative position, he looks a little lost and it feels like he is meditating for a direction to go in. This is an important time for us, we will find a direction, it is the start of a new path, there are going to be good times ahead.
I finish with the Prayer of Preperation in the Anglican Book of Common Prayer:
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Almighty God,
unto whom all hearts be open, |
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all desires known, |
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and from whom no secrets are hid: |
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cleanse the thoughts of our hearts |
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by the inspiration of thy Holy Spirit, |
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that we may perfectly love thee, |
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and worthily magnify thy holy name; |
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through Christ our Lord. |
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Amen. |
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and the Hymn of Jesus (slightly edited) from Gnostic Texts:
Glory to Thee, Father!
Amen!
Glory to Thee, Word (Logos)!
Amen!
Glory to Thee, Grace (Charis)!
Amen!
Glory to Thee, Spirit!
Glory to Thee, Holy One!
Glory to Thy Glory!
Amen!
We praise Thee, O Father;
We give Thanks to Thee, O light;
In Whom Darkness dwells not!
Amen!
I would be saved; and I would save.
Amen!
I would be loosed; and I would loose.
Amen!
I would be wounded; and I would wound.
Amen!
I would be begotten; and I would beget.
Amen!
I would eat; and I would be eaten.
Amen!
I would hear; and I would be heard.
Amen!
I would be washed; and I would wash.
Amen!
I would pipe; dance ye all.
Amen!
I would play a dirge; lament ye all.
Amen!
The one Eight (Ogdoad) sounds (or plays) with us.
Amen!
The Twelfth number above leadeth the dance.
Amen!
All whose nature is to dance [doth dance].
Amen!
Who danceth not, knows not what is being done.
Amen!
I would flee; and I would stay.
Amen!
I would be adorned; and I would adorn.
Amen!
I would be at-oned; and I would at-one.
Amen!
I have no dwelling; and I have dwellings.
Amen!
I have no place; and I have places.
Amen!
I have no temple; and I have temples.
Amen!
I am a lamp to thee who seest Me.
Amen!
I am a mirror to thee who understandest Me.
Amen!
I am a door to thee who knockest at Me.
Amen!
I am a way to thee a wayfarer.
Amen!
Now answer to My dancing!
See thyself in Me who speak;
And seeing what I do,
Keep silence on My Mysteries.
Understand by dancing, what I do;
For thine is the Passion of Man
That I am to suffer.
Thou couldst not at all be conscious
Of what thou dost suffer,
Were I not sent as thy Word by the Father.
Seeing what I suffer,
Thou sawest Me as suffering;
And seeing, thou didst not stand,
But wast moved wholly,
Moved to be wise.
Thou hast Me for a couch; rest thou upon Me.
Who I am thou shalt know when I depart.
What now I am seen to be, that I am not.
[But what I am] thou shalt see when thou comest.
If thou hadst known how to suffer,
Thou wouldst have power not to suffer.
Know [then] how to suffer, and thou hast power not to suffer.
That which thou knowest not, I Myself will teach thee.
I am thy God, not the Betrayer’s
I would be kept in time with holy souls.
In Me know thou the Word of Wisdom.
Say thou to Me again:
Glory to Thee, Father!
Glory to Thee, Word!
Glory to TheSe, Holy Spirit!
But as for Me, if thou wouldst know what I was:
In a word I am the Word who did play [or dance] all things, and was not shamed at all.
‘Twas I who leaped [and danced].
But do thou understand all, and, understanding, say:
Glory to Thee, Father!
Amen!
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Makes me happy :)Â - Got to give her Christmas andd Birthday presents, she is going to like ‘em 
