If you're an atheist or a pagan, how do you celebrate the winter holidays?

[tdeveson]

While preparing my Christmas ornaments and decorations I began to wonder how others who do not celebrate the birth of Jesus celebrate the season.

 

We have a Christmas tree. Along with the expected Christmas ornaments, we also hang dreidels, pentagrams, moons, stars, and little gold foil suns. We light up the back terrace and pool area with twinkle lights everywhere. We also have a nativity, but it celebrates the rebirth of the sun and there is no manger. We cook and bake and play world holiday music, from Celtic Wiccan to Christian Gospel (which I love) to Indian Festival of Lights chants.

 

We send cards -- they don't say, "Merry Christmas" because only a portion of our friends are Christians, but we do reach out to friends with wishes of Happiness and Health for the New Year. Some of our friends celebrate other festivals during this time: Hannukah, Christmas, Winter Solstice (as we do), Kwanzaa, etc.

 

We read books about all the different ways people around the world celebrate winter festivals. We have friends over. We throw a yearly Winter Solstice party and show our Christian and Jewish friends how we observe the Solstice. Our Christian and Jewish friends invite us to their celebrations and we learn about their way of observing. It's a time of magic and joy in our home. It is a time of mindful contemplation of one year passing and another one, full of promise, about to begin.

 

How do you celebrate?

[tdeveson]

:lurk5:

[ThatCyndiGirl]

We have a tree and decorate for Christmas. In short, we celebrate christmas, just a more secular version. I would go out on a limb to say I believe (just MY opinion!) that the whole tree, stockings, Santa thing is largely secular, anyway. I tell my kids about the birth of Jesus, but as more of a cultural thing, not as a religious belief. (as in "some people believe that he was the son of God", like at Easter we would say, "some people believe that he was resurrected after he died".)

 

To me that cultural knowledge is important. I would hate for my kids to grow into adulthood and not know what Easter was about, etc.

[Audrey]

We do the xmas tree, but we have our main festivities at the Solstice (Yule), which starts the 12 festive days. We do a little get-together and burn the Yule log on the Solstice, exchange presents on the 25th, have another get-together to ring in the New Year.

[Cera]

We are just doing a secular version of christmas right now. We have the tree, the gifts, etc but all with a winter/santa theme rather than religious. We do not play up Santa but also haven't told them he isn't real (a compromise between Dh and I).

 

We also go to celebrations with friends of other faiths so that the kids can get an overall picture of the winter holidays. As they get older we will delve deeper into what other people believe and why they celebrate their respective holidays.

[Rosie_0801]

We have a tree and decorate for Christmas. In short, we celebrate christmas, just a more secular version. I would go out on a limb to say I believe (just MY opinion!) that the whole tree, stockings, Santa thing is largely secular, anyway. I tell my kids about the birth of Jesus, but as more of a cultural thing, not as a religious belief. (as in "some people believe that he was the son of God", like at Easter we would say, "some people believe that he was resurrected after he died".)

 

To me that cultural knowledge is important. I would hate for my kids to grow into adulthood and not know what Easter was about, etc.

 

This is pretty much what we do too. Except we don't go in for Santa. I hope in the future to make the Solstice in some way, but for now, two occasions in the one week is too much! I found a book on Amazon about Sun Bread. Not entirely sure what it is about so don't know if it's the sort of thing I'm looking for, but I'll eventually get around to checking it out. I also remember reading about someone making "Sun cookies," basically yellow iced biscuits. That seems like the sort of thing kiddies would like. Unsurprisingly, it's hard for us to find suitable resources and activities. So many pagan traditions seem to involve bonfires and that's not an option here.

 

Rosie

[Laura Corin]

We have a tree and decorate for Christmas. In short, we celebrate christmas, just a more secular version. I would go out on a limb to say I believe (just MY opinion!) that the whole tree, stockings, Santa thing is largely secular, anyway. I tell my kids about the birth of Jesus, but as more of a cultural thing, not as a religious belief. (as in "some people believe that he was the son of God", like at Easter we would say, "some people believe that he was resurrected after he died".)

 

To me that cultural knowledge is important. I would hate for my kids to grow into adulthood and not know what Easter was about, etc.

 

We read from the bible about the birth of Jesus and also listen to The Journey of the Magi, then discuss what the story means to some people. These are great and moving works of of literature to which I want my children exposed.

 

Laura

[kalanamak]

This is the first year of my adult life we have a tree and presents. Kiddo was interested, so we are doing one.

 

There are parties at work (we did a bowling party last night).

 

No special celebrations. I know much of the human race adheres to celebrations, but I have never liked them, even as a child. Although my folks decorated and had a nice dinner when I was a kid, for the most part they noted natural events, not human. Solstice was mentioned, especially summer solstice, as well noteworthy weather events and the phases of the moon. Although they never discussed it, except when asked (and then both of them said they were agnostic as "one can never know such things"), I believe they had the hearts of pantheists. I will, perhaps, have more reverence when I am no longer on the treadmill of breadwinner and mom.

[WishboneDawn]

I generally see Christmas, at least all the run up before the 25th (shouldn't Christians be celebrating Advent at this time of year?), as secular anyway. The trees, the decorations, so many of the carols...Christmas has as many secular and pagan elements as Christian, or so I've always thought.

 

When we light our Advent candles we're celebrating my Christianity. When we bake cookies and decorate the tree and such I see that as a secular celebration.

[Peela]

We dont do much really. I grew up secular and Christmas was just a family get together time- exciting as a kid to have all the presents, as well as just to be embraced in that extended family thing. My grandmother was always very adamant that the family get together at that time, and we all spent time with our cousins, as she never met her cousins till she was an adult.

 

I don't much enjoy the whole Christmas thing, because the obligatory gift giving is just too much. I like the idea of parts of it- its summer solstice here and I always make note of it, but my family do not take to Pagan rituals any more than Christian ones. They just want the present thing and the food thing and that's about it. I do love the summer fruits that come at Christmas here.

I guess we just don't make too big a fuss of Christmas. For us, it's at the start of the long summer holidays and that means more to us that the single day of Christmas. My family don't like cakes and biscuits much so if I bake it all just sits there. We more go for the fruit.

We celebrate the season in our own way, but not in any religious way at all. And Christmas is kind of a blip to get over, one day in a long train of hot sunny days to go to the beach, laze around on the computer, socialise and just relax and play .

It doesn't mean our lives are devoid of the deeper meanings...it's just that the deeper meanings of Christmas dont make much impact on us,

[nd293]

We are not pagan, although our values are more earth-centred than anything else. Over the past 5 years we have slowly moved to include Winter Solstice in our seasonal celebration. We do a low key Christmas, and also open gifts and have a great family meal on Solstice. I still feel like I am floundering - I haven't enough of a feel for Solstice, enough traditions, to completely let go of a secular Christmas celebration.

 

This year we're in Australia, and it is the Summer Solstice, so a lot of the symbolism of the Winter Solstice / Christmas link is lost. Instead of celebrating the shortest day of the year and the rebirth of the sun, we are looking at the longest day and the disappearing of the sun (do I have that the right way round?). I'm not quite sure what to make of this, from a celebrations-and-ritual perspective. The best I could think of is to decorate our tree entirely with stars, and to focus on the idea of finding our own light to keep us until the sun begins to return.

 

Any ideas?

 

Nikki

[HayesW]

WE are Christians and do not celebrate Chirstmas as the birth of Christ. First, well, it isn't Jesus's birthday. Also, we aren't given any directive inthe new testament to celebrate it.

 

We have a tree and stockings and presents.

[Guest Cindie2dds]

We do the xmas tree, but we have our main festivities at the Solstice (Yule), which starts the 12 festive days. We do a little get-together and burn the Yule log on the Solstice, exchange presents on the 25th, have another get-together to ring in the New Year.

 

What do you do for the 12 festive days?

[nukeswife]

We celebrate christmas but as Santa's holiday not a religious one. We have a tree and decorate, bake cookies for him and then he brings presents for the kids. Religion isn't in there in anyway. I'd love to move toward more of a celebration of the Winter Solstice like Audrey but just haven't figured out just how to do it yet.

 

I was raised in a family where christmas was all about getting together with family not about anything religious.

[chiguirre]

I'm an atheist but the rest of the adults in my family are not-very-devout Catholics, so we do all the traditional Venezuelan and some Hungarian things. We celebrate St. Nicholas day, St. Lucia (just because dd and I love the outfit and dss love the food), Solstice in a lowkey way (talking about the return of the sun and making a sun cake), Christmas, New Year (this is the most important), and Three Kings Day. Obviously, I like celebrations and my kids are young enough to get very excited about fairly simple celebrations. I don't mind the religious elements at all. They're stories I heard as a child and I'm still fond of them, even if I don't believe they're true.

[AngieC]

We do the tree, stockings and Santa, but no mention of anything religous. I actually would like to explain it to the religous aspect at some point - but only in the manner of "some people believe this." However, since my oldest is only 5 now, I wouldn't want her saying anything inappropriate to our Christian friends, so I will hold off for a few more years.

[st_claire]

We light do hannukah and xmas. Light the manorah, give gifts, play driedel, etc... Have a tree, star on top, wreath on the door, presents, etc... We are atheists.

[Tutor]

I generally see Christmas, at least all the run up before the 25th (shouldn't Christians be celebrating Advent at this time of year?), as secular anyway. The trees, the decorations, so many of the carols...Christmas has as many secular and pagan elements as Christian, or so I've always thought.

 

When we light our Advent candles we're celebrating my Christianity. When we bake cookies and decorate the tree and such I see that as a secular celebration.

 

This is what we do as well. We see Advent as a religious period of observance, but much of our Christmas Eve/ Christmas Day festivities (tree, gifts, etc) are a cultural tradition.

[Tammy]

I don't celebrate at all.

 

.

[EKS]

Tree, cookies, other yummy food, family, presents, Santa.

[fivetails]

While I'm not an Atheist now, my father & stepmother are and they raised me for a good portion of my childhood. We always had Christmas, but of course it wasn't celebrated as the birth of Jesus ~ it was a solely a holiday with presents, Santa, carols, baking, sledding, parties, etc.

 

They still do Christmas ~ except they're both in their 50's and don't go sledding much anymore. ;)

[Heather D]

This time of year, we do a little something every night until the 25th. It ranges from simply watching a Christmas movie (I add to my collection every year), to doing some sort of community service project. Last year my son packed stockings for kids who may not get any gifts.

 

On the 21st, we read about Yule and how others celebrate Christmas around the world. We also make gifts for the birds to hang with our feeders outside. Those are usually gone by the morning. LOL.

 

Christmas Eve is spent together driving around listening to Christmas music (we have a whole radio station that plays nothing but Christmas music starting the week before Thanksgiving) and looking at all the lights.

 

We do the whole Santa thing. When my son either asks or I feel is ready to learn the truth about him, I will let him know. But for now, I love watching him try to figure it all out.

[fivetails]

I don't celebrate at all.

 

.

 

You don't do anything? No presents, tree, Christmas parties?

[Dawn in OH]

We have a tree and decorate for Christmas. In short, we celebrate christmas, just a more secular version. I would go out on a limb to say I believe (just MY opinion!) that the whole tree, stockings, Santa thing is largely secular, anyway. I tell my kids about the birth of Jesus, but as more of a cultural thing, not as a religious belief. (as in "some people believe that he was the son of God", like at Easter we would say, "some people believe that he was resurrected after he died".)

 

To me that cultural knowledge is important. I would hate for my kids to grow into adulthood and not know what Easter was about, etc.

 

This sounds like us.

 

At nearly 37 I am still undecided about religion. I was actually thinking about that this morning over coffee, but that's a whole other conversation.

 

I've celebrated Christmas my whole life. I LOVE Christmas. We do a tree, Santa, stockings. I can't just STOP now. I think the whole Santa myth is a great part of childhood, and I've never considered it "lying".

 

I realize that Christmas is an important religious holiday for some people, and I respect that. I wouldn't want to take away anything from someone's religious Christmas.

 

(Oh for pity's sake I lost my train of thought because I just got bombarded with off the wall questions!)

[HeathenMom]

we celebrate Yule starting on the solstice through the new year. we have a Yule tree decorated with sunwheels, Mjolnir, and rune ornaments. we have a Yule log and lots of evergreen around.

 

on the solstice we feast and celebrate Mother Night. not only because it is the 'mother night' but we believe the dsir, or female ancestral spirits, are closer to our realm to be honored on this night.

 

the solstice ushers in the 12 days of Yule which is full of presents, visits, and feasting. we also have plenty of sumbels and blotar (our ritual honoring of the gods and goddesses) throughout.

 

on New Year's Eve there is general revelry complete with boasts from the outgoing year and oaths for the upcoming year.

 

it is a very special time of year for people of my faith, we celebrate much in the way our ancestors did because Yule (due to the absorption of customs and symbols by the Christian church) is our tradition that has stayed mostly in tact through the ages.

[Karen in CO]

We start on the 17th with Saturnalia which we recently added because of my dd8's love of Roman history. We celebrate Yule, and we do Christmas up big then close out the year for New Year's. It is a nice celebration. My brother who is very Christian brings his family up from the south to enjoy the mountains so we have a big-family white Christmas. We read the traditional Bible stories, and we hang stockings for Santa and decorate a tree and torture our neighbors with our singing. We light a fire and have a feast together for Yule. We go skiing on Christmas day (the slopes are very empty on that day ;) ) and sledding as often as we can find snow. We make the time about family and enjoying the winter season. btw I am Atheist.

[tdeveson]

This year we're in Australia, and it is the Summer Solstice, so a lot of the symbolism of the Winter Solstice / Christmas link is lost. Instead of celebrating the shortest day of the year and the rebirth of the sun, we are looking at the longest day and the disappearing of the sun (do I have that the right way round?). I'm not quite sure what to make of this, from a celebrations-and-ritual perspective. The best I could think of is to decorate our tree entirely with stars, and to focus on the idea of finding our own light to keep us until the sun begins to return.

 

Any ideas?

 

Nikki

 

There are tons of Wiccans and earthfolk in Australia. Right now you'd be celebrating Litha (summer solstice), so you can decorate your tree with summer symbols. Decorate your tree with with garlands of flowers, shells, symbols of the sun, and anything else that makes you think of summer. Decorate with summer fruits and sunflowers. If bonfires are an option, now is the time. Colors are red, orange, bright yellows. Use symbols of the sun in your cooking - corn cakes, berries, seasonal vegetables, honey cakes, fruit salad and freshly baked bread, anything round and yellow, and seasonal fruits and vegetables.

 

 

Blessed Litha to you and everyone Down Under.

 

 

[beezus]

We put up lights, lots of lights. Sometimes we put up a tree and sometimes not.

 

My family of origin was Christian, but there wasn't anything particularly religious about their Christmas celebrations, just the nativity scene and some religious ornaments. And lots and lots of presents. We still give gifts, but way less than what my family did when I was a kid. With what gift-giving we do, we focus more on the kids than the adults. My husband and I just try to find something we want for around the house or that we would enjoy together.

 

My daughter and I like to make candy and cookies, so we do that. My best buddy is of English descent, and some years we make up a batch of traditional English Christmas pudding. No one else will eat it except us, once they find out what's in it, yet it gives us a certain joy to down a Guinness or two while composing the Christmas pudding.

[Audrey]

What do you do for the 12 festive days?

 

 

Oh, you know, the usual... sacrifice a few goats, boil up a toad or two. :lol:

 

Sorry, couldn't resist. ;)

 

Aside from visiting with friends and loved ones (which is a very important part of it all), we have a series of 12 little altars throughout the house and one more gets lit each day until you're lighting all 12 of them on New Year's. It's a "bringing back the light" kind of thing. Each little altar has a different little food to go with it. Really the food is just because I love making "tiny food" (or appetizers). The altar and candles thing is influenced quite a lot from my witchcraft, but also strongly from dh's former Catholic upbringing. Another thing we do during that time is collect things for the animals -- extra birdseed & suet, a big stock of fat scraps for the dog and barn cats, extra straw for bedding -- to help them get through the winter. If barns or shelters need any work, we try to make sure it is done by now. The animals are as important to us as our people family. The whole thing is just something we've built together over time as a family.

Edited December 11, 2009 by Audrey

[nukeswife]

Oh, you know, the usual... sacrifice a few goats, boil up a toad or two. :lol:

 

Sorry, couldn't resist. ;)

 

 

:lol:

[Audrey]

I'm a Christian, but I have to ask... do you feel like Christmas was your holiday taken over by Christians? I didn't know that Christmas had pagan origins until I was an adult, so I wonder how pagans feel about Christians celebrating Christmas. Is the winter solstice the same as Christmas or are they two different things? Is Christmas just another name for it? What is Christmas to you? Sorry, but I really don't know. :blush:

 

 

I know some pagans who feel like their celebrations were ripped off. Personally, I do not feel that way. It doesn't bother me, but I do find some of the co-opting to be ironic.

 

Winter Solstice is not the same day as xmas. The Winter Solstice occurs (in the N. Hemisphere) on the 21st of December. It is, simply put, the shortest day of the year (least amount of daylight hours). Pagans usually celebrate it (in various ways) as the end of the dark days (days of shorter and shorter daylight) and the beginning of the light days (days of longer and longer daylight, culminating in the Summer Solstice, which is the longest day of the year, or June 21st).

 

Christmas is different for every person, Christian or non-Christian, so just as I wouldn't dream of generalizing what Christmas means to all Christians, I also wouldn't dream of generalizing what Christmas means to all pagans. Many have already posted on how they view the holiday, and so far, none of us seem to be doing/feeling/celebrating quite the same way.

[chiguirre]

Apparently, Dec. 25 was chosen because it was the feast day for Sol Invictus and the solstice according to the Roman calendar. Here's a link to a book called Christmas: A Candid History that covers the Roman roots of Christmas starting on pg. 25 and mentions Sol Invictus on pg. 29

 

http://books.google.com/books?id=DqmlzjMYMRAC&pg=PA29&lpg=PA29&dq=sol+invictus+christmas&source=bl&ots=qzF1HcNpGA&sig=Geezqfqs6Xgl1T948LaX2FJ2bb4&hl=en&ei=Uc0iS8SPAsahlAfh9Yj1CQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7&ved=0CBwQ6AEwBjgU#v=onepage&q=sol%20invictus%20christmas&f=false

[Rosie_0801]

If bonfires are an option, now is the time.

Lol, now is definitely not the time. Illegal, in fact. :)

 

I do love the summer fruits that come at Christmas here.

 

 

Yep! In years past, back when I could afford it, I'd get a box of cherries at Christmas time. I loooove cherries!

 

I'm a Christian, but I have to ask... do you feel like Christmas was your holiday taken over by Christians? I didn't know that Christmas had pagan origins until I was an adult, so I wonder how pagans feel about Christians celebrating Christmas. Is the winter solstice the same as Christmas or are they two different things? Is Christmas just another name for it? What is Christmas to you? Sorry, but I really don't know. :blush:

 

To me, it is not Christianity ripping off my holiday, and that's aside from the fact that the solstice isn't Dec 25th anyway. I'm Neopagan, and don't think what I believe or do has anything to do with what the ancients were doing. Actually, what I do hasn't much to do with other modern Pagans. Maybe I would feel different if I was the type of pagan who worshipped the ancient Gods, but probably not. With all due respect to everyone else out there, I think that's an immature perspective to take. No one can "take over" your internal beliefs. They can try and beat them out of you, as we've seen through history, but no one can stick their hand into your soul (or whatever you want to call that concept) and remove. I see no reason why a pagan should be deeply offended if other people choose to be enthusiastic about an Occasion on the same day you have your Occasion. (And before anyone gets upset and suggests I'm calling Christians immature for getting ticked off with commercialism on their day, I can quite understand that and feel much the same way myself. I believe for some of those people, the deep offense comes because they see their religious occasion being contaminated by commercialism instead of seeing two occasions with the same name happening at the same time.)

 

So, the soltice is the 21st for pagans... so different than Christmas. What is Christmas then? Just a bunch of different traditions lumped together and celebrated on a certain day? This is so confusing to me for some reason! Thank you fo answering my questions... I was hesitant to ask because I don't want to offend anyone.

 

The pagans on this board are not easy to offend, so you'd probably have to try. :)

Christmas being a bunch of traditions "lumped together" sounds rather ugly and messy to me. I consider it an Occasion that has evolved over time. You know how to French braid, right? You start off with little bits of hair, then add bits in. Eventually the first bits get too short, so the braid carries on without them. I think Christmas is much like that.

 

 

:)

Rosie

Edited December 11, 2009 by Rosie_0801

[Firefly]

I'm always up for feasting and making merry. :D We start by celebrating Yule on the Winter Solstice (I'm pagan). We make a solstice cave, go for a winter walk (weather permitting); I bake a midwinter cake and we have a special dinner by the fire. I usually give each one of my kids a small homemade gift. The house is festooned with greens and holly, a Yule tree.... the usual kind of thing. Christmas itself is pretty secular for us, more tradition than anything else. (We even do Santa, that jolly old elf.;)) On Christmas day we usually gather with relatives who are celebrating with dinner and exchange of presents. Fun! I love this time of year.

[nd293]

There are tons of Wiccans and earthfolk in Australia. Right now you'd be celebrating Litha (summer solstice), so you can decorate your tree with summer symbols. Decorate your tree with with garlands of flowers, shells, symbols of the sun, and anything else that makes you think of summer. Decorate with summer fruits and sunflowers. If bonfires are an option, now is the time. Colors are red, orange, bright yellows. Use symbols of the sun in your cooking - corn cakes, berries, seasonal vegetables, honey cakes, fruit salad and freshly baked bread, anything round and yellow, and seasonal fruits and vegetables.

 

 

Blessed Litha to you and everyone Down Under.

 

 

 

 

Thanks! I had looked for info online but not found anything satisfactory. Will try googling "Litha" and see if I am more successful.

 

I second Rosie on the Big No to bonfires, unfortunately.

 

Nikki

[dragons in the flower bed]

Traditional prayers start with "baruch ata Adonai," meaning "blessed are you, Lord". I can't pray that, not being (how do I say this w/o offending someone?), er, I guess, really, at all fond of the god of the Old Testament. I do feel obligated to raise my kids with enough Jewish cultural context for them to not feel totally weird when they are with their Jewish relatives. So, when we light the Chanukah candles, we pray the following.

 

Blessed is the match consumed in kindling flame.

Blessed is the flame that burns in the heart's secret places.

Blessed is the heart with strength to stop it's beating for honor's sake.

Blessed in the match consumed in kindling flame.

 

I think it's pretty. It conforms beautifully with my highest values. I definitely feel that upsurge of joy in making myself agree in my emotions at the moment of prayer with the precise meaning of the formal prayer. In Judaism, one is supposed to strive to achieve that (kavana, it's called) during ritual prayers.

 

For Winter Solstice we do all the Pagan stuff: bring in, decorate and worship an evergreen; put up enough extra lights to compensate for the sun's waning; wait for elf made presents in our stockings. The kids are eager to please the cloaked and bearded Odin, who rides the sky in midwinter on his eight-legged steed, and, being an all-seeing Allfather, sees you when you're naughty and sees you when you're nice.

 

The only difference is that our obnoxious "remember the real reason for the season" button proclaims, "axial tilt!" Also, we usually have the decorations down by the 25th.

Edited December 11, 2009 by dragons in the flower bed
spelled kavana Scottishly rather than Jewishly

[Rosie_0801]

Thanks! I had looked for info online but not found anything satisfactory. Will try googling "Litha" and see if I am more successful.

 

I second Rosie on the Big No to bonfires, unfortunately.

 

Nikki

 

Where are you? I know the pagan community in Victoria celebrate Beltane in a big way up Mt Franklin. I don't know if they celebrate other occasions up there, but might be able to find out.

 

Rosie

[Guest Cindie2dds]

Oh, you know, the usual... sacrifice a few goats, boil up a toad or two. :lol: Okay, Audrey, you're talking to a vegan! ;)

 

Sorry, couldn't resist. ;)

 

Aside from visiting with friends and loved ones (which is a very important part of it all), we have a series of 12 little altars throughout the house and one more gets lit each day until you're lighting all 12 of them on New Year's. It's a "bringing back the light" kind of thing. Each little altar has a different little food to go with it. Really the food is just because I love making "tiny food" (or appetizers). The altar and candles thing is influenced quite a lot from my witchcraft, but also strongly from dh's former Catholic upbringing. Another thing we do during that time is collect things for the animals -- extra birdseed & suet, a big stock of fat scraps for the dog and barn cats, extra straw for bedding -- to help them get through the winter. If barns or shelters need any work, we try to make sure it is done by now. The animals are as important to us as our people family. The whole thing is just something we've built together over time as a family.

 

Thanks for sharing. I like to hear what people do with their families during this time of year. I was really looking for something with regards to winter solstice too.

[swimmermom3]

What a lovely thread. Just what is needed to calm my rather frazzled nerves.:grouphug: to you all for sharing. New things to think about and a few answers to some old puzzles. Much appreciated. Peace and joy.

[Happy]

Oh, you know, the usual... sacrifice a few goats, boil up a toad or two. :lol:

 

Sorry, couldn't resist. ;)

 

Aside from visiting with friends and loved ones (which is a very important part of it all), we have a series of 12 little altars throughout the house and one more gets lit each day until you're lighting all 12 of them on New Year's. It's a "bringing back the light" kind of thing. Each little altar has a different little food to go with it. Really the food is just because I love making "tiny food" (or appetizers). The altar and candles thing is influenced quite a lot from my witchcraft, but also strongly from dh's former Catholic upbringing. Another thing we do during that time is collect things for the animals -- extra birdseed & suet, a big stock of fat scraps for the dog and barn cats, extra straw for bedding -- to help them get through the winter. If barns or shelters need any work, we try to make sure it is done by now. The animals are as important to us as our people family. The whole thing is just something we've built together over time as a family.

 

This sounds charming and cozy and special.

 

Long, long before I knew there were genuine pagan rituals I celebrated the 'return of the light' in my own private way. (I'm a Christian, so this was more of a farm/garden girl nature thing. A simple rejoicing because days began to get longer.)The dark cold days of winter turn me into a passive lump, so my dh used to go through the house in early winter replacing all the light bulbs with maximum wattage bulbs...and turning them all on. lol Our own personal 'bringing back the light' ritual. One of my favorite parts of this season is the magic of lights decorating houses. I usually leave some up until Valentine's day for a sort of winter wonderland celebration.

 

Tucking my critters in for a long winter's nap is a way of showing love and care. It comforts me as well as them. I save my tulip bulbs to plant during that week as a show of faith that the sun and summer will return.

 

My oldest son was born on the morning of the shortest day, so we celebrate in many ways now.

 

Your paragraph rang bells of sweet simple truth in me.

[KarenNC]

We do two small trees, one decorated for Solstice, one for Christmas (as well as do some decorating outside). The Solstice tree is primarily solar symbols, nature-themed ornaments. The Christmas tree is decorated with ornaments with family significance. We talk a lot about each ornament and the reason for it as we decorate. My daughter has a chocolate advent calendar, but it's for counting down to Santa and so decorated. We ride around and look at all the lights, listen to and sing holiday music, watch holiday movies, exchange our family gifts on Solstice, do Santa stockings on Christmas, join extended family for their Christmas celebrations on Christmas Day. This year has been heavy on gingerbread houses---going to see several displays of them and planning to make one next week.

 

We are Hellenic Neopagan Unitarian Universalists, so we also get to participate in activities at church---a holiday play this Sunday (themed around an interesting adaptation of Dickens' A Christmas Carol by our middle schoolers) and I think something about Hanukkah, next week a service that will include Winter Solstice (followed by the kids' holiday party) and one very specifically Neopagan oriented Winter Solstice one that evening, then performing in the choir/handchime group for the church Christmas Eve service. We'll participate in our homeschool group winter holiday party next Wednesday, where we'll be painting Christmas ornaments, making paper snowflakes or suns (depending on what I end up bringing to do), sharing food, maybe playing dreidel, etc. My daughter is participating in a winter holiday play at the library about kids decorating a tree and forest animals coming to take the decorations back to their homes to join in the celebration.

 

We choose at least one name to help for the holidays from some source. This year we've helped fill a stocking for the Salvation Army and provided gifts for an 8 yo girl from a program that works to keep female felons who are pregnant or have small children together with their children and out of prison. In the past we've provided housewares for a man moving out of a halfway house for men coming out of prison, helped a grandmother raising her 4 grandchildren, sent money to Heifer Project or Habitat for Humanity, bought gifts for senior citizens, etc.

 

If we get our rears out of bed in time to get there by 6:30 am and the weather cooperates, we may go down to a (relatively) local museum and help drum up the sun at their recreation of a Stone Age megalith on the 20th (easier to get folks there on a weekend): Join a group of with a group of revelers to greet the Winter Solstice sunrise following the longest night of the year. Bring drums, horns and rattles to celebrate Midwinter in the manner of our Stone Age ancestors. Meet in the main parking lot by The Schiele Megalith stone. We thought about going last year, but it was pouring down rain.

Edited December 12, 2009 by KarenNC

[swimmermom3]

Do the 12 days of Yule cover from December 21st to January 1st this year? Do I have this right?

[HeathenMom]

Do the 12 days of Yule cover from December 21st to January 1st this year? Do I have this right?

 

yes! from the solstice to the new year. :)

[Firefly]

Do the 12 days of Yule cover from December 21st to January 1st this year? Do I have this right?

 

 

Yes I think so, Lisa. (An interesting side note: I've read that Yule was originally 13 days.)

[LibraryLover]

We believe in love, hope, and bringing light to darkness, both literally and figuratively. The birth of a baby is a pretty good reason to celebrate possibilities.

 

And so the children come.

And so they have been coming.

Always in the same way they come -

Born of the seed of man and woman.

No angels herald their beginning,

No prophets predict their future courses,

No wise men see a star to point their way

To find the babe that may save mankind.

Yet each night a child is born is a holy night.

Fathers and Mothers -

Sitting beside their children's cribs -

Feel glory in the wondrous sight of a life beginning.

They ask: "When or how will this new life end?

Or will it ever end?"

Each night a child is born is a holy night.

 

This is my one of my favorite songs of the season:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_Xdk4PujOE

Edited December 13, 2009 by LibraryLover

[tdeveson]

we celebrate Yule starting on the solstice through the new year. we have a Yule tree decorated with sunwheels, Mjolnir, and rune ornaments. we have a Yule log and lots of evergreen around.

 

on the solstice we feast and celebrate Mother Night. not only because it is the 'mother night' but we believe the dsir, or female ancestral spirits, are closer to our realm to be honored on this night.

 

the solstice ushers in the 12 days of Yule which is full of presents, visits, and feasting. we also have plenty of sumbels and blotar (our ritual honoring of the gods and goddesses) throughout.

 

on New Year's Eve there is general revelry complete with boasts from the outgoing year and oaths for the upcoming year.

 

it is a very special time of year for people of my faith, we celebrate much in the way our ancestors did because Yule (due to the absorption of customs and symbols by the Christian church) is our tradition that has stayed mostly in tact through the ages.

 

I love how you celebrate! Is there a large Norse community where you live?

[HeathenMom]

I love how you celebrate! Is there a large Norse community where you live?

 

thank you!

we have a hearth group of 5 families and sometimes have visiting families, but we live in Texas and sometimes have to drive almost 3 hours for get-togethers!

[EmilyK]

We just went to the Revels. If you have one in your town I would recommend it. It is solstice focused, though there were some Christmas carols. Our one this year was focused on an Irish village celebration, and I hear that next year we are "going" to Spain. So it is educational too. (You have to love music.)

[Guest Katia]

I have truly enjoyed reading this thread to see how everyone celebrates. I love to deepen my knowledge of holidays and traditions, and I love to find new ways to celebrate. I really like the emphasis on lights; I see a lot of similarities with the Christian celebrations.

 

A big Thank You to everyone who contributed.

 

PS: I hope it's ok to post this, since the thread was specifically addressed to atheists or pagans, and I am a Christian. I think Christians can learn a lot from other religions/beliefs.