We take this season...be it Yule, Solstice, Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwaanza, etc...rather for granted thanks to the commercialism and media attention given to the "traditional" (a.k.a. Hollywood). Tonight, with the presents unwrapped, the pets playing quietly with their toys, the tree aglow, and dinner in the oven, it's rather nice to look back over the past few days.
It was our first true Yule celebration together--a quiet exchange of meaningful gifts honoring our individual Paths and a solitary bit of quiet ritual to say farewell to the darkness in expectation of the light. And, thanks to having step-daughters and, yes, buying into the commercialism like everyone else, we also honored the familial aspects of today with presents, the watching of "White Christmas," and a lovely meal. Then, since the children are back with their mother, the two of us honored our pre-established tradition and went to the movies.
Driving home just now, it dawned on me just how much more meaningful THIS year actually was. The children were happier this year without overindulgence (lots of activities celebrating the Season's riches--ice skating, hot cocoa by the fire, holiday light displays, etc)...the two of us finally found real meaning together in the season without all the hype (commercialism notwithstanding)...and, somehow, even though I've been a solitary for years, it was "more" this year.
There's a calm tonight....he's in his chair, I'm on the couch, the pets are grumbling amongst themselves about "rights" to the various toys and blankets they got. It's nice. It's a new moon...new beginnings...new calendar year pending. And, new fun just around the corner....
So, in the spirit of the Season (in whichever you choose to partake) and in the softness of the promise of moonlight, Merry Meet and Merry Part and Merry Meet Again.......
See you in 2009!
25 December 2008
07 December 2008
As the Holidays Approach...
I've been reading a number of articles recently which all seem reminiscences about the upcoming season. There are the "season of darkness" ones, the "what Yule used to mean" ones, and the "Christmas versus Yule" ones (those seem to dominate, actually). They all, though, appear to hold the same vision...that the holiday season we're entering into (upon the recent completion of the relatively secular celebration of eating we just went through) is one that's diverse and disjoint. Odd...
I'm from a Christian background...a Church of England background to be specific...and yet I've chosen a "Pagan" path. To me, the upcoming holidays aren't all that diverse...they are all a celebration of a return of Light--the Winter Solstice marks the turning from darkness to light, the Christian observance marks the entrance of the Child (light), and the Jewish observance is one celebration the miracle of light. We put lights on our houses, there are lights on the tree/Tree, and the stars are twinkling especially merrily in the icy darkness of midwinter nights.
Everything is celebrating light. And, in winter, light is especially embracing...like our Moon waxing and waning. Our homes glow, our fireplaces crackle welcomingly (or hiss in our case as it's gas), our kitchens (where I spend a goodly percentage of this season) practically radiate with delight as stoves simmer soups and stews and ovens bake enticingly warm breads and cakes.
Yes...some put more emphasis on the Christian or Jewish sacred festivals. And there are those (thankfully rare) who dismiss anything OTHER than the aforementioned festivals. For me, it's about the departure of the old.....the promise of the return of the Maiden from her slumber and the advancement of the Old One to her leisuretime. It's light and warmth and comfort offered in the "dead" of Winter. It's reassurance and renewal and a coming together. It's family and friends reunited, love restored, reunions made possible.
Isn't that what the other "mainline" holiday observances are all about too? So where's the negative diversity? The disconnection between the beliefs? If a name or a "tradition" is what separates us, a name and a tradition can bring us together. Look to the similarities...embrace the diversity as exciting and special to that other person...hold fast to the Light together.
In the softness of moonlight....
I'm from a Christian background...a Church of England background to be specific...and yet I've chosen a "Pagan" path. To me, the upcoming holidays aren't all that diverse...they are all a celebration of a return of Light--the Winter Solstice marks the turning from darkness to light, the Christian observance marks the entrance of the Child (light), and the Jewish observance is one celebration the miracle of light. We put lights on our houses, there are lights on the tree/Tree, and the stars are twinkling especially merrily in the icy darkness of midwinter nights.
Everything is celebrating light. And, in winter, light is especially embracing...like our Moon waxing and waning. Our homes glow, our fireplaces crackle welcomingly (or hiss in our case as it's gas), our kitchens (where I spend a goodly percentage of this season) practically radiate with delight as stoves simmer soups and stews and ovens bake enticingly warm breads and cakes.
Yes...some put more emphasis on the Christian or Jewish sacred festivals. And there are those (thankfully rare) who dismiss anything OTHER than the aforementioned festivals. For me, it's about the departure of the old.....the promise of the return of the Maiden from her slumber and the advancement of the Old One to her leisuretime. It's light and warmth and comfort offered in the "dead" of Winter. It's reassurance and renewal and a coming together. It's family and friends reunited, love restored, reunions made possible.
Isn't that what the other "mainline" holiday observances are all about too? So where's the negative diversity? The disconnection between the beliefs? If a name or a "tradition" is what separates us, a name and a tradition can bring us together. Look to the similarities...embrace the diversity as exciting and special to that other person...hold fast to the Light together.
In the softness of moonlight....
30 November 2008
Homecomings Part II...
And then you return to your own home...the holiday festivities have drawn to a close, the leftovers have already been exhausted, and you have to return to "reality." Your adult self comes back into focus. The bills have been arriving in the post, the animals need collecting from the kennel, the employer is expecting you on Monday.
Yup...reality.
The day of a return to reality is the loneliest and quietest and most "blue" days. It's a day when all you desire is to wrap up in a blanket, hold firmly to the relaxation and pampering (self-given or offered by family and friends) that you've experienced during your holiday, and hide from what you "know" is awaiting you in the morning. Not really a wise idea, but it's comforting.
But tomorrow always arrives. The employer always expects you, the bills (and junk mail) always turn up, and the animals need taking care of. And, you always have a holiday to look toward for another respite.
If all we look for, though, are the "calendar" holidays, our lives sink into despondency. On the Path I'm traveling, there are "mini" holidays from the world that incorporate the world and embrace it. All you have to do is make time--not an easy thing--to hold tight to the offered moments (what my hub' and I call "stolen moments" for a myriad of reasons) and utilize them. Embrace the five or ten minutes or the half hour when the animals (or children) are resting...and clear your mind to everything but the moment. Just "be."
If more people "got that" and held fast to the moments, it would be a much calmer, friendlier, more secure world. We'd be grounded...less apt to take things at face value only. We'd not stress so much...not worry so much...not judge so much. We'd be humane humans once again. The second half of a homecoming would be just as embraced as the first half, for we'd be less dependent on others to make our peacefulness and warmth FOR us--it would be a seamless whole.
So, welcome home, y'all.
In the softness of the forthcoming moonlight......welcome Home.
Yup...reality.
The day of a return to reality is the loneliest and quietest and most "blue" days. It's a day when all you desire is to wrap up in a blanket, hold firmly to the relaxation and pampering (self-given or offered by family and friends) that you've experienced during your holiday, and hide from what you "know" is awaiting you in the morning. Not really a wise idea, but it's comforting.
But tomorrow always arrives. The employer always expects you, the bills (and junk mail) always turn up, and the animals need taking care of. And, you always have a holiday to look toward for another respite.
If all we look for, though, are the "calendar" holidays, our lives sink into despondency. On the Path I'm traveling, there are "mini" holidays from the world that incorporate the world and embrace it. All you have to do is make time--not an easy thing--to hold tight to the offered moments (what my hub' and I call "stolen moments" for a myriad of reasons) and utilize them. Embrace the five or ten minutes or the half hour when the animals (or children) are resting...and clear your mind to everything but the moment. Just "be."
If more people "got that" and held fast to the moments, it would be a much calmer, friendlier, more secure world. We'd be grounded...less apt to take things at face value only. We'd not stress so much...not worry so much...not judge so much. We'd be humane humans once again. The second half of a homecoming would be just as embraced as the first half, for we'd be less dependent on others to make our peacefulness and warmth FOR us--it would be a seamless whole.
So, welcome home, y'all.
In the softness of the forthcoming moonlight......welcome Home.
27 November 2008
Homecomings...
There's a pleasant promise in coming home to one's familial domicile...at times mingled with the dread of past experiences. Which rules the visit is a matter of personal identification...the ability to both overlook and embrace "what's always been".
The soothing childhood sounds come back to you--coffee brewing in the morning, the crisp snap of the newspaper, the banter of parents (usually speaking about you as if you're still 13 which, on these trips, is almost alright). The sensations of not having to do or be or decide are welcomed for you've returned to that nurturing nest where you are NOT the primary.
This homecoming...this "childhood revisited"...is the way we live in Her. She nurtures and we honor her with our development. We keep coming back...weekly, monthly, at LEAST on the Wheel's design. It's our homecoming. The sights and sounds and scents of Nature's cycle...they're as warming and welcoming and as infinitely familiar as these family gatherings in which we participate.
What is Thanksgiving's purpose? It's a day to celebrate and remember and bring together. It's the national recognition of what's "important." So, Happy Thanksgiving to those of you visiting the Lair today....and Blessed Be!
The soothing childhood sounds come back to you--coffee brewing in the morning, the crisp snap of the newspaper, the banter of parents (usually speaking about you as if you're still 13 which, on these trips, is almost alright). The sensations of not having to do or be or decide are welcomed for you've returned to that nurturing nest where you are NOT the primary.
This homecoming...this "childhood revisited"...is the way we live in Her. She nurtures and we honor her with our development. We keep coming back...weekly, monthly, at LEAST on the Wheel's design. It's our homecoming. The sights and sounds and scents of Nature's cycle...they're as warming and welcoming and as infinitely familiar as these family gatherings in which we participate.
What is Thanksgiving's purpose? It's a day to celebrate and remember and bring together. It's the national recognition of what's "important." So, Happy Thanksgiving to those of you visiting the Lair today....and Blessed Be!
23 November 2008
Baking...
There's something peaceful and centering about baking bread. The velvety softness of freshly-sifted flour...the warm, sour smell of proofed yeast...the constant rhythm of kneeding the dough and forming the loaves or boules or what-have-you.
I've been baking. It's my celebration of the season. It's bringing nature's bounty--wheat, millet, barley, oats, nuts and seeds, etc.--into a flavorful concoction that can be shared with friends and family. It's celebrating the bounty She offers to us...and embracing it as it should be.
Looking out my kitchen window as I mix or kneed or wait for the oven timer to "ding", I can see the chill breezes play in the pecan tree. Squirrels scamper in its limbs, glut themselves on the last nuts clinging on the branches, nest in its topmost reaches. Smoke lazily billows from our neighbor's chimney. The errant cat wanders through from yard to yard...anticipating dinner and watching for diversions (a mouse, bug, or bird).
The world is starting to bed down for its annual rest....and I'm baking...'putting up' for the forthcoming season as it were. I've a cup of soothing tea beside me, bread scenting the entire house as it bakes in the kitchen behind me, and sleeping pets purring and snoring as appropriate all around.
That I could freeze this moment in perpetuity....
I've been baking. It's my celebration of the season. It's bringing nature's bounty--wheat, millet, barley, oats, nuts and seeds, etc.--into a flavorful concoction that can be shared with friends and family. It's celebrating the bounty She offers to us...and embracing it as it should be.
Looking out my kitchen window as I mix or kneed or wait for the oven timer to "ding", I can see the chill breezes play in the pecan tree. Squirrels scamper in its limbs, glut themselves on the last nuts clinging on the branches, nest in its topmost reaches. Smoke lazily billows from our neighbor's chimney. The errant cat wanders through from yard to yard...anticipating dinner and watching for diversions (a mouse, bug, or bird).
The world is starting to bed down for its annual rest....and I'm baking...'putting up' for the forthcoming season as it were. I've a cup of soothing tea beside me, bread scenting the entire house as it bakes in the kitchen behind me, and sleeping pets purring and snoring as appropriate all around.
That I could freeze this moment in perpetuity....
Welcome to the Lair....
Merry Meet and welcome!
'Tis the time when Autumn draws to a close...a time of renewal. This is my favorite time of the year. The trees have almost exhausted their showiness, the breezes foretell the coming sleep, and the air is scented with the warmth of family fireplaces. It's the homecoming time.
And you discovered this little home....so I welcome you in.
Were you here in person, I'd pour you a cup of soothing tea, slice a bit of homemade bread, and offer you a moment of respite in front of a crackling fire...surrounded by books and warmth and comfort.
'Tis the time when Autumn draws to a close...a time of renewal. This is my favorite time of the year. The trees have almost exhausted their showiness, the breezes foretell the coming sleep, and the air is scented with the warmth of family fireplaces. It's the homecoming time.
And you discovered this little home....so I welcome you in.
Were you here in person, I'd pour you a cup of soothing tea, slice a bit of homemade bread, and offer you a moment of respite in front of a crackling fire...surrounded by books and warmth and comfort.
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