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....