Name that Holiday!

So we have our new pagan path. Generally, the rebirth of the Sun God is celebrated on Winter Solstice, which falls a few days before Christmas. Yeah, try telling the kids we don't do Christmas anymore. Heck try telling my mother that! Her reaction would take "bat shit crazy" to a new level and beyond! Which actually might be kind of fun to watch, but I digress... Anyway, I LIKE celebrating Christmas, and there are many people out there besides our little family unit who celebrate it without worrying about the Christian connotations (on a holiday that really never had anything to do with the birth of Christ in the first place if you look into it a bit!). So now, in addition to continuing on with the tradition of Christmas, we've added Winter Solstice to the mix. Because, you know, December wasn't crazy enough! LOL!

Actually I'm having a blast with it all this year! Ok, I still haven't gotten the Advent calendars finished that mark BOTH the Solstice AND Christmas (yeah, I know, they're late), but I have a ton of apple preserves ready to be sent out as gifts. We moved last summer and ended up in an area full of apple trees, so that was a great and inexpensive (and yummy!) gift to make! I still have all my holiday baking to do, which is on schedule for the next few days, and some presents to make as well. I finally mastered sewing a few years ago and it's easily one of the handiest skills I have.

Then you have the decorating side of things. Since we moved, nothing goes in the same place, so we're trying to figure out what fits where. For one of the first times, we didn't get a fresh tree. Not too sure how I feel about that, part of me LOVES a fresh tree, part of me thinks that's just a bad idea given the druid and all! I did go out and get a ton of fresh pine swags which are now hanging all over the house. Next year I'll run up to a close relations place and walk through the forest to collect the ones that have fallen, this year I copped out and bought them. Next year we hope to be in a different place. For one thing our yard literally has no trees! How can that be?? But hey, at least we do have a yard! No fence either though, so it makes creating a ritual circle a bit um awkward with the neighbors. I can see the reaction once I pull out a long dagger and point it in each direction! I somehow don't think our neighbor would let her daughter babysit here any more! LOL

Once the husband gets over his headcold that he apparently picked up over Thanksgiving, I'm going to have him cut 3 spots in a yule log to make a candle holder. Funny, at our old house we changed the doorknobs and the new ones were a little bigger. He had to go get this drill attachment that cuts perfect circles just the right side for fat pillar candles. See, things like that can ALWAYS be used for other purposes! We're definitely a "whatever works" kind of folk over here!

For the solstice, the local pagan group is having a huge shin-dig out at a local UU church. They have kids activites planned, a full ritual circle, and dancing and a general good time afterwards. Can't wait, sounds outstanding! Tomorrow night we'll go to our first bonfire. Just a casual get together that happens every week. Looking forward to that as well, though it's going to be very, very COLD! Then for Christmas we have all the usual with my parents coming up for the holiday. Which means I also need to get on the house...