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Holiday Survival Guide

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    Holiday Survival Guide

    I was thinking that for many of us, the holidays can be tricky to navigate. Many Pagans have family or friends or coworkers whose reactions to their Paganism range from scorn to outright hostility... How do you navigate the minefield of being Pagan around the holidays? Do people know you are Pagan? Do you keep quiet? Do you do Yule AND Christmas, one or the other, one as the other? What works (or doesn't work) for you?
    Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of HistoryPagan Devotionals, because the wind and the rain is our Bible
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    #2
    Re: Holiday Survival Guide

    I'll be honest with you - to me, it isn't necessary to have my thoughts, feelings, beliefs, etc. accepted, validated, approved, etc. by others.

    I just don't say things to people who will have trouble with them.

    Maybe this seems like hiding, but to me it seems more like being polite - polite in the sense that it is rude to try to force people to understand something they are not intellectually or emotionally ready to deal with.

    If, though, it ever happened that a person is being actually being oppressed for being non-Christian (or whatever - like, for being Christian, for example) I'd speak up. But usually I don't see much of a problem at my local level.
    Every moment of a life is a horrible tragedy, a slapstick comedy, dark nihilism, golden illumination, or nothing at all; depending on how we write the story we tell ourselves.

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      #3
      Re: Holiday Survival Guide

      I don't make a big deal of it really. I go to the forest on my own at solstice to have a small celebration of my own. I'd like to be able to do Yule without all the Christ stuff, but right now that's not possible.
      A few of my friends know I'm pagan and actually make an effort to support that, that's nice. One did wish me happy Yule this year
      My husband knows and supports, his mother doesn't know and we're pretty sure she'd have a cow if she found out. She started suspecting I'm not Christian a while back and she's been trying to save my soul ever since... she's very religious.
      Anyway. My husband goes to church with her on Christmas eve, I stay home and hang out with one of our friends. Then we celebrate Christmas with her. I don't enjoy it for a number of reasons (some religious, some childhood trauma), but it means a lot to her so i smile and bear it. Just because it's not my favourite day doesn't mean i wanna ruin it for others. I wear my thor's hammer under my clothes, that's all the defiance I need . And like Corbin, I don't tell anyone that would make a problem of it, but I would defend anyone else in a heartbeat.
      You remind me of the babe
      What babe?
      The babe with the power
      What power?
      The Power of voodoo
      Who do?
      You do!
      Do what?
      Remind me of the babe!

      Army of Darkness: Guardians of the Chat

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        #4
        Re: Holiday Survival Guide

        Since I am medically retired work is not an issue. Familial wise I do what I want but I do not wear my spirituality on my sleeve as it were and ritual / ceremony is not a major component of my practice so that doesn't really play into things. When I do get together with family and they do prayer or such they pray to their beliefs and I pray to mine.

        Some aspects get sort of interesting, for instance my grandchildren know of Krampus and he is part of their season. The rest of the family not really known to them.
        I'm Only Responsible For What I Say Not For What Or How You Understand!

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          #5
          Re: Holiday Survival Guide

          Eh, I don't share my beliefs with people outside of here. It's just not worth the trouble and I don't really follow any specific path anymore, so I don't really identify with any particular holiday. I don't do presents (except for birthdays and anniversaries) and I hate getting gifts for holidays because I feel obligated to reciprocate.

          I don't exactly hide my beliefs either, but they are rather easy to conceal. I do frequently tell folks that I don't celebrate the mainstream holidays, when prompted. I think it's becoming more common these days because people don't really seem surprised or shocked by that admission. Or people just don't give a shit anymore.
          �Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted. And experience is often the most valuable thing you have to offer.�
          ― Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture
          Sneak Attack
          Avatar picture by the wonderful and talented TJSGrimm.

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            #6
            Re: Holiday Survival Guide

            My coworkers know about my religious beliefs. It may just be the team that I work with, but for the most part, I haven't felt any real hostility over it. If religion comes up (which it does since I work in a Catholic hospital) I share my personal beliefs. I tend to ease into it, with the fact that I'm UU and CUUPs affiliated. If people ask questions I explain, if they don't I generally drop it. I do explain that I don't celebrate Christmas specifically, but still participate in the spirit of joy of the season and the secular events associated with the holiday such as gift giving. I don't bow my head or close my eyes if they do a prayer, and I'm not required to. So, that's been easy enough for me.

            Family is a bit different. Most of them are on my Facebook, so they're bound to know. I don't hide it, and I do share pagan related posts (including many that I get off your Musings page, Thal). But we don't really talk about it. There were a few Jesus comments a year or two ago around Christmas, but it was a bit chaotic with all the kids running around so I just took Nova elsewhere and played with the children for awhile.

            It has been extremely difficult getting folks to understand that we don't value some of the same Christmas ideas, but it's actually been more of a struggle with the things I consider more secular than religious. "Santa" doesn't visit our house and leave gifts for our daughter. And even if all the other kids get a gift from "Santa" at grandma and grandpa's, I would rather our daughter know who actually got it for her. And that she doesn't need more toys. I value activities for her more. Pay for her swim lessons, visits to the trampoline park, gas money for backpacking trips. But just this last year she probably got $300 worth of toys. Those are the biggest points of contention, and maybe I shouldn't let it bother me, but I've made it extremely clear for the last two and a half years, and people just ignore it. So, yeah, that's the hardest thing I face with the holidays.
            We are what we are. Nothing more, nothing less. There is good and evil among every kind of people. It's the evil among us who rule now. -Anne Bishop, Daughter of the Blood

            I wondered if he could ever understand that it was a blessing, not a sin, to be graced with more than one love.
            It could be complicated; of course it could be complicated. And it opened one up to the possibility of more pain and loss.
            Still, it was a blessing I would never relinquish. Love, genuine love, was always a cause for joy.
            -Jacqueline Carey, Naamah's Curse

            Service to your fellows is the root of peace.

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              #7
              Re: Holiday Survival Guide

              It's not really a problem for me. I celebrate the solstices and equinoxes when there is time to, but most often, they pass without much more than a silent acknowledgement from me.

              I don't share my spirituality with my friends, family, or even my spouse, though I don't hide it from anyone, either. I just don't do anything anymore these days. I still have an altar - it collects dust. I still have a book collection and an interest in the natural world, but that's something I feel every human should be interested in.

              At the solstices, I try to throw large bonfires, and the winter solstice in particular is popular with friends up here in the north, but this year I came home from work on the same day as the solstice, and tried to wrangle people last minute, but nobody was available, and instead of celebrating on my own, I did nothing. The solstices are group affairs for me - I'd rather celebrate them with others than celebrate them solo.

              I don't practice the other sabbats anymore - living where I do, they don't make any sense. The first harvest is often the last for me, and the south is celebrating spring long before I'm even out of the clutches of winter.

              I celebrate Christmas as a secular holiday - I like mulled wine, and baked goods, and presents as much as the next person.


              Mostly art.

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