Yule 2013

[Sondst]

This is my first time celebrating Yule.

What do you do for Yule?

[Malflick]

Re: Yule 2013

Celebrate the holiday my folks ripped off from Yule, and set up a big Pagan try with Christian ornaments on it :P

I kid.

Okay, no, that's actually what I do.

Anyways, I am curious what other people do. Last Christmas I didn't even know Neo-Paganism really existed, and so time for me to sit down and learn .

[Rowanwood]

Re: Yule 2013

Maflick does have a point. A lot of secular Xmas activities are pagan in nature, so even during the height of my bitterness against organized religion, I enjoyed the holiday. The tree and lights and gifts and food? Works for me.

I have made pagan themed ornaments for my trees over the years. Painted pinecones and seeds. Dehydrated orange slices make beautiful sun ornaments. Wire wrapped around cinnamon sticks, etc. Crocheted snowflakes. I still use some of them to this day.

There are lots of fun options. Even pagan cookies. Just have at it.

[Carlin]

Re: Yule 2013

I usually decorate with natural things like holly, cinnamon sticks, pine cones and snowflakes made out of twigs (don't glue them together, use thread, and don't use glitter - then you can return them after you're done). Yule trees are lovely.

I like to go for a walk, see the sun come up if I can. Winter Solstice is my favourite holiday. 2009 was very memorable! I went for a long walk in the countryside. It was the most beautiful snow covered day, and the sun was low in the sky (got some great pictures!). All was well until I got stuck in a sudden snow storm - but even that, frightening though it was, really made the day special.

We usually exchange one present each on Solstice, the rest gets kept for Christmas (which we celebrate as a secular family day, the rest of my family being atheists who dislike Christmas but feel obligated to celebrate it anyway). I can't stand the commercialism of Christmas, and Solstice is a time of peace, meaning and respite in the middle of all that.

Light up the dark. Light candles and string up the fairy lights. Have a family meal. Have fun.

[anubisa]

Re: Yule 2013

I celebrate Christmas with my Mom, Dad, Sis, her husband, and nephew. They are Catholic. Personally, I decorate the altar with Yule decorations and white candles. I also pray to Isis more during this time. Have a happy Yule hon!

[Raphaeline]

Re: Yule 2013

Before we had kids, my husband and I (and company, if we had any that year) would hold an all-night vigil for the sun and greet it with a ritual. After we started breeding, however, we stopped staying up all night - instead we get up early to greet the dawn. That's also when we open presents. We have a tradition the night before of watching A Christmas Story and a variety of other Christmas movies.

We always have a tree or a Yule log, and sometimes have both. (We call it a Christmas tree because it's just so ingrained in both of us.) We attend the Christmas celebrations of our families, but we do that for the sake of family, and since none of them are religious anyway, it doesn't feel like we're encroaching on someone else's celebration. In fact, the main difference that we have from them is that we open presents a few days earlier, on the Winter Solstice.