yuletide traditions

[Herman Hessian]

hi everyone :sunny:

does anyone have any thoughts (apart from the obvious) as to interesting pre-christian/pagan ideas that can be incorporated in to the yuletide festivities - traditional foods, decorations, things that can be brought in to the house - just little touches that can add to the occasion ?

tell ya why: we have a nine year old, and are trying (with some success so far) to make her aware that there is far, far more to "christmas" than the nativity that she's force-fed by her C of E school, and the witless commercialism that underscores the whole modern concept. we've been through all the original derivations of the various facets of the "christian" ideas (the tree, gift-giving, seasonal/solstice ideas, the dates involved, the whole astral basis behind the stable/virgin myth etc), but it'd be great - as i say - if anyone could suggest a few extra subtleties that could enhance proceedings...for example, we've used the story of iceland's "christmas cat" (ok ok- we know it's only 19th century) to ensure that bedrooms are kept tidy over the festive period - a bit of spin on the original story, but it works a treat !

[ObsessedFae86]

hmm..not much I can think of but the yule log..ornament exchange on here as well as card exchange may open her eyes to seeing that its nice to share things from your heart with others..some of the things you said sound nice :)

[mucgwyrt]

I'd suggest having a family meal on the solstice on 21/22 December, and explain to her why that date is special :)

Apparently the 'traditional' time for warding ones house is yule, which is where I've always assumed the whole cleaning ones house before christmas comes from, too.

[CalisticSunrise]

my traditions.. that i will continue when my family is more than just me and my fiance... is pretty easy.. i have our "christmas" on the 21st/22nd I decorate our tree with a lot of natural items as well as a lot of stars... also when my mom and i use to bake cookies we would always use non-christian cookie cutters such as stars, circles, gingerbread and such.

i think the most important thing for seperating christmas and other holidays was really the emphasis on nature.... lots of pinecones, evergreens, birds nests if you can find any... and such... i'll try to think of other things i have done or do...

[Gerbillcat]

My mother is Catholic but last year i convinced her to celebrate Yule with me. Before the day i explained what the holiday was about and why i commerated it. We celebrated it on the 21st of December with a meal, we also baked cinammon buns and cookies and exchanged small gifts. I did an actual ritual later on while we weren't celebrating together as ofcourse she isn't Pagan but doing the other things was a really special experience and we intend to do the same again this year. The best thing i found when celebrating with someone who follows a different faith or isn't really familiar with yours is to pick things from the holiday that you think or know the other person will enjoy as it will make them more interested. Like for my mother i chose baking festive foods.

[Astara Seague]

We actually had a old fashioned christmas tree last year with candy garland cinnamon sticks,small bags of herbs and candles for lights, granted they werent real candles, they were electric, we also decorted with Fairys and elf figurines I have, then I explained how food was left for the woodland folk in the ancient times, the tree was pretty and quite the conversation starter.:nicetie:

[CalisticSunrise]

We actually had a old fashioned christmas tree last year with candy garland cinnamon sticks,small bags of herbs and candles for lights, granted they werent real candles, they were electric, we also decorted with Fairys and elf figurines I have, then I explained how food was left for the woodland folk in the ancient times, the tree was pretty and quite the conversation starter.:nicetie:

I love tree time ..lol... i never thought of using bags of herbs... i alway hang dried herbs, but i may have to try that this year... the ideas are already swimming