Another friend has messaged
me this week wracked with remorse because they won’t be able to see me or
celebrate Christmas with me till after the New Year.
It always makes me chuckle as
they tie themselves up in knots apologising and thinking I will go off the deep
end at being abandoned at such a special time of year. The thing is, I’m pagan
so the 26th and 27th of December and the following days
don’t really mean the same to me. Yule or the night of the 21st into
the 22nd of December, the time when the amount of daylight increases
slowly, is my observance; the turning of the wheel of the year, “the return of
the light” or “the birth of the sun” and a time of reflection about those who
have passed over in the previous year, but also a time of hope for the future.
I did the whole Christmas and
Santa thing with my kids when they were young because it was important to them
and should be respected. As they got older I lessened the emphasis on it and
let them go their own way. Now for me it is a time to give small gifts of
candles, incense and sweets to welcome the light back into our lives and
communities. Of all the festivals of the calendar year this is the one that
means the most to me. It is a simple celebration in comparison with the
gluttony, indulgence and expense of the Christmas and New Year excesses I see
around me. I light candles, wave goodbye to the dark half of the year, the Holly
King and Queen and welcome the Oak King and Queen. The time spent with close
friends and relations sipping ale or mead and eating cake over a nice fire bowl
or candlelight indoors is worth more to me than any gifts that can be bought.
I wish everyone a peaceful
Yule and a creative beginning to the light half of the year. xx
