Happy Holidays- Be Thankful Somebody Cares Enough to Wish You Well

Now that it’s December, most of us are thinking about our upcoming winter holiday, whatever that may be. There has been a huge dispute these last few years on what we should call the holiday season, most sides taking a rather hostile stance with their opinion. I guess maybe I’m the odd one out when I say, “Whats the big deal?” The point is, most everyone celebrates something during this time of year, why can’t we all just agree to respect that maybe it’s not the same thing as what we celebrate?

Of all these arguments, the most heated is between “Happy holidays” or “Merry Christmas”. Why? Because for many years here in America, most everybody that celebrated something probably celebrated Christmas. Now that we in America are beginning to become enlightened to other paths, it seems more appropriate, or *cough* “politically correct” to say “Happy holidays.” The fact that President Obama celebrated with a “Holiday tree” last year threw some people into hysterics. So I guess my question would be, “Why does it matter? The point is you don’t usually know a stranger’s particular path, so why not just wish them good tidings, whatever path they follow.” Seems pretty simple to me. I guess, though, it is a matter of life and death for some people who are so uncomfortable with their spirituality that they feel a compelling urge to hang at dawn anybody who does not believe what they believe.

It’s time to face the music, fellow Americans. Not everybody believes what you believe. Many of those who celebrate Christmas lay claim to the whole season, saying that their religion started the whole holiday. I’m not going to go into a long history of December holidays 101, but suffice it to say that with a little research, you will see that the ancient pagan holiday of Yule was the original December holiday.

I personally celebrate Yule and Christmas every year. I am pagan myself but I grew up celebrating Christmas with my family and it has always been a time of magic, love, and togetherness for us. These days everybody in my household, with the exception of my mom, is also pagan. Although my spirituality is nature based, I have no problem celebrating Christmas for what it means to me: love and togetherness. As a matter of fact, after celebrating Christmas my entire childhood, it would seem weird not to feel the magic of Christmas eve and morning. Does this mean I am not confident in my spirituality? No. It means that I am open minded enough to enjoy something of a different path for what its worth. Even most atheists buy each other a present and get together with family.

Yule is definitely the December holiday I get excited about. It is the one with the most personal meaning to me as an individual. But do I take offence when somebody wishes me a Merry Christmas or happy holiday? Of course not. I think it is important that we respect each other, no matter what our paths or beliefs. Nobody has the right to inflict their personal path on the entire nation, its a very small minded thing to do. I guess a good way to put it is, a person who celebrates Christmas would be very distraught if everybody HAD to say “blessed Yule” or “happy Kwanzaa.” Well that’s how we all feel. Its ok to give good tidings, but if somebody wishes you tidings of a different faith, don’t be a dick. You should be happy that they are wishing you peace, love, and blessings at all. This goes for any tidings of a different path, including “happy holidays.” People who wish you happy holidays aren’t doing it to be “politically correct”, they’re doing it because they’re open minded and respectful of all faiths. Even though I’m pagan, I still say “Merry Christmas” to everybody who wishes me a merry Christmas. If I’m not sure what they celebrate, I just say “happy holidays” or “blessed Yule.”

The point is, put it to bed. This is the 21st century. We have bigger problems than the way somebody chose to wish us holiday blessings. You know, like the irreversible climate situation, GMOs, rainforest exploitation, and the media. Time to wake up.

Samhain 2012

 

Samhain,  (pronounced SOW-in), is generally celebrated on October 31, although some celebrate on November 1. This holiday marks the final harvest and the beginning of the darkness of Winter. It is the Celtic new year and many great feasts take place on this day. During this time the veil between the worlds is the thinnest and the normal laws of space and time are suspended.

Samhain is a very good time to preform divinations of any sort. Whether you use oracle cards, scrying, pendulums, or some other form of divination, the answers will be clear on this day. Many people like celebrate with a feast by setting places at the table for deceased ancestors and family members. Apples are a common item left for those who have passed on as they are considered the food of the dead. This holiday is a great day to make magickal crafts such as a besoms, a book 0f shadows, or gifts and offerings to the dead. The dead can also be honored by lighting a candle for each person remembered and placing pictures of the deceased on your alter.

Magick is particularly potent on this day, as the veil between the worlds is now at its thinnest. Contact with the dead, guardians, or guides will be much easier during this time. Strange things may happen during the night of this celebration, as spirits now find it easier to reach us through the veil. It is a good time to share with friends and family around a bonfire, sharing stories of ancestors and experiences with the otherworld. A walk in the woods with those who are close to you at twilight on this day would be most magickal as well.

It is a good time to do meditations and journeys to the otherworld on this day. Travel between the worlds will be much easier at this time. A meditation or journey to ask for answers to questions or guidance from guides and ancestors would probably have the most success on this day. It is a good time to get in contact with native spirits of the land where you live as well. All land has guardians watching over it of some sort, whether it be the spirit of the land itself, tree, earth, and wind spirits, or the spirits of ancient peoples who have long lived on and protected the land as sacred. An outside meditation in the woods or in a field will bring much insight and connection with these spirits. You should leave an offering in a field or around the base of a tree where you meditated when you are finished, to show thanks for the guidance of the spirits, and to honor them.

It is a great feeling when you have established a real connection with the spirits of the land you live on. It is a feeling of mutual respect and love between you and the land, no matter where you go on your property, you feel as though you have friends watching over you. It is as though you begin to understand the feelings and thoughts of the land, and you become one with it.

What is Samhain not? It is not a holiday of death and darkness nor a time to celebrate evil. It is a time to honor the dead and to get in touch with guides and ancestors on the other side. It is a time of celebration of the wheel of the year and the old new year. It saddens me to see the extents some religious organizations will go to in order to make paganism look bad. In Poland, for example, an archbishop has been putting out “notice” of the “evils” of paganism and halloween, saying this is a holiday of darkness and death used to celebrate evil spirits. Nothing could be further from the truth. Paganism and Samhain are ancient, earth based religions and celebrations. Pagans are normal people, most that you meet you will find are very loving, caring, open minded humans who just want peace. Pagans have nothing to do with evil spirits of any sort and do not celebrate contact with them, as a matter of fact, we do not even acknowledge nor believe in the evils which mainstream religion so often accuses us of worshiping. The archbishop went on to say how halloween distracts people from celebrating all saints day. Perhaps his memory is lapsing, because all saints day was originally intended to make pagans celebrate and forget something other than what they believed, in other words, Samhain. Therefore, who is distracting being distracted by what?

I will be spending Samhaim at home this year with my family. I plan on lighting candles for my deceased loved ones, the witches who suffered during the days of the trials, and the native spirits of my land. We will probably have some sort of a special dinner and take a walk in our woods in the evening to experience the magickal energies of the holiday outside. It will probably be too wet to light a bonfire, due to the hurricane rains affecting my state. Later I will do a ritual to honor the spirits, a special meditation, and maybe some divination. After all that I plan on cuddling up with my blanket and my loved ones and enjoying the magick of the night.

I hope all of you have a blessed Samhain and enjoy the magick of the night!

Blessed be