This is the December Blog Comment Content Contest. To enter your name into the monthly drawing, please leave a comment to this post containing content related to the post. Why do we require you to leave real content? This cuts down on bots, spammers, and non-information being posted. The drawing will be held on January 2nd, allowing you one extra day to enter the drawing.

This month’s winner will receive a copy of Happy Songs of Death by Marc Gunn.

Greetings and well met, our friends and customers (if you are a customer, you are a friend!)!

Yule is upon us in only a few short weeks. This time of year always brings to mind memories both happy and sad. The cold winter months, as I spoke of in the last blog contest post, are a time for introspection and reflection on the past, as well as a time for preparing for the future. I am going to reflect today on some of my past memories of this season.

When I was a little boy we lived in the boonies of Colorado. Or should I say, out in the middle of no where! lol It was a wonderful place to live, but very primitive by today’s standards. We didn’t even have an indoor bathroom and shared our phone line with our nearest neighbors. Some of the readers of this post may be old enough to remember times like that, but I am talking about the early 1980′s here, a time when most everyone in the “civilized” world had indoor plumbing, private phone lines and cable TV was becoming common. But not for my little family. I lived with my mother, father, and one of my older siblings during much of my time in Colorado. We were a close-knit group and had many other relatives in the area, all of whom were very warm and loving towards us (and still are!).

Winters were cold and harsh for us, our little house had a gas heater in the kitchen, my parents used an electric heater in their bedroom. My brother and I shared a bedroom at the time. Our room was right off the kitchen. Large even by today’s standards, the bedroom was covered in dark wood paneling and had linoleum flooring. Only one window, north facing. The room was often on the cold side during this time of year.

But despite all the apparent “hardships” of the home, we were a happy and loving family, never really lacking for warmth and company. We were less than 15 miles from the nearest two towns and would often go into town to see friends and family. I was only in second grade when we  moved to Nebraska, so my memories of childhood are sometimes confused. However, I do remember that we would set up our Christmas shortly after Thanksgiving each year. It was a big day. My parents would get into the holiday spirit early and my brother and I would follow suit. For a time some of our other siblings lived in the area or even with us, so our home was always full of family and friends.

I remember one Christmas in Colorado when my brother and I were being sneaky and peaked at our Christmas presents after they had been wrapped and placed under the tree. Our parents knew we were going to do it, hard to hide things from your parents when you are just small children. Henry is five years older than I, but this particular Christmas that would have made him only about 10. I do not remember exactly what our presents were that year, but they were what we wanted. I do know that. I believe we both got hand knitted slippers from our aunt who lived about 15 miles away. I remember those slippers because I wore them until my big toes stuck out the ends.

Christmas was important to my family then, as my father was very ill and we never were sure what holiday would be the last one he was with us. But he never let his illness get in the way of making his family and friends happy. I remember that he was very active in the church that we attended and made sure that everything went smoothly when the pastor was elsewhere (there were two sister churches to our’s). For my family, our church was our family. We had many friends that we were close with in that congregation, and some of which we still have contact with today, almost thirty years after moving to Nebraska.

Aside from memories of past winter holidays, this time of year brings to mind many other thoughts and ideas. I look at this time of year as a chance to remember my friends that I do not get to see very often, as well as a time to look forward to the coming seasons. The days are still growing shorter, which means that the return of the Sun is approaching. though we may be going into the coldest time of the year, the return of the Sun at Solstice is a reminder that the darkest and coldest hour is but a passing thing.  The warmth and light of the spring and summer are not that far away.

The Winter Solstice, Yule, is a time of celebration. It may have been usurped by other religions as Christmas or what have you, but any way that you look at it, this holiday is a time to celebrate life and love and family and friends.

Gods rest ye merry Pagan folk

Let nothing ye dismay

Remember that Sun returns

Upon this Solstice day

The growing dark is ending now

And Spring is on her way

Those lines are from the Pagan Yule carol that some of us are familiar with, and others know as “God Rest Ye Gentlemen.” Last Yule, the Pagan Alliance Network celebrated Yule with ritual and song. We sang carols, old and new. That was one of them.

Yule is a time to celebrate life, love, friends, and family. As Pagans, many of us often feel that in order to celebrate the season with family we must compromise our beliefs and attend Sunday services with our Christian relatives, or light the candles of the Menorah , or any number of other non-Pagan beliefs. We are not compromising ourselves to do this. Celebrating with our non-Pagan families is a way to bring their love closer to ourselves. There is nothing wrong with wishing to spend time with them and celebrate with them in their way.

Perhaps this year, or the next (as this may take extra planning), you could ask your more open-minded family members to help you celebrate your beliefs at this season. I am not suggesting that you make them stand Circle with you and sing the praises of your particular God or Goddess (or combination there of). But I am suggesting that you share some of your beliefs with them at this time of year. It is a tradition amongst many Christian denominations to have a candle vigil at Solstice. They do so to celebrate the birth of Jesus, we do so to celebrate the return of the Sun. If you look at the mythologies of various religions and cultures, you can draw the parallels that show that the birth of Jesus and the return of the Sun are very similar and could be construed as one and the same. Nancy Chandler Pittman, the founder of the Trinitarian Wiccan Tradition, has shown many of these parallels.

Now, how do you celebrate this season?

I celebrate it by sharing my life and my love with my friends and family. I used to make sure that I dropped my pocket change into the bell ringer’s bucket at every store that I went into when shopping. I do not do that any longer, my charity starts at home. What do I mean by that? When I have the spare change or the spare time, I donate it to those in my community who may be in need. That may mean that I visit a friend who is unable to go places on here do to disability; I may cook a meal for my friends who are struggling to make ends meet on a single income; or I may go spend time in a local soup kitchen. Other ways that I celebrate by sharing are to visit with my friends, maybe give them a hand crafted gift or help them to clean their homes. I have many friends who are not able to do everything that they need to do. I spend the cold months, especially, helping them when I can.

I do buy presents for family and friends. I do decorate when I can. But I do not, or at least try not, fall to the commercialization of the season. Sometimes it is unavoidable, but I do my best.

A friend of mine and I have begun a new tradition. It may seem silly, but we make sure to get together at least once in the month of December to watch Meet Me in St Louis.

This is the December Blog Comment Content Contest. To enter your name into the monthly drawing, please leave a comment to this post containing content related to the post. Why do we require you to leave real content? This cuts down on bots, spammers, and non-information being posted. The drawing will be held on January 2nd, allowing you one extra day to enter the drawing.

This month’s winner will receive a copy of Happy Songs of Death by Marc Gunn.

A note on Happy Songs of Death by Marc Gunn. This is a collection of songs from his writing and career, as well as songs that have inspired him over the years, that celebrate death. Though we are in the season of Yule, we are also in the Dark of the Year. This is a very appropriate collection of songs for anyone. I am sure that you will find it to be uplifting, not depressing. You can learn more about Marc and his other projects by going to www.marcgunn.com.

Remember to do some of your holiday shopping with Pangaia Metaphysical Store. We have a collection of unique and hand crafted items for your Witchy needs, as well as a selection of books, music, accessories and apparel to satisfy your most discerning of friends and family.