Happy Solstice...

[jackM50black]

Happy Winter Solstice to All!

As part of my annual solstice ritual I danced nude around an open campfire in my front yard. My feet were cold... but they will warm up in a few days.

[jackM50black]

Happy Winter Solstice to All!

As part of my annual solstice ritual I danced nude around an open campfire in my front yard. My feet were cold... but they will warm up in a few days.

[sv-wolf]

Happy Winter Solstice to All!

As part of my annual solstice ritual I danced nude around an open campfire in my front yard. My feet were cold... but they will warm up in a few days.

That is what I call a real spiritual commitment to your chosen way jack.

Tried to picture it, then decided not to.

[sv-wolf]

Today we are not much different really in what we celebrate, as you see from the picture; we have a tree, we have presents, we have a understanding of the origins of Santa and all the trimmings of the holiday. It doesn't take a lot of research to see the things everyone loves about Christmas, is really from the Pagan Solstice celebration of old.

So... we call our celebration Solstice, we celebrate it on the shortest day of the year, and we do the same things most people do on this holiday. Our kids open gifts a few days early. I continue to wish most people a Merry Christmas, and we celebrate on the 25th with people outside our immediate family for their convenience and to honor their traditions.

But since we are Pagans and want other Pagans to know they are not alone, we send out this greeting and wish them a Happy Solstice and a wish for a fantastic returning of the sun.

So this was not about trying to quiet or stop Christmas wishes. It seemed maybe that was misunderstood by some above.

Hi Scan. Just interested. Is your Paganism something that you and Loonette have shaped personally as a way of creating meaning for your lives? Or do you get together with others in some more formal way and accept a more structured set of beliefs?

Though I'm not a Christian, or a Pagan or anything really, I still have a craving to formalise my world and give it significance. The lunar cycles, the solstices and equinoxes, the seasons and chinese cosmology do that for me in a casual sort of way. I can't say that it amounts to a set of beliefs, it is just something I play with, though over the years it has come to develop a richer human meaning. It gives me a sense of connection with the changing year and the world around me. I'm a country boy really (as far as anyone is a country boy in this part of the world) and I do like to feel part of the landscape which is the most powerful thing I can conceive. It keeps me grounded.

Hope you had a good solstice and a great holiday.

Warm regards

Richard

[scan]

Hi Scan. Just interested. Is your Paganism something that you and Loonette have shaped personally as a way of creating meaning for your lives? Or do you get together with others in some more formal way and accept a more structured set of beliefs?

Hope you had a good solstice and a great holiday.

Warm regards

Richard

Thanks Richard. Happy holidays and blessing to you.

Hard to answer your questions 100% for me. For me I have embraced being Pagan as a statement that I am not Christian, nor any of the other organized religions. I feel a spiritual connection to nature, and that I am "one" with everything. It is also why I embrace Taoism as a philosophy, in that it also suggests that we are "one" with everything.

We have also recently opened ourselves up to the local Pagan community and have found there are many different practices. Some that lean towards druidism, some that lean toward Wicca/witchcraft, and some who are simply not willing to participate in organized religion, but are still very spiritual beings. I suppose this is more like me. I refuse to honor any documents that were carried by man as though we could accurately keep records for thousands of years, through corrupt men, and leaders who decided what would be in a given holy book. Sorry, that to me is the blind leading the blind.

We don't do rituals, with pentagrams on the floor, or using daggers, or magic wands. Many people who do this in the Pagan community do these things to symbolically focus energy, and to do spells (which are the same as prayers really). I would be willing to participate with others, but we have our own personal routines and practices, that are much more conventional.

I suppose in a way this is an extension of being agnostic - you know, the idea man cannot know the nature of God, but they usually don't believe anything because of this idea. We have more closely embraced that man cannot know the nature of God, but we still honor God and we think the ancients had a better tie to God than any modern religious person.

I cannot say for sure what Loonette's personal Pagan belief system is, as we both have very unique views, but both consider ourselves active Pagans. I can say we both honor the seasons, respect Mother Nature, and both think there is indeed a God - the same God everyone else gives other names.

Thanks for the interest, and let me know if you have more questions.

[Z (fka Sweet Tooth)]

Loonette I hope you and your family had a wonderful celebration. That's an awesome tree by the way!

[Loonette]

That's an awesome tree by the way!

Thanks! The photo really doesn't even come close to showing how cool it looks in person. It took me a long time to find what I consider the perfect fake tree. We have collected a lot of ornaments over the past 21 years, and I like that this tree has enough space between the boughs for the ornaments to hang.

Cheers,
Loonette

[Loonette]

I cannot say for sure what Loonette's personal Pagan belief system is, as we both have very unique views, but both consider ourselves active Pagans. I can say we both honor the seasons, respect Mother Nature, and both think there is indeed a God

Actually, you hit it pretty close for me as well. I wouldn't say our beliefs are very unique to each other's - maybe slightly though. I'm a believer in reincarnation and the power of karma. But not in the stereotypical way that gets ridiculed in our pop culture.

I enjoy celebrating the eight sabbats of the Pagan season wheel - they are in direct coincidence with the earth's yearly cycle of nature, something that cannot be debated by man because it just "is" and always has been. Most people are only familiar with Winter Solstice, Samhain (Halloween) and sometimes Summer Solstice. Ostara (Spring Equinox) is typically overshadowed by Easter celebrations. The two solstices and two equinoxes of the year are actually considered "minor" sabbats. The four major sabbats fall alternately in between those (with Beltane being my absolute favorite of the major sabbats).

I also believe that we are designed to "wonder" about God, but that we will never truly know an exact answer. What fun would that be? - we'd have no more purpose if we knew it all. So I never declare that I know what's right as a belief system for all - I just know what feels right to me. The only thing I don't like about any person in any walk of life is if they are a poser. Hypocrites are rated about the lowest on my personal respect-o-meter.

Using the term "Pagan" is pretty general for me personally. I really have custom built a belief system for myself based on my gleanings from information I receive regarding all sorts of religions. If a religion is preaching what is essentially nothing more than man-made rules to keep people under control, it just doesn't register as something that can work for me. The main tenet of the Pagan/Wiccan faith is... an it harm none, do what thou will Sounds good to me.

I think that anyone who has a personal attachment to a winter holiday should feel open to express that joy. This thread was started, as I had stated, because those of us involved in a minority faith don't always stand up to share that joy. It does seem that a couple of folks took it as yet another attempt by a non-Christian to bash down the Christmas holiday. Gummi using an f-bomb in my thread was certainly not appreciated - I wouldn't consider an attitude in alignment with the spirit of the holidays, but I guess that's his style. I truly was just trying to wish those who cared a "Happy Solstice". I really have nothing against Christian celebrations - they're just as meaningful (hopefully) to a Christian as my celebrations are to me.

Cheers,
Loonette

[Gummiente]

It does seem that a couple of folks took it as yet another attempt by a non-Christian to bash down the Christmas holiday. Gummi using an f-bomb in my thread was certainly not appreciated - I wouldn't consider an attitude in alignment with the spirit of the holidays, but I guess that's his style.

Good thing I happened to check in on this thread. You read WAY more into my response than what was actually there. I grew up celebrating a holiday called "Christmas" and still refer to it by that name, regardless of my present day interpretation of it. My response was not intended to jab yours or any other religion/belief system/whatever, but as it has obviously been taken as one I apologise. However, in the future I would appreciate it if you would take the time to at least PM me to verify my intent before making any assumptions.

For the record, I have no problems with your belief system. In fact, I am what could be considered as a pagan myself. Or at least at the bare minimum, as an agnostic.

[Loonette]

My response was not intended to jab yours or any other religion/belief system/whatever, but as it has obviously been taken as one I apologise. However, in the future I would appreciate it if you would take the time to at least PM me to verify my intent before making any assumptions.

You don't need to apologize for anything, as I trust when you say that you had no ill intent. And I didn't think you were jabbing at my belief system anyway. What I did take from it though was a detraction from the original point of the thread, and to me it didn't feel like a very "merry" sentiment.

True - I didn't need to make assumptions about you personally, but lately there has been a lot of grumblings on the boards because people are feeling that Christianity is getting knocked into the dirt, and I just didn't want my thread to be viewed as another attempt to do just that. So I apologize to you.

Cheers,
Loonette