when i was growing up, midwinter only meant one thing - my mum's birthday. it meant apple pie, and coffee, and visitors. it meant almost Xmas, and a stressed out mother, who never relished her birthdays. she had tonnes of friends and they all insisted on coming over for coffee, and relations would also put in an appearance. it was fun on the one hand {it broke the calm of the house in a nice way}, but somehow it never filled me with much joy, seeing my mum so tense...
until i moved to England and got to know some of the pagan traditions that were connected with Yule, with the Winter Solstice, with Xmas that was celebrated with booze and songs and jolliness. not the austere, quiet, holy event it was in the past of NL where i grew up - catholic and reverent. jolliness was not acceptable. guess which one i preferred....
it wasn't until much later that i started seriously reading about it; about all the other feasts and celebrations that have been christianised, bent into the christian calendar to make it more palatable for the many pagans living in Europe, with the Celtic department on the British Isles largely ignoring them. which they continue to do until this day.
so, the winter solstice celebrates the returning of the light. it celebrates the passing of the shortest day, the day with the least amount of light. the birth of another year. >here< is more detailed information about it, and the traditions connected to it.
off to my mum's in a bit, for cake and coffee...
4 comments:
Blessed Yule! And congratulations with your mother's birthday.
tnx!! x2... <3
Gefeliciteerd met je moeders verjaardag!
Wat leuk om hier hetzelfde thema aan te treffen als bij Sandra. Dank voor het linkje, ik ga eens lezen. Ik ken het eigenlijk niet zo.
@martine - Sandra is wel de real deal hier, ik ben mega geïnteresseerd in alles Pagan/Celtic, maar zoveel als Sandra ervan weet en eraan doet, dat ga ik niet evenaren :)
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