Do any of you celebrate all the holidays? I'm curious. I do celebrate Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Yule. I know it's strange to think about, being that Thanksgiving and Christmas aren't Pagan holidays, they're more... traditional than religious in our lives.
Once upon a time Family came first, and the holidays meant FAMILY, but now? With commercialism, that's getting less and less important. Thanksgiving night stores open up after dinner time, so people wanting "Deals" can come spend money they don't really have to spend. Then the next day they have "Early Bird" savings, where more people try to "save" more money by spending more that they can't afford.
Christmas is now about who gets what, now who sees who.
My kids are to the point they ask for "necessities" for Christmas, that's the only time they get New clothes, other than that, they only get hand-me-downs. Sometimes, I give them nice hand-me-downs for Christmas depending on when we get them.
Yule?
That is a holiday where we have a special dinner, and game night. We spend that extra few hours relaxing and turning out the world. We sit around our tree, and share our love for one another. NO GIFTS.
Sometimes we have to go to a Christmas party and we don't get to spend Yule the way we want to (totally) but when it comes to myself and my kids, Yule is celebrated the way WE WANT. It's special family time, including some bird seed offerings, maybe some bread? a craft to bring out into the snow, by the garden for the Goddess and her animals.
It's one of the small things we do that mean a lot in our hearts.
And it's also a Holiday that the department stores don't consider when they're making cards or selling junk to the consumer.
Blessed Be
☽✪☾