Hi there SG land. I've been soooooo busy with the holiday season and the epic, much needed storms we have been having out here in California. While I'm loving the rain and the holiday spirit, it has left me with very little time for SG or my art, which makes me sad. But we are in the holiday home stretch and then it will be back to business as usual for me.
So in that theme, I'll do some SG homework and tell you all about my holiday traditions. We celebrate both Christmas and Solstice in our family, since my hubby's family is very VERY Christian, and mine is ... not. I call myself a Buddist/Wiccan because that is the most accurate description for my spiritual beliefs. So there are a lot of traditions. For Christmas, we are almost always traveling to be with family, presents and all that, but mainly just for the kids. My main Christmas traditions involve food. Thanks to my mother in law I am now quite a proficient tamale maker, we make at least a hundred every Christmas. Being the hippy gringa that I am, however, I'm always pushing to add non-traditional ingredients, like vegetarian tamales with bell peppers, zucchini and cheese, or surf and turf tamales (which I haven't actually done yet but is definitely on my To Do list). Pumpkin pie is also crucial, although my recipe is a little different from the norm... I bake a gluten free, super low sugar, almond flour crusted pie with low sugar whipped cream (agave and vanilla instead of sugar) and this year it will be make from the giant 3 gallon pumpkin we grew in our garden that is currently waiting in my freezer. I also really love Christmas lights and driving around to look at the lights is an important tradition for me.
Now on to Solstice. I am still developing my own Solstice traditions in an effort to create meaning and truth in my holidays, rather than just commercial regurgitation. My family has been celebrating solstice on and off for a while, but in the last few years I've been really trying to develop some sacred space and tradition. I have a friend who sets up a Buddhist style labyrinth at the beach every year with candles all through it and a burn jar in the center where you can write an intention or blessing for the coming year and burn it to bless it up to the universe. We usually do that. Last year we started the tradition of creating a solstice mandala as a group with the family, and I am hoping to make that a yearly tradition. We also light candles, burn bonfires and do some witchy spells and stuff.
How do you celebrate the holidays?
