I am the old Pagan deep in December....

I am the old Pagan deep in December  I am fed up with being told that Christ is the reason fro Christmas. I am fed up with the call for saviours. The only saviour perhaps we need is the saviour who saves us from saviours. We need a Winter festival to celebrate mid-winter. All Societies from the beginning of time have celebrated the dance of the Sun . Mithras was said to have been been born on December 25 of a Virgin. The child of Light in the old Celtic Mythology was born at the Winter Festival. How odd it is that so few modern Christians ever point out that Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus were refugees fleeing political repression. Of course today they would be unable to get back to Bethlehem today as the Israeli Government has built a gigantic wall preventing entrance to the Stable.

I am the wind that caresses the mountain
I am the salmon that leaps upstream
I am the deer that roams the forest
I am the eagle that soars in the sky
I am the flame in the fire that flickers
I am the raindrop, the rock and the tree
I am the sunbeam that warms a cold morning
I am the tear in a sad woman's eye
I am the breeze that builds to a tempest
I am the wave on the surface of the sea
I am the thought that changes to a word
Tell me:
Who might know the soul better than I?"

Brythonic Celt 539 AD

Winter Solstice has been celebrated in cultures the world over for thousands of years. This start of the solar year is a celebration of Light and the rebirth of the Sun. In old Europe, it was known as Yule, from the Norse, Jul, meaning wheel.

Today, many people in Western-based cultures refer to this holiday as "Christmas." Yet a look into its origins of Christmas reveals its Pagan roots. Emperor Aurelian established December 25 as the birthday of the "Invincible Sun" in the third century as part of the Roman Winter Solstice celebrations. Shortly thereafter, in 273, the Christian church selected this day to represent the birthday of Jesus, and by 336, this Roman solar feast day was Christianized. January 6, celebrated as Epiphany in Christendom and linked with the visit of the Magi, was originally an Egyptian date for the Winter Solstice.

Most of the customs, lore, symbols, and rituals associated with "Christmas" actually are linked to Winter Solstice celebrations of ancient Pagan cultures. While Christian mythology is interwoven with contemporary observances of this holiday time, its Pagan nature is still strong and apparent. Pagans today can readily re-Paganize Christmastime and the secular New Year by giving a Pagan spiritual focus to existing holiday customs and by creating new traditions that draw on ancient ways. Here are some ways to do thisCelebrate Yule with a series of rituals, feasts, and other activities. In most ancient cultures, the celebration lasted more than a day.

The ancient Roman Saturnalia festival sometimes went on for a week. Have Winter Solstice Eve and Day be the central focus for your household, and conceptualize other holiday festivities, including New Year's office parties and Christmas visits with Christian relatives, as part of your Solstice celebration. By adopting this perspective, Pagan parents can help their children develop an understanding of the multicultural and interfaith aspects of this holiday time and view "Christmas" as just another form of Solstice. Have gift exchanges and feasts over the course of several days and nights as was done of old. Party hearty on New Year's Eve not just to welcome in the new calendar year, but also to welcome the new solar year.Adorn the home with sacred herbs and colors.