Finding An Accord on Christmas

Its no secret that I was more Pagan than Christian before becoming Mormon, and it was only via the complimentary encompassing of Paganism and Christianity into one traditiom that led me to renouce the faith of my youth and to become converted. One minor detail of Mormon theology that I especially appreciated was the acceptance of the fact that Mormons known that Christ was not born on December 25th.

On Christmas Eve as a teenager, I recall listening to the UU service celebrating the manger scene. It was a stark contrast to a few minutes before when the reverend mentioned the historical evidence that Christ was born at another time of the year and that placing the observance of Christ's birth on December 25th was a purposeful and malicious attempt to trick heathens to convert to Christianity. Of all denominations, the Unitarians ought to have known better than to perpetuate an injustice that occurred centuries ago and brush aside the injustice that is perpetuated by overlooking it. It was with disappointment but not much surprise to see that Mormons do the same; however I can accept their desire to attempt to fit in with other Christian denominations.

And yet, this frustration stayed with me each and every year--my sadness at the injustices experienced by my ancestors in the name of religion and the difficulty of distancing myself from the cultural traditions taking place around me. I wasn't even sure if that was what I wanted. So it was, that the last few years, I have experimented with different ways of observing the season. This year, I think I have found a blend of traditions that strikes a balance and brings light and merriment to the dark and cold of the season in a way that I can feel at peace with morally and spiritually.

Historically, the celebration on the Winter Solstice was to bring light to the darkness, and celebrate the signs that the depths of winter would not persist evermore. Fires, evergreen trees, singing, dancing, feasting all bring merriment and activity to a time that can be very bleak and depressing for those in more northern areas. American Christmas traditions do well at these activities and make it easy for the entire month of December to be a time of good cheer. Adding traditions from other cultures creates a number if Holy-Days to bring spirituality and mirth to the season.

Our St. Nikolaustag Celebration

This year, the Descent family added Hanukkah (with a celebration of all the LDS temples that had been dedicated this year), Advent on each Sunday preceding the 25th and St. Nikolaustag (complete with new boots for the children that were filled with chocolate and switches) to the typical celebrations of Yule and Christmas. Next year, we will likely include Santa Lucia Day, the traditional Swedish holy day and Twelfth Night for a complete month of candle lit feasts, fires in the fireplace and reminders to seek joy and gladness in the dark periods of life.

The common thread that I am finding between the nature based celebrations, the cultural traditions and the religious Christian observances is that all are intended to celebrate light in the darkness. When Christ is viewed as the light and the life of the world, and his whole life is honored and celebrated, rather than placing all the emphasis on his birth, I find December and early January the perfect time to celebrate the role he plays in the lives of all people ever upon the earth. In teaching about Christmas to our children, we emphasis the Christlike loving and care shown by Santa Claus, and how he was a religious man who wanted to spread joy to those who were underprivileged. We emphasize his example of showing love for the children and gift donations in the children's honor to Heifer International, and the local Food Bank.

As I reflect on my need to find hope and light in the darkness, my heart is turned to those who do not have the shelter and protect that I enjoy from the elements at this time of year. Winter creates a more intense need in the lives of the homeless and undernourished as money for food might go towards heating bills at this time of year.

With the focus on Christ's life and the shared symbols of light and everlasting life, Christmas works as a Christian Holiday for me and I am able to put to peace my objections through blending traditions, while giving respect and obeisance to the injustice experienced by ancient pagans.

A Christmas tradition adopted from my husband's family is the reading the Luke 2 on Christmas Eve in the languages spoken by those in the house. For us that is English, German and Spanish so each night preceding Christmas Eve, the chapter is read in a different language at the time we typically read scriptures before going to bed. For the night of Christmas, I wanted to compile a list of scriptures that encompassed Christ's mission to the earth and the outcomes of his sacrifice. Our Christmas Night devotional included the following:

Isaiah 9: 6-7
"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder; and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Price of Peace. Of the increase of government and peace there is no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom to order it, and to establish it with judgement and with justice from henceforth, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of Host will preform this."

Isaiah 53
Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God , and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment:and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death: because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. But it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in the the land. He shall see the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors."

Mosiah 15: 1, 5-9, 18-23
And now Abindai said unto them: I would that ye should understand that God himself shall come down among the children of men, and shall redeem his people.

And thus the flesh becoming subject to the Spirit, or the Son to the Father, being on God, suffereth temptation, and yeildeth not to the temptation, but suffereth himself to be be mocked, and scourged, and cast out and disowned by his people. And after all this, after working mighty miracles among the children of men, he shall be led, yea, even as Isaiah said, as a sheep before the shearer is dumb, so he opened not his mouth. Yes, even so he shall be lef, crucified, and slain, the flesh becoming subject even unto death, the will of the Son being swallowed up in the will of the Father. And thus God breaketh the bands of death, gained victory over death; giving the Son power to make intercession for the children of men-- Having ascended into heaven, having the bowels of mercy; being filled with compassion towards the children of men; standing betwixt them and justice; having broken the bands of death, taken upon himself their iniquity and their transgressions, having redeemed them, and satisfied the demands of justice.

And behold, I say unto you, this is not all. For O how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings that is the founder of peace, yea, even the Lord, who has redeemed his people; yea, him who has granted salvation unto his people. For were it not for the redemption which he hath made for his people, which was prepared from the foundation of the world, I say unto you were it not for his, all mankind must have perished."

2 Nephi 9
"O how great the goodness of our God, who prepareth a way for our escape from the grasp of that awful monster death and hell, which I call the death of the body, and also the death of the spirit."

John 8:12
"Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life."

Those verses contain my favorite scriptures teaching the significance of Christ's mission and when read in that order, they have a power that I find thrilling.  I look forward to our next Christmas where we can repeat these traditions that we are creating. It is clear to me that enjoyment my children derive from our festivities and it is my hope that they will remember them fondly as they grow and mature.

Blessing the Quarter Days

Quarter days are the mid-point Sabbats between the seasonal festivals in the Wheel of the Year. Quarter days also correspond to the spokes of the wheel that fall on the solstices and equinoxes which mark the progression of the sun throughout the year. In truth, quarter days are my favorite Sabbats to celebrate because they are very tied to a physical event: the longest/shortest days of the year and the days when night and day are close to equal in length. I love the symbolism of these events and I love celebrating them.

Winter Solstice
In December, my family and I had a wonderful Solstice celebration. Unfortunately, not only did we not get pictures, but I also didn't blog about here it! So better late than never, let me tell you about our Solstice observance.

This year we separated all of our Christmas decorations into two categories: decorations that celebrate characteristics of winter (the snow men, evergreen trees, reindeer, etc.) and those that celebrate the birth of Christ. None of the Christ decorations were put out before the Solstice in order to fully respect the history of Yule, as a once pagan then turned Christian holiday.

Our Solstice celebration consisted of turning of the lights in the house off at sun-down, lighting a fire in the fireplace and then lighting candles throughout the house. We gathered together in the living room, snuggled up and discussed what the Solstice meant. We talked about how in many places where it was winter, that people were cold and didn't have enough food. Many people throughout the world feeling sad and discouraged all year but it can be particularly difficult when its the coldest, darkest time of the year. We talked about how at Christmas time, many people think of others who have less than they do and want to help in whatever ways they can. We talked about charitable giving and how we participated in our community and in global aid.

After the lesson, we did a little ritual where we wrote on strips of paper our prayer for ourselves and for the world. My children's wishes were profound in their sensitivity and wisdom. For our family, they prayed for more sustainability in our living arrangements and more time together as a family outside being producers rather than consumers. For the world, they prayed that all the living things on earth would feel safe and have their needs met. We then put our prayers in the fire and asked that the light from the flame would carry our prayers to the places where they were needed.

After reflecting on our observance, I realized that the theme we had touched on was wishing and welcoming light into the world at the winter solstice.

Spring Equinox
When thinking about how to prepare for our upcoming equinox celebration, I thought back on our Solstice observance. If we were wising light to the world then, what would we be wishing into the world now at the start of Spring? The answer I came up with was beauty.

Our plan for the Equinox (this monday/tuesday) instead of burning our wishes in the fire, to plant our wishes into the ground. My son is very excited to sow wildflowers in our garden. At Bountiful Gardens, we found both a butterfly and a hummingbird mix. Since spring is a time of renewed beauty and life (and because life is beauitful), it just seems fitting to wish for an increase of beauty in the world around us. Not superficial or artifical, but that which is lasting and connects people together, that relieves suffering and invites simplicity.

Since a pattern has been established, I thought ahead of what we might wish to manifest at the coming quarter days later in the year. It naturally follows that the Summer Solstice would be a time to manifest abundance to the world (and the equitable distribution of that abundance!) and the Autumnal Equinox as a time to manifest preparedness to the world.

Summer Solstice
Likely our Summer Solstice observance this year will be to celebrate the abundance of our vegetable and flower garden. What we are sowing now at the spring equinox, we hope will yield something to celebrate then. We will then follow the pattern of the previous quarter days and wish blessings of abundance to not only our family but to all the families of the world and discuss how we can be involved in making that happen.

Autumnal Equinox
The autumn equinox is traditionally a time to begin to prepare for winter and for this reason, I would like to focus our equinox observance on the necessity and importance of being prepared and wishing that the collective wisdom of the world will shift to preparation and shift away from short-term self gratification, consumerism and greed that takes from the poor and the needy and is used instead to increase profits and luxury for the wealthy.

These are our plans for this year and I wonder what the next year will bring, and how these themes will develop. It is very nice to have plans ahead of time! So very often, I'm pulling things together at the last minute.

Sunrise Solstice

Last year at Yule, I got up early, made a cake and we ate it and said "hello" to the returning Sun.  I kinda forgot about it until a friend commented on what a cool tradition our family has.  I must have had a deer-in-the-headlights look because she laughed and explained that my oldest son had been explaining our "annual tradition" just moments before.  Oh!  Good thing, because he never said a word about it to me!  Fortunately, it gave me enough time to prepare.  :)
So this year, I again rose early enough to bake a cake, set out candles and greet the rising sun.  I love this observance because with 3 young kids, I have absolutely no desire to stay up all night to keep vigil.  I stay up all night keeping vigil often enough over sick kids, kids with nightmares and other fun nighttime adventures!
It is also very simple.  I set out the cake, we light candles, sing songs that remind us of the sun and talk about the successes of the past year and hopes for the coming year.  Then we eat cake and say, "Welcome back, Sun!!"
Here's our solstice cake recipe if you'd like to make one too.

RasJane's Solstice Cake

Free of gluten, dairy, soy, nuts and sugar

1 c sorghum or rice flour    

1 c tapioca starch      

3/4 c millet flour or fine corn flour

2 tsp each: xanthan gum, baking powder and baking soda

2tsp cinnamon or fall spice blend

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 c coconut oil

1 c apple juice concentrate

1 c orange juice concentrate

5 eggs

zest of 1 orange

Preheat oven to 325F and grease and flour 2 - 8"round cake pans

Mix all the dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer.  Cut in the coconut oil until evenly crumbly.  Wisk together the eggs and juice concentrates and add the zest.  Pour all at once into the flour mixture.  Mix quickly until just combined.  Divide batter between the 2 cake pans and bake in the center of oven for 25 minutes.  Cool in pans for 5 minutes then turn onto cake rack.

We ate our cake warm.  I got up early, but not that early!  Place one cake face down on a platter.  Thinly slice the orange you took the zest from and peel.  Arrange the slices on the cake.  Top with the second cake.  You can either frost with your favorite frosting, spread with jam or serve as-is.  This is a very moist cake.   Especially if it's still warm.

Enjoy the sunny goodness while you celebrate the re-birth of the light.

Blessed Yule

As we near Yule, and the turning of the season from old to new, dark to light, and cycle into a new year full of possibility and opportunity, I want to reflect on this past year.  It has been full of so much heartache and fear, worry and guilt, and stress that never seems to go away.  But it has also been full of magic.  I have searched for and  am starting to find my Mother, my Goddess, the other half of my Creator.  I have formed new friendships and forged strong bonds with those who  think and feel so much like I do.  I've made local connections with wonderful people in this desert land that I never thought I could love.  I have embraced my own power, and I have largely cast off the fear of my blended path.  I am making it work, and I am feeling guidance in unexpected places that lead me nearer to Christ.  An empty spot in me has started to fill with warm and wonderful things.

My new perspectives on the gospel have led me through some doubt-ridden and twisty paths, but I am finally starting to heal my testimony, to grow a fantastic new one that has room for all the joy and none of the guilt.  I am eager to serve my brothers and sisters, and I am finding the patience to deal with flaws I find in the structure of the church.  My perspective on repentance has changed from one of fear of disappointing my Parents to one of pragmatic progression.  I know my Parents love me and accept me the way I am, and they already know my every weakness.  If I walk too close to the edge and fall, They will catch me and guide me to a better way as They look on in love and encouragement.  My search for passion and authenticity is no longer a forbidden road that causes anxiety.

I am using my magic without shame, and finding scientific explanations and wild speculation in the realm of quantum physics to see the magic and possibility in everything.  There is so much for which we can hope and dream. The beautiful women in my area that I have started to consider family have held my hands as I have ventured from my safe and warm cocoon of checklists and fear-inspired close-mindedness.  I have moved from a place where I cried in desperation to feel any kind of real spiritual connection, to a place where I have found that connection in fire and water and wind, in the voices of the trees around me, in the touch of the gentle hands of an energy worker who has nothing but love in her heart. 

The Sunday school lesson on the pure love of Christ sinks into my newly opened and joyful heart, and I run to share it with my dear friends who were not there to hear the wonderful news of an empathetic and loving Savior who wants to carry us and heal us so we in turn can heal those around us as we become sources of His light in this world.    

Many of the hardships of this year will not be going away any time soon, and there are more to come.  As the moon wanes into the end of the year, I will be purifying my heart, and inviting Christ to reside there more permanently as I symbolically cleanse the anger and resentment from the past year from my soul.  The new moon on Christmas Eve will be a time of new beginning, of self-love, of power, and courage.

Blessed be, and Happy Yule!    

Halfway Out of the Dark

x-posted on our family blog.

We are a Sci-Fi loving home and no Sci-Fi loving home is complete without Doctor Who. Tonight, Christmas night, my husband and I cuddled up on the couch to watch the Doctor Who Christmas Special which aired for the first time in the states on Christmas night instead of months into the next year. This episode, being the Christmas Special and all, came with a Christmas message. I could go into it all but that's not the point of this post. In the beginning of the episode the narrator, who most of us know as Dumbledore, sums up the reason behind the joyful Christmas/winter season- about this time of year we all get together and say "Well done, everyone, we're halfway out of the dark!"

My family celebrates both the Winter Solstice and, later, Christmas as Christ's birth* among other Christian and seasonal holidays (or holy days). Over the past few years I have pondered the meaning of this time of the year both from a Christian point of view and a Pagan point of view. I don't think it's any surprise that the symbolism found in both Christmas and the Winter Solstice observances are very similar; after all our Christian ancestors stole many Pagan holidays and made them their own. I do think that the underlying message of both is a universal one- hope.

The light is returning.

We are halfway out of the dark.

In times long gone, and maybe even not so far in the past, the winter was a hard time of the year to make it through. The cold was overbearing because the sun seemed to retreat and food was scarce because the earth lay barren. The light, the warmth, was needed in order to bring life in the form of plants and animals and that life was needed to sustain our lives.

No light of thine can raise our fallen sun,

And we are dead, because his light is gone.

Thy light as well must dim for want of breath,

Yet enter: share our darkness, and our death.

-Valerie Worth

In the winter in most parts of the world our ancestors sat waiting for the return of the sun, of the light, to save them from the barren cold and darkness. Return they knew it would.

The sun is living still! Nor did he die:

His strength is only hidden from this sky,

But where I watch, from Sirius' flame,

I see him burning evermore the same.

None die but thee, and only by thy will 

Can autumn wound and bitter winter kill.

I bring thee vision, fire, and this word:

That from his ashes, like a wakened bird,

Shall sun leap upward, bearing on his wings 

The hue of every earthly bird that sings. 

-Valerie Worth

Last night on Christmas Eve with our house smelling of the frankincense and myrrh burning in my cauldron by the Nativity, our family gathered in the living room, turned off all of the lights (except the Christmas tree's) and lit as many candles as we own in the room bringing light into the darkness. We then read Luke chapter 2 and emphasized Christ as the "light of the world". We related his birth, the coming of the light, to the rebirth of the sun on the Solstice just days earlier. He came to us just as the sun- as guide, as sustainer, as saviour.

Long lay the world in sin and error pining,

'Til He appear'd and the soul felt its worth.

A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices,

For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.

-O Holy Night

Regardless of what we observe and celebrate this time of year our blood sings as the Earth sings: Well done, everyone, we're halfway out of the dark!

Blessed season to one and all and an added Merry Christmas to fellow followers of Christ!

*(yes, we are aware this is not the time of his actual birth)