T'is the Season.....

The Yuletide is fast approaching (I really shouldn't have to remind anyone considering the sales and advertising started before Halloween).

Most of us have celebrated at the this time of the year since we were born so there will obviously be a wide range of traditions followed. My questions to you deal with those traditions and what feelings and thoughts occur for you in relation to the holiday season.

What were your traditions like when growing up? What are they like now? Have you or are you making changes as your spiritual path progresses?

What feelings come to you at this time? Are they positive? negative? ambivalent?

How does your spiritual tradition approach this time of year? What do you do to honor the practices of your path?

My family traditions have changed a bit since I was little, for obvious reasons (us kids are grownups now, the grands have become great-grands, jobs and new families have changed how we gather for celebrations). Christmas was a time of gathering at my grandparent's, visiting with aunts, uncles, cousins and other relatives. We ate great meals, exchanged presents, played games and shared hockey games.
Today things are only slightly different. The crowd is still huge but some of the old faces are no longer with us or unable to come this year or next. The food is still great, and in great quantities. Midnight lunches before everyone headed to their beds and homes still occur.
Money is always a big concern at this time of year. Sometimes that is why some faces don't make it to the grandparents' house. We try our best to get together, even if some are in different countries now.
The tree and decorations are always present, egg nog, baking, turkey. They are all the same. Just the cook may have changed.

I haven't made a lot of changes, just the name of my holiday is sort of different. Instead of Christmas now I celebrate Yule. There have been very few changes as my spiritual quest moves along. This is in part due to the fact that a lot of the practices my family has followed is similar to that which my ancestors followed. Christmas in this part of the world is very influenced by its Germanic past, and as my family is predominantly decended from the Germanic areas of the world it works out well for me and mine.

My feelings at this time of the year are of nostalgia, happiness, a sense of sharing and well being. Most families have a lot of drama when they get together, and although my family was not immune to that, it was usually of a low key nature, and the children usually were not aware of what troubles were there. Getting together at this time was wonderful and full of magic and love. Wow, that sounds great, and it feels great to look back on those times and remember that feeling of belonging.

My current tradition embraces the folklore, beliefs and practices of Germanic cultures past. As I explore Asatru I see what we practice today as Christmas is descended from what many of my ancestors would have seen as part of their Yule celebrations.
Yule covers a period of 12 days (hence the 12 days of Christmas....), including Mother's night (20th Dec) which is the first day of Yule, and Yule itself falls on the Solstice. The last day being New Year's. This is the time of year that female ancestors and several Goddess were honored. They were honored with foods and rituals similar to what many of us partake in today. This was the most important holy time of the year for Germanic peoples. The doors between the worlds are open, the dead walk and the Wild Hunt is riding. This is why we honor our ancestors at this time.
As my family celebrates Christmas there are some elements of my discoveries that I will practice in private, and some that are long standing traditions with my family that I have been a part of since I was born. There are not too many different aspects to my traditional family celebrations, but my mindfulness of the season and of my family is surely more focused. Age and learning has changed that much for me, and for that I am glad. :D