Holidays Part 1
PART ONE: JANUARY THROUGH MARCH
I had a flurry of witchy activities at the end of October and the beginning of November, and I am looking forward to the holidays and activities to come. Inspired by Allec's holiday post, I decided to write about my own practices, upcoming and past, true and hypothetical.
I will start at the beginning of the Gregorian calendar.
January. Like most quixotic people, I make a giant list of New Year's resolutions. They are typically fun, like read 12 books with my sister (that flopped two years ago, but we did get through Anna Karenina and that should count as two), go sky-diving (I think I might have to postpone that one till next year) or run a half marathon (did it!)
In January, my family celebrates what we call "The January Birthdays." There are so many people on my mom's side (cousins, sister, husband, and more) with a birthday in January that we just combine them into one party. It used to be a kiddy party with cake and ice cream either in a casual restaurant (typically Denny's because that was my grandpa's daily hangout) or in someone's home. Now that all of us grandkids are fairly grown up (the youngest is in middle school and most of us are in our twenties), it is usually a casino buffet night in which my grandma uses her comps to discount the meals. When I describe the January Birthdays to friends, they seem to pity my family members who have to share their birthday with their family members. They don't understand that we are a loud, enmeshed group of people who delight in this tradition.
My sister, who is a close friend, and my husband have birthdays in January, so I still do something special with them outside of the big January party. I also volunteer each year for Martin Luther King Day if I have the day off of work.
February. I am a flamekeeper for the goddess Brigid, so this year I will celebrate Imbolc with fanfare. That's a holiday that typically gets relegated to the back burner for me, but as a flamekeeper, my relationship with the goddess is deepening, and Imbolc might become as big a deal to me as Christmas is to my Christian family and friends. At best, maybe I lit a votive candle a few years ago. This year, I plan to make it a big fiery event at least for myself, and I asked my UU group if I could plan and lead something special this year,and they agreed. I will be flametending starting at sundown on February 2nd, so a Sunday night ritual is a natural fit.
I do celebrate Saint Valentine's Day with my husband by dressing up and going out to eat. I also like the secular kids' paper-hearts-and-candy Valentine's Day, so I often give small valentines to friends and co-workers
March. The "spring" equinox is in March, but the tall grass prairie is still experiencing what I perceive as winter at that point, so the bunnies and eggs Ostara motif doesn't really click with me. I am still figuring out an equinox tradition that feels right. I lost some important people in my life in March, and I try to do something small to remember them, even if that's just telling stories or lighting a candle.
I typically make a vegan corned beef seitan and cabbage dish for St. Patrick's Day. (I know that St. Patrick isn't the most pagan-friendly of all the saints and that the way St. Patrick's Day is celebrated in the US isn't the way that it's celebrated in Ireland.) My family tradition as Irish Americans is to eat corned beef and cabbage, eat green food, wear green clothing, and just celebrate our Irish great-grandmas. My mom gets out her leprechaun figurine, and we sometimes sing songs like "Finnegan's Wake" and "Seven Drunken Nights."
I had a flurry of witchy activities at the end of October and the beginning of November, and I am looking forward to the holidays and activities to come. Inspired by Allec's holiday post, I decided to write about my own practices, upcoming and past, true and hypothetical.
I will start at the beginning of the Gregorian calendar.
January. Like most quixotic people, I make a giant list of New Year's resolutions. They are typically fun, like read 12 books with my sister (that flopped two years ago, but we did get through Anna Karenina and that should count as two), go sky-diving (I think I might have to postpone that one till next year) or run a half marathon (did it!)
In January, my family celebrates what we call "The January Birthdays." There are so many people on my mom's side (cousins, sister, husband, and more) with a birthday in January that we just combine them into one party. It used to be a kiddy party with cake and ice cream either in a casual restaurant (typically Denny's because that was my grandpa's daily hangout) or in someone's home. Now that all of us grandkids are fairly grown up (the youngest is in middle school and most of us are in our twenties), it is usually a casino buffet night in which my grandma uses her comps to discount the meals. When I describe the January Birthdays to friends, they seem to pity my family members who have to share their birthday with their family members. They don't understand that we are a loud, enmeshed group of people who delight in this tradition.
My sister, who is a close friend, and my husband have birthdays in January, so I still do something special with them outside of the big January party. I also volunteer each year for Martin Luther King Day if I have the day off of work.
February. I am a flamekeeper for the goddess Brigid, so this year I will celebrate Imbolc with fanfare. That's a holiday that typically gets relegated to the back burner for me, but as a flamekeeper, my relationship with the goddess is deepening, and Imbolc might become as big a deal to me as Christmas is to my Christian family and friends. At best, maybe I lit a votive candle a few years ago. This year, I plan to make it a big fiery event at least for myself, and I asked my UU group if I could plan and lead something special this year,and they agreed. I will be flametending starting at sundown on February 2nd, so a Sunday night ritual is a natural fit.
I do celebrate Saint Valentine's Day with my husband by dressing up and going out to eat. I also like the secular kids' paper-hearts-and-candy Valentine's Day, so I often give small valentines to friends and co-workers
March. The "spring" equinox is in March, but the tall grass prairie is still experiencing what I perceive as winter at that point, so the bunnies and eggs Ostara motif doesn't really click with me. I am still figuring out an equinox tradition that feels right. I lost some important people in my life in March, and I try to do something small to remember them, even if that's just telling stories or lighting a candle.
I typically make a vegan corned beef seitan and cabbage dish for St. Patrick's Day. (I know that St. Patrick isn't the most pagan-friendly of all the saints and that the way St. Patrick's Day is celebrated in the US isn't the way that it's celebrated in Ireland.) My family tradition as Irish Americans is to eat corned beef and cabbage, eat green food, wear green clothing, and just celebrate our Irish great-grandmas. My mom gets out her leprechaun figurine, and we sometimes sing songs like "Finnegan's Wake" and "Seven Drunken Nights."
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