Yule 2017

Ana's face in this picture... 😒

The Sun 🌞 reigns again as the days grow ever strong.

This year's Yule is more subdued, our family still divided, so how does a Pagan family celebrate a holiday like this?  This year especially we do little things all week.  In NYC, it's easy to do since there are so many things to see.

This was our first time taking our daughter to Macy's to see Santa.  The jolly man is red is as Pagan as they come, so we keep him in our family tradition.  Dino said he was too old to go, so we went on a school day, it would have been nice to get a picture of our entire family in hindsight, so I just should have brought them last Saturday, but he's at that age now. 😢

City Paganism is in itself Magickal, we don't need to retreat to the country to get our dose of nature.  We have parks and major corporations bring the Christmas trees 🌲 to us.  Ana enjoyed the one at Rockefeller Center, and all the major window displays as well.  Saks has a special setup and light show for the Snow White anniversary if you enjoy Disney (I don't.). At Lord and Taylor there were cute baby animal animatronics.  A two year old stares in wonder while a ten year old would probably yawn and complain "been there, done that." 😑

This year there was no family Yule ritual or feast either.  Ana and I took a brisk walk outside to send out a package (Tom Bihn bag repair).  With a few dollars I managed to make gift bags for three kids and scored really good fun Japanese character toys at Dollar Tree whose original price was probably between 10 and 15 bucks.  So total score for me!  The kids will open their little bags next Tuesday when Dino is home for the week.  I usually do their stockings but those are still in storage.  I've written before about living with less and I'm continuing to do that as well as pass that knowledge to my children.

Going all out for Yule usually looks like this, a massive feast, like all day feast, candles everywhere, decorating the altar, doing a spell for prosperity in our home.  We do a huge prime rib roast or leg of lamb and tons of appetizers, while we watch a movie or play music.

Shadow is the master of the appetizer, like seriously no joke, he makes stuffed porta bella mushrooms, artichoke dip, we have a cheese, salami and olive plate paired with fresh crusty bread, and whatever else he decides to make.  I will constantly lament not being able to wake up to his cooking.

We had none of that this year, and it makes me a sad.  The holidays I've created and celebrated as an adult have been so much more meaningful than the ones I had as a child.  We've accomplished this by only surrounding ourselves with people we love and keeping it simple.

Yule yesterday involved taking extra vitamin D (everyone should do this in winter, trust me) and wishing I had a huge chunk of greasy meat to devour. Holidays really are bittersweet when your family can't be together.

I suppose the main thing I'd like everyone to take from this is, you don't really need to go all out, it's lovely, but it isn't necessary.  I think the most important thing you can do for Yule is go outside and enjoy the sun even if it's cold and cloudy outside.  His rays and energies still reach you through the clouds, so just stand outside for a few minutes, or take a walk and soak it up.  The return of longer days was so vital to our ancestors and in today's high tech world of constant indoor lighting, we forget that.

Blessed Yule!
🌞

P.S. Lately people have been saying that Shadow looks like he belongs in Game of Thrones.  Isn't he so handsome and rugged?  I'm smitten! 😍