WINTER SOLSTICE - MIDWINTER
A time for the Yule tree and presents. A time for friends and family to get together
and rejoice over the coming season. This is the time of the rebirth of the Sun God.
It is also the time for endless fight between the Holly King and the Oak King. Again
we can see things that are now part of the Christen Holiday Christmas. Again because
of this some Witches don't want to celebrate it the way it should be. But again the
pagan ways predate the Christens. Again a Christen holiday was placed at the time
of several major pagan holidays.
At Dragon Palm we celebrate the season. We start at Yule - we decorate the tree -
then the ones cooking will go in and finish cooking as the rest finish the tree -
we then have our feast - next the ritual with fight between the Holly King and the
Oak King.. then we give out presents to all. Then we hold a small ritual each night
giving a different person to run each ritual. On Christmas we hold a potluck dinner
for all who have no Christen relatives they have to go to and attend (usually following
a movie). We have a new years eve party on NYE (Yes Samhain is our religious New
Year, but we also celebrate the changing of the dates) and on New Years Day we have
the Tree Ritual in which we take down the tree and then we cut off all the limbs
of the tree which are used in the fires of each of the Sabbats, the tree trunk is
now saved to Beltane and used as the May Pole and is then cut up to used as the Yule
log the next year
DISCUSSION:
The Robin Hood aspect in Yule. Why is the Winter Solstice such a popular holiday.
QUESTIONS:
1.What aspect is the Goddess
2. Who in Christianity undid Jesus treatment of women?
3. Who are the Oak King and the Holly King.
