Paganistan: Notes from the Secret Commonwealth
In Which One Midwest Man-in-Black Confers, Converses & Otherwise Hob-Nobs with his Fellow Hob-Men (& -Women) Concerning the Sundry Ways of the Famed but Ill-Starred Tribe of Witches.
The Once and Future Holiday
I don't know about where you live, but here in Minneapolis the Winter Solstice is hot stuff.
Every year I'm struck by the ever-increasing number of (non-pagan) Winter Solstice events going on: drum-jams, concerts, performances. This year I was dumbfounded to hear that even the local Episcopal cathedral is getting in on the act, holding a special “Light in Darkness” service for the Solstice.
Christmas' religious origins will always render it problematic in an increasingly secular culture. More and more each year it reads as a once-Christian culture's nostalgia for a now-unretrievable past.
The Solstice, on the other hand, is an event that engages us all, no matter how we see things, or where our ancestors came from. Conveniently, it also comes at a time when most people don't have family obligations.
Once you've embraced the Winter Solstice, of course, it only makes sense to do the same for its bright Summer twin. And then...well, if you're going to do the Solstices, you might as well do the Equinoxes too.
And so we'll go together, step by logical step. That's how we'll take back the West.
Call it Repaganization, if you like.
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There is a site called Neopets.com. Every year they have a Winter Starlight Festival during the month of December. I've been going to the site for several years now.