Pagans add Yule log to fire
Monday December 22, 2003
By Tony Bridges
Today is a religious holiday.
Of course, you're right. Christmas doesn't come until later in the week.
But that's not the one.
This is the winter solstice, shortest day of the year, first official day of winter. It's also the Yule, a Pagan celebration of the sun's renewal and coming warmth.
"It really is a time to turn inward and be reflective, to find peace in inner stillness," said Diana Kampert, a Tallahassee member of Covenant of the Goddess. "The idea is the birth of the sun."
http://www.tallahassee.com/mld/democrat/7546521.htm
Iranians Celebrate "Victory of Light over Darkness"
Iranians were planning to celebrate the longest night of the year by laying on a special feast of nuts and fruit while listening to tales and poems recited by elders at extended family gatherings.
The celebration, known as Yalda, dates back thousands of years to the time when Zoroastrianism – with its central theme of the struggle between the good spirit Ahura Mazda and the evil Ahriman – was the predominant religion of ancient Persia.
Confectionery and fruit shops in the capital Tehran were packed with customers buying the special provisions for the feast.
http://www.news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=2324610
The meaning of Yule
By Lee Roberts
Out of the darkness comes the light.
Today is the Winter Solstice - the shortest day and longest night of the year. For some, it may only mean turning on their lamps sooner this evening. For others, however, the Winter Solstice is time of spiritual celebration - a time of rebirth when the sun's light returns to the earth, after a long darkness.
Winter Solstice celebrations are an ancient tradition dating back to the Druids and even before. England's Stonehenge, for example, was built for the purpose of honoring the Winter Solstice.
Ancient people of many cultures were concerned that the sun might not return after such long darkness. And they believed if they did not perform certain rituals to call the sun god back to Earth, they might be doomed to winter forever.
Today, Winter Solstice celebrations continue among a number of spiritual groups - not so much out of concern, but with joy for the coming spring and the warmth and light it brings with it. One such group is Wicca - those who practice the Wiccan religion, which is a form of paganism.
http://www.journaltimes.com/articles/2003/12/22/family/iq_2599387.txt
The Mysterious Dying God
What does Christianity have in common with ancient Pagan Sostice beliefs? Much more than you might think.
Wiccans celebrate birth of a different god
By David Verzi - December, 23 2003
LEE — The birth of the Son of God has been celebrated for some 2,000 years, the birth of the Sun God for eons longer.
Increasingly, in the United States and Europe, modern-day pagans, or Wiccans, on the eve of the winter solstice, or Yule, commemorate the birth of the Sun God by their Goddess.
"Wicca is the fastest growing religion the United States," said Pamela Getner, high priestess of the South Lee-based "Chalice Well" coven — and, yes, both Wiccan women and men are correctly referred to as "witches.”
http://www.iberkshires.com/story.php?story_id=13080
Today is a religious holiday.
Of course, you're right. Christmas doesn't come until later in the week.
But that's not the one.
This is the winter solstice, shortest day of the year, first official day of winter. It's also the Yule, a Pagan celebration of the sun's renewal and coming warmth.
"It really is a time to turn inward and be reflective, to find peace in inner stillness," said Diana Kampert, a Tallahassee member of Covenant of the Goddess. "The idea is the birth of the sun."
http://www.tallahassee.com/mld/democrat/7546521.htm
Iranians Celebrate "Victory of Light over Darkness"
Iranians were planning to celebrate the longest night of the year by laying on a special feast of nuts and fruit while listening to tales and poems recited by elders at extended family gatherings.
The celebration, known as Yalda, dates back thousands of years to the time when Zoroastrianism – with its central theme of the struggle between the good spirit Ahura Mazda and the evil Ahriman – was the predominant religion of ancient Persia.
Confectionery and fruit shops in the capital Tehran were packed with customers buying the special provisions for the feast.
http://www.news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=2324610
The meaning of Yule
By Lee Roberts
Out of the darkness comes the light.
Today is the Winter Solstice - the shortest day and longest night of the year. For some, it may only mean turning on their lamps sooner this evening. For others, however, the Winter Solstice is time of spiritual celebration - a time of rebirth when the sun's light returns to the earth, after a long darkness.
Winter Solstice celebrations are an ancient tradition dating back to the Druids and even before. England's Stonehenge, for example, was built for the purpose of honoring the Winter Solstice.
Ancient people of many cultures were concerned that the sun might not return after such long darkness. And they believed if they did not perform certain rituals to call the sun god back to Earth, they might be doomed to winter forever.
Today, Winter Solstice celebrations continue among a number of spiritual groups - not so much out of concern, but with joy for the coming spring and the warmth and light it brings with it. One such group is Wicca - those who practice the Wiccan religion, which is a form of paganism.
http://www.journaltimes.com/articles/2003/12/22/family/iq_2599387.txt
The Mysterious Dying God
What does Christianity have in common with ancient Pagan Sostice beliefs? Much more than you might think.
Wiccans celebrate birth of a different god
By David Verzi - December, 23 2003
LEE — The birth of the Son of God has been celebrated for some 2,000 years, the birth of the Sun God for eons longer.
Increasingly, in the United States and Europe, modern-day pagans, or Wiccans, on the eve of the winter solstice, or Yule, commemorate the birth of the Sun God by their Goddess.
"Wicca is the fastest growing religion the United States," said Pamela Getner, high priestess of the South Lee-based "Chalice Well" coven — and, yes, both Wiccan women and men are correctly referred to as "witches.”
http://www.iberkshires.com/story.php?story_id=13080
Comments
is there no word anywhere for a natural born empath(swear to Isis),born on 12/21/59. I KNOW I am different,but how is it tied to my birthday.
For what purpose.