Yuletime & Christmas 2019.

How, When and why do some pagans still celebrate Christmas?

My version, my story.

Decorate the house in Christmas season being pagan.

It is November, one of the mildest months of the solar cycle, I suppose that is because we unconsciously know that a month of celebrations is quite stressful, and during the last weeks of the month we already feel that December is among us (Or us in it? ).

A great series of festivities occur during the month of December along the globe, but the most recognized by all are usually Christmas, that adorable holiday of Catholics where they celebrate the birth of Jesus de Belen, Yule (the true pagan origin from the previous holiday), The Winter Solstice (the origin behind both festivities really), and other more social and less religious ones such as “New Year's Eve”, and for the less conservative, the holiday of the Christmas Spirit, which is not only one of my favorites, but also one of the pagan / Catholic festivities that has gained more strength in recent decades.

Also during this month several celebrations of the Jewish people, of the Muslim people, and of the Hindus become important, but the latter are more complex and I lack the knowledge and experience to be able to write freely about them. However, they are part of our “Month of Holidays”.

Once December arrives it is quite difficult for the pagan community not to take part in a side trying to stay in the middle of the debate, there is always the group that decides to attend all these celebrations with respect and love (you will find me here with the happy people) , and there is the group of "the others", "the others" is that group of people who do not identify with any religion or pagan current, but who always seem to be against each and every one of the ways in which others celebrate some holiday, whether arguing 'unbridled hatred' towards one of the previously mentioned religions, the typical excuse of 'it is only a celebration invented to take money out of your pockets', or the new and very fashionable' I do not celebrate that because it is cultural appropriation '(my followers know that this argument is apparently the favorite of the Haters).

Some pagans, and let's be honest about it, come from Catholic or Jewish families, and for them it is difficult, and that is not bad, to get rid of their family traditions like Hanukkah or Christmas, not because of a social imposition issue, but more Well because this celebration reminds them of the nostalgia of eating typical dishes and celebrating, dancing or sharing memories with their loved ones, and that friends, that is 100% Humanity.

Others celebrate Yule from a very young age, but not because we are “pure-hearted pagans” or because we are looking for a way to sell the mystical imagery of “pagan idealism” or anything similar, we all celebrate it for different reasons, some for social reasons, others For being Wiccans, some refuse to celebrate 'Catholic Christmas' and some as is my case, simply because it is something nice that they taught us at home, and yes, we also put a Tree.

Traditions & Folklore

My father has always been the expert in unraveling Christmas lights and preparing eggnog, my mother is the typical cook who gets up at 6 AM to make the stew of meat, chicken, salads, and all the typical dishes that have passed from generation to generation, such as 'las hallacas' (a tamale made from cornmeal seasoned with meat), and some typical Ramadan dishes he learned from grandfather.

At home we do not begin to place a 'Christmas manger' until a neighbor gave us his and since then we placed it, and always with mother and father telling the story of those Three Wise Men who came from Babylon to give gifts to the son of God of the Jewish people on the eve of his birth, also guided by a star (which I still insist is a comet!).

Since then the manger is placed at home, more on the occasion of honoring the pagan magicians and their journey through the desert, than by the Jewish theme, because even with the Turkish blood ‘No one at home is Jewish. The story of Yule learned it much more adult, while he was a child it was another story, father always said while they put together the tree that “this one” symbolized nature and its varied ornaments represented prosperity, the lights were a guide for the souls of our dead will find us in the night and not get lost on the way to visit their families, the star on the tree symbolized the light of the gods that illuminated everything, because he has always affirmed that only the ignorant choose to live in darkness .

And the whole season was more a family theme than a social or religious theme, even the altars of the Orixas were decorated in every corner (someone shouted here cultural appropriation or something like that?), And the most important thing was to be in Family and eat typical dishes.

Something catholic

I remember that it was at 9 years old, probably because I am not a person of many friends, otherwise I would have heard before, that someone came to tell me about Christmas, that they celebrated the birth of the son of God (wrong), who would have been born in December (wrong), that it was white as milk (as wrong as a Republican in election season), born from the womb of a virgin (what an interesting story), and that the wise men were only ornaments (a bit cruel, eh?), oh, and of course, in addition, the boy was called Jesus of Nazareth, an interesting factor to take into account, especially because he was not born in Nazareth but in Bethlehem, and at that time the name of the individuals confirmed his city from birth, wouldn't it be then... Jesus de Belen ?.

I got home, I asked Papa, and he really didn't give it much importance, Mama either, and in the end I have kept the tradition of placing my tree at home every December, full of ornaments, and attending all the dinners that They invite me.

Magic & Winter

For me throughout the year this is an important date, December is barely ending I am already sitting to plan next December, especially because at home we celebrate the arrival of the Christmas Spirit (about whom I have already written in this and other blogs before ), and no, it is not San Nicola Di Bari (Santa Claus), the Christmas Spirit is the popular and most commercial name we give in Latin America to the "Winter Spirit", that old man with long beards who sleeps eleven months at year and wake up during the winter to take the animals to their shelter, store seeds in their bag, which will be sown again in Spring, and will go through the houses granting wishes to the good Samaritans, and all this occurs from one week before the day December 21 (the winter solstice), until a week later.

The winter rituals are so varied that I have written many, especially dedicated to the Christmas Spirit, every year I usually send an email to all my subscribers with the rituals to perform at home, the date and time of some collective rituals, and even the Two more recent years I have made a couple of live videos (Facebook live and Periscope), to share the joy of the Winter spirit with my tribe.

I come from a tropical country in the middle of Ecuador, so I had never lived Winter until we arrived in the USA, so we don't celebrate winter or snow, that's why we know the spirit of the season as "Spirit of the Christmas "and not as" Winter Spirit ", although the late and very talented Venezuelan author Conny Mendez, fervently insisted on taking over the term and making the spirit look like a kind of" divine creation associated with Jesus ", the truth is that we know him as "Christmas Spirit", simply because of the absence of a better name.

For my Mom, this was literally "one of those old gods that nobody remembers and he wakes up on December 21 to take care of trees and animals, but nobody knows what it's really called."

For Pope and grandparents, it would be not one, but a group of spirits of dead pagans who took advantage of the night of "All-hallows eve" to come to this world and now have refused to return, so he called them ""Noel ruhları" (the spirits of Christmas).

More than a holiday

Celebrating the holidays is for many people like me, something that transcends religions, it is a date full of appreciation for life and loved ones, it is a period of reunion with the family (alive and dead) and it is time to order and clean the house looking, and always channeling, that the next winter cycle (within a year) be more prosperous and happy than the present.

That is the way I celebrate these holidays, and the truth is, I am dying to share more about this with you, so very attentive to my social networks, which as every year I will be giving away readings and some homemade amulets.

Kisses, lots of light, wisdom and blessings.

with Love & light.

Elhoim Leafar

#urbanShaman

November 12, full moon in Taurus

November 12, the full moon in Taurus

Topics to deal with this lunar cycle:

The search for pleasure, the senses, the understanding of relationships, the individual capacity to manifest things, the value you give to material and spiritual things, perseverance, self-care and self-worth (how much do you really value yourself?).

We have lived a cycle

November 12 is approaching and with this approach, we are entering the end of a cycle that began on May 5 with the new moon in Taurus, six months have passed and it is time to look back, look where we were six months and compare with now, remember what projects we are planning at the time and look in detail how much of that we had planned, we have really achieved.

This full moon occurs in the 20th grade of the sign of Taurus, it is an earth-moon (calm, balance, and determination), it is a time to focus on strengthening those projects that we have sown for some time with great determination (studies, academic courses, products, planning, removals, events) and lead them to reach new goals.

If you have been waiting for the perfect moment to grow your brand, publicize any product or service you offer with a wider audience than previously seemed impossible, or have tried to have the time to sit down and start planning the transformation from scratch Find out about any service or project in which you are involved, this is the moment, because Taurus determination is always inexhaustible and this time it is on your side.

The full moon in Taurus that happens this November 12 is creating a stable trill of the earth element with Saturn and Pluto in Capricorn (financial stability), it is here that we focus less on “investing” and more on saving in the long term, especially when you take into account the symbolism involved here, Capricorn, the beast that protects the lake full of treasures, Saturn, the god of crops and the time that is always attentive to what will happen in the future, and Pluto, the god that protects the souls of those who have already lived, the indomitable future.

This is a time to establish guidelines and get ahead of the processes, it is here that you have the green light for making decisions about your future. Do not focus on the slow processes towards which Mercury retrograde is taking us, this retrogradation is just one of many that we have faced this solar cycle, and it is not the worst of all, it is, in any case, the lightest, it is time to focus on you and your closest environment, on your family and personal projects.

Talking about power

The technical part

During this lunar cycle, we have Mars making a square with Pluto, who in turn is making a conjunction with Saturn in Capricorn, and Saturn is simultaneously in turn in conjunction with the South node in Capricorn.

Explanation

This cycle leads us to let go of the old structures, hierarchies, and those eagerness to control others and social duty (that annoying "you have to do this because it is socially accepted"). It is an extensive cycle that drives us to "Want to release" those old chains of social obligation, and leads us to realize that the world we inhabit is changing, and if you are not on the side of the "apprehensive" who seek to build walls and barriers, you must make it clear to the world that you are on the side of liberators and free thinkers, because in society we live "the good diplomat" does not seem to have a place.

These complex squares are revealing the theme of power in all its expression, the power to control yourself, the power to control everything you say, what you eat, what you hear, what you smell and what you think, the power to control others and to impulse to control everything that is happening in your environment, whether or not it matters to you.

This is also a time to analyze our power and its origin, as well as to limit those who abuse power and those who seek it for unethical reasons.

With Love and vibing in the same light.

Elhoim Leafar

Now that Yule is approaching, stay tuned to the Blog and my social networks (especially Instagram & Facebook), where we will be sharing as each solar cycle, the rituals corresponding to Yule and the Winter spirit, as well as some new rituals to celebrate the 'End of Year' at home with your family and friends.

They do anything for some likes...

"Use cultural appropriation to gain likes and followers in your second-hand blog,
that is to fall really low, very low."

There is no such thing as cultural appropriation, there are only people looking for excuses to promote more hatred in a world that has decided to change in favor of becoming more diverse, more complex and increasingly integrated.

The correct definition of culture is "the set of own elements by which an ethnic or social group is identified, such elements may be of a geographical, social, or religious nature, and may result in a constitution of languages, symbols, traditions, and forms of acting or dressing. "

Beyond the way of dressing and speaking, the music and folklore that characterizes each people, culture can include all kinds of elements that represent the essence of a group, especially an ethnic group, such as the symbolisms used in traditional clothing Mexican or African, characteristic hairstyles used by different races and specific groups, or tribal makeup used during religious ceremonies of different ethnic groups from Asia and Eastern Europe.

"Culture is the social fusion of different elements (ethnics, spiritual and socials) of a race,
and this cannot, and should not be, under any reason be immobile or permanent."

The culture that represents a town always results in a fusion of elements that symbolize for them historical or geographical characteristics of each one (such as Mexican ornamental drawings evoking animal figures). And the culture is not and has never been something immobile or permanent, the culture is changing, especially when we refer to religious and ethnic cults, it is quite difficult (if not impossible), because most of the ethnic peoples and Indigenous races adopted the culture, language and elements of other indigenous, ethnic and territorial groups once they conquered them after some war, as is the case of the Turks, the Kurds, the Waori Indians of Venezuela or the Kariba and the Pemones in the surroundings of the Amazon, and many others.

Therefore, this new trend to which everyone joins about 'betting on cultural appropriation' with the only reason to win some likes on their social networks and extra views on their blogs, is not only to abuse the same thing they criticize (someone making money at the expense of someone else's culture), but also putting a social wall and a racial border to those groups and societies that are beginning to integrate freely by adopting certain elements of other cultures.

All this without mentioning that 'Interculturalism' helps to greatly promote the values ​​and elements of other cultures around the world that are disappearing, and opposing this cultural exchange only limits our own societies to integrate with each other and evolve collectively under the excuse of "that culture does not belong to you "when many of us are (whether we like it or not) the result of a racial, social, ethnic and linguistic mix, and refusing to socially promote the support of other cultures would only lead us to deny our origins, our past and of our cultural essence.

by Elhoim Leafar