Celebrating Yule/Christmas Late

Ok so here is the situation. My family Celebrates Christmas and just last night was Yule but unfortunately I have to celebrate late with my boyfriend. My family wants him to celebrate with us because we feel he is already part of the family, where his family is the complete opposite. Even though we have been dating for 10 months they feel its too soon for me to be invited to family gatherings, even though I was invited to thanksgiving with them.

I don't know the whole story of what happened, but the way he portrayed it to be was very hurtful and as you can imagine I got upset. So after fuming with anger and then later crying about it, I figured ok fine if his parents want to be that way then I will celebrate with my boyfriend later. So I am coming up with ideas on how to celebrate the holiday season late with your Significant Other and still make it memorable and special.  I personally want a memorable and special first Christmas with my significant other and sometimes we can't always get what we want when we want it, and that's when we sacrifice and compromise. 

Not only that but I did a Google search and found out I'm not alone in this, in the sense that I'm not the only one who celebrates Christmas late. Although my reasons are because of the differences in family values and opinions and not financial, but it still sheds light that if you celebrate before January 6th its still not considered late.

http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/story/2011-12-17/delayed-christmas-weak-economy/51924600/1
The part of this article I like the most is thus:

Postponing Christmas Day, originally a Christian holiday to celebrate the birth of Christ, is almost unheard of in some circles. About 95% of Americans celebrate Christmas — including 80 percent of non-Christians, according to Gallup polls.

But Bruce David Forbes, author of "Christmas: A Candid History," says those who delay Christmas festivities can take some comfort in the fact that Dec. 25 isn't the date of the birth of Christ.

When Christians started celebrating his birth in the 300s after the Roman emperor Constantine converted to that religion, they didn't know the birthdate, so it appears that they picked a day to coincide with Romans' midwinter celebrations of their own gods. Meanwhile, Christians in more eastern countries, like Turkey and Greece, were already celebrating on Jan. 6.

So, Forbes, who teaches religious studies at Morningside College in Sioux City, Iowa, says if you're celebrating anywhere between Dec. 25 and Jan. 6, "you're not even doing it late."

So, I'm still hurt about being rejected at Christmas, but you know what there's a reason for everything and it's still not too late to celebrate with my man even if it has to be after Christmas.

Now comes the question how do I celebrate Christmas after Christmas? What Activities do I incorporate into the full day that we will be together?

The Things/ideas that I want to do is thus:

Baking Christmas Cookies! I know this will be a late Christmas but who says we can't bake Christmas Cookies after Christmas! Its a home only activity and can be very fun for couples to do together.

Making Dinner Together! Again Making dinner together for yourselves for Christmas is an Awesome way to spend time together. You can make whatever you want but it doesn't have to be a fancy turkey dinner like you just had on Christmas day. It can be as simple as Chicken and rice Hot dish and setting up Christmas Candles, and eat by candlelight.

Exchange Gifts! This Economy sucks I know and maybe we can't afford gifts but if that is the case, a hand made gift can be great too. I make things all the time, and I think it would be cool to make my BF a winter hat that he can use :)  

Scrap Booking! I got this idea from a website. When you celebrate Christmas with your significant other you want to make memories with Each other. That is the whole point of the Holidays. So Why not get a bunch of Pictures of you and your significant other from through out the year or the last few months you have been together and put them in a scrap book. You can write down quotes and put on stickers, even write a letter to each other about how each other feels. Also put in all the little or big memories about each other.  Then when one person is down in the dumps or when you get angry at each other you both can be reminded of how much you love each other and remember the awesome times you spent together. :)

Watch Holiday Movies! Ok after dinner is made and cookies are made you can sit and relax. Watch your favorite Christmas Movies! Some of my All time Holiday favorites are Home Alone 1 and 2, Prancer, The Santa Clause 1 &2, A Charlie Brown Christmas,  The Polar Express,  Elf, A Christmas Carol, Jingle All The Way, A Christmas Story, How the Grinch stole Christmas, Jack Frost, Miracle on 34th St, and The Nightmare before Christmas. Pick a couple that you would really like to Watch and watch them. I really love snuggling up and drinking hot coacoa and watching movies. 

Go Outside and Play! I know this is a bit childish but you know what? Our inner Child also needs to be acknowledged at this time of year as well. Our most favorite memories of Christmas is from our Childhood so go out and make a snow man if you live in the wintery snowy areas of the world. Go have a snow ball fight, and make Snow Angels. It's also a great way to burn some of those extra calories after eating so much holiday foods. Also, Take lots of Pictures!

  

Plan a Ritual or spell and do it together! For those of us who are Pagan Yule is about celebrating a solstice, one where we celebrate the birth of the Sun and how it will now get longer days instead of shorter days. So burn incense, Chant, and do all the things you do for a Ritual of Yule. Honor the Sun's return and pray for a renewal of faith if it is needed or do a spell for it because even though its the darkest time of the year it is also about rebirth and renewal.

Disclaimer I know Christmas isn't a pagan holiday, but in order to appease Christian families I feel the need to celebrate it in addition to yule, because its a holiday I grew up on, and it still holds a place in my heart. I also  kind of look at it as another way to celebrate Yule since Christmas is Technically a pagan holiday in disguise anyway.

My Witches Bottle

Ok so I decided to do a Witches Bottle, but I altered it a bit to fit my purpose. Here is a website that will describe what it is so you can make your own. Witches Bottle

So this is what I did. I have a friend who has a kid and so I asked her to rinse out baby food jars so that I could use them for herb storage and such. But instead its been sitting in my room for awhile now going unused. I had an argument with my boyfriend about something and its my fault and I realized I needed cleansing. I took a cleansing shower, and since my parents are going to be gone for a long while I decided to turn the tv off and meditate cleansing every negative feelings or energies I had and let them be washed down the drain while burning myrrh incense or frankincense works good too. Then I decided to cleanse the whole house. I called upon the elements air fire water and earth, (in that order) casted a silvery circle around the house in my mind and asked them to help protect and cleanse my house during this ritual. I started smudging the whole house in sage incense. Then I had this thought to do a witches bottle.

My bottle is more to keep the house cleansed. I put in it an amathyst stone, a red banded agate, a piece or quartz crystal, a banded blue agate, and an earthly green colored stone that I have no idea what it is, but I put it in there for its earth energies. I put in it moon water from this past full moon, some of my pubic hair, and needles, then I put in black candle wax from the black candle I was burning to banish the negative/harmful energies that are in the house. I also put in a recently burned smudge piece of white sage in the bottle as well. I then asked for assistance from the elements and meshed my power into the bottle with thier's and their blessings. I said out loud,

I open my heart and my soul

To the Elements of life

earth, air, fire and water, spirit

I call upon you, to Bless this witches bottle,

infuse it with your power

so that all negativity and harmful energy

are banished and cleansed from my home

allow only positive energies to come through

and protect me from my parents negativity

In this time and in this hour

from this day forth

so shall it be!

I then imagined all the power that was raised and put it into the bottle, and imagined any negitity to be drawn to this bottle and once it enters the bottle the negativity with be cleansed and banished in a cycle. I then hid the bottle in the northern part of the house so that the earth energies from the earth can help and keep the cycle grounded and going.

I altered it to fit my needs at the time. My parents are very negative people. They are always yelling at me and making me feel bad about myself and they also make Each other feel bad as well so I hope this bottle spell helps me to protect and guard against their negativity and so that positive energy is flowing in here and negative energy is not.

Full moon eclipse

http://fc00.deviantart.net/fs51/f/2009/328/4/b/Selene___moon_goddess_by_dreamsofkate.png

Ok so last night was the full moon, and it was a lunar eclipse. I decided to do a moon ritual, turning water into moon/eclipse powered water. I live in a cold environment so there is two ways this can be done. First if you are in a warmer climate, you can put water out in a wooden or ceramic bowl and let it charge overnight in the moon light.

Or the 2nd way that I have found to be just as effective is invoking the goddess, holding it up to the moon and asking her "Bless this water for me please with your power charge it with moon/eclipse power" If she is properly invoked you will feel her power channeling through your body and into the water. I made 4 bottles of this moon water this way and I can feel the power that is in these bottles of moon/eclipse water.

I called the 4 elements to protect and watch over the ritual, I prayed to the moon goddess to thank her for the light she brings every month. I thanked her for her contributions to nature. I asked if I could invoke her and she said yes and so I invoked the moon goddess and then said a simple moon magic spell over a crystal that I wanted to empower, then made the water. When I was done, I thanked her for the moon water and charging my crystal.

Then when I went to sleep I had a dream last night I was talking to the moon goddess. I don't remember what was said but all I know is I saw a goddess like figure with white silvery light that felt like the moons energies. She was talking to me and I to her about something. Like I said, I don't really remember what was all said, I just remember seeing her and hearing her voice. It was an interesting night I tell ya.

Drumming and Updates

Ok so last night I joined a Drumming group in a spiritual community/church thing. It wasn't a Traditional Church that you'd think of. It is a community church that is for people who are spiritual and into magick and metephysical studies, however, its energies seemed more Native American. To the Anishinabae people, Drums were very sacred to this culture. Drums are a very magical tool to raise energy as well as call out to the spirits. Last night was definately proof of that because I saw Native American Elders dancing and being called by the drums while I was drumming. It was awesome that they joined our healing and celebrations experiences. I found it an amazing experience and my friend who took me to it, we plan on going as often as we can. I really wanna feel this again especially feeling the Elders delight in our drumming and I could even hear them singing. They were singing soo loud I thought people must be crazy not to have heard them. My friend heard them too.

One of the things we did that was kind of cool was a shamanistic Journey. We would be drumming while asking our spirit guides questions and getting answers. My spirit guides told me some much needed lectures about how I should take more pride in my accomplishments. They asked me, If I don't believe in my accomplishments, how can others believe in them or believe in me if I don't first believe in it myself? It got to me. It really did. I been hearing these thoughts for a long time but I never believed them. After meeting my higher self and finally hearing these thoughts from whence they came, I started feeling a rush of courage and believing in myself. I asked them about grad school, and they said yes, you will get there, the time is coming soon so you better hurry it up and to believe in my abilities and in myself. They said I have come this far, and go farther if I keep trying. I wanted to stop punishing myself for what happened in the last few years. They told me to stop allowing others to set me back from my purpose, that you know what you need to do, get it done!


Anyway Id just like to say, the reason there aren't very many blogs the last couple of months because my computer broke and I haven't been able to get on here much. It broke right after halloween and so I haven't been able to write about my Samhain experiences. It was awesome too, but the time and place for that has passed. I plan on writing about it next year so don't worry it will be up eventually.

Licid Dreaming

Ok so I am a very lucid dreamer. I lucid dream at least once every night. I think its supposed to be one of my powers or something. But anyway, I had this dream where I was living in a house down town Minneapolis. I was in High school and was very pagan. People knew that and one of my Christian Friends decided they wanted to convert me. So they arranged to break into my room while Im sleeping, I woke up in the dream hearing voices of people but not understanding what they are saying. I thought it was a ghost so I bolted up right and what I saw horrified me.
Any magickal books I had, including non fiction and fiction, were gone, My artwork I have been working on with artistic nudes and pagan symbology were gone, and nearly all my alter supplies were gone. Also Any DVD's or Movies that had a sci fie fantasy theme to it were also gone. I was hurt and enraged.  I cried and cried and then I noticed the Christians were outside waiting for me. So I went out in angry sobbing tears and told them off. I went on a rant that how can I be a devil worshiper if I don't even believe in the devil in the first place, etc etc etc. Asked them all these tough philisophical questions they didn't understand or didnt know the answer to. A couple of people felt sympathy and compassion and tried to calm me down but they kept on saying "jesus will take away all pain. etc" and I just got angry again and ranted philisophical debates.
Some felt compassionate and sympathetic but at the same time they just kept on talking about Jesus. I told Them this was wrong even in the legal sense and that you must leave my property! They wouldnt leave so I go in to call the police but on my bed there was a packet of reciepts and notes about what they did with my stuff. They burned my books, Sold my DVD's for money and gave the money to the church, They took my art to an art professor at the university and the professor wrote a note saying that my art was indeed trashy and that they burned my paintings and drawings, and sketches, they had donated any alter supplies to the church to be cleansed of evil, etc etc etc. I was even more destraught and I started crying again and wanted to go on facebook and send an angry blog/letter to all those who were involved, thats when I woke up physically in my room.
It had felt soo real and so vivid and the strange thing is, the timeline was messed up like had a hint of past present and future. Cus the house I lived in, in the dream and the way everyone was dressed up, it was taking place in 1970's and yet theres all this modern technology that wasn't in the 19'70's. I woke up feeling angry and sad, but then I realized that everything was ok and realized it was just a dream. A very real feeling vivid lucid dream. I shrug my shoulders, ask the goddess to help me sleep better after writing down the dream in a dream journal.

Merging with Higher self

Ok so last night I was gazing into my Quartz crystal. I wanted to meditate so I figured Id fix myself on the crystal like I would do on a candle flame. Once my Consciousness shifted I was in a field that was warm and sunny, and with all kinds of flowers all around. The wind combing through my hair. It was peaceful. However, someone had approached me. I had instantly known it was my higher self. She looked different, appeared to me as this mystical Goddess with lovely tattoos and power emanating from her.  She was telling me about herself and that we need to merge. I was scared, I don't know why I was scared but then she touched me and I was at full peace with her. She told me I was ready and to not be afraid. She proceeded and merged with me. I felt a huge rush going through me as I felt the power rush in. My whole body felt warm while laying on the bed and my sense heightened. I felt whole, and complete and loved like I had never felt before. It was good and strange all at the same time.  After coming back I still felt warm and good, and happy and felt completed.