My Children Made me This Way

Winter Solstice is one of the Sabbats (have look here at Wikipedia for a nice general explanation.) that many Wiccan’s and other various Pagan/Neo-Pagan’s celebrate. It is the longest night of the year literally (in the Northern Hemisphere). At the winter equinox the hours of darkness out number those of light at a ratio that is never greater any other night of the year. Because of the position of the sun and the tilt of the Earths axis we are the furthest away from the sun at that time then any other time during the year. After that the days begin to grow longer steadily, even when we all seem to be in the grips of winter, spring is already on its way.

I have always celebrated by staying up all night, I light my Yule candle (a log when we had a fireplace) and I tend it all night. It is a time to reflect and consider. I watch the stars, and the sky, and I think about the things that I want to come into my life with this new Sun. This however is not a very practical way to introduce the Monsters to this Sabbat (Though this year D did stay up most of the night with me) and like many parents who are raising children on this path I had to find a way to include them, so here is part of how we celebrate.

The day is S’s, it is his birthday and we keep it that way till after cake and presents. And then we all have a bath to relax and settle. We read stories about the Sun, myths about Gods and Goddesses and we talk about what each might mean. Right before bedtime for them we go through the house turning off all the lights, welcoming the darkness as a time for renewal. And then we light up our tree. It stays lit all night long, welcoming the God and light back into the world. I tuck them into bed with dream pillows and wishes for dreams about renewal and they are off to sleep.

When the sun comes up in the morning and they wake up we have their ritual. And it is breakfast. They help me cook, this morning it was butterscotch oatmeal , buttered toast, and hot chocolate, and we talk about their dreams. The kitchen is noisy and warm, and we giggle at the silly, and nod at the serious and we put all that energy and magic into our food. We sit at the table, and the candle that I have had burning all night is at the center. We talk about the coming of the Sun again, and what Solstice means, both literally and spiritually and we eat. At the end of the meal we put out the candle, bit of food each of us has left in our bowl is placed on a plate and we set it outside as an offering.

It is simple, but that’s how I am raising my Monsters to be good little Witches.