Witchy Woman

Luckily, most decorations associated with Christmas are Pagan in origin.

Evergreen boughs remind us that nothing ever truly dies, and can easily be spruced up (pun intended) with holly berries for the Holly King. Wrap them around stairways, mantles, and windows. Don't forget a wreath for the front door for the Wheel of the Year. Ivy is another greenery that you can festoon your home with for fertility in the coming year. Speaking of fertility, don't forget your mistletoe!

Make a Pagan nativity scene (I really want to do this, but don't have time this year. Maybe next).

Candles everywhere! You'll most likely be making and blessing new ones for Imbolc, anyway, so why not use up the old ones? It's dark and dreary, and what better way to celebrate the festival of light? However, do use common sense and only burn them in containers in safe places out of the reach of children, pets, and other gremlins. Traditionally the colours would be red, green, white, blue, silver, or gold, but you can use any you like. For extra light, put them in front of mirrors and/or windows.

Display your Yule log before burning it.

Hang bells everywhere, especially on doors, for good fortune.

Santa Claus is Pagan in origin, and I prefer the traditional type of Father Christmas in the robes. Although I would recommend leaving out the modern concept of elves out of respect for the fae.

Don't forget potpourri! Cinnamon and pine scents are long-lasting, inexpensive, and festive.

Now for the easiest and hardest part, the tree. There are some commercial ornaments out there, but they can be fairly expensive and/or poorly made. Many of them I look at and think, "I can make that." If you are crafty, you can make your own ornaments.

Here is a list of common stores and companies that use "Holiday" and those that say "Christmas." Hopefully, you can support local businesses instead of big box stores, but not all of us can afford to, especially in this economy. They are categorized according to their websites, as I don't watch nearly as much live TV as I used to (oh TiVo, how I love thee).

Crate and Barrel (see Home Depot)

Home Depot tries to trick you with a Holiday section divided into Christmas or Hanukkah

K-Mart (second year in a row, at least that I know of)

Sears

Target

Wal-Mart (no surprise there)

Amazon, only mention of any holiday is for shipping by Christmas

Big Lots

Fred Meyer, main page has Holiday but ads and products all say Christmas

Frye's, no mention of anything, not even Winter

JC Penney, uses both

Nordstrom, one instance of Christmas and then tries to use Winter everywhere else

Office Depot, no mention of anything, not even Winter

Ross, one instance of Winter

Winco, tries to use Holiday but reverts to Christmas

Barnes and Noble (but Powell's is better)

Best Buy

Borders (Powell's is much more betterer)

Kohl's, primarily Holiday with a Christmas Sale

Lowe's (second year in a row)

Petco (hey, even our familiars need gifts)

Powell's, but we already knew they're awesome

To bust out the Solstice Carols! My favourite site is Willow Firesong's because there are so many, and they aren't anywhere near as bad as my recent filk attempt.

I made this for Beltane, along with a quiche, but this was the better of the two.

A package of Dr. Oetker’s White Cake Mix with an applesauce cup, some lemon juice, and some cinnamon thrown in. Since I didn’t replace the oil with the applesauce (never done it before and was afraid to try), I added a bit more flour to compensate.

I baked it in two layers. I made the cream cheese frosting from a recipe inside the Organic Valley package, it involved maple syrup (I was lucky enough to have the real thing on hand) and I tossed in some more lemon juice. Frosted the bottom layer with it and stuck sliced strawberries all over. Repeated with the top layer.

I ran up to the Portland area to meet with a couple of Ravelers and shared it (seriously, an entire cake? I may be fluffy, but not that fluffy). There wasn't any left, and now they're threatening to keep me locked up in a kitchen. Evidently the trick is to let it sit overnight and then bounce it around in a car for about an hour.

I am not big on ritual as of late. Needing more simplicity in my life, I have been leaning towards hedge-witchery. I am wearing bright red, baked a bread, and plan on lots of knitting this evening.

Once it gets dark, I will light a candle that I will keep going all night (the trick is to put it in the bathtub or sink) and perhaps do some divination, most likely Tarot.

Just a few tips on how to have a safe and sane Beltane.

Don't dance too close to the bonfire when naked.

If you do jump the fire, do so naked. Imagine all those dangling sleeves and flowing robes over a huge balefire. Despite your childhood fantasies, you do not really want to be the Human Torch.

When you find a cozy bush with your partner, make sure that it is thorn-free and not poison oak.

It is bad form to relieve yourself on the fire.

And please do not inflict any of the following on your fellow revelers:

13. Guy: "That ritual gown is skin-tight baby... How do you get into it?" Gal: "Well... you can start off by getting me a chalice of mead."
12. "Hey-hey, is that a magick mirror in your pocket - because I can see myself in your pants."
11. "If I said you had the body of a Goddess - would you hold it against me?"
10. "Hey babe, what's your sign? What's it's ascendant? What's your Moon...?" (*caresses your butt*)
9. "Read any good Llewellyn Books lately?"
8. "Would you like to come over to my place and get busy kickin' wytchy-boots?"
7. "Hey beautiful, your feet must be tired... because you've been spiral dancing in my mind all night long."
6. "Haven't I seen you in another life before?"
5. "Wow... You have the most beautiful third eye I've ever seen."
4. "So... do you do The Great Rite here often?" or "So... ya wanna jump the bale-fire together?" *wiggle eyebrows*
3. "What's a georgous Nymph-Goddess like you, doing in a Circle like this?"
2. "Yes, I'm handfasted, but that's not a "legal" marriage.... but we *could* go out in the forrest for a Greenwood Marriage..." *wink*
And the TOP BELTANE PICK-UP LINE IS......... *Drumroll please*
1. "Is that a Maypole in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?"

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Combine all dry ingredients, stir in cheeses and toss well. Cut in butter. Combine eggs and milk, add to flour mixture and gently knead to form a stiff dough. Cut dough ball into halves and pat each half into an 8" diameter, 1/2" thick circle. Cut into wedges, place wedges on a baking sheet and bake 15 to 17 minutes, until lightly browned.

The cutesy little commercials and signs and even storefronts (guess where I won't be shopping) that say, "Remember, Jesus is the reason for the season" irritate me to no end.

Don't you remember anything from grade school science? The tilt of the earth's axis is the reason for the season.

Christians don't get to monopolize an entire season. They don't even get to claim the entire month of December. There's Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Yule, Bodhi Day, and in Islam there's either Eid ul-Fitr or Al-Hijra depending on their calendar.

Jesus is not the reason for the season. He's the reason for your holiday of Christmas, for which you stole the practices and traditions of Pagans. Get over yourselves.

"Unfortunately for the little lord Jesus, his manger was placed in the Illinois Capitol, where it could draw criticism on many fronts. On the one hand, protests and demonstrations are allowed at the Capitol. Displays such as this, which use freedom of expression, are clearly allowed within the grounds of the capitol building.On the other hand, the Constitution states that the governments of the United States will be separated from religious connections. Putting a nativity scene inside of a government building runs completely against that idea. In fact, it is a blatant attempt at mixing religion and government.Unlike a Christmas tree, which despite the name can be decorated in many ways to support different religions and ideas, a nativity scene depicts the baby Jesus lying in a manger, a story directly from the Bible."

This shit happens every year, particularly in the Midwest and the South. Pisses me off because you know they would never allow a Goddess, also. (Jesus was a Sun God, however. Another note on changing carols to fit Paganism is I substitute "Sun King" for "Jesus"). If anyone even tried that in this area, I would be among the first in line to be displaying a lunar Goddess right next to the baby Jesus. And it wouldn't be a politically correct, "maybe She's really the Virgin Mary" type Goddess, either. We're talking pentagrams, Goddess symbols, and the like so there is no question, whatsoever.

Will be rather quiet this month as I have a pile of knitting projects to finish for the holidays. Yes, I did refer to holidays in the plural. I do celebrate Yule and then Christmas in a secular fashion with my family. The good news is, is that I have a little extra time to get my family's done. The bad news is, is that my friends' gifts have to get done first.

In case you haven't noticed, the Holiday Season is emminent. The songs are already on the radio. And it bugs me every time I hear the word "Christmas" in the music, which I actually do like. I feel like I'm being beaten over the head with it: "You are the weird one for not following a holiday which has been twisted and commercialized from its original meaning on another holiday that has been plagiarized from your religion." Yeah, I gots issues. And Pagan versions of songs will most likely never be played on the radio, at least, not in my lifetime.

But I did realize in my singing along to the radio (don't worry, no one was present for the audial atrocity committed) that "Solstice" and "Christmas" rhyme. So I substitued Solstice accordingly. It's only taken me six years to figure that one out. Yes, I are teh genius.

This website has some good Pagan-friendly versions of carols. Such as using "Yuletide" in "Have a Holly, Jolly Christmas." I figure it's only fair to use Christian carols since they did co-opt our holiday first.

"Human Rights Campaign provides consumers direction on where to spend their dollars to support lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality during tough economic times."

Guide here.

According to some, those of us who don't celebrate Christmas are actively against it. Fine. You want to declare war, go right ahead. But I will vote with my dollars and boycott any companies that say outright, "Merry Christmas" instead of "Happy Holidays." I never really cared before, but I never realized that perhaps some companies do so out of some weird spiteful "We only want Christians shopping here and if you don't like that then you're against Christmas" sort of attitude.

Actually, I do celebrate Christmas secularly with my family. (I'm still in the broom closet with them. Would that mean that I'm keeping them in the broom closet? Wouldn't that be elder abuse?) But I also celebrate Yule religiously. So I can't have two happy holidays? I can only have one? What about New Year's? Or because I don't drink and therefore won't spend my money on booze then you don't care and say, "Screw you, hippy." But I digress in my rantings.

As we wade into the holidays, I mean, battlefield I will list companies that use "Merry Christmas" in their advertising versus "Happy Holidays." I'm not telling you where to shop and who to boycott. I'm just letting you know in case you give a rat's arse.

Merry Christmas: K-Mart

Jerry's Home Improvement has "Christmas Trees"

Lowe's in one of their commercials, the employee says "Merry Christmas" but the announcer/flash of words at the end says "Happy Holidays"

Happy Holidays: Crest (while "I'll be home for Christmas" plays in the background)

Kohl's

I actually have something good to say about a commercial.

A man surprised his family by decorating the house for the holidays while he was home alone. In it, the man showed pride in his home and its appearance rather than the woman being expected to take it all on herself Martha Stewart-style.

I am praising the marketing division for being equal opportunity, and not the actions of the male character who is allegedly performing this task. I think if you want holiday decorations, you're expected to help with them.

But I do think it's a rather sad statement that I have to work to find an ad that is not sexist.

FYI, it was a Home Depot ad and the family in question was actually African-American. No, I couldn't find a clip of it.

I volunteered for them in high school, you would not believe the appreciation and gratitude of the seniors.