Who else celebrates Solstice?

[greyfields]

I drink to the soltice.

 

[sdshoars]

hey greyfields, i will drink with you.

 

[greyfields]

I generally drink everyday, though, so I'm starting early this year on the solitice, that or late for the last one.

 

[Rosalind]

I try when we are not insanely busy. We get a live tree, swearing that THIS year we will be diligent about watering it. Then the cat pees in it and it dies 2 weeks after we plant it anyway.

And I make eggnog. The Joy Of Cooking 1967 edition recipe, which calls for enough liquor to kill the Salmonella. Three small punch cups and you're singing embarrassing songs off-key.

 

[Livinzoo]

Well I don't do much for the solstice yet. But when I have kids I plan to celebrate with a yule log and such. My brother is a winter solstice baby and I'm an Autumn equinox baby.

 

[Jena]

Over here in the Uk I have 2 reasons to celebrate the solstice, it was my father's birthday, and it is also an important ancient celebration of the turning of the year. A time of renewal. From this day forward the world is coming back to life, the days are getting longer, the sleep of winter is moving towards the rebirth of spring and fertility. It is a time to celebrate with a yule log in the hearth, and good food and a drink to rejoice that the family has survived through the winter and is now preparing for the fertility of the growing time, breaking with the old, and starting with the new.
When Christianity first came to Britain, it incorporated a lot of the traditional celebrations of the Yule festival to mark the pasing of the solstice. Superstition was strong here then and the church found it easier to assimilate than to try and break the habits of the old times.

It is for me the beginning of the Christmas time, someone else said, time to put up the decorations and to enjoy the festive season. So you can enjoy the religious festival of Christmas, and at the same time think of the earth and her natural progression through the year. Important time for people who live close to the land and animals that are governed by the cycles of nature rather than the ticking of a clock.
Jena.

 

[I have WHAT in my yard?]

Also, to the original poster, a lot of religions, including Christianity have ties to the worship of Solstice. I don't want to make this into a religion thread, but the Zeigheist movie, in it's first chapter describes the origins and beliefs related to the Sun and it's passage on the horizon Movie. The latter part deals with geo-political and religious topics, and is not relevant to this discussion. Watch that part at your own discretion.

Thank you for posting that! You worded the piece about Zeigheist perfectly. Another good site for anyone with questions is religious tolerance.org They get experts from each field to write the entry abut their own religion it is one of the few information clearinghouses about religion that really sticks pretty close to that ideal.

But, that really is why I asked. So much of Christmas is borrowed Solstice celebration that I was hoping you might know of ideas that are more specific.... We do the Solstice bread. I wake up before dawn and greet the sun and start the bread so it rises as the sun does. After the first rise we all gather aorund it and take small pieces of dough and roll them into balls while making a prayer request wish for some one else for the new year. I find "winter" which is started at solstice much easier to deal with when I recognize that the darkest days are behind us at Solstice! I get rid of old candles and put out all new ones. I bring in the tree and we do an outside tree for the animals decorated with foodstuffs that the kids make. It's all good fun.

What else do people do?​