Enjoy Your Holiday Magic I used to be so depressed with sunlight began disappearing in autumn, but no more. For me, Halloween announces the arrival of holiday magic I love counting blessings at Thanksgiving and the dramatic roll out of holiday lights. Hanukkah and Christmas bring me ever pleasing, multi – color, spirit lifting joy. How smart our ancestors were to party around big bonfires welcoming the returning sunlight on Winter Solstice, December twenty-first, the shortest day of the year. Fearing the sun would die out if they didn’t perform their ceremonies, the ancients enjoyed days of feasting and raucous celebration. Did you know the first evergreen trees were decorated in the wild thousands of years before the birth of Jesus? The ancients thought these fragrant trees held magical power because they were alive in the midst of winter’s barren landscape. Today’s Hanukkah and Christmas have roots in the old winter festivals yet can provide deep, spiritual meaning.
Conscious celebration, the highest form of human energy, brings such elation. Hanukkah and Christmas uplift all the senses. I love meditating by firelight, lighting candles, putting up simple decorations, feasting on favorite music and food. Human need for celebration is unquenchable. Please let me know your favorite ways to celebrate, & I will post them. Blessings for Happy Holy Days, Rev. Marilyn. For more info on meanings of holidays and ways to celebrate, see my book!