I've always been more spiritual than religious and Christmas has always been more of a celebration of the winter and the upcoming year for me, even when I was a little girl. This year we decided to celebrate the Solstice with Odin rather than Christmas. As we researched, we discovered that pretty much everything Christmas is derived from classic Winter Solstice celebrations. Our traditions aren't quite set yet as this was our first year but I've read some beautiful things that I'm excited to incorporate into our yearly celebrations. We plan to still celebrate Christmas with our families, but with Odin, the emphasis will be on the Solstice. Last year for Odin's first Christmas, we decided to go with the "Something you want, something you need, something to wear, and something to read" for gifts. We still plan to follow that tradition as I truly believe it is a good one! I've never been a fan of the materialism associated with this holiday and don't want Odin relating the two.
One of my IG mama friends told me that they string berries and decorate the trees with the berry garlands and apples as an offering to the deer and other creatures. Solstice is about the Earth and it's relation to the Sun and it seems so much more fitting to me than sitting in front of your new flat screen television and playing with your new iPad all day. Not that I'd judge you if you did, but I'm not a fan of material things in general so we like to avoid that sort of atmosphere! I also love the idea of twelve special ornaments to decorate the solstice tree in representation of the twelve months of the year. I'm excited to make them next year and also to research throughout the year and begin practicing some beautiful new traditions. Our friend Ian was visiting this Solstice and it was so nice to have someone with us in the morning. We gave him one of our few jars of honey from our bees and I made Odin a set of finger puppets as his something he wants. Last year I made Odin a beautiful quiet book but I didn't have as much time this year! Although, he's ridiculously in love with the finger puppets and I think I made a good choice in making him those.
We spent the rest of the day outside. Meeting up with friends downtown and walking to one of our favorite spots, the Lily Ponds. The day was short and we were soon back home to get Odin down for his nap and bid Ian farewell. It was definitely the most perfect day.
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