Christmas, Yule or Both?

Posted Thursday, December 2, 2010 by Kally83
I believe in Jesus. That probably sounds a little weird coming from someone who’s a practicing Pagan, but it’s the truth. I don’t, however, believe everything that Christians, or even the Bible, say about him. I believe he existed. I believe he wanted the best for humanity and tried to share this view but as people so often do, we’ve taken his words out of context and thrown in our own interpretations.

As Christmas approaches, I find myself in the same awkward spot that I have for the past couple of years. As a family, Boo, the boys and I celebrate both Yule and Christmas. I grew up surrounded by the “magic” of Christmas and I hope to give my boys the same thing. Yule has become an extension of that and I hope over the years that we will create traditions that reflect my Pagan beliefs and we can flawlessly mould the two together. But right now, that just isn’t happening for me.

I’m not sure how to look at Christmas anymore. It feels like more than a commercial holiday, but since I no longer follow Christianity, I don’t feel entirely right celebrating the “true meaning of Christmas”. But since I believe Jesus existed, is it ok to celebrate it in a less “religious” way? Do any of you celebrate both holidays? How do you go about it? Is there a way of bringing the two together or must they be kept separate?
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4 comments:

  1. Anonymous
    December 3, 2010 at 12:16 AM

    I must admit, I have the same dilema - I believe Jesus was a very enlightened dude, a healer, carer of humanity etc., but I do not like Christianity at all - that is why I have taken the more Pagan path.
    Whilst every year we get carried away with the traditions of the season (mainly for family's sake as Chrissie lunch is always at our house), but this year is different, we don't wish to participate in the traditional, we want to celebrate the Yule, which we will be doing as our own little family (Hubby, Dog and myself) with no others around to spoil it.
    I think it is OK to combine the two - best of both worlds as they say!!
    Have a blessed Yule :o))

  1. Aine O'Brien
    December 3, 2010 at 6:35 AM

    I think it takes a little time to make the complete transition - it did for me, and Velvet's story seems to be the same. It only makes sense if you think about it. Even if your former holiday traditions were based on Christianity, they were still your traditions and so of course you long to keep them. Replacing them with pagan traditions is great, but I don't think you can expect to feel the same way about them until enough time has gone by and they become YOUR traditions. For a while I went along with other's traditions just to keep the peace, and it isn't hard because Christmas (at least the HOLIDAY) is celebrated by so many. But eventually I just began celebrating Yule. I read everything I could about it's origins, customs, etc., and found a very old, very spiritual tradition that I keep today.

  1. Danni
    December 3, 2010 at 3:12 PM

    I don't see any issue with celebrating both. My husband was brought up Christian and is now somewhere in the ether. I was brought up without any religion and have been a pagan for over 10 years but we were both brought up celebrating more the sparkle and shine and togetherness aspect of Christmas than the religious meanings behind it. I celebrate Yule with food, a personal ritual and a yule tree and we celebrate Christmas (Xmas? Glittermas?) with our families as just a day to be together, share food, stories and gifts. These are the traditions we've started and I'm happy celebrating for a few days at a time. :)

  1. Aisha @The Bewitching Bibliophile
    December 3, 2010 at 7:09 PM

    I celebrate both, Yule is a personal get together with those on my path, Xmas is a family time, the Caribbean tradition are based of the British tradition so they are a little pagan anyway, so I don't feel bad celebrating both. I also believe that Jesus like Krishna, and Muhammad are simply sent as guiding lights for those who needed them.
    great post
    thanks for sharing with us
    Blessed be

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