🎉 Weekly Witchy CHALLENGE - 13 Days of Holiday Celebrations

[Susurrus]

Challenge Entry…

I know this is actually super early for me to do my entry but! I figured, I made something today, so why not… because it’s likely I will forget

My daughter has 2 friends that she is really close with, so I made them each a roller bottle of wearable oils that are the same.

A few weeks, I believe close to 3 because my daughter was still away when I started the carrier oil… I placed rose, jasmine, & lily into Extra Virgin Olive Oil to be infused. If I happened to remember, I would kind of flip the jar a couple of times but honestly I think I may have done that once a week

Anywho… I set up my space with a black candle for protection, a pink candle for friendship, & a white candle for healing & purification. I used Lavender incense & chose a light blue, pink, & red 10 ml roller bottle. I then added the following essential oils…

• Vanilla
• Rose
• Jasmine

I also added crystal chips to each bottle for friendship:

• Rose Quartz
• Lapis Lazuli
• Carnelian

Then I actually didn’t strain the florals out of the carrier oil, I used a plastic dropper & filled the roller bottles the rest of the way with the carrier oil. I assembled each roller bottle & gave them each a little shake.

Now they are sitting on my altar until the incense & candles have burned all the way through.

We kind of celebrate Christmas in a non-spiritual way as a family. It’s more about being with each other & getting gifts for each other that we know will used or appreciated throughout the year. We do decorate our tree with ornaments that have either been given to us, made by one of us, or have some other meaning to one or all of us in the family.

I do make an ornament of sorts each year: a Witches Ball ornament then when we dismantle the tree, I hang it in my space, which happens to be our bedroom (husband & I). I also make up an intentions pinecone that gets hung on the tree & then also hangs in our room afterward until Imbolc when I release it into a fire out in my fire pit… or as soon as I am able to have a fire out there… depends on what Mother Nature decided to do in our part of the world this time of year… you honestly just never know…

I do journal on reflections of the last year or at least since the last solstice I celebrated. Kind of reflection & intentions for the New Year.

I will that this year, is the best that I have felt in many years at this time. The holidays have been a very hard time for me normally, but I have worked through a lot of difficult things & I feel amazing now. Much more in tune with my family, practice, & intuition.

I also like to make things for people as gifts. So I do have a couple of home hangings in the works currently. They are being made with palo santo sticks & using 3 pieces of fishing line, I am hanging sea glass, shells, coral, & using some black tourmaline chips? pieces? to place between each thing. The pieces of fishing line are different lengths & each one will have different arrangements & colors of shells & seaglass & a small piece of coral. At the ends of each line I will add a slice of dyed agate.

I’m also currently on the hunt for my woodburning tool, so I can put each family’s last name on the piece of palo santo that the strings will hang from

(My husband is going to be helping me with this because sometimes my hands just don’t want to do what I want them to do )

As I was returning with my pupper from dropping off something to my husband this morning. We actually made a pit stop at a beach parking lot & I took time to welcome the Sun this morning:

[Ostara]

That is so beautiful! Thanks for sharing!

[Cosmic_Curiosity]

Yes i have always been drawn to Egypt. Its history, its culture and its ancient deities. I have always felt called to them. I felt it appropriate last night to bring in isis and horus her as mother of a sun deity felt appropriate for the return of the sun

[Phoenix_Fire]

Love this, im also celebrating the summer solstice and im also in same area in Aus. Love the mention of the masculine energy around thus solar celebration. Im not a girly girl and ill admit i have male deities i follow that i feel that speaks a bit to the masculine energy alittle more and that part of me feels accepted as such. So in a way reading this about the masculine energy being celebrated during a solar celebration makes sense and i feel it kibda gives me permission to express that a bit as celebrate this time of the year and that in doing so it also honors the deities that i feel connected to that represent that masculine side… not sure if that made sense. But thanks for sharing this. Its not only nice to hear of orhers in Aus that celebrating litha or sumner solstice like me but your crystals are awesome and the things you mentioned also helped me a bit too. So thanks and i hope you can enjoy this time as you celebrate.

[Phoenix_Fire]

Another 3hrs sleep night but maybe its thr heat, maybe its sleeping on thr loynge cause its under aircon and only way not to overheat but not so comfy and keep worrying fall off lol but when i couldnt get back to sleep after another hr or so since waking i decided to take another look at this. I wrote out on a word doc the dates that included the 12 or 13 days and what date they fell on. Ive previously connected each member of my clan to one of the days of the week with some days having two because of where they related to.
I started to note relevent things like when litha was, things id done ir reflected on during past few days as well as upcoming things already planned. Some of clan is norse, some celtic. Ive seen that some yule days relate to some of clan while others are different deities. While i respect other deities not in my personal clan, i wanted to personalise it especially as for me and those in South it was sumner solstice or litha not yule. I can look at it again around our yule to see if it feels like can fit differnt but for now, this is kinda me trying to create my own new tradition around personal clan and practices or rituals would like to include. I feel im connecting more n more as another wheel of year has turned and ive been trying to do things aroubd sabbats.
Because ive been figuring out things and not done particular rituals yet, more reflection, planning and researching ideas on litha, meditation etc the first part if my 12/13 says of litha seems to ve about regrouping, seeing where i am at and finding that path post to orienate myself and figure out where i am and where i want to go. Later today my family are having our christmas early but to me its more about the family gsthering than about christmas as i may of grown up thinking of it comibg from a christian background. While i wish i could build snow men and have christmas around yule for us, thats not how it is. Lol i joked yesterday that instead of building snow men at christmas we all become nelting snowmen on Christmas instead esp wgen christmas seems to be sometimes hottest time. But i have been finding while i celebrate chrustmas wuth kuds and teach them about how christmas is celebrated in different ways around the world for me personally my brain struggles to connect christmas when much portrayal of christmas and its connections link to yule rather than litha, so to remedy this i think in my own head, and i respect anyone who still celevrates chrustmas under tradional sense even if our weather is different, and i wont spoil it for others that do this, but in my head im fibding im thinking of this less as the christian holiday of christmas and what became the christianised version of tge pagan celebration and reorientated my brain to see this just as Litha and summer solstice and that my family gatherings are a part of that celebration, while others may see it as christmas in summer. It realky doesnt effect my interactions to be honest because i can accept how other ppl view this time of year, but its more an internal mindset and i think that it helps a little to focus and connect more of the season or time of year experiencing rather than any inconsistancies around holidays that dont quite match the season we are in in the south hemisphere. But i fully respect anyine who has different views or chooses tk celebrate ut different. Its more my internal shift of thinking has gelped me sort the incobsistancy and confysion my brain goes through with this and gelps me connect more to the Sabbat in at te time. At least it’s been helping. I hope that all made sense and i hope my explaining hasnt offemded anyone who may have different views. It wasnt intended. Its just something i realised actually has been helping me recently just to connect more to my natural settjng and season in without trying to twust my brain into a pretzel trying to celebrate a sabbat traditionally connectef to a season not in. Lol i really hope that all made sense.

I will share my notes ( maybe more organised when they are done of what i do for each day but i thought id just share a bit on my reflections and progress on this so far. Lol i just realised the sun was alreafy comubg up as i can see light outside. I wonder if the longer day as well as heat may be why ice been sleeping less lol my body waking up at 3am past two mornings, connected to lobger days? Interbal clock saying im supposed to be awake cause the days longer and less darkness lol im not sure but interesting thought. Its only 5.22am and im now laying here thinking, hmm maybe ill go out to balcony and water my plants. The heats been a bit harsh on some of them. And as i can see light outside and im clearly not going to get any more sleep maybe the day ans sun is calling me oh hello sun​:sunrise_over_mountains: ohh i can go water my sun flowers

Sorry that was a long post and im only hoping it made sense. Maybe i should have a coffee as well to help me start the day might help my brain a lil

Just incase i went to explain this bit but my sleepy brain didnt actually explain. My mindset is i respect tgat pll are celebratung tjis time as christmas and family gatherings are about n around Christmas idea or celebration for them but it was jyat in my head im finding im thinking of family gatherings as a part of litha or summer solstice rather than christmas ( while respecting that others are more christmas focused) its still falily gathering and celebration and i may not tell family my internal pagan view or mindset but just it helps my head connecr to the season experiencing by seeing christmas as a holiday ( at least in south hemisphere) thars celebrated outside of its corresponding season and while acknowleding and respecting others may see kt different, this just helps me and my head connect mlre to the wheel as the family garherings etc are still thereim just focusing on the season or sabbat in ratger than the celebration that was created around a season from the other end of thr wheel. I hope that made sense. but i just thought bette clarify that bit was trying to say incase i got distracted and didnt finish explauning anf that cause confusion or offense if id been misunderstood.

How ever pll celebrate this time if year, both in south hemisphere or North hemisphere i hope you all have a lovely time with fruend, family, with who ever you follow and those spirits you connect with as well as with nature and whar ever you do by yourself. Happy holidays, however you celebrate and where ever you celebrate from

[christina4]

Absolutely! I made an offering of black moonstone in an ametrine offering bowl. And I lit a purple candle. I think she likes purple. Idk. For the solar part, I made a solar altar. Nothing too big. Just the basics and an old sun decoration.

[BryWisteria]

@Garnet

But I thought those aren’t the only groups who celebrated Winter Holidays.

I love how you are never afraid to step beyond what you know and reach out further into the world, Garnet- I appreciate the thoughtfulness and respect you show when sharing what you’ve learned about other cultures, traditions, and practices around the world Thank you for sharing this!

@Garnet

Every layer of the chain was carefully repaired or replaced (often)because we had cats…enough said?

Enough said! This sounds like a fun tradition and a very happy memory- thank you for sharing it with us, Garnet. Wishing the same to you- blessed be and happy holidays!

@Susurrus

Now they are sitting on my altar until the incense & candles have burned all the way through.

I know I’ve said it before, but your altar space is gorgeous- so many fun treasures, lights, and colors! It feels like a happy place where you can do your crafting and spellwork

The roller bottles sound amazing- I am sure your daughter and her friends will appreciate them very much! Beautiful work on your crafts and amazing sunrise- that is a show stopping picture!

@Phoenix_Fire

Ive previously connected each member of my clan to one of the days of the week

Using each day of the week to honor a member(s) of your clan is a really beautiful idea, and definitely personalizes your solstice celebrations in a way that is special and meaningful to you!

Thank you for sharing your thoughts and reflections on Litha, the solstice, and your Christmas celebrations- it really does sound like you have been deeply connecting with your chosen themes and seasonal energies. I don’t think anything you said was offensive- it sounds to me like you are defining your own holidays and celebrations in ways that feel best and most right to you, which is a really powerful thing!

You always put a lot of thought and care into how you approach the challenge theme, Phoenix, and I just have to say that I am always impressed by your work! From what I can see, I think you are truly thriving in your magickal practice and I am so happy for you. Blessed holidays and happy Litha, Phoenix!

[Mistress_Of_Herbs]

@BryWisteria awwwwwww thanks love. We try to honor and respect each others beliefs and traditions. I mean we have crosses mixed in with crystals and such yr round. And thats ok. As for lights outside we have a few. We have lights running the full length of the house inside. Gary started that when i used to work at 911 and i would get home in the dark. And i would have to cut on a bunch of lights then go back thru and cut them all back off again once i got to my room. And even tho i dont work anymore we still keep the lights up bc they make an awesome light without the brightness of regular lightning. Plis they are pretty.

@BryWisteria

I can tell you keep a very warm and loving home, Christeena

Thank u for that. We try really hard. These past few months have really tested that love, and patience. But im happy to say we love each other all the more. Gary still needs to return to work tho lol.

Blessed Yule my dear friend.

[Jeannie1]

Happy Soltice everyone! We’re in Capricorn and tonight’s full moon right? I did a long meditation. I need some Capricorn energy. Also the Jupiter energy I need to cut some things out and shed some stuff! I am quite surprised that all around the world there are many storms and I hope you all are safe and have a Merry Christmas
Honestly it’s hard for me around this time every body spends money and for me I am on a budget and Yule/Christmas is more importantly about my friends being happy and spending time with the people you love I love you all and how creative everyone is!You all are like family here! I don’t have any batteries for my lights and we’ll back to the store again! My fame is flickering right know there must be spirit here with me. I gave an offering to Heckate and made a dish! I am also honoring the Calliache. However it’s time to think of the coming of the sun what diety fo you encounter this time?

Any thoughts on my natal chart?

[Susurrus]

@Jeannie 1 - is this chart your current aspects & positions based on the New Moon in Capricorn? Or is that the natal chart that you were born under? You know what… I’ll send you a PM

[Cosmic_Curiosity]

Which Egyptian deities do you work with most often. I was trying to find something which would tell me which Egyptian deities can help with different thingd eg. Who offers protection, who can heal, who can help me to learn etc. Any insight or ideas where i could find this?
Its noce to meet someone else who works with the Egyptian Pantheon.

[Susurrus]

@Cosmic_Curiosity we do have a post in the forum that is kind of a starter. Its main focus is Bast/Bastet & a course on Isis but there will be other Egyptian deities added as they get made up.

• Bast/Bastet Egyptian Goddess
• Bast: The Egyptian Cat Goddess
• Isis Information

Those are within the site & forum… I just did a quick search until @christina4 is able to properly respond.

[Amethyst]

Amethyst’s Weekly Witchy Challenge entry:

There are many traditions in my family that I still do for the holidays despite being pagan. Lasagna on Christmas Eve, watching every available version of A Christmas Carol. Decorating a tree, no matter how small. Listening to Christmas music.

But one that was my Daddy’s that I’ve adopted now that I have places to post like Dreamwidth and now here, is a reading. Not A Visit from St. Nick but one that had more meaning for Dad. See, Dad was a newspaperman since before I was born and he’d read the article from the paper I’m about share on Christmas Eve when he got home from work. It holds a special place in my heart and I’d like to share it.

Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus…

Editorial Page, New York Sun, 1897

We take pleasure in answering thus prominently the communication below, expressing at the same time our great gratification that its faithful author is numbered among the friends of The Sun:

I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says, “If you see it in The Sun, it’s so.” Please tell me the truth, is there a Santa Claus?
Virginia O’Hanlon

Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except what they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men’s or children’s, are little. In this great universe of ours, man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.

He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus! It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The external light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies. You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if you did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that’s no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.

You tear apart the baby’s rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived could tear apart. Only faith, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, Virginia, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.

No Santa Claus?Thank God he lives and lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay 10 times 10,000 years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!

From The People’s Almanac, pp. 1358-9.

Francis P. Church’s editorial, “Yes Virginia, There is a Santa Claus” was an immediate sensation, and became one of the most famous editorials ever written. It first appeared in The New York Sun in 1897, almost a hundred years ago, and was reprinted annually until 1949 when the paper went out of business.

Thirty-six years after her letter was printed, Virginia O’Hanlon recalled the events that prompted her letter:

"Quite naturally I believed in Santa Claus, for he had never disappointed me. But when less fortunate little boys and girls said there wasn’t any Santa Claus, I was filled with doubts. I asked my father, and he was a little evasive on the subject.

"It was a habit in our family that whenever any doubts came up as to how to pronounce a word or some question of historical fact was in doubt, we wrote to the Question and Answer column in The Sun. Father would always say, ‘If you see it in The Sun, it’s so,’ and that settled the matter.

" ‘Well, I’m just going to write The Sun and find out the real truth,’ I said to father.

"He said, ‘Go ahead, Virginia. I’m sure The Sun will give you the right answer, as it always does.’ "

And so Virginia sat down and wrote her parents’ favorite newspaper.

Her letter found its way into the hands of a veteran editor, Francis P. Church. Son of a Baptist minister, Church had covered the Civil War for The New York Times and had worked on The New York Sun for 20 years, more recently as an anonymous editorial writer. Church, a sardonic man, had for his personal motto, “Endeavour to clear your mind of can’t.” When controversial subjects had to be tackled on the editorial page, especially those dealing with theology, the assignments were usually given to Church.

Now, he had in his hands a little girl’s letter on a most controversial matter, and he was burdened with the responsibility of answering it.

“Is there a Santa Claus?” the childish scrawl in the letter asked. At once, Church knew that there was no avoiding the question. He must answer, and he must answer truthfully. And so he turned to his desk, and he began his reply which was to become one of the most memorable editorials in newspaper history.

Church married shortly after the editorial appeared. He died in April 1906, leaving no children.

Virginia O’Hanlon went on to graduate from Hunter College with a Bachelor of Arts degree at age 21. The following year she received her Master’s from Columbia, and in 1912 she began teaching in the New York City school system, later becoming a principal. After 47 years, she retired as an educator. Throughout her life, she received a steady stream of mail about her Santa Claus letter, and to each reply, she attached an attractive printed copy of the Church editorial. Virginia O’Hanlon Douglas died on May 13, 1971, at the age of 81, in a nursing home in Valatie, N.Y.

Enjoy the magic of the night, my friends.

~ Amethyst

[Jeannie1]

Siofra-Strega,
Well my natal chart explains why I am eager to change my job and any bad habits that are causing bad long term effects! I feel I have the ability to do good and make some concrete decisions that will help my mental health.
Jeannie

[tink]

Love the snow globes collection I haven’t seen snow globes in a while stores doesn’t have them anymore this is a good collection I had this obsession with snow globes as a kid I use to collect them but then stores stop having them in stock beautiful collection

[Mistress_Of_Herbs]

@tink thank u, yes he has a gorgeous collection.

every yr i get my husband a new nutcracker and a snow globe. Some I’ve had to order online, as like u said the stores arent carrying them anymore

[Mistress_Of_Herbs]

@BryWisteria there is so much Christmas, even my pets have their own stockings. Hubs is insane for Christmas. Like is said before this is subtle compared to most yrs.

[tink]

Your Welcome

[Cosmic_Curiosity]

Thank you so much

[Susurrus]

You are very welcome! I’m sure that @christina4 will have more resources/information for you once she is able. I hope you have a great day!