Approaching mid-summer

Hello world wide web. It has been a few days since my first entry, and felt the need to write a little something about the approaching holiday, the summer solstice. I will be celebrating with friends this year. I'm really interested in celebrating the holidays more, as it makes me feel good and I like celebrating the turning of the wheel and the gods and goddesses. My first ritual that I ever did was for Imbolc (candlemass) which is feb. 2nd and is a holiday to coax the sun back (that's a very basic description!). I live in Maine, so it was very cold and we had snow. I went out under the moon and cast my first circle, really nervously, afraid to mess up. Experience has told me that you can't really "mess up" casting a circle or calling the quarters. You cast a circle how you wish and there is no one way to do it (other pagans might disagree).

Anyway, so the upcoming summer solstice got me thinking about holidays and celebrating my faith. My favorite holidays are Christmas and Halloween. Now, you might be thinking why does a pagan celebrate Christmas? Well, I was raised celebrating Christmas and learned once I began to study paganism that before people celebrated Christmas, they celebrated Yule (winter solstice). Heck, they decorated trees, believed in Santa (though they didn't call him that) and had yule logs and evergreen for decoration. Basically, its pretty much the same but instead of the christian son, I celebrate the pagan sun. I love the spirit of the season and feel like numerous religions and paths come together doing this time to celebrate love and light and its just so darn nice!

Halloween is also one of my favorite holidays. Pagans call it Samhain, and it is the celebration of the dead and when the veil is thinnest. This is where Halloween comes from. As I studied paganism more I learned that most modern holidays (and Christian ones) come from Pagan roots. Its actually quite interesting!

So, I'm excited to celebrate with my friends the longest day of the year. I feel it will be the opening of a new chapter for me, in my health, career and attitude. I hope everyone has a nice weekend, and to my pagan/wiccan readers, happy solstice!