[trystan830]

go for it!

i was brought up jewish, hubby was brought up catholic. i haven't practiced judaism in a long time, but we do chanukah. hubby's a 'recovering catholic' but we celebrate xmas with his family.

i discovered Paganism completely by accident doing research for something else. when we had kids, the suggetion was to try a Unitarian Universalist place for their Religious Education program. which i did, and i don't regret for one minute.

i've labeled myself an Eclectic Pagan UU. :)

[Kory]

I got really into Wicca a couple of years ago.
I was kinda dabbling in it, seeing if I liked it or not.

I mostly liked it for aesthetics, but a lot of the aspects I liked about it were things I already had incorporated into my own life. I watched a few videos on youtube for Wicca. And I found one Youtuber I liked a lot, "Harmony Nice".

I kinda fell out of it, though. I kinda dipped in and out of a few different religions and lifestyles. I take a little bit of different religions and kinda form my own opinions and my own spirituality. I think I also have a really open mind because I come from a multi-ethnic family with varying religious beliefs.

I also got really used to the Xmas aesthetics... So... Snow. Loads of snow. Cold. Warm fireplace. Fuzzy socks.
Now that I live in Southern California, it doesn't feel like "Christmas" is a thing here.

[Death by Mirrors]

Originally Posted by Mekatra

I need to make a goat to hide in my friend's house.

Originally Posted by Den

...I should make a goat to hide in my boyfriend's family's house.

Honestly Yule sounds a lot more awesome than Christmas with comments like these.

Originally Posted by Ava

I used to host a Kwanzaa thread in Mene each year. It was fun, I might do it here if no one else beats me to it :D

As far as I remember we have never had a Kwanzaa thread on Tris (or a Chanukah for that matter), so it would certainly be interesting to learn more about other cultures and traditions.

[Kitalpha Hart]

What about goats and Yule now?

As for me, I'm somewhere between atheist and apathetic

[Mekatra]

So the Yule goat is a Scandinavian tradition believed to harken back to pagan days (goats show up A LOT in old Scandi myth.) Also supposedly Santa rides a goat instead of a sleigh.. there's a lot of "where did this come from?" and "shhh shut up and enjoy the holiday" going on here

There is a town in Sweden that has a giant one that tends to get burned down every year. You should google the Gävle Yule Goat becase it is a WILD story.


Anyway about hiding the goat in a friend's house is that you're supposed to make a small one and smuggle it into a friend's house without them catching you. Then when they find the darn thing they're supposed to smuggle it into the house of someone else. Sort of like a slow weird goat version of hot potato.

[trystan830]

Ava - "a lot of the aspects I liked about it were things I already had incorporated into my own life."
yeah, that sounds about right for me too.

Mekatra - "Sort of like a slow weird goat version of hot potato. "
LOL, this made me giggle. XD

[Mekatra]

I'm glad, cuz I chuckled while writing it.

UGH! I am writing the creation myth for my world. I have an idea of where I want it to go and I have a general idea of how to get there, the words just aren't cooperating with me. Everything is based off of a desire to create artistically. Like the deity that created the world is obsessed with sculpting, the one that eventually breaks off to make plants is obsessed with color. I can't decide what to do for animals though.

[trystan830]

oh i HATE when the words don't cooperate!

[Death by Mirrors]

Maybe the animal deity wants to surprise / is obsessed with plot twists? Because then they would search for ways to create something that has a mind of its own. Plants are nice and aesthetically pleasing, but usually won't do the unexpected.

[Kory]

Originally Posted by Death by Mirrors

As far as I remember we have never had a Kwanzaa thread on Tris (or a Chanukah for that matter), so it would certainly be interesting to learn more about other cultures and traditions.

Okay! I'll definitely do my best to make a Kwanzaa thread here when the time comes. :)

When I was 15, I was invited to come and perform for a Kwanzaa event and I learned a lot about Kwanzaa during the celebration.
It's actually a pretty interesting holiday. And I think it's a myth that it's purely for African Americans. I mean, yeah, it was invited by African Americans to celebrate African heritage, but the principles (I feel) can be celebrated by anyone and can apply to any household.

Originally Posted by trystan830

Ava - "a lot of the aspects I liked about it were things I already had incorporated into my own life."
yeah, that sounds about right for me too.

I like to see the "good" in every religion, even if I don't follow it myself. I take bits and pieces of other's beliefs and find my own "truth" in them.

Maybe it's naive of me to focus on the "good" in people.. even "bad" people

[trystan830]

Originally Posted by Ava

I like to see the "good" in every religion, even if I don't follow it myself. I take bits and pieces of other's beliefs and find my own "truth" in them.

Maybe it's naive of me to focus on the "good" in people.. even "bad" people

well then count me as a naive person as well!

[Mekatra]

I don't think there is anything wrong with trying to find the good in everyone, just don't let it go so far that you let people take advantage of you.

[trystan830]

that's true too, Mekatra.

[Den]

Re: Wicca and Paganism: The nice thing about Wicca and Paganism is that it's intersectional, and the most basic rule is "Don't be a dick", but in more words. There is no room in the beliefs for exclusion and racism, but there's always outliers who practice but are exclusionists and/or racists. My version of Wicca and Paganism is very eclectic and draws from all kinds of areas and beliefs. I'm a solo practitioner (being in a small town and not having a working vehicle kinda limits me in what I can do, but *shrug*), but that's okay.

[Mekatra]

I took up paganism at 13 and was solo practitioner up until I got with my husband. He runs a queer-inclusive heathen server on Discord so now I sort of have a community, but I'm hardly active there.

[Den]

if it works for you and doesn't lead to harming others or yourself, then you're doing it right, imo.