I don't know about you, but it's been tremendously hard for me to find holiday cheer as the Spring holiday season begins. There seems to be bad news everywhere, from personal and family news ("Hey, let's take away more foods from Allergywoman by making her nearly die when she eats them!") to environmental news. Many people where I work argue that it's not Spring at all yet, but late winter.
Now, if you're a savvy Pagan reader here, you probably already caught Jaxpagan's happy diary about Beltane, so you know today's a big holiday for Pagans like me.
But how to celebrate? How can I think happy thoughts about Spring and blessings?
I've been keeping this in the back of my head for a while, until for whatever reason, Yule popped into my mind. (Or, for my Christian friends, Christmas before the Christians added Jesus to it.) Maybe it was a blessing from the Gods, maybe it's just that I think too much, but I started thinking about the many Winter Solstice celebrations that ancient peoples had.
They didn't have these celebrations because life was easy during Winter. In fact, life was close to impossible for some. They had them to keep their spirits up during hard times. To give their communities something to look forward to, a "See? If you make it this far, you're going to keep making it! The Sun is coming back! Times of plenty will come again!"
That's why Yule came to mind. I think all of us in all our faith traditions on here, and I have no doubt that there are Kossacks representing most major religious beliefs, need a break sometimes. We need to remember the good things, few though they may be. We need to celebrate, if nothing else, the lack of s-word on the ground. (You know, the white stuff that isn't ice cream? Yeah, that.) The days are getting longer. Good times are coming again. Strawberries and other early fruits are coming available. Farmers' markets are starting up.
So I'm going to celebrate today. I'm going to celebrate because my friends on the Left are working to make a better spring for everyone through their environmentalism. I'm going to celebrate because I still have food I can eat in my pantry, including a lovely spiced apple cake that Allergywoman's personal chef (aka husband) made for her. I'm going to celebrate because the sun is warm, the birds are nesting, the grass is green and the trees are veiling themselves in green...and because I need a break before going back to fight the good fight again.
Life is still good. To your health, my friends, and all our healths in the coming year!