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Any other mothers out there teaching their kids the Pagan wheel of the year?
Do you follow the Southern Hemisphere seasons rather than following the Northern dates?
What do you do at Christmas / Easter / Halloween / etc?
How do you explain these events to kids?
Curious about other parents choices... be fascinated to hear from any other Pagans...
I'm not actively teaching DS specifically but am trying to teach him about all belief systems as and when he askes or its approptiate.
When I was very much into Paganism, I followed the Southern H. wheel of the year, as I felt the Sabbats very seasonal and nature based so it seemed more natural IYKWIM?
There is an excellent book called "Circle Round" for teaching kids about SAbbats, craft activities, songs etc. Its a US book but you can use it NH or SH.
I dont have my copy anymore but I got it ordered in from Angus and Robertson, and fom memory it cost around $35 for paperback.
That book sounds great.. might have to chase up a copy - thanks!
I agree about the southern hemisphere seasons... the only complication is explaining why 'yule' isn't at Christmas time and why Halloween is the wrong time of year... Can you imagine if your Pagan child wanted to 'Trick or Treat' in April/May???
We celebrate our own version of the wheel of the year, mostly organised around the solstices and equinoxes, but we don't call them by the pagan names. Usually we just say "merrymeet" and leave it at that (spring merrymeet). Usually we invite some of our closest friends for a meal, but we always do a little ritual or something, based on whatever seems right at the time. For example, one year for the December solstice we had a wishing wreath, where I had a plain wicker wreath, and everyone poked flowers/leaves into it while they were making their wishes for the coming year. We then lit a candle in the centre to send the wishes out there to the Universe. Must've been pretty powerful cos they all came true ;)!
That sounds lovely Marydean. What a great idea.
My DH and I are trying to get into the habit of celebrating the seasons and I've had the same issue trying to explain Halloween to my DD as a celebration of Autumn but it happens in our spring!! but same thing with Christmas and snow I suppose...That's why we decided to try and celebrate the seasons for themselves (with food and verse and so on).
We follow the seasons as they happen in our little part of the world (ie, Melbourne).
What would be the point in celebrating Summer in the middle of Winter....
;)
Although we also don't get so hung up on things like dates.
For example, has everyone noticed that spring blooms have come earlier than usual. Golden Wattles always bloom around beginning of Aug, but they were in bloom from near beginning of July, almost a month earlier....
I think we can look forward to a very hot, dry summer.
Hey :) I'm still trying to understand the wheel and what all the holidays are.
I believe my kids will celebrate the holidays, though they won't understand it at this age, but it will be intersting to explain it to them when they are old enough.
Hi Andie,
They way I found it easier to get my head around pagan calendars is this:
get your hands dirty in the garden! :D
Think of the holy-days as being markers, times that remind you of the season you are in or are approaching.
Traditionally these markers also coincide with astronomical events, especially concerning the position of the Sun, as the differentiation of seasons is based largely (but not completely) on what position your path of the Earth is in in relation to the Sun.
SO for example, here in the southern Hemisphere, we are approaching the Vernal/Spring Equinox (this year is sept 23), which is the point where day and night are of equal length, and from this point on the days actually get longer (the opposite to what our Northern cousins will be experiencing).
One way to help get the kids into celebrating this holiday would be to think about what does spring-time mean to you and your family? What significance does the lengthening of daylight mean to you? What kind of thing is going on in your neck of the woods at this time of year?
For us, its easy, as my daughter's b'earthday is on the 17th, and my dad's is on the 22nd - so for my family its very much about celebrating these lives (especially daughter, as she is the first 'grand-daughter'). DW is wanting to enter tertiary study for next year, and at this time she is doing the groundwork for applying to various Uni courses, so she is very much preparing the soil and planting seeds which she hopes will fruit over the summer, giving her a place in the course she wants! My mum has her business on the market, and is hoping it sells so she can get on with the next phase of her life's journey. My dad has just received the permission to go ahead with an investment opportunity. I'm in the home-stretch for my penultimate year in my course, but also new work opportunities have opened up in the last few weeks, which means I am very much on a 'new' journey...
So for us, there are a lot 'new beginnings' that are.... well, beginning.... so an appropriate way to celebrate this Equinox would be to really 'plant those seeds' and nurture these new beginnings like we would plants. In these early days, we need to protect the seedlings from the fierce winds, from snails/slugs, we need to give them constant attention and fertilisation. So too the other things in our lives.
So perhaps you could think about ways of honouring the energy of this time with your kids and your family - it doesn't have to involve beating drums and dancing around a bonfire (although that is a lot of fun!!! :dance: ). Remember that at the core of it, pagan holidays were a chance for family/tribe/village to gather in a festive manner and celebrate what they had at that time - the rest is just culturally-specific window-dressing. Have a BBQ with your nearest and dearest and make a point of actively and consciously enjoying what you have in your life now, and what you plan to have in the coming seasons....
Hope this has been of some help....
:pray: