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It\u2019s Harder For the South<\/h2>\n
Those in the northern hemisphere have only an inkling of how this feels \u2013 in the north, it is winter and you are about celebrate the Pagan Yule, or some other winter festival.\u00a0 You can easily use any number of Christmasy things to decorate and dress up your winter celebration,\u00a0 no one will be the wiser.\u00a0 You can face all the decorations on sale and hanging up on all the houses and shops and feel completely at ease.\u00a0 It\u2019s normal, not just in human terms, but in the natural world \u2013 your fake holly and ivy, looks just like the real holly and ivy outside your window (regional dependent of course).\u00a0 The fake snow, even if your area isn\u2019t snowing, it\u2019s probably still pretty cold most years for that fake snow to feel comforting.<\/p>\n
But you also have Jesus being born in some manger, bright stars set out by the one true God to lead wise men to some stable.\u00a0 You also have Christmas carols, some secular sure \u2013 but just as many, if not more, are just in your face indoctrination.\u00a0 That feeling you get when you have to listen to Christian music and look at Christian lore \u2013 that\u2019s a small percentage of what it can feel like for us here in Aus.<\/p>\n
For us in Aus it\u2019s not just the Christian stuff that grates, it\u2019s also the winter stuff.\u00a0 So much winter stuff, every year, surrounding us, closing in on us \u2013 you begin to feel like the natural world is wrong, because it isn\u2019t matching the human world.\u00a0 Because Christmas is huge, yes, even in Australia, Christmas is huge.\u00a0 Huge enough that those \u201cStop the war on Christmas\u201d people call it an Aussie tradition (like we invented it or something, ugh).\u00a0 Christmas is so huge that the human made commercial stuff drowns out the natural world and makes the sun the bad guy, the enemy, the black sheep \u2013 the thing that just does not belong.<\/p>\n
But It\u2019s Harder for the North<\/h2>\n
On the other hand, it\u2019s actually a little easier for us down here.\u00a0 Because summer and Christmas are so different, for those of us who are openly non or anti-Christmas, we can be right out there with it and not have anyone confuse our solstice celebrations for Christmas.\u00a0 Up north, you don\u2019t have that luck.<\/p>\n
No matter what you do, there will always be something inside of you that thinks of Christmas even when you are trying to do Yule.\u00a0 There will always be people thinking your house is covered in Christmas decorations, when it\u2019s purely Pagan.\u00a0 Because Yule and Christmas are so similar, obviously, given their almost identical origins.\u00a0 To celebrate Yule the way you really want to, you cannot escape Christmas, and so Christmas will always be part of your Yule.<\/p>\n
But not for us.\u00a0 Our summer solstice will look almost nothing like Christmas and so we can get rid of that confusion within ourselves with some ease.\u00a0 Yes, there is still the confusion from the outside human world compared to the natural world \u2013 but in our own houses, with our own families, that confusion disappears.\u00a0 Our houses can be filled with all summer decorations and all summer foods.\u00a0 It is not beginning to look a little like Christmas in this house.<\/p>\n
But it\u2019s Way Harder for Parents<\/h2>\n
But no matter where you live, if you are a parent of young kids and do not want to celebrate Christmas \u2013 you have it the worst.\u00a0 Christmas is everywhere, with Santa and presents and those mangers and of course the flashing lights \u2013 and every kid loves that.\u00a0 It\u2019s so attractive, so enticing, so mesmerising.\u00a0 And if you have extended family who celebrate Christmas, things get even harder!<\/p>\n
I am lucky, my family who live nearby either don\u2019t do Christmas, or don\u2019t care that we aren\u2019t interested in their Christmas dinners.\u00a0 But the lights, and the trees, and the presents and just all of it, my kids are in love with it all (though my daughter tries to pretend otherwise).\u00a0 This year alone, my son has bought three or four mini Christmas trees with his pocket money from thrift shops.\u00a0 He also has a heap of decorations, and both kids rooms are so covered in tinsel it\u2019s like trying to get through a laser security system from a movie.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s awful.<\/p>\n
I Will Figure It Out<\/h2>\n
Someday, someday I will figure this out, how to make the summer solstice more exciting than the idea of Christmas.\u00a0 But for now, paper sunflowers and real summer flowers just don\u2019t compare to the holly and the ivy and snowflakes.\u00a0 Sun decorations can\u2019t win out over those big bright stars, not to mention the angels who my kids are pretty sure are actually fairies.<\/p>\n
My kids do get presents for the solstice, things that are summery.\u00a0 Sprinklers, water pistols, little swimming pools, new sports equipment, a 14foot trampoline \u2013 you get the idea.\u00a0 But these gifts don\u2019t exactly sit underneath a heavily decorated tree, so they too are not as exciting as they could be.<\/p>\n
I will probably be on my deathbed when I have the epiphany of how to make this work better.\u00a0 But at least I will figure it out one day.\u00a0 I will win.\u00a0 Just try to stop me.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Someday I will figure this out, how to make the summer solstice more exciting than the idea of Christmas. But for now, paper sunflowers and real summer flowers just don’t compare to the holly and the ivy and snowflakes. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2764,"featured_media":1070,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,136,42,46],"tags":[63,33,52,65,20,32,123,19,25,58,64],"class_list":["post-1069","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-australia","category-calendar-events-festivals","category-general","category-personal","tag-australian-paganism","tag-festivals","tag-north-vs-south","tag-northern-hemisphere","tag-opinion","tag-paganism","tag-parenting","tag-personal","tag-religion","tag-sabbats","tag-southern-hemisphere"],"yoast_head":"\n