The Yule Log—A Winter Solstice Ritual

This year, the longest night of the year—Winter Solstice, or Yule—takes place on Thursday, December 21st. On the night of the Winter Solstice, an old tradition that we have adapted for Atheopagan purposes is the burning of the Yule log. Yule marks the moment in the year when the sun’s steady decline, with days growing shorter … Continue reading The Yule Log—A Winter Solstice Ritual

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What Makes a Ritual “Successful”?

John Halstead over at Humanistic Paganism has published a rather sharply-worded piece about “10 Signs You’re Half-Assing Your Ritual”. It’s well worth a read, and in general, he’s right: there is a lot of ho-hum ritual out there and many, if not most of us can do a better job of preparing and enacting our … Continue reading What Makes a Ritual “Successful”?

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Balance at the Fulcrum of the Year

Let’s just say, circumstances don’t make these great times for perception of balance. It would be lovely to believe that darkness and light in the world are muddling along roughly in equal proportions at the moment. But that would feel like a big step forward, now. While I sincerely hope the circumstances of your individual … Continue reading Balance at the Fulcrum of the Year

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Fire Makes All the Difference

A guest post by Kaigi-Ron. Fire makes all the difference.  I know this from two personal experiences – both of which didn’t have a fire the first night, but did on the second…and that one change transformed everyone and everything. The first event occurred years ago, in another state.  We were going to share songs and stories … Continue reading Fire Makes All the Difference

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