AuroraSilvermist
December 23rd, 2003, 02:06 AM
The neatest thing happened tonight. My family and I performed our first ever Yule ritual with all of us together. It was really special. We started by turning off all the lights in the house except for one candle. My husband read our ritual script, and then extinguished his candle to symbolize the darkest night of the year. Then we lit our God candle. In turn, each of us lit a personal candle from the God candle while stating, "The wheel turns, the light returns...." The kids participated WONDERFULLY, and truly seemed intrigued and involved.
After a bit more ceremony, we had the kids scamper around and turn EVERY light in the house on to signify the sun's return and the birth of the God. Then we sat down to our dinner. Following that, we exchanged Yule gifts. During dinner, we talked about the meaning of Yule, and various customs surrounding Yule and other religions' traditions for the season including Christmas, Hannukah and Kwanzaa. It was REALLY great, and as we ended the ritual we rang bells to welcome the God, and then one by one extinguishing our candles as we said, "Blessing of the season on us all..." we were grinning and full of joy. I can't imagine a better celebration!
The most magical thing happened later, though. My husband and I were just getting ready to go to sleep (it was about 5 minutes to midnight) when we both CLEARLY heard my husband's ritual bell in the kitchen RING. My first thought was that one of our cats had bumped it, but they were both curled up on the couch beside us. Interestingly, my husband's ritual bell is fairly old. It was used for years by a witch who lives in the UK. When she replaced her ritual tools, she auctioned these, and my husband purchased them. He performed a cleansing ritual, but I have to wonder what energy the bell might still have.
Both my husband and I clearly heard this bell ring. He claimed it gave him a chill, knowing that none of us had rung it or moved it (and especially after we went to the ktichen to find the bell undisturbed on the table where we'd left it). I, on the other hand, was filled with excitement and not a bit of fear. "Yule faeries!" I laughed. "Or our ancestors saying hello." It was amazing to me, and brought me a real sense of joy.
I don't know what happened, or what energy caused that bell to ring, but I consider it a little bit of Yuletide magic. I'd love to hear if anyone else has had a similar type of experience, and how it made you feel.
After a bit more ceremony, we had the kids scamper around and turn EVERY light in the house on to signify the sun's return and the birth of the God. Then we sat down to our dinner. Following that, we exchanged Yule gifts. During dinner, we talked about the meaning of Yule, and various customs surrounding Yule and other religions' traditions for the season including Christmas, Hannukah and Kwanzaa. It was REALLY great, and as we ended the ritual we rang bells to welcome the God, and then one by one extinguishing our candles as we said, "Blessing of the season on us all..." we were grinning and full of joy. I can't imagine a better celebration!
The most magical thing happened later, though. My husband and I were just getting ready to go to sleep (it was about 5 minutes to midnight) when we both CLEARLY heard my husband's ritual bell in the kitchen RING. My first thought was that one of our cats had bumped it, but they were both curled up on the couch beside us. Interestingly, my husband's ritual bell is fairly old. It was used for years by a witch who lives in the UK. When she replaced her ritual tools, she auctioned these, and my husband purchased them. He performed a cleansing ritual, but I have to wonder what energy the bell might still have.
Both my husband and I clearly heard this bell ring. He claimed it gave him a chill, knowing that none of us had rung it or moved it (and especially after we went to the ktichen to find the bell undisturbed on the table where we'd left it). I, on the other hand, was filled with excitement and not a bit of fear. "Yule faeries!" I laughed. "Or our ancestors saying hello." It was amazing to me, and brought me a real sense of joy.
I don't know what happened, or what energy caused that bell to ring, but I consider it a little bit of Yuletide magic. I'd love to hear if anyone else has had a similar type of experience, and how it made you feel.