Holidays v. Holy Days

[TeaDidikai]

Myself- I am a big fan of a good party.
I celebrate Holy Days, usually between myself and the individual the Holy Day is tied with.

I celebrate my Holidays with my friends.
I love Chrismas, respect Christmas, and enjoy Yule and hold Koljada sacred.
I love Halloween, respect All Hallow's Eve and enjoy most of the other Ancestor/Death Festivals having such a multicultured social group brings.


With Chrismas right around the corner, I get a kick out of family traditions and am looking forward to a feast with my hubby and friends.

Where do you draw the line between the Secular and the Sacred? Where do you blur it?  

[Fiddlers Green]

If it spreads joy and happiness, it technically is sacred unto one of my Gods, origins inconsequential. wink  

[TheDisreputableDog]

My family celebrates Advent every year. Each Sunday in December before Christmas, we eat lebkuchen, panettone, and chocolate with sparkling cider, my dad reads the parts of Luke dealing with 'the Christmas story,' and we light a white candle for each week, and a red one on Christmas day.

However, while this is ostensibly about expecting the birth of Jesus, hence the Bible reading, I can't remember it ever holding a particularly religious significance. It's more about spending time all together as a family and eating sweets and friendly quibbling over who gets to light the candles. I think we picked it up when we lived in Switzerland when I was a kid.  

[MoonJeli]

My family celebrated pretty much all the holidays they could, and had family traditions for all of them, much less now since my grandparents have passed away. They are all secular holidays for us, but with very entrenched traditions which it seemed very wrong to diverge from. Things like pizza on Halloween night, listening to Christmas carols on the trip through the mountains to Grandma's house (and no listening to them before that), meatloaf for Valentine's day... just tons of little things that totally made the holidays for us.

We also learned a lot about the holidays we celebrated. Even though they weren't part of a religion we celebrated we sometimes read the Bible, and watched lots of religious shows and movies, I went to church with friends, and so on. For me it was very similar to how TheDisreputableDog described her family's experience with Advent.

Since my grandparents died, we've lost a lot of the family togetherness, and since I moved out of my parent's house (and my parents have gotten sick) I really don't have much tradition anymore, or anyone to celebrate holidays with.

I'm trying to introduce some sort of holiday spirit to my fiances, but they just... don't feel it I guess. I put up a tree this year, but they're relatively indifferent. They have no real love for any holidays (except as time off).

In fact, I'll be alone at home on Christmas and it's kind of hard for me.

I've never celebrated holy days. At this point I don't feel entitled to any.  

[Kuroiban]

I'm still trying to figure out the majority of what I even believe when it comes to the most basic terms; I haven't really thought to classifying holidays.

Hell, I can barely remember when half of them are anyways.

I'm inclined to say that the boundries of secular and spirtual only really has as much strength as you give to them.  

[Vertigo_Kiwi]

I've always found it difficult to celebrate (or acknowledge) a Holy Day, simply because they never existed in my family!

We celebrated Christmas, Halloween, and Easter...but I never really knew the Christian/Holy point of them until I did some research on my own. My parents never really brought religion up on us kids, I guess that can be a good or bad thing.  

[Doctrix]

I visualize the distinctions more as layers than boundaries. One on top of the other. Individual, family, greater community... A non-Pagan example that reminds me of this is that my husband and I celebrate both the American and Canadian independence days. It basically means four straight days of partying and blowing stuff up. For the more sacred holidays, additional layers just add to the enjoyment!  

[CuAnnan]

I celebrate Samhain.  

[VisasMarr]

MoonJeli

I've never celebrated holy days. At this point I don't feel entitled to any.

I have celebrated holy days before, but as of now ditto. I celebrate Christmas as a holiday, because it's fun, and my friends and family celebrate. I party and get drunk on New Years (hahahah), and on Halloween. I usually party on Canada Day too, if I'm not working. Other than that, nothing else comes to mind.

Back in my more fluffy days I celebrated all the Wicca-esk holi/holydays. In particular the Winter and Summer Solstices. I only acknowledge them now, I don't do anything out of the ordinary.  

[TeaDidikai]

VisasMarr

In particular the Winter and Summer Solstices. I only acknowledge them now, I don't do anything out of the ordinary.

How do you acknowledge them?  

[Sir_Catherine]

Hmmmm...

New Years: just another night. Though a friend and I stayed up late one year in high school and went for a walk after the clock had turned over.

Valentines: just another day. Maybe I'll feel differently when I'm in love, but I doubt it. Commercialism.

Easter: Once a special time for my Father and me to take an 8 hour road trip to his parent's house, just the two of us. We, the two of us and his parents, went to church and had Easter dinner. Painted eggs, got a basket, recognized both the Holy and the Holiday. Now I can't even get home because 'spring' break doesn't coincide with 'Easter' (have to be p.c., though the current schedualing of spring break does no one any good).

Queen's birthday: a time to enjoy my love of British history and culture over a nice cup of tea with understanding friends

4th of July: Sometimes fireworks, either town or private. Usualy family BBQ. Not to much. Will be working away from my family this comming summer.

Halloween: trick or treat and costumes. Now an annuel cosplay party. Respectful of friends who consider it a Holy day.

4th November: a day to enjoy my love of English history and culture

Thanksgiving: time where my university break actualy coincides with the holiday (mutters about 'spring' break being useless). Get to go home and see family, except for this year I worked so my family came to me. smile heart

Christmas: A second break from college to see family, foiled again this year by work. I'll go to see them mid month instead of at the end and we'll have Christmas early. It's the family that matters (for the Holiday), not the date.
I recognize and celebrate the Holy, but feel that what makes this (and Easter for that matter) Holy should be celebrated year round in a person's heart, not just one or two days a year.  

[Pelta]

I like holidays. They are time for celebration and spending time with family (and off of college/work). I party on/celebrate Christmas, Halloween, Easter, May Day and St. Patrick's day.

Holy days for me only happen at the solstices, which are celebrated in a much more spiritual style, and usually completely alone. But that's the way I like it.

I take note of Bealtaine and Samhain more as precautionary measures so I know which days to be a little more careful... They are not considered holy in my tradition.  

[Deoridhe]

I celebrate the solstices and equinoxes, though I have to admit the winter solstice - Yule - gets most of my attention these days. I suck at remembering dates, but for some reason I'm always ready for a part aorund the 21st of December.

Yule is technically twelve days, starting on the solstice. The first and most important night is Mothernights, when the Disir and Freya are honored. I usually raise a toast to them. I'm also planning on making my Danish hearts and decorating the Yule tree with them and sometimes chocolate that night. Someday I'd like to take all twelve days off and honor a god a night, going through all of the halls of Asgardhr. I think it would be fun and it would give me an excuse to research each of them.

I'd like to eventually get more into celebrating the other solstices alone as well as with my Kindred. Kindred-wise we do them on the nearest weekend. Wishes, fishes, walking on the sea, I guess.  

[TeaDidikai]

missmagpie

I take note of Bealtaine and Samhain more as precautionary measures so I know which days to be a little more careful...

As in Nov. and May Eves, the Lunar dates or the solar crossquarters proper?  

[Pelta]

TeaDidikai

missmagpie

I take note of Bealtaine and Samhain more as precautionary measures so I know which days to be a little more careful...

As in Nov. and May Eves, the Lunar dates or the solar crossquarters proper?

I base Halloween and May day on solar calendar dates. The equinoxes are on the solar crossquarters. Bealtaine and Samhain happen whenever they happen, so I probably base them on the lunar calendar. Honestly you can feel when they're coming because things tend to go a bit... funky... around those times of year here.