sofieasheim via weheartit.com
Happy New Year’s Eve!!!
In honour of the New Year (which I’ve tentatively titled The Year of the Narwhal) I’ll be blogging all day tomorrow, the 1st of January!
I plan on writing several posts about resolutions, creating an awesome year and living creatively.
Keep your pretty eyes on THIS space!
All the New Year’s inspiration you need can be found right HERE at Bunny Sunday!
Let’s make 2012 one big, sexy party!!!
Thank-you to all of my amazing readers!
I hope today finds you happy, safe and loved.
Now go get drunk and pick a fight!
I’m not a fan of traditional holiday movies. I can’t stand A Christmas Story, Christmas Vacation, or White Christmas and I LOATHE It’s a Wonderful Life. My favourite holiday themed entertainment is somewhat non-traditional. So, for your viewing pleasure:
TV Episodes
1. “How Lily Stole Christmas” – How I Met Your Mother
Lily sets up a winter wonderland in the apartment for Marshall but then Ted calls her the c-word and she takes it all down, hoarding it in her old apartment like the Grinch. Barney get sick and turns into a whiny toddler and Marshall makes sure everyone’s presents get delivered in time for Christmas. Also, Ted’s religious cousins are hilarious. This episode is very festive and very adorable.
2. “Mr. Hankey the Christmas Poo” – South Park
His name is Mr. Hankey. Google it.
3. “The Best Chrismukkah Ever” – The O.C.
I kinda love The O.C., in all of its angsty teen glory. This episode explains that Seth’s parents started celebrating Chrismukkah, a combo-holiday of their two faiths, so that Seth wouldn’t feel torn between or left out of either holiday. It’s a cute episode full of jokey sparring. As a Canadian, I’ve always been obsessed with Christmas in warmer climates, so this episode has that going for it too.
4. “White Trash Christmas” - Roseanne
Dan and Roseanne try to piss off the Neighbourhood Association by putting up the tackiest, ugliest Christmas decorations possible. Yesssssssss.
5. “So-Called Angels” – My So-Called Life
This is one of the more serious episodes of the series. Ricky goes missing and Angela and the Chase family go looking for him. Also, there’s an angel. This whole series is solid gold; the DVD box set would make a great alternative to the star on top of your tree.
6. Saturday Night Live Christmas Special!
There’s a couple SNL Christmas specials floating around the interwebs. Try to find the newer one with “Schweddy Balls,” “I Wish It Was Christmas Today,” Adam Sandler’s “Hanukkah Song” and Steve Martin’s “Christmas Wish.” Or just look up these sketches individually. Youtube doesn’t appear to have anything… but I’m sure you could find them somewhere…
Movies
1. Elf
Zooey Deschanel being adorable and Will Ferrell in a festive unitard. This is one of the cutest holiday movies ever.
2. The Family Stone
I LOVE this movie. Rachel McAdams character is my favourite. I want to marry into this family. I want to live in this house. I want to wear all of Diane Keaton’s clothes.
3. Love Actually
Obviously, this is the most lovely holiday movie ever made. My favourite story lines are the porn stand-ins and the old, washed up rocker guy. But there’s also cute romantic stuff, if you like that kind of thing.
4. Home Alone
This is the movie of my childhood. It’s amazing. We all know that. R.I.P. John Hughes.
5. Fred Claus
This is a newer movie, starring Vince Vaughn and Paul Giamatti. The message is basically that there’s no such thing as a naughty kid. Pretty awesome, right?
Have fun watching!
From Pinterest
Fact: Christmas is full of spooky ghosts.
I love supernatural tales of terror at all times of the year, so why wouldn’t I include them in my Yule celebrations? Here’s a bunch of ghostly Yuletide facts and stories for you to discuss around the fire:
The popular Christmas carol “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” has spooky lines in its chorus:
There’ll be scary ghost stories,
And tales of the glories,
Of Christmases long, long ago.
Charles Dickens’ wrote about four ghosts in “A Christmas Carol,” Past, Present, Future and the often overlooked, Jacob Marley.
Prior to the revival of Halloween and Christmas in the Victorian era, these two celebrations were considered the same holiday. Harvest celebrations extended into November and collided with solstice, winter and year-end festivities. The time between Halloween and Christmas, when the nights got longer and winter descended, was a dark and mysterious time. The veil between the living and dead was thinnest at this time of year.
In pre-Christian times, winter solstice marked the celebration of Yuletide in Northern Europe. Yuletide was seen as a time when spirits and demons walked the earth, a continuance of the dark time of the year that lasted from Samhain (Halloween) until the days began to lengthen.
In Victorian England, ghost stories were often told around the fire on Christmas Eve. Books of ghost stories were one of the most popular Christmas gifts of the era. Modern Brits look forward to the annual “A Ghost Story for Christmas” show on the BBC.
The idea for Christmas trees came from Northern European Pagans who decorated the evergreen trees outside their homes with metal scraps and dried fruit to ward off evil spirits. Pagans in Southern Europe also decorated trees. During the festival of Saturnalia, occurring the week of the winter solstice, trees were decorated in honour of the patron or matron deities of each household.
Anne Boleyn’s ghost makes an appearance at Christmas time. Anne can be seen walking the halls of Hever Castle, her childhood home, every Christmas Eve. Visitors to the castle think Anne is trying to re-live the happy Christmases of her childhood, rather than the horrible circumstances of her death.
From Edgar Allan Poe’s The Raven:
“Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December;
And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.
Eagerly, I wished the morrow; – vainly I had sought to borrow
From my books surcease of sorrow - sorrow for the lost Leonore,
For the rare and radiant maiden who the angels name Lenore.
Nameless here for evermore.”
Do you have a Christmas ghost story? Share it in the comments section!
Did you know there’s a female Santa Claus?
She’s a Pagan goddess from Germany named Frau Holle, sometimes called Holda. Frau Holle is the goddess of the winter solstice who wears a goose feather gown and rides in a chariot drawn by geese. Like Santa, she travels the world on Christmas Eve, flying through the sky and giving gifts to children. She also blesses her adult followers with good health and fortune.
Some historians think Frau Holle evolved into Frigg, the wife of Odin and queen of the Norse pantheon. It’s interesting to note that the story of Santa Claus originates in Norse mythology, specifically tales of Odin riding through the sky on the eve of Yuletide. It makes sense that his queen would be associated with the same tradition.
Frau Holle is a part of Yule celebrations in many pagan households. She’s also been embraced by feminists who want kids to be aware that both a man and a woman can do Santa’s job. Think about incorporating this goddess into your holiday decor or placing her image on your Yule altar.
Here’s a great article on the similarities between Odin and Santa.
Here’s an interesting article on Frau Holle.
from Pinterest
The holiday season is synonymous with shopping malls and tv specials, but this time of year used to be full of mystery and superstition. For our ancient ancestors, the middle of December marked the arrival of winter and the darkest night of the year, the winter solstice. The long nights meant that evil spirits had more time to roam the earth, so traditions were created to keep them at bay.
Combine evil spirits with Santa mythology, and you’ve got a bunch of truly odd and wonderful holiday customs.
Christmas Pickle
This tradition comes from either Victorian Germany or Civil War era America, depending on who you ask. On Christmas Eve, a pickle is hidden in the ornaments on the Christmas tree. The first child to spot it on Christmas morning receives an extra present from Santa Claus. Another tradition states that the first adult to spot the pickle will have good fortune in the coming year. Today, you can purchase glass ornaments in the shape of pickles, but in previous decades a real pickle would have been used.
Ghosts & Spirits of Yuletide
Goofy as Jacob Marley
Traditionally, the holiday season is a time for ghosts and spirits. This is because our modern holiday has its roots in ancient celebrations of the winter solstice, when spirits were said to visit the living. In Finland, families visit cemeteries on Christmas Eve. They light candles and sing carols at the graves of family members, much like the Mexican Day of the Dead. One of the most popular Christmas stories today, Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol,” prominently features ghosts.
Christmas Devil
Creepy, right?
The Krampus is a creature in German mythology who accompanies Santa on Christmas Eve. While Santa leaves presents for good children, the Krampus punishes naughty boys and girls. Sometimes, if a child is really bad, he takes them back to his lair and eats them for Christmas dinner. The Krampus looks like a devil, with horns and hooved feet… which must scare the sh*t out of kids. You can purchase Krampus ornaments that are supposed to ward off the evil creature. It would also seriously piss off your conservative Christian relatives, if you’re into passive aggressiveness.
A great addition to any angel be-decked tree.
Talking Animals
Christmas Eve is the one night of the year when animals can talk like people. Some traditions specify barn animals only are gifted with speech because they were present at the birth of that Jesus guy. Other traditions state that only cats can talk. I prefer the cat tradition myself. The only catch is that you’re not allowed to test this superstition; if you do, you’ll have bad luck for the next year.
Christmas Witches
a La Befana card.
In Italy, Santa doesn’t deliver presents, a witch called La Befana does. She rides around on her broom with a sack full of gifts for good girls and boys.
In Norway, Christmas Eve is a time when evil witches go out looking for brooms. To keep witches out of the house, all the brooms are hidden and guns are fired in the yard to ward off evil spirits.
Women in the Czech Republic practice Christmas divination. They stand with their backs to the door and throw a shoe out into the yard. If the shoe lands with the toe pointing toward the door, the woman will be married in the New Year.
Traditionally, holly & mistletoe were put up at Christmas to protect a household from witches. In modern times, capital “W” Witches use holly and mistletoe in the same way the Ancient Celts did: the plants are strung up at Yule to promote love, healing and renewal.
Dumb Cake
Dumb cake was baked at midnight on Christmas Eve in order to divine the future. Victorian girls would bake a cake in complete silence and carve their initials into the top. They’d each eat a piece of the cake and then walk backwards to their beds. During the night they would dream of their future husbands.
Excuse me while I go get the cat to read my tarot cards while I silently bake a cake and hang pickles on the tree…
I love sharks
This week was full of pre-holiday cheer and my obsession with shipwrecks in shark infested water (as embodied by the show “I Shouldn’t Be Alive”)
Seriously. That show is AWESOME.
Anyways….
Here’s what’s making me happy:
Meryl Streep is the cover girl for the January 2012 edition of Vogue! She’s 62-years old and weighs more than 87 pounds… it’s a miracle! That was sarcasm. She is, in fact, the oldest woman to grace Vogue’s icy cover. I think Cher, Dolly Parton, Joni Mitchell, Diane Keaton and Roseanne Barr should all have Vogue covers as well. Let’s start a petition!
Have you been watching Diablo Cody’s “Red Band Trailer” episodes? They stream for free online. She interviews adorable celebs like John Krasinski and Zooey Deschanel.
I saw “The Descendants” and it was AMAZING. Go. See. It. NOW. In case this fantastic movie isn’t on your radar, here’s a post on it (and a couple other movies you should see over the holidays.) “The Descendants” breaks away from movie stereotypes and is both heartbreaking and hilarious. Plus, the feisty daughter characters are exactly what my imaginary offspring would be like, adorably vulgar. AND I like how Alexander Payne worked Hawaiian culture and music into the film. I haven’t read the book, but I assume that’s a huge part of the story.
I’ve been listening to Florence and the Machine (like everybody else) but this song has been on repeat:
The holidays haven’t officially started until my annual viewing of the “Schweddy Balls” sketch from Saturday Night Live.
I'd post a video but NBC are a bunch of bastards and have blocked EVERY youtube or other video.
“Schweddy Balls” is to me what “A Charlie Brown Christmas” is to normal people: the epitome of holiday awesomeness. Fun fact: Ben & Jerry’s ice cream is one of my favourite things on the planet and they recently released a flavour called Schweddy Balls!
nom nom NOM!
Have a great weekend!
Yule, winter solstice, takes place on December 22nd this year. It may be the first day of winter and the longest night of the year, but it’s important to remember that the days get longer from this point onward. This is what Yule is about, celebrating the turning of the season and looking ahead to the new calendar year. There is a focus on rebirth and renewal, embracing the future and bettering yourself in the new year. Many people choose to be charitable and express gratitude at this time. Others spend time with family and friends, feasting and giving thanks for the previous year.
It’s not only Pagans who celebrate at the solstice:
“Everywhere in the world, people observe various seasonal days of celebration during the month of December. Most are religious holy days, and are linked in some way to the winter solstice in the Northern Hemisphere.” – religioustolerance.org
Christmas has its roots in Pagan celebrations of the solstice and many Christmas traditions come directly from pre-Christian beliefs. Mistletoe was thought to increase fertility so Ancient Greek couples kissed under it during the festival of Saturnalia, which was celebrated at the winter solstice. Ancient Celtic people left oatcakes out on the eve of the solstice as an offering to spirits and deities, much like we leave cookies out for Santa. Santa himself originates from the myths of several gods, including Odin, Saturn and Cronos. Bells were rung and candles lit to scare away evil spirits. Evergreens were thought to have power over death, which is why they never lost their green colour or dropped their needles. Holly, reindeer, wreaths and yule logs are all symbols present in Ancient cultures.
When Christianity swept through, many ancient customs were incorporated and re-purposed, ultimately forming the modern, Christian holiday of Christmas.
Happy Holidays, whichever one you choose to celebrate!
Tomorrow (Dec 10th) is the last full moon of 2011. It’s called the Long nights Moon because the nights are getting longer and the shortest day of the year, the winter solstice, is approaching.
Now is the time to shake off any negativity from the past 12 months and focus on rebirth and renewal. Contemplate what went wrong and resolve to do better in 2012. Begin to plan your future successes.
The colours of this esbat are associated with the brightness of the holidays and the darkness of night: white, red and black. The corresponding stones follow the same pattern, white moonstone, red rubies and black obsidian.
Holiday plants like holly, mistletoe, pine and cinnamon are associated with the December moon.
Deities of wisdom and darkness rule at this time of the year. Ask Minerva or Athena to help you see the wisdom in your mistakes. At this time of the year, Persephone resides with Hades in the underworld and earth is barren. As plant life recedes into the earth, you too should turn into yourself. Be introspective and examine your life.
Take stock. Make lists. Keep resolutions.
Good luck.
