OK this time I'm bumping this early enough to get some action going! 
I'm looking for new traditions for Christmas, since the Biblical story just doesn't work for us, but we still like celebrating the holiday with most of the traditional stuff. Just recognizing Solstice isn't quite enough either, though we do a bit for that. And my family isn't quite Pagan enough to totally dig Pagan rituals...I don't want to be a "Solstice only Pagan" sort of like a "Christmas only Christian" ya know? Though they are more appealing to us than the Christian church services. I'm searching for a way to make it meaningful and am open to anything from any religion/tradition as long as it focuses on love and peace. I'm looking for spiritual meditations/prayers/rituals etc., not recipes, though if you want to post something about holiday meals, that's ok too.
The season generates a lot of goodwill, along with all the commercialism. I'd like some sort of ceremony to contribute to the peace/goodwill of the planet while instilling a feeling of reverence, but every year I'm at a loss and usually just end up playing Vangelis and we do a short meditation and still feel like there's something missing.
Anyone got ideas they'd like to share?
Oh and there's no snow where I live.
Since tomorrow is Thanksgiving in the US, I'll start by sharing our Thanksgiving family tradition: We give thanks for our blessings over a meal of Tofurkey with all the trimmings.
I'm looking for new traditions for Christmas, since the Biblical story just doesn't work for us, but we still like celebrating the holiday with most of the traditional stuff. Just recognizing Solstice isn't quite enough either, though we do a bit for that. And my family isn't quite Pagan enough to totally dig Pagan rituals...I don't want to be a "Solstice only Pagan" sort of like a "Christmas only Christian" ya know? Though they are more appealing to us than the Christian church services. I'm searching for a way to make it meaningful and am open to anything from any religion/tradition as long as it focuses on love and peace. I'm looking for spiritual meditations/prayers/rituals etc., not recipes, though if you want to post something about holiday meals, that's ok too.
The season generates a lot of goodwill, along with all the commercialism. I'd like some sort of ceremony to contribute to the peace/goodwill of the planet while instilling a feeling of reverence, but every year I'm at a loss and usually just end up playing Vangelis and we do a short meditation and still feel like there's something missing.
Anyone got ideas they'd like to share?
Oh and there's no snow where I live.
Since tomorrow is Thanksgiving in the US, I'll start by sharing our Thanksgiving family tradition: We give thanks for our blessings over a meal of Tofurkey with all the trimmings.