Explaining our 'faith'..

[Maisie]

Dear all,

My family is pagan and therefore we do not celebrate as such the christian aspects of 'Christmas'. My dd at 3 is just beginning to ask questions about the meaning of Yule/Christmas...and about the differences between what and how we celebrate and how others celebrate, etc...

I'm slightly confused about how to explain it all to her in a simple way!...Any help on this subject would be appreciated..

Thank you..

[Becca]

We celebrate Yule, but are often invited to various relatives at Christmas too, so have had to give explanations of both. I tried to keep it pretty basic at that age; "We celebrate Yule, when the Goddess gives birth to the new Sun God who will help the warm and light come back. Grandpa (or whomever) is Christian, he celebrates Christmas, the day that Christians believe their god, Jesus, was born.
Blessings, Becca

[member234098]

christmas pagan aspects

Dear Mothering FRiends:

Christmas is pagan. It was hijacked by the Christian Church to convert the pagans.

I would suggest that telling your dc that Christmas is your winter soltice celebration that entices the Sungod back ( the days are so cold and short). I don't know about the particular gods, but each culture has their own.

This might prove tricky if you are in the Southern Hemisphere and you are enjoying summer.

[Arduinna]

Since she is 3 I would also just start with a basic explination. It depends what Yule means to you. Some people mainly see it as the Winter Solstice (without the connection to a specific reborn God), and some see it as part of the birth, death and rebirth cycle of the God and Goddess (by whatever name). Some believe it's both. So just share what you believe.

We explain Christmas as a Christian holiday celebrating of birth of Jesus. Their is plenty of time to share about the true connection of Winter Solstice/Yule and Christmas. But I think most of it is too much for a 3 year old.

JMO

BTW, it's not a problem in the southern hemisphere, because the holidays aren't fixed calendar dates, so unlike Christmas Yule wouldn't be celebrated in Summer. Which I think makes it easier to explain the difference between the two holidays. To a 3 year old anyway.

edited for darn typos

[Meiri]

Why the quotation marks around "faith"?

Whatever variety you practice, it is as much a faith as any Abrahamic one.

Be quietly confident in the legitimacy of what you do, and answer questions honestly.

When I started explaining myself to my family I used the concept of Nature-based religion. I used the idea that religions from before we were fully human were based on the observations of Nature and her cycles.

For explaining to the children I do fall back on some books to help me choose the correct words.

What Is God by Etan Boritzer is good for a younger child.

My Friends' Beliefs by Hiley H. Ward is good for when they're older as it goes into more detail.