Dozens gather for pagan winter celebration
EDMOND — On a cold night in late December, about 40 people crowded inside a small Edmond church, where they broke bread, shared news from friends and loved ones and sang carols.
The celebration had all the trappings of a traditional Christmas get-together, including a lighted tree and holly strung from the walls, but the majority of the participants don’t identify as Christians. They were part of a group of people who self-identify as pagans, gathered to celebrate the centuries-old festival known as Yule.
“So there’s lots of different paths under the term paganism, but the most common things about each one is a generally a reverence for nature,” said Angela Brown, coordinator for the Spiral Circle Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans.
“(So we’re) honoring those traditions from the past that we try to kind of modernize to what it would mean to us today. Before, a lot of our roots come from agricultural societies, so they followed, of course, the seasons and celebrated the seasons as part of their lives because it was life or death for them, in many ways,” Brown said.
Brown said Yule and Christmas have many shared symbols.
“A lot of the traditions of Christmas come from pagan beginnings, so you’re going to see the same symbols, you’re going to see the holly, you’re going to see the evergreen, you’re going to see candles, so a lot of the symbolism is the same.”
Many of the participants said they came from traditional Christian homes, but agreed that for them, something was missing spiritually.
“The majority of people I’ve ever met who came here, they always described that they came of their own volition and they felt like they came home, rather than like somebody pulled them to it.They just found it themselves,” said Linn Foster, 27, who recently started attending pagan events.
Brown said the number of pagans in Oklahoma is growing, encompassing people of varying ethnicities and different walks of life.
“We do get a lot of visitors that just come to check it out, which we love,” she said. “We love any opportunity that we can show people that ‘hey, we’re just moms and sisters and daughters and dads and brothers, and we probably work somewhere that you’ve been.’ We’re just regular people; we just kind of have a slightly a different view.”
After the meal, Brown led the group in the Yule ritual, which began with grounding and centering, a kind of meditative act meant to establish a connection to the earth.
The visitors then faced each cardinal direction asking for blessings of light in the darkness, new beginnings and peace and hope.
In concluding the ritual, Brown spoke of the many celebrations shared by other faiths during the winter and focused on their commonalities.
“Tonight’s ritual respectfully and intentionally brings together several spiritual traditions and prayers for peace and for hope,” she said.
“As pagans, tonight we embrace those traditions that focus on light, peace, joy, hope and love. All of these celebrations are concrete events that hold the promise that peace, love and compassion are available to each and every one of us.”
One by one, guests stepped forward to light candles, reflect on the closing year and ask for blessings going into the next.