Peace on Earth 🌎
How do you celebrate the season? 🎉
As the year draws to a close, we enter a season of celebration and reflection. Around the world, different people, cultures, and religions share a common theme. No matter our beliefs, we all value our families and the people in our lives who we love.
Yet, our world is facing many challenges. Wars, conflicts, and disasters have caused immense suffering for millions of people. In these difficult times, we must not lose hope. We must stand in solidarity with those in need and work together for peace on Earth.
This is my wish for the holiday season: peace for all people. 🕊️
Happy Holiday Traditions and Celebrations 🎁
The holiday season is a time for celebration and togetherness. Whether you’re celebrating a holiday or not, it’s a time to cherish traditions and spend time with loved ones. Many religious holidays are celebrated in this season by different faiths and traditions.
Bodhi Day: Observed by Buddhists, it commemorates the day Buddha attained enlightenment, often celebrated through meditation, acts of kindness, and charity. 🙏
Christmas: Celebrated by Christians, it marks the birth of Jesus Christ, featuring festive decorations, gift-giving, and gatherings with loved ones. 🎄
Hanukkah: A Jewish festival, commemorating the miracle of the oil in the Temple, marked by the lighting of the menorah and the exchange of gifts. 🕎
Kwanzaa: An African American and Pan-African holiday celebrating family, community, and culture with seven core principles and the lighting of candles on the kinara. 🕯️
Pancha Ganapati: A Hindu festival honoring Lord Ganesha, symbolizing family unity with the exchange of gifts, feasts, and cultural events. 🐘
Yule: A Pagan festival, acknowledging the winter solstice, with customs like the Yule log, feasting, and gift-giving. 🔥
The Winter Solstice Around the World ❄️
The Winter Solstice is celebrated in different ways by different cultures and traditions around the world. Some of the common themes include honoring the return of the sun, the cycle of life and death, and the importance of family and community.
In Japan, people celebrate Toji, or the winter solstice, by taking hot baths with yuzu, a citrus fruit, to ward off colds and promote good health. 🍊
In Iran, people celebrate Yalda, or the longest night of the year, by staying up late with family and friends, eating fruits and nuts, reading poetry, and telling stories. 🌙
In Peru, people celebrate Inti Raymi, or the festival of the sun, by performing rituals and dances in honor of the Inca sun god, Inti. They also offer sacrifices and thank the sun for its blessings and to ensure a good harvest. ☀️
In China, people celebrate Dongzhi, or the winter solstice, by making and eating tangyuan, glutinous rice balls, to symbolize family reunion and harmony. They also worship heaven and ancestors, drink rice wine, and make roasted meat for the Chinese New Year. 🍡
Celebrating the Season of Snow ⛄
As a child growing up in Colorado, I have fond memories of spending the holidays in the snow. I was born on the Winter Solstice on a snowy day and every year celebrate my birthday and the holiday season in a blur of family, fun, and festivities. As an adult, I love decorating my front yard with lit snowmen, reindeer lights, and sleds, and spending time with family and friends.
Here in Oregon, it is fun to celebrate outdoors in nature visiting the beautiful houses on Peacock Lane in Portland decorated since 1932 with creative light displays, trees, and Frostys, or viewing the decorated ships on the Willamette and Columbia Rivers with the Christmas Ships. 🚢
Wishing you and your loved ones a peaceful and happy holiday. 🎁
Love it! We'll be going to my sister-in-law's house on Christmas Eve, and then we're having people over on Christmas Day. It's going to be great!