The December Solstice is used by astronomers and scientists to mark the start of winter, but the Celts used Samhain as that marker. Solstice was the time when the sun appeared to stop moving. The modern Irish word for solstice is grianstad, meaning sun stop.

Our more modern word for this is Yule, which may be related to the Old Norse word jol, a time of feasting that was possibly at the full moon in the month following the solstice. Many modern winter traditions seem to have come from the Ancient Celts, such as gift giving, spending time with loved ones, using holly and mistletoe for decoration.

The Ancient Celts had Neolithic monuments that marked this solstice event, such as Newgrange. The sunrise on the morning of the solstice aligned with these monuments, giving a living experience of the stopping of the sun in its movement across the sky. The dark nights would now grow shorter, and the sunlight longer, important for survival in ancient times.

The fire festival, Alban Arthan, was celebrated by the Ancient Celts at the solstice, to mark the shortest day, and the return of the sun. As you light your candles or put a fire in the fireplace at Christmas, or use garlands of holly, or hang mistletoe, remember the Druids, who likely were the originators of these traditions.

I joined the CUUPs group because I thought I was a pagan as I didn’t believe in a god or anything magical. Now as I become more familiar with the group I’m learning more. The last book I read was a thorough discussion of all the characteristics of Paganism. Witches and magic were listed as important parts of it. There is a developmental history in paganism which includes magical sayings and processes. Witches are valued more than I realized.

This new information causes me to think carefully about what I really feel. For me nature is the basis of any belief system I might accept. I find many occurrences in life on the planet that are remarkable. One could feel them as actually magical.

Take, for instance, the development of a butterfly from a caterpillar. The caterpillar comes to a time when it rolls itself up its own web for transformation. It grows wings and legs; it will fly about and find its mate for sexual reproduction. What I find amazing is how developmental information of the body is accurately transferred to the new being through tiny cells. Thinking about this will lead you to the miracle of birth in any animal. Who needs fairies when the real world is so magical and wondrous?

Digging deeper I asked my computer about the first forms of life on earth. At 3.5 billion years there is evidence of chemolithotrophs, one celled primitive rock eating bacteria. And then, 600,000 years ago, there were microbial communities harvesting sunlight rather than rocks. These cells organized themselves into three dimensional bodies where cells had different jobs. Also, there is the collaboration of algae, a plant, and fungi, an animal, to make lichen. One need not look very far to find miraculous happenings in the study of life.

Paganism is an understandable explanation by mankind as it tried to describe the wonders of nature in its infancy. Now with many years of scientific discovery we can describe the processes of living cells as they really occur. I find this as astounding as any magical explanation. And I, also, can refer to the earth on which life began as the Goddess, mother of the living.

Important Holiday Calendar news!!

Save Friday, December 22 for the CUUPs annual Winter Solstice/Yule

celebration and potluck. Potluck begins at 5:30pm.

Family Tree by Lucia Kasulis

family tree

leaves like ancestors

high in our majestic tree

looking down on me

-Timothy McGuire

The Kasulis-Smith Family Tree

Our Ancestors are a part of our Family Tree. I feel that makes our lives leaves on that tree. As we bud out in the Spring and are born, unfurl and grow large in our Summer lifetime, and wither and drop to the ground at our death at Winter, we are all participating in a life cycle. For the tree in your yard it’s a yearly cycle, for us humans it’s an unknown cycle of years. The known is, that Winter will come to each of us and we will go back to the Mother Earth as do the leaves on the tree in our yards.

This is the time of year that I consider my own mortality. Eight years ago when my last aunt died, I became a part of the ‘oldest’ generation in my mother and father’s generation. Now my cousins and siblings are dying. Because of lifestyle choices I expect to outlive my siblings. I ponder what that will be like being the last child of my mother and father. Isn’t there a responsibility to being the last living person in a family’s generation? I wonder if my aunt felt that responsibility to her 10 siblings. I know I feel that responsibility and it is what grounds me to live my life going forward.

When we honor our dead, we are acknowledging awareness of our emotional connection to another human being. They say that as long as you are remembered you are immortal. I have many family and friends to remember and honor this year. Each year the number increases, as if a wind storm were blowing the brown leaves off my family tree.

On October 29th at the Ancestor Sunday service you will have the opportunity to honor your ancestors and loved ones who have died. Please join us.

The Autumn Equinox: A Moment of Perfect Balance by Loretta Smith

One of the things I love about being a pagan is the focus on the seasonal changes around us. Pagans celebrate 8 times of the year, two honoring the solstice, and two the equinox. The other 4 celebrations fall halfway between the times of the solstice and equinox. 

It makes sense that our early ancestors structured their lives around the cycles of the seasons. They looked to the seasons to know when to plant, when to tend to growth, when to harvest, and when to rest. They noticed there was a time of year that was filled with the most light and warmth. (The Summer Solstice). This was a time to get outside, be active, accomplish, build, and grow. And there was a time of great darkness and cold. (The Winter Solstice) A time to hunker down, go inward, and conserve energy. Falling between these extremes of light/warmth and dark/cold fell two times of equal hours of day and night. A time to regain balance after the activity of the summer, or after the introspection of the winter. So twice a year we get to be reminded to balance our lives. This time of balance is called the equinox and it occurs in the spring and again in the fall.

The Autumn Equinox this year falls on Friday September 22 at 11:49 pm with a moment of stillness before the earth shifts directions. The earth is reminding us to balance ourselves as she adjusts the time of daylight and darkness to perfect balance.

We notice dawn is growing later and sunset earlier. Plants and trees are slowing down as sunlight decreases to get ready for the colder season ahead. Birds and butterflies begin their migration.

The fall season is symbolic of change. From the From the leaves changing colors and falling, to pulling out our warm knit sweaters, fall brings change but with a sense of comfort and ease.

This is an excellent period to focus on moderation and balance with the day and night in alignment.  As the days get shorter and colder we can find a place to rest and reflect on our busy summer, (a time of facing outward), and plan our actions going forward (to a time of turning inward).  The wisdom from this reflection informs our plan of action.

Autumn shows us how to embrace change in its magnificent richness. It reminds us to accept and flow with the change. Just like the falling leaves, we have to let go in order to move forward, to grow and heal and thrive. According to Gary Thorp the autumn leaves falling on the ground remind people about the virtue of letting go. Autumn is a time to release the hurts of life and to embrace the beauty of being alive. Fall reminds us to let go.

The moment of celestial balance is a moment of change.  Autumn is a reminder that one’s body, mind, and surroundings are always developing and changing.  The season reminds us of the impermanence of life, helping us to remember how important it is to embrace the present.

According to Chloe Rain of exploredeeply.com, “The Autumn Equinox is a meaningful time of year to honor the harvest. Whether that be a “real” harvest of the things planted in your garden or the harvest of efforts and intentions for your life path that you set earlier in the year.  This is the time of year to go within and empty out space, composting our old ideas and using the energy they hold to make fertile soil for new creativity and matured visions.”

So on September 22, during the equinox, when the sun crosses what we call the “celestial equator,” may the moment of perfect balance fill your life with hope and love for the future.

by Debby Belansky

I believe in all of these principles... 

I agree that I am responsible for my beliefs, my actions and ongoing development and defining Deity for myself. I believe in a benevolent Creator/Unified Force that created this world and all life on it and then moved on to do the same in other parts of the Universe. So, this means I believe in intelligent life on other planets. I don’t believe in a Creator that gets involved in our daily lives, that is why we have free will. So, what kind of relationship do I have with Deity? There have been times in my life that I have been deeply connected to Creator. But that is not true right now. I feel more connected to Mother Nature as Goddess. I love flowers, trees, rocks and animals as much as I love people. I believe that they all contain a spark of intelligence and that the parts can communicate with each other and to us when we get quiet and listen carefully. I believe in a Soul that transcends death and carries on with a purpose in some other part of the Universe after the death of the physical body.

The authors say “The foundations of most other religions usually consist of a predetermined doctrine. This is not so in Paganism or UU. They have no established dogma …both their foundations can be summed up in the word ‘search’… an openness and a thirst for new knowledge, inspiration, and experience.”

I love the word search as well as curiosity and creativity. They are all foundations of my personal belief system. I ask lots of questions of myself and of others. Just as I want to know myself better I want to know you better at ever more deeper levels.

Actions are harder for me to write about than beliefs because I am more of a human being than a human doing. I have an active mental life much more fully developed than my physical life. Some of the ways I personally express ‘search, curiosity, and creativity’ are:

• I volunteer. I donate money and personal belongings and food to people in need.

• I am kind, generous and loving most of the time.  I am friendly and helpful.

• I express my creativity through the visual arts and share my time and media with many people.

• I believe God is for me and my unfoldment and growth.

• I conserve energy and water.

• I recycle and compost. I reduce the amount of plastic in my life. I treat my cats like family. I care about the trees, bushes and flowers in my yard and am a good earth steward. I have a hybrid car and would like to get an electric car. Mother Nature is important to me.  

• I talk to my plants and tell them when something is going to happen to them. I pray for them and all of Mother Earth.

• I send out Blessings to those in need. I care deeply about all living things.  

• I see by this list that I can do better. 

• I read, I study, I write, I discuss ideas of how to do better with others more knowledgeable. 

• I try my best to stay in communication with the people in my life who care about me and who I care about.  

• I do my inner work to grow my soul.

Honor the bread bakers for they will save the Earth

Written by Lucia Kasulis

In years past at Lammas CUUPs has honored some of our incredible pagan bakers who have passed from this earth, as well as one who is still with us. We first honored Mel Jones, one of CUUPs legacy members who always had homemade delicious bread to share at our potlucks and Lammas celebrations. Clement Boylan was as creative at baking as he was at drumming. We miss both his talents still. We honor our very much alive Crone baker Stacy Sincheff for her gluten free breads and ability to bring creativity to our selection of foods. The vegan butter she brought last year was an incredible hit with all of us, vegans or not. This year we would like to honor the passing of a CUUPs member of incredible talents none of which were baking in the literal sense. Instead of bread, Shirley Ranck was our ‘butter’ person for our Lammas bread offerings for many years. Of course all that wonderful bread would not be the same without that touch of butter to moisten it or hold a dab of jam for you. Shirley’s talents lay instead in her skill as an interim minister, feminist, and author. She ‘baked’ for us the curriculum Cakes for the Queen of Heaven. And she baked that up for us when the women’s movement needed some historical content that was easily digested by all. It was a time of awakening the importance and power of women in history and demanding the acknowledgment of that in the present time. Our Mother Earth lost a sister-mother of powerful baking skill when Shirley passed from our sight on Mother’s Day of this year. We therefore would like to acknowledge Shirley Ann Ranck for the legacy of her written works. They will be with us long after the baked loaf is eaten. Blessed Be!

Please plan to attend the Lammas Sunday service on July 30 at 10:30 in the UU Sanctuary. We will be offering a bread communion with our Mother Earth who nurtures and feeds all of us each day. 

Midsummer Musings

Written by Lucia Kasulis

Everything we do revolves around nature; it is why so many of the ancient practices were nature-based. Our ancestors realized that their relationship with nature was critical for survival. Everything they made, everything they used, their food and shelter, and spiritual needs all originated from the natural world. Of the natural symbols, the sun was one of the most powerful, and it was celebrated throughout the year.

Midsummer’s Eve, Summer Solstice, or Litha, is the longest day of the year. In some traditions, Litha is when a battle between light and dark takes place. In this battle, the Oak King and the Holly King battle for control. During each solstice, they battle for power, and the balance shifts. The Oak King, who represents daylight, rules from the winter solstice (Yule) to Litha. During this time, the days steadily get longer. However, during Litha, the Holly King wins this battle, and the days get steadily darker until Yule.

Our lovely bees are now making honey. Midsummer full moon is known as the 'Honey Moon' for the mead made from honey now available. Mead is regarded as the divine solar drink, with magical and life-restoring properties. Drink to celebrate and toast the life-giving abundance of the Sun. Gather with your family and friends to celebrate the longest day of the year and coming harvest season. And if you wish to dazzle a loved one, here is something from Will for you.

Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? (Sonnet 18)

William Shakespeare - 1564-1616

Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?

Thou art more lovely and more temperate.

Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,

And summer’s lease hath all too short a date.

Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,

And often is his gold complexion dimmed;

And every fair from fair sometime declines,

By chance, or nature’s changing course, untrimmed;

But thy eternal summer shall not fade,

Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st,

Nor shall death brag thou wand'rest in his shade,

When in eternal lines to Time thou grow'st.

  So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,

  So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

Written by Mark Green

As spring unfolds, with longer days and warmer temperatures, we Pagans look forward to the holiday of May Day, which some call by the Irish name of Béaltainne. This very old European celebration of the beginning of summer (as it is calculated in Ireland) was traditionally the first day to return to the outdoors after the long, cold winter. Trees and early wildflowers are flowering, now, and birds are nesting; on May Day, young adults would “go a-Maying” to the woods to “gather flowers” and get a little privacy, so this holiday is often considered sensual and sexy.

There are many traditions for May Day, such as the burning of balefires (“Bel-fires”) through the previous night, driving cattle between two fires to bless them, gathering dew on May morning and applying it to the face to preserve youthfulness and beauty, tying bright ribbons in the trees, and, of course, dancing the Maypole, which we will do at UUCSR on April 30 after the service!

May first is also the International Day of the Worker throughout most of the world. It is a time when we remember the importance and dignity of labor, and recommit ourselves to labor justice in the form of equal access to employment, a living wage and other compensation, and the right to collective bargaining.

One old central European tradition for this time of year is the making of May Wine, a sweet, sparkling wine flavored with dried woodruff. Here is a recipe:

Ingredients—serves 20

4 bottles (3 l) of cheap, sweetish white wine such a Riesling or Gewurtztraminer

Several pinches of dried sweet woodruff leaves

Two bottles (1.5 l) dry sparkling white wine

Strawberries

Instructions:

Pour the still wine into a punchbowl. Add the sweet woodruff leaves, and refrigerate for at least two hours. Add the sparkling wine. Float strawberries in the May Wine to add color and a pleasant taste combination.

Note: fresh sweet woodruff will not conduct the proper flavor. Pick it and dry it in a low oven first. I like to keep a jar of dried woodruff I picked the previous year with my Pagan ritual supplies, and use that for making the May Wine.

We at UUCSR CUUPs wish you a happy May Day season!

Written by Mark Green

As spring unfolds, with longer days and warmer temperatures, we Pagans look forward to the holiday of May Day, which some call by the Irish name of Béaltainne. This very old European celebration of the beginning of summer (as it is calculated in Ireland) was traditionally the first day to return to the outdoors after the long, cold winter. Trees and early wildflowers are flowering, now, and birds are nesting; on May Day, young adults would “go a-Maying” to the woods to “gather flowers” and get a little privacy, so this holiday is often considered sensual and sexy.

There are many traditions for May Day, such as the burning of balefires (“Bel-fires”) through the previous night, driving cattle between two fires to bless them, gathering dew on May morning and applying it to the face to preserve youthfulness and beauty, tying bright ribbons in the trees, and, of course, dancing the Maypole, which we will do at UUCSR on April 30 after the service!

May first is also the International Day of the Worker throughout most of the world. It is a time when we remember the importance and dignity of labor, and recommit ourselves to labor justice in the form of equal access to employment, a living wage and other compensation, and the right to collective bargaining.

One old central European tradition for this time of year is the making of May Wine, a sweet, sparkling wine flavored with dried woodruff. Here is a recipe:

Ingredients—serves 20

4 bottles (3 l) of cheap, sweetish white wine such a Riesling or Gewurtztraminer

Several pinches of dried sweet woodruff leaves

Two bottles (1.5 l) dry sparkling white wine

Strawberries

Instructions:

Pour the still wine into a punchbowl. Add the sweet woodruff leaves, and refrigerate for at least two hours. Add the sparkling wine. Float strawberries in the May Wine to add color and a pleasant taste combination.

Note: fresh sweet woodruff will not conduct the proper flavor. Pick it and dry it in a low oven first. I like to keep a jar of dried woodruff I picked the previous year with my Pagan ritual supplies, and use that for making the May Wine.

We at UUCSR CUUPs wish you a happy May Day season!

By Stacy Sincheff

My grandmother always sent me a Valentine’s card. It made me feel loved and special. It got me to wonder, where did Valentine’s Day start?

The oldest reference I could find was that the Romans celebrated from February 13th to the 15th the feast of Lupercalia, at least as far back as the 6th century B.C.E. The men would sacrifice a goat and a dog, then they whipped the women with strips from the animal’s hides called Februa. They believed this would make them fertile. There was also a matchmaking lottery in which men would draw names of women from a jar and then be coupled up for the duration of the festival; or longer, if the match was right. Some people still celebrate Lupercalia in private.

Then in the third century, anti Christian emperor Claudius II executed two men on February 14 in different years, both named Valentine. One was executed for helping Roman soldiers marry when they were forbidden to. The second man named Valentine was executed for healing a blind girl. Later a chapel was built over his grave. Their martyrdom was honored by the Catholic Church with the celebration of St. Valentine’s Day. As the holiday spread, it evolved over the centuries.

Later, Pope Gelasius I muddled things up in the 5th century combining St. Valentine’s Day with Lupercalia to try to expel the Pagan rituals. At this point it was little more than a drunken revel, with the Christians putting clothes back on it. That didn’t stop it from being a day of fertility and love. As it is still celebrated to this day.

Around the same time the Normans celebrated Galatin’s Day. Galatin meant “lover of women”. That was likely confused or combined with St. Valentine’s Day, at some point, in part because they sounded alike.

As the years went on, the holiday grew sweeter. Chaucer and Shakespeare romanticized it in their work, so it then gained popularity in Britain and all of Europe, with handmade cards becoming the tokens du jour in the middle ages. In 1913 Hallmark cards of Kansas City, Mo. began producing our modern day Valentines.

Today some people will break the bank buying jewelry, flowers, candy, and such for their beloved. Some will binge on chocolates and celebrate SAD (Singles Awareness Day), while others will find a way to make peace with singlehood in a society that wants everyone to partner up.

Fun note: For Valentine’s Day the Bronx Zoo lets you name a cockroach after your sweetheart!!!

So send a Valentine to someone or some ones you care about. And share the origins of the day with them.

Editor's Note: You will find as many different versions of the origins of Valentine’s Day as there are sources for it. Use your search engine and read some of them and make your own compilation as Stacy has here. All of the versions are fascinating! And who is to say they are not ALL true?

By Lucia Kasulis & Mark Green

This January has a feel of new beginnings. The CUUPs group would like to invite you to join them as we plan for 2023. We will decide which celebrations to hold for the congregation and which to celebrate within the smaller group. Will we be able to have Beltane with a May Pole in the courtyard? Will we host another Sunday service as we did in 2022? We will be discussing CUUPs’ path for this new year at our regular 4th Tuesday zoom meeting. Please join us on zoom and help us decide. Email cuups@uusantarosa.org for the zoom link and more information. Until then, enjoy this poem by CUUPs member Mark Green. Blessed Be!

Mulled Wine 

by Mark Green

It begins where the smoke

Hits your eyes: smouldering peat,

Mutton stew on a broad iron hook,

Deep snow: How can it ever

Have been summer? Apples wrinkling

And mice in the barley---

With so much to fear, thank fortune

For company! We’ll tell our tales,

Remember how we passed the cold

Last year, and last, and those

Who couldn’t. The grape leans across

The seasons, clasps the hand of summer’s

Dried rind, dreaming the new fruit,

Calling the sun back, world

Without end,

Amen.