spring time rituals

[rivendellrose]

An interesting commentary on interfaith rituals, specifically Seder and Passover, is here at the NPR site.

I don't know about other folks who grew up in or are currently in mixed-religion or otherwise sort of 'confused' religious environments, but I think I agree with the decision Snyder comes to in this commentary - it's important to keep rituals separate. It's also difficult, particularly when so many secular/Christian holidays coincide so neatly with the holidays of other religions, and, for me, it's always a struggle to find ways of celebrating holidays that both fit into my modern lifestyle and satisfy my desire for ritual. It doesn't exactly help that I both want to celebrate alone, as my spirituality is unique and private, and want to feel a sense of community and union at the holidays.

I'd be interested to hear what other people feel about ritual, especially since I know there's a lot of religious diversity out there among all of you. What are you doing for Easter, Passover, Beltane or whatever other holidays are coming up on your calendar, and how do you deal with the mixing of religions and secular life, privacy and community, and all of that?

Comments

[cassildra.livejournal.com]

I celebrate Easter with my parents, because my dad's born-again Christian and I still live under his roof. (No offense to any born again Christians intended, it's just... thats' a rant for another time.)

Then I snuggle up in my room for a good deal of meditation, because there's really no room to do ritual anywhere at the moment.

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

Even living on my own, I've kept up to a very vague extent with the whole Easter thing - my roommates and I or sometimes just my mom and I end up painting Easter eggs, usually. Someday I'd like to switch that back to doing it for Ostara, but honestly, I do it more for the pretty colors and the boiled-eggs, anyway. ;)

I feel you on the 'no space' thing. It's only been the last few years that I've really started having rituals again, since I wasn't allowed to light candles in my old place. So usually I'd just go walk outside for a while, in the old days.

[cassildra.livejournal.com]

Yeah. I might end up celebrating a few days early, just because I have better/more time then.

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I do that sometimes, especially with cross-quarters. It feels a little more important to be on the right date for the equinoxes and especially for the solstices, but the cross-quarters... meh. I figure those are fairly negotiable.

[cassildra.livejournal.com]

Aye, indeed. I understand that. ^^

[iamlovely.livejournal.com]

My parents make us go to church as a family on Easter. Then we usually go to my grandmother's house for dinner. Then we come home, and it's over. I then usually go to my bedroom, and try to relax, meditate or do yoga.

My sister and I are both opposed to Easter, but we just sit there quietly and enjoy the oppourtunity to visit our Grandmother.

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

I'm surprised by how many parents force their children (particularly teenage/young adult children!) to go to church. I'm not sure what the philosophy there is, and I certainly can't imagine they figure sitting there against your will could do any good for your soul, if that's what their concern is. Personally, I find it awkward enough that my dad and stepmom insist on prayer before meals - it was only a holiday thing (initiated by my great-grandpa) when I was growing up, so it's been one hell of a culture shock for my since my dad remarried.

At least it's an opportunity to see your grandmother, though - I can definitely understand how that's important.

[iamlovely.livejournal.com]

Well they're christians, so they feel they have to go to keep up their appearance. (though in reality they're alcoholics who don't like eachother and shouldn't be married) My dad is also best friends with the Pastor, so he and his wife are always coming over for dinner. I've just learned how to block out their religious rambles and think about other things like "Did I put my clothes in the dryer?", "Will I have some time to read later?" and so on...

I found a way to get out of church, I babysit in the nursery every Sunday. So I get paid nearly $100 a month, not to go to church (except holidays) When holidays come about, my sister is forced to come home, so we make up games...Usually we just glare at the Pastor all throughout his sermon, because it makes him uncomfortable. Or we'll count how many times they say 'Jesus' and each time they do we say 'Save me Nezbah!' (A fake name of a fake God we made up years ago to piss off our parents)

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

Wow. It sounds like everything's very complicated with religion in your family, but at least you and your sister have a great relationship, from the sound of it. ;)

[bluerose16.livejournal.com]

"I'm surprised by how many parents force their children (particularly teenage/young adult children!) to go to church. I'm not sure what the philosophy there is, and I certainly can't imagine they figure sitting there against your will could do any good for your soul, if that's what their concern is."

Ah ha, oh, that just cracked me up a little, because it is so opposite of what I have going down. Both my parents were raised in pretty religious environments - my father Jewish and my mother Mormon. Both of them gave it up as soon as they left home. I was raised without the tiniest smidgen of religion whatsoever, except we celebrated Christmas and Hannukah. But when you consider it, we didn't do anything but have a Christmas tree and sing the songs and what, and the same with Hannukah, and it's like the wimpiest Jewish holdiay anyway, so. And I'm not bashing Hannukah, but it's really not an important holiday in the scope of Judaism - that's just a fact.

So now I feel like if I were even to approach any kind of spirituality myself, my parents would not discourage it necessarily, but backhandedly ridicule it and generally not understand at all.

BUT, because of the way I was raised, I'm so totally not comfortable with organized religion. We have services at my school, but I just don't participate in them at all, because even if I were to choose to be spiritual, I could never do it even in a small group. I'm too private a person.

So yeah. Opposites, whee.

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

I understand that completely - your sort of background is more where I come from, in that I was raised in a pretty much completely secular household (I went to Sunday school a few times as a very small child, and then only occasionally with school friends after that, and to Mormon girls' camp when I was a teenager because a bunch of us non-religious folks decided to join in with our Mormon friends). My mom has always been kind of a seeker after religion of some kind, whereas my dad, up until a few years ago, was as close as you can come to being a 'devout' atheist. Not close enough, apparently, as he converted to Christianity a few years ago when he met his new wife... but that's a different story.

Main point is, I'm fascinated by religion, but kind of oddly repelled by aspects of it at the same time. I'm petrified of the dogmatic, orthodoxy and orthopraxy of organized religion, but I'm drawn to spirituality and ritual. It's a weird combination of feelings. In general, I end up just doing my best on my own, figuring things out as I go and making do. ;)

[hermionesviolin.livejournal.com]

I haven't had a chance to listen to the NPR thing yet, so this is just me talking.

I wish Christians observed Jewish holidays more because they're so much a part of our history. Combining Christian and pagan celebrations gets more complicated; on the one hand I like the common ground of celebrating light in the darkness (Christmas/Solstice) and rebirth (Easter/Spring Equinox) but on the other hand I get tetchy about the watering down of stuff to lowest common denominator because so much of the power, richness, etc. gets lost that way. My ideal would probably be awareness of how various traditions celebrate similar things/times, with shared participation as people feel comfortable.

What am *I* doing? I went to Maundy Thursday (Tenebrae) service. I will go to Easter Sunday service and then have a secular mid-afternoon dinner with my parents, grandma, and a family friend. (My grandmother wouldn't call it secular, but she's very much about doing things because/the way "we" have done them for time immemorial, so even though the whole candy emphasis has come to squick me at Easter -- though I hardly turn down free candy -- it's one of those battles I just don't fight ... we talk a lot about how we'll do holidays after my grandmother dies). This is what we always do. My mom also always goes to Passover seder at her good friend Susan's house.

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

No worries, the NPR thing was just what made me bounce off into this, and something I thought people might find interesting.

That's kind of what I was trying to get at (and what the commentary on NPR was going for, as well) - although there are a lot of similarities between holidays in most religions, particularly those that have a lot of historical contact, they do tend to lose something when they're blended.

[narsilion.livejournal.com]

One of these days I want to invite myself to Amy's Seder. I'm sure that her family's is so great, they are such a fun family. She has invited me to other celebrations, so I'm hoping a Seder invite isn't out of line. I'm always intrigued with Jewish celebrations.

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

It'd be a fascinating experience, if she didn't mind.