The second Pagan holiday, Yule, celebrates the coming of spring and the 'rebirth of the sun.' The woman is the goddess Cerridwen, the god Cerrnunos is shown in the background.

here is an edited version of the salutation to a friend by Fra Giovanni. It was written on Christmas Eve, 1513, and its sentiments sit particularly well with this time of the year:

No heaven can come to us unless our hearts find rest in today. Take heaven!
No peace lies in the future which is not hidden in this present little instant. Take peace!

The gloom of the world is but a shadow. Behind it, yet within our reach is joy.
There is radiance and glory in the darkness could we but see - and to see we have only to look.

Life is so full of meaning and purpose, so full of beauty
- beneath its covering - that you will find earth but cloaks your heaven.

And so, at this time, I greet you.
Not quite as the world sends greetings,
but with profound esteem and with the prayer
that for you now and forever,
the day breaks, and the shadows flee away.

That was really nice emmy, thanks for posting it.

Thank you Emmy , I hope you and Al have a lovely christmas with both sets of in-laws

I shall do my best to celebrate in true pagan style feasting and drinking the end of the harvest , with the knowledege that the new year shall bring with it the abundance that life has to offer ...