Tradition!

I've always liked traditions. They give me a sense of comfort and continuity. My family has a lot of traditions, they just don't happen to be traditional traditions. Like swimming on Christmas. Often, we don't even know how a tradition starts- we've just always done it that way. . .

My favorite untraditional tradition is the Solstice party. As far as I know, I have only ever missed one Solstice, when I didn't come home soon enough from Prague. I don't really know what anyone else in the world does for the Winter Solstice, but our holiday tradition is a sort of mish-mash of other holiday traditions all under the umbrella of Solstice. Usually there is singing and music. Always wassail and eggnog. Sometime long ago, there began the tradition of performing "St. George and the Dragon" a traditional mummers play from England. Over the years, I have played almost every part in this play. From the Dragon as a child to Lady Holly and this year finally St. George him(her)self. The play is fun and funny- Even though people have been performing the play for years, no one seems to remember their lines (except the steadfast Father Christmas, Charles). The collected costumes (where did we get a foam dragon's head?) only come out once a year.

The other major Solstice tradition is of course the Sword Dance. You can see the children grow from year to year. . . a baby that has to be held as she rides the swords, a child that balances and grasps tightly to an adult relative's head, a youth that is just too heavy to ride but can barely lift the sword above his head for the clanging, a teenager who is now strong enough to hold all six swords in the star formation high for the whole party to see. And then the years of dancing in between until it is time to hold our own children on the swords.

Over the years, the solstice party has been held in many different locations. Someone's house, someone else's house, a church basement (my least favorite), someone else's house again, our house, maybe your house, a rented hall. Many people have attended, some just once, some return year after year. But it doesn't really matter where it is or who comes, because the tradition is there. The tradition evolves some new things appear, some old things disappear, but the tradition is there.