@Elle and @katscratch sorry for getting angry towards both of you after Elle said she was offended.
Thinking about it some, I tend to have a really kneejerk negative reaction when someone says they are offended about something whereas when people say “hey that upsets/triggers/etc me for reasons xyz, could you think about what you’re saying, or say it differently, or stop, etc…” I really take it to heart.
Sorry 
I like to make resolutions on the winter solstice.
I planned my wedding to be on the day before the summer solstice so our first full day together would be the longest day of the year. Yes, I’m that person.
On the winter solstice, we always throw a big thing with huge amounts of food and beer. It feels like a great way to acknowledge the change that’s about to happen and to stand with friends against that longest night.
I love that. If we hadn’t gotten married on our 13th anniversary we would have picked a solstice or halloween probably.
Celebrations depend deeply on the practitioner, the tradition they follow, where they live, and whether they have other people to celebrate with. Beyond personal preference, whether or not a person has anyone else to celebrate with has an effect, and so does locale – it doesn’t make sense to celebrate August 1 as a harvest celebration in California, for example. And then you add in to that how widely varied neo-pagan/occult traditions actually are. Different traditions celebrate different holidays and in wildly different ways – a Heathen has different holidays from a Wiccan, who has different holidays from a Kemeticist, who has different holidays from a Thelemite.
The neo-pagan and occult movements are incredibly diverse in terms of belief and outlook – they’re really banner names for a bunch of different beliefs that often have very little in common with each other other than that usually an adherent is non-monotheistic or practices some sort of magic. So it’s hard to say broadly what a pagan/occultist would do for a celebration!
ETA: I officially celebrate the equinoxes and solstices with ceremony, as that’s part and parcel of the order I’m in, but otherwise it’s very localized – ceremony/ritual for First Rain, or traditions for when the brugmansia are in full bloom, etc.
Interesting, I didn’t know there was so much variety! When I’ve looked up ideas in the past I mainly stuck to historic ideas from the UK since we had been watching a lot of the BBC historical farming series where they talked about various seasonal celebrations
This makes me want to write out the celebrations I grew up with at some point, and the intermingling of christian faith the native american spiritualism that my father’s side of the family practiced. Of course, it was never mentioned as spiritual, only respect for the land and our co-inhabitants (the various animals we encountered, often using as food) I feel I must have gotten a very different take on life than the rest of my cohort, it was always a tearful thing to see the carnage left behind by a mining operation or the clear-cutting for corporate farms. We gave thanks for every animal we harvested, and prayed for blessings of bounty for our (unreasonably large) garden.
Wicca (which is originally a British religion) and its offshoots are probably the most common and most visible neo-pagan/occult practices in the US, which is pretty expected for a former British colony. 
So I’m not surprised on multiple levels that it would be what someone outside the community would be most familiar with.
The neo-pagan/occult community is incredibly interesting, imo, and I say that not just because I’m a member of it. There’s a lot of good spiritual fodder in there, and from an anthropological point of view it’s just fucking fascinating.
I feel like I should note, though, that there’s a big difference between folks having particular practices/beliefs and being a part of that community – I don’t know Elle’s view, for example, but I know some people with the type of beliefs and background she mentioned who happily consider themselves pagan/occultist and others with similar beliefs/backgrounds who would be really upset if you told them they were pagan/occultists.
I would love to hear about your celebrations, brute, just the bit of what you said sounds beautiful.
My father is another dyed-in-the-wool atheist like me, but he had some views about respect for the land/animals that sound similar to your family’s. He hunted for a long while because he thought that it would be wrong for him to eat meat without being willing to kill any of it.
(Also, I remember the first time I ever saw a clear cut forest. It was up next to this meadow that backed up on my parents’ property. I went up hiking one day and all of these trees had been razed, the big ones taken for lumber and the young ones left to rot. I fucking sobbed.)
Agreed that there are both people with my background saying those things. Also with a long history of blending for safety and convenience, I’m not opposed to blending for safety and inconvenience. “Oh, we’re going to be Muslim this century, k” and it just affects marriages and funerals and which hand you use to give alms. And then youths throwing off labels indignantly or grabbing desperately at old labels.
On or off topic we found a really great mongolian metal band called the hu on YouTube. I think my favourite was the wolf one. Chinggis Khan was fun but no subtitles.
The Cree and Ojibwe nations where I live have amazing full moon ceremonies for women, winter solstice gatherings, and sun dances. Their cultures are a big part of my community, so I have attended full moon and winter solstice events. They are beautiful and grounding and enriching in so many ways.
There is a LOT to be said for safety and convenience. Like, uh, y’all know more about my spiritual leanings now than most people do, because IRL it’s often a hassle at best.
The Hu, you say? :wanders off:
ETA: Wandered back. That was a GOOD song, and I have now learned of the existence of the horse fiddle.
Cool The only big First People presence near me are casinos but I know there are some small reservations further away. Not sure if they do any events or not, but something to maybe look into.
Ceremonies aren’t performances. You don’t show up with popcorn. If you have relationships with people they can invite you if they want to.
Okay, good to know
The forum resurrected this thread for me and I want to point out how useful knowledge and foresight and hope have been this year. Also my 2020 tarot readings made no sense at all but all came true and therefore I didn’t do a 2021 tarot because I didn’t want to know
My 2020 reading for the year to come was TOO ACCURATE and so I didn’t do one this year.
I didn’t do a reading for 2020. It was the correct choice, I think.
I hadn’t seen this post earlier.
For me, I am neither wicca or druid, but explore an earth-based form of paganism. The appeal is a fill in for religion that resonates with me. I also like the ceremony and comradery of the group I practice with. I guess someone could also ask “what is the appeal of christianity”.
I like tarot as a tool for self reflection. I do not use it to predict the future.
This was a really cool thread for hearing how people approach spirituality, faith, etc. I have had a lot of evolution in my faith and while I am a Muslim, it’s a very different version than most mainstream definitions.