Many in the Valley Have Their Own Rituals for Today

It’s a typical Friday at the Wat Thai Temple in North Hollywood. The saffron-robed Buddhist monks will rise at 7 a.m. to pray. They’ll eat their usual breakfast of boiled rice and then go about their duties--many of them teaching.

It is Ramadan for the thousands of local Muslims, and they will fast throughout the day.

Observant Jews will be busy preparing for the start of the Sabbath at sundown.

Other Jews will do what has become a secular tradition on Dec. 25. They’ll go to the hot new movie and out for Chinese or deli. (When I was a reporter on the Westside, I did a story on this phenomenon, for which the copy editor wrote a brilliant headline that transformed “On Blitzen!” into “On Blintzes!”)

That’s what Carie Peskin will do. Peskin is the manager of Brent’s Delicatessen & Restaurant in Northridge. In the past, delis were usually open on Christmas, and many still are. But Brent’s is closed today. As Peskin points out, many of the staff are Latino and want to celebrate Christmas in church and at home with their families.

Peskin, whose family owns Brent’s, will work in its catering department this morning. Then she plans to see the new Susan Sarandon-Julia Roberts movie, “Stepmom.” Alternatively, she says, “I may just go home and relax.”

Her family usually gets together for dinner on Dec. 25. Sometimes they have Chinese, but they often have food brought from Brent’s.

“We don’t cook much at home,” she admits.

Another Valleyite who won’t be celebrating Christmas today is a Granada Hills woman who uses the name Ilyana MoonFire.

She is a Wiccan.

“I also use the term witch, applying to myself,” she says.

As she explains, some people who practice neo-paganism, as she does, find the term offensive.

She is part of a community called ReWeaving, and, she explains, “What we are reweaving are the ancient stories and practices into spiritual practices that work today.”

Hers is a community whose rituals are open to anyone. As many as 100 people attend its ceremonies.

“We are not a coven, and we are not a circle,” she says, explaining that these groups tend to be closed to nonmembers.

Instead of Christmas, MoonFire celebrated yule last Saturday night with other ReWeavers in rented space at the Unitarian Universalist Church in North Hills.

“It’s the celebration of the longest night and the shortest day,” she explains. “Technically, it’s Dec. 21”--the winter solstice. But her group held its ritual two days early, because Saturday night is when the group, which includes working men and women, can get together.

The essence of yule is as simple and powerful as the difference between light and darkness.

On the longest night, she explains, “You sit in the dark and hope for the sun.”

The heart of the ReWeavers’ ritual was “a meditation about hibernation,” she says.

A yule log, lit with the remains of the previous year’s log, is a traditional feature of the ancient holiday.

Her group had no log but did “work with flame,” she says. So many different cultures have holidays this time of year that focus on light, she points out. For the ReWeavers yule ceremony, each person lighted a candle from a common flame to “represent the spark of hope they found within themselves.”

Although yule is the holiday she celebrates with her community and in her heart, MoonFire will visit her family today, and, yes, she will bring presents. It’s a family tradition that doesn’t violate her personal beliefs.

And there’s something else she always does at Christmastime.

“I drive around and look at all the lights. I love the lights.” Whatever you do today, I hope it brings you pleasure and peace.