New Year Sacred Ceremonies (12/27)

• 

  Come to a conscious yoga party!

  10th Annual New Year Sacred Ceremony, Fundraiser, and Veggie Potluck with Stella Han
• KINSHIP STUDIOS kinshipyoga.com
• Highland Park, Northeast Los Angeles
• Saturday, Dec. 27, 2025, 6:00-10:00 pm
• Room: Studio B
• Register here: Kinship Studios

Event: Tenth annual New Year Sacred Ceremony (yoga fundraiser for girls, veggie potluck, and gift-giving blanket Native American tradition). Social, potluck, gift-giving blanket price: $25 in advance, $33 day of event.

Beneficiary: Fundraising proceeds will be donated to Yoga Gives Back (YGB), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that empowers women and children in India through education and micro-loans.

• Learn more: yogagivesback.org hosted by Yogini Stella Han, MSW
• In the Valley? Come to the Vegan Winter Solstice Party and Candlelight Ritual for Animals, Saturday night, Dec 27, 2025, 6:00 PM | Meetup

ABOUT: Join us for Kinship Yoga’s beloved annual year-end gathering to honor what we are releasing and welcome what we are inviting in. We do this through community, intention setting, and celebration with live music and activities, plus a vegan/vegetarian potluck to share with all -- and lots of gifts.

All fundraising proceeds are donated to Yoga Gives Back (YGB)!

Event Schedule and Flow

• 6:00 pm–7:45 pm: Sacred Ceremony - a contemplative space honoring the interconnectedness of all life, with culturally respectful observances and shared intentions for peace and renewal in the year ahead.
• Smudging with Sage – cleanse and ground as we begin.
• Guided Journaling – reflect on the past year and set clear, heart-aligned intentions.
• Sacred Chanting – unite our voices and cultivate collective harmony for the New Year.
• 7:45–10:00 pm: Gift-Giving Blanket, Fundraiser, and Veggie (vegan/vegetarian) Potluck Gift-Giving Blanket – inspired by Native American traditions. Bring one or more new or gently used (mindful) items to place on the blanket, then select a gift someone else has offered. (No purchase necessary—and re-gifting is highly encouraged!

ALL ARE WELCOME—whether or not you're bringing a gift, come to receive.

Fundraiser for Yoga Gives Back

– How? We’ll host a small silent auction and raffle gift certificates. Anyone can also donate monetarily by Venmo: @stella_han_yoga. (Please note “Yoga Gives Back” or “YGB” + your email and phone; this info is visible only to Stella Han). Cash/checks accepted on site. For checks, please write: “Yoga Gives Back.”

Veggie Potluck (optional)

I have to choose what I wear very carefully.

If you’d like to contribute a vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free dish, please email Stella (coordinator) at email stellaheartyoga@gmail.com or come with the dish's name and all ingredients on a small card. All dishes must be vegetarian or preferably vegan (purely plant based). Please include a small ingredient card for transparency (noting any potential allergens. It's appreciated by the health conscious). Potluck contributors will receive 2 raffle tickets—so please let the host know when arriving with one.

What to Wear?

Yoga pants and gear are fine. Or dress warmly and comfortably. Festive or spiritual white attire is welcome (optional) as we gather to set intentions for the New Year.

Questions? Please contact Stella Han by email (stellaheartyoga@gmail.com) or call the studio or send through the Wisdom Quarterly messaging system.

Second party option (FREE)

All are cordially invited to our festive holiday party to celebrate the winter solstice with good cheer and join a candlelight ritual to bring light to animals suffering in dark places around the globe. The ritual includes devotional chanting with Devi Daly as sacred witnessing and an expression of compassion. As the shortest day and longest night of the year, the solstice symbolizes rebirth, renewal, and the return of the light. May our lights usher in a new era of inner peace and peace for all beings! It's a vegan potluck, too. Calabasas, in the San Fernando Valley More

• Vegan Spirituality Online Gathering (every other month, January, March, etc.), Thu, Jan 8, 2026, 5:00 PM | Meetup
• Yogihantas, Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation), Dhr. Seven, Jen B., Araceli, Veronica, Cody (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Winter Solstice 2025 arrives (12/21)

Winter Solstice at Ireland's Newgrange attracts 2,000 visitors

Around 2,000 people have gathered at Newgrange, Ireland, to celebrate the winter solstice, Dec. 21, 2025.

The Neolithic passage tomb, part of the Brú no Bóinne complex, is designed so sunlight enters the inner chamber at dawn on the solstice.

• In pictures: Druids descend on Stonehenge to mark winter solstice

Skies were mostly clear, but low clouds on the eastern horizon obscured the sunrise.

Even so, enough light filtered through the roof box for the effect to be visible. As the clouds lifted later in the morning, visitors lined up for a chance to enter the sacred chamber. More

• Stonehenge’s true purpose may have just been uncovered in massive discovery
• 3,000-year-old temple secrets unearthed in Peru

Radio Telefis Eireann video via MSN.com, 12/21/25; Pat Macpherson, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Major discoveries at Gobekli Tepe

(MegalithomaniaUK) Taş Tepeler ("Stone Mounds") sites

Jewish celebration: Hanukkah rap songs

U.S. Christian Zionists support Israel?

Here's a Celebration of Judaism, or at least the Orthodox religious variety as expressed in the idiom of American gangsta rap and hip-hop, parody and pop rock, with an emphasis on irony, mockery, contradictory and satirical sensibilities rather than the usual secular variety we mostly get shoved down our media-saturated throats in bicoastal cosmopolitan America. Hooray for Max Blumenthal, Dr. Gabor Mate, Aaron Mate, Medea Benjamin, Amy Goodman, and others who keep it real in a biased media landscape of apologists, propagandists, complicit aiders and abettors, and secular Zionists hungry for self-righteous war.

• "The Heart Sutra" (RAP version)
• Hanukkah: 8 facts to know about the holiday, from the menorah oil to the history and food

Bezz Believe: "Jew Not Like Us (Synagogue of Satan Diss)" [Official Video]

(Bezz Believe Music) Summer 2024: BezzBelieve.com Super Zionist Ashkenazi rapper @BezzBelieve Shot by: Bryan D & ‪@CrackaLackTV‬ [It is the custom of hip-hop culture and rap to borrow tracks and spit original lines over them, so this track takes Kendrick Lamar's "They Not Like Us (Drake Diss)" and repurposes it as is standard practice. It is not a rip-off but a derivative original work with a strong message. Respect. Sorry, Satan (the Adversary), but what's up, B*tch?]

Shalom Auslander: Foreskin's Lament

(mekelladmb) The funniest guest at Jewish Book Week 2008. Have a look at this preview of Shalom Auslander's new American Orthodox Jewish memoir, Foreskin's Lament.

Hanukkah (also Chanukkah) is a Jewish festival commemorating the recovery of Jerusalem and subsequent rededication of the Second Temple at the beginning of the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucid Empire in the 2nd century BCE. [The genocidal God of war and domination is never satisfied but keeps his soldiers fighting for empire and control.]

• Lotus flower grown at home? Purifies the air, removes formaldehyde, and smells better than perfume – tlpnb
• Jewish Voice for Peace
• IDF remorse: breakingthesilence.org.il
• Not in Our Name: ifnotnowmovement.org
• Orthodox Jews Against Israel: Neturei Karta International
• ‎شرش | Shoresh | שר”ש‎ (@shoresh_us) • Anti-Zionist Jews

Dave Chappelle speaks out on Jewish hypocrisy

The differences between Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jews | Modi stand up comedy

The Differences Between Ashkenazi & Sephardic Jews | Modi Stand Up Comedy

The Jew in the Lotus

The Jew in the Lotus is a 1994 book by Rodger Kamenetz about a historic dialogue between rabbis and the 14th Dalai Lama, the first recorded major dialogue between experts in Judaism and [Tibetan] Buddhism [1, 2]. The book was a popular success and became an international best-seller.

Writing in The New York Times, Verlyn Klinkenborg cited its broader relevance as a book "about the survival of esoteric traditions in a world bent on destroying them" [3]. The book was primarily potent in capturing an ongoing engagement in the U.S. between Jews, often highly secularized (nonreligious), and Buddhist teachings.

Kamenetz popularized the term JuBu or Jewish Buddhist, interviewing poet Allen Ginsberg, vipassana ("insight meditation") teacher Joseph Goldstein, Ram Dass (Harvard Prof. Richard Alpert, Ph.D.). and other American Jews involved with bringing Eastern traditions to the West.

The book also made prominent a Jewish mystical response to Eastern spirituality in the Jewish renewal movement, led by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, and Jewish meditation as taught by Rabbi Jonathan Omer-Man.

Jewish Buddhists, an American Tradition - Tricycle: The Buddhist Review

The title is a pun on the famous Vajrayana Buddhist mantra Om mani padme hum, which is frequently interpreted as "hail to the jewel in the lotus."

First published in 1994 by Harper San Francisco, it is now on its 37th reprint. In fall of 2007 the paperback was reissued with an afterword that updated readers on Jewish-Buddhist dialogues.

The Jew in the Lotus inspired a PBS documentary of the same name produced and directed by Laurel Chiten, released theatrically in New York, Los Angeles, and Boston, and subsequently on Independent Lens on Sept. 1, 1999 [4].

Rabbi Dr. Jay Michaelson writes, "Outside the academy, by far the most influential text on Buddhism and Judaism is Rodger Kamenetz's 1994 bestseller, The Jew in the Lotus.

"On one level, Lotus is a travelogue, recounting a historic (or quixotic) meeting between an assortment of rabbis and the Dalai Lama.

But because Kamenetz perceptively and astutely detailed the participants' varying ways of relating to Buddhism, including his own, it became a kind of BuJu Bible. It did not recount history so much as make it. It would not be an exaggeration to divide American Buddhist Jewish life into the time before and after Lotus's publication." More

(Noisey) From Drugs and Guns to Orthodox Judaism | Gangsta Rap Int'l

From Drugs and Guns to Orthodox Judaism | Gangsta Rap International - Israel

(Noisey) Winter 2019: In the latest episode of Gangsta Rap International, Noisey host Chuckie goes to Israel to investigate a unique story. D Black was a drug-dealing gang member and gangsta rapper in Seattle, USA, who then became a devout Jew, moved his family to Israel, and became a successful artist out there. He still raps but rather than speak of his upbringing around criminality, Nissim Black (as he’s now known) has a more spiritual message now. Watch more Gangsta Rap International: The World’s Wildest Rapper | Gangsta... Find out more about Nissim Black: nissimofficial

"Black and Jewish" ("Black and Yellow" parody)

(Funny Or Die) Aug. 2, 2011: Become a fan on facebook: funnyordie. "Bridesmaids" Kali Hawk & "Vampire Diaries" Katerina Graham shout out Drake, Lenny Kravitz, Lauren London, and hot Rashida Jones as they pay homage to Black and Jewish celebs in a new Funny or Die video. See the original at: funnyordie.com. Black and Jewish

Blp Kosher: "Jew on the Canoe" (official music video)

F to Zionist-Israel and its war(s)!

The Ultra-Orthodox vs. The IDF: Israel's Other Religious War

(VICE News) Oct 23, 2014: Since Israel's inception, the Haredi — religious ultra-Orthodox adherents of Judaism — have been exempt from Zionist Israel's military conscription laws.

But their growing population, coupled with their high unemployment rate and dependence on state benefits [a country they were in and living in peace before Ashkenazi invaders came with the West to take over Palestine to further colonial British and imperial American Christian-Zionism to promote Western influence in the Middle East/North Africa and oil-extraction, militarism, Big Pharma, weapons manufacturing, and geopolitical full-spectrum dominance], sparked outrage within the country's secular majority.

Jewish comedian Gianmarco Soresi criticizing Israel

Where is Bethlehem? Explained to a Child

Do good deeds (kusala karma) or mitzvahs

After years of demanding that the religious Haredi share the secular responsibility of serving in the offensive armed forces (euphemistically called the "IDF" while no one dare speak of the secretive Mossad and Shin Bet war promoters), the Israeli government passed an unprecedented law in March 2014 that requires Haredi males to serve in the military.

The decision resulted in major opposition from the Ultra-Orthodox community, from violent protests to religious leaders demanding that no one should comply but instead dissent and engage in civil disobedience.

THE OG: Matisyahu "King Without a Crown" (Live from Stubb's)

Chanukah Jewish Rock of Ages - official Hanukkah parody song

Bezz Believe: "Super Zionist/The Jewish Joker" (official video)

Necro (Jewish Gangsters) "Tough Jew/Rabbit Holding Guns" (Shyne intro)

ABOUT: VICE News travels to Israel to speak with hardline members and leaders of the Ultra-Orthodox community as well as soldiers in the Netzah Yehuda, the IDF's Ultra-Orthodox Battalion, to get their take on the government's decision. War Games: Israeli Urban Warfare: bit.ly/1oykW0C. Israel's genocidal extermination of Palestine: Rockets and Revenge: bit.ly/1wv2PK2. Check out the VICE News beta for more: vicenews.com. Follow VICE News here: Facebook:  vicenews. Twitter: vicenews. Tumblr: vicenews. Instagram:  vicenews. Subscribe to VICE News: bit.ly/Subscribe-to-VICE-News.

Let's Kill for Is-ra-El (pro-genocide rappers)

Harbu Darbu by Stilla & Nes (English subtitles) - How can we weaponize rap for IDF soldier to kill?

Rapper Macklemore releases pro-Palestine track on college protests for Gaza | Al Jazeera Newsfeed

Thx, Judaism, for bloodthirsty tribal God

• Bezz Believe, July 2024; Shalom Auslander, Feb. 12, 2008; Nissim Black (Noisey), Dec. 2019; Sheldon S., Seth Auberon, Shauna Schwartz, Pfc. Sandoval (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Deeper meaning of Winter Solstice

Shaman Santa is nice to a deaf Sami girl named "Sami"

Scandinavian shroom shamans were beloved figures.

The Deeper, Spiritual Meaning of the Winter Solstice | Through Ancient History

(Sakro Sawel) This is a stunning visual journey through the ancient multicultural sites, traditions, and myths of the winter solstice to discover their deeper spiritual meaning and their relevance today.

Did you know that winter solstice was the most celebrated religious occasion in ancient history and still is even today?

This video explores the celebration of the sun and the winter solstice throughout history. Watch the winter solstice sun rise along the grand avenue of Karnak in Egypt, the largest temple complex in the world.

CONTENTS

• 00:00 – Introduction
• 01:45 – What is the Winter Solstice?
• 02:35 – Spirituality in Nature
• 03:31 – Journey of the Sun God
• 04:37 – Winter Solstice Celebrations
• 07:38 – Winter Solstice Alignments
• 10:07 – Karnak Temple Alignment
• 12:58 – The Principles of Creation
• 15:19 – Luxor Temple Symbolism
• 16:09 – Glastonbury Tor Meaning
• 17:33 – Newgrange Symbolism
• 18:53 – Great Pyramids Solstice Alignment
• 19:28 – Tiwanaku Symbolism
• 20:42 – The Dark Half of Duality
• 21:31 – Birth of the Hero Savior
• 22:35 – Jesus and the Hidden Meaning of Christmas
• 26:01 – Conclusion
• 27:31 – Where to Learn More
• 27:57 – Image and Video Credits

View a beam of solstice sunlight enter the hidden inner chamber of the giant megalithic mound site of Newgrange in Ireland.

Travel through these and tens of other ancient sites from around the world, some Buddhist, others American, while learning about the ancient symbolic meaning they had to their builders.

We also look at the deeper spiritual meaning of Xmas, the world’s biggest celebration held around the winter solstice as Christ-mass.

The winter solstice was the largest religious occasion in ancient times and remains so. Many ancient cultures throughout the world venerated the sun at the winter solstice. Millions still honor it according to their ancient traditions, and billions celebrate Christmas at the time of winter solstice, although its deeper significance has largely been lost.

Why is the winter solstice such an important event and what is its spiritual meaning? We explain how winter solstice was an important part of an ancient religion of the sun that spread to different parts of the world in prehistory.

NOTE ABOUT ATTRIBUTING THIS WORK: The information in this video is the culmination of years of work and research. It contains Sakro Sawell's unique interpretations of ancient sites and traditions. If you like it and want to share it, do not plagiarize it! Please share the video with due credit as the source. This video is part of a series about the spiritual meaning of the solstices and equinoxes. Watch the other videos in this series here:

• Winter solstice
• Spring equinox
• Summer solstice
• Autumn equinox

Website: sakrosawel.com. Book (co-authored by husband and wife) discusses the spiritual meaning of the winter solstice and ancient sites aligned to it in detail, as well as how to celebrate it: Ancient Solstice sakrosawel.com/ancient-solstice.

To make sure to keep receiving content from Sakro Sawel, sign up for the free newsletter at sakrosawel.com/newsletter. X/Twitter: sakrosawel.

• Sakro Sawel, Dec. 17, 2023, YouTube, sakrosawel.com; Pat Macpherson, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

German witches celebrate pagan Yule

Can Jewish witches celebrate Israel's genocide for German Yule, or is that weird? 

How to celebrate Yule | Rituals and Pagan history of the winter solstice

Seven magical destinations for anybody
fascinated by witches (Lonely Planet)

(The witches' cookery) Dec. 10, 2021: On the night from Dec. 21st to the 22nd, we are celebrating the winter solstice or "Yule," as many witches and pagans call it. Merry Yuletide!

In today's witch vlog, I am taking viewers through my winter solstice celebration to give inspiration on how to celebrate Yule, create some yule-themed kitchen witchery with yummy orange and cardamom cookies, show my simple winter solstice ritual, and conjure up a witchy winter brew in my cauldron.

Saint Lucia of Light, Saint Lucy in Sweden, unlike the nasty German version

• Green Witchcraft, Explained: A Beginner’s Guide – Sea Witch
• Saint Lucy's Day (Saint Lucy?)

Let's go back to pagan times and traditions

Of course, this Yule vlog is peppered with pagan history, green witch lore, and lots of information on Yule and the roots of modern Anglo-Saxon Christmas traditions. Hope everyone enjoys this bit of winter witchcraft!

What do you think of the Bavarian celebration of St. Lucia (Goddess of Light in Sweden, Catholicism, and German witchcraft)? It is a bit grim... xD How are we celebrating Yule?

• 00:00 Intro Witch vlog
• 00:23 What are we doing for the winter solstice?
• 00:54 Walk in Winter Wonderland
• 01:35 What is the winter solstice about?
• 02:31 Green witch lore & traditional plants of Yule
• 05:01 Gathering winter solstice greenery for a Yule ritual
• 05:53 Winter solstice celebrations around the world
• 06:44 St. Lucia Day in Sweden
• 07:28 St. Lucia Day in Bavaria (the awkward version)
• 09:07 Kitchen witchery: Flaming Solstice cookies
• 11:09 Cleansing smoke blend for the Yuletide
• 13:35 Winter solstice ritual idea
• 14:48 Gushing over my new witches' cauldron
• 15:13 Pagan history: Viking drinking festivals and making Kinderpunsch

#yule #wintersolstice #witchcraft

My awesome cauldron: https://kit.co/The_witches_cookery/my... 🧙‍♀️My favorite WITCHY THINGS and equipment: kit.co/The_witches_cookery 📚 My favorite witchy books: https://kit.co/The_witches_cookery/wi... 📷 Join on Instagram: / the_witches_cookery 💍 The sustainable, witchy jewelry in this video is by Ana Luisa https://shop.analuisa.com/thewitchesc... Use this discount code to get 10% off :) THEWITCHESCOOKERY10 💕 To receive more content or interact with me on a more personal level, feel invited to have a look at my Patreon account: the_witches_cookery ☕ To support this channel and make it possible for me to create more content for enjoyment: paypal.me/thewitchescookery

• ✉ To send snail mail:
• Rebekka Laufer,
• Postfach 17, 92246 Vilseck

🎵 Music from https://www.epidemicsound.com/referra... Might contain affiliate links, meaning that I earn a veeeery small percentage from them. The final product is NOT more expensive for buyers when buying through the links but it does help me be able to keep creating on this channel - Thanks

💕 Kinderpunsch

Alcohol-free Glühwein 750 ml

Strongly brewed Fruit tea (I used a combination of Turkish apple tea and Hibiscus flower) 500 ml

Red Grape juice 200 ml

Apple juice

2 Oranges

1/2 Lemon

18 Cloves

2 Cinnamon sticks

1 handful of Cranberries

Optional: Coconut blossom sugar or agave to sweeten

Flaming Winter Solstice Cookies

(Orange and Cardamom infused Spritz cookies)

125 g vegan butter

130 g powdered sugar

Pinch of salt

1 Egg replacer

200 g gluten-free flour

125 g ground almonds

Swig of real vanilla extract

Swig of bitter almond aroma

2 Tbsp cardamom

Zest of 1 orange

Juice of 1 orange

2 Tbsp coconut cream

Optional: chocolate to cover

7-10 mins at 150-180 degrees Celsius

• Witch Rebekka Laufer (The witches' cookery); Shauna Schwartz, Ashley Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly