The question of how wiccans in the Southern Hemisphere should celebrate the seasonal festivals is an old one on here (ie: whether to have Beltane in November, etc
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I honestly don't see the difficulty in keeping track of colour symbolism at all; it may not be as strongly enforced by the surroundings, but that doesn't mean that it's not there
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Pagans in my neck of the woods (tropical Australia) have versions of this discussion at almost every solstice! Although technically we are in the Southern hemisphere, depending on the time of year the sun will travel as it does in the northern hemisphere. Our seasons are not anything like the 4 seasons of a temperate climate. Yet most people practise a form of paganism based on that template
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It's perfectly valid paganism to celebrate your local climate (and probably the best way to go). As I'm sure is asked every year on the Aussie boards (and I'm not even posing the question here) is it still Wicca if you change the festivals? Lots of answers to that, depending on how you see wicca: it could be a magical tradition which expresses itself through the witch gods, or primarily a pagan religion with a bit of magic, depending on what type you follow. Using the framework to recognise local changes is fine, but is it a new version? Would love to hear some of the discussions!
Ancestry is a big issue, especially amongst Americans practicing CR. I haven't had to deal with it (being an Brit in London) but I can see how geography would be less of an issue if you feel the blood link strongly (ie: you see yourself as a Scandinavian who happens to be in Australia right now).
Having said all the above, I am not so sure I answered your original question - How do people compensate for, to paraphrase a bit, a mismatch between their pagan practise and their geography. I would say: Our geography and climate are so different from most Northern/temperate climate paths, that first of all, people tend to do a lot of thinking about it, and second, from there, they seem to just jiggle things round to fit as best they can
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I don't think I have a problem with a difference in geography, or adapting to fit the weather. Khemetic's problems seem to go even further though: how can we practice it if we don't know what they meant by 'red'? And if truly knowing it is essential to large parts of the magic? (Personally, I think we can bridge enough of the gap academically for it not to matter.)
When I was first learning paganism (it was more oriented towards Wicca) my teacher was more in the thought process of what does the element/color do and mean to you. If you change colors or elements around in a circle what would the affect and feel be not what was exactly the most "proper".
I have talked to people that had ceremonies on the East Coast of US and had water in the east (that officiant had their feet being covered by the incoming tide) and earth to the west since the continent was there. Since it was winter the sun was always low so it was in the south. The point is they made their relationship with their environment match their outlook to it.
I think the faith was based on our relationship with the land. Find your relationship with it.
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Ancestry is a big issue, especially amongst Americans practicing CR. I haven't had to deal with it (being an Brit in London) but I can see how geography would be less of an issue if you feel the blood link strongly (ie: you see yourself as a Scandinavian who happens to be in Australia right now).
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I have talked to people that had ceremonies on the East Coast of US and had water in the east (that officiant had their feet being covered by the incoming tide) and earth to the west since the continent was there. Since it was winter the sun was always low so it was in the south. The point is they made their relationship with their environment match their outlook to it.
I think the faith was based on our relationship with the land. Find your relationship with it.
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