Celebrating the winter solstice - the longest night and the shortest day of the year - has been done in a wide variety of ways over time. Very interesting ways. Seriously. Which just goes to prove that with the power of intention, you can make virtually anything sacred. When you look back over time at winter holiday celebrations, some of the more common threads you see are: marking and sanctifying a specific day (or series of days); creating both practical and ritualistic ways to bring warmth and light to the season's chills and darkness; making special meals, foods, and feasts; as well as the giving of gifts.

Regarding the latter, this year's epic un/underemployment has put many folks well beyond the range of even the most affordable of gifts. Especially in California. But that doesn't mean the holidays have to be any dimmer or less rich. We just have to get a little jiggy with it. So if you can't afford to buy a bunch of stuff this year, and are looking to create a more, ummm, experiential winter holiday celebration with your beloveds, here are some ideas. Come on, baby, there is no reason this can't be fun. Pour yourself a povertini, sit back, read on and let your imagination run wild.

 

The Very Generic and Experiential

Zodiac-Based Guide

to

Holiday Giving

On the Cheap

Taurus:  Motivated solely by beauty, your Bull beloved wants everything and everyone to be absolutely, fabulously gorgeous, inside and out (but mainly out). Given that beauty usually costs money, you are going to have to get creative here. Really creative. I recommend one of the more powerful elements of the Taurean domain: music. Taureans are the uncontested best at singing and making music, both of which have a magical way of communicating beauty and connecting us to the divine.

Cancer: Motivated by an overwhelming need for shelter and protection, your Crab beloved wants nothing more than to be safe and in control. Total, uncontested, absolute control. Especially of it's home environs. Most likely your Crab has about a thousand half-finished home improvement projects going on at home at any given time. Offer to help your Crustacean with any or all of them. I know, baby, that takes a truly dedicated soul. If it's too much, just take the little bugger swimming.

Leo:  Driven simply and solely by the need for love - and lots of it - your Leo beloved wholeheartedly believes that love is abundant everywhere. Always. This paradigm creates an eternally sunny disposition that weathers even the darkest storms with a smile. Next to Pisceans, these guys are the easiest to create experiences for. Give them an evening of your perfect and undivided attention, preferably while cheering and applauding wildly for them while they do something they excel at. This will keep them purring for months. 

Virgo: Your Virgo beloved is driven by the need to serve somebody. Anybody. Actually, everybody. These guys can only have what they want if it comes with a generous side order of suffering. The best experience you could give The Virgin in lieu of a gift is something that absolutely enslaves them. Set them up on a blind date with your most needy and co-dependent single friend, or get them a seat on the board of directors of the most marginally functional non-profit you can find.

Scorpio: Your Scorpion beloveds - if you can call them that - are driven by the circles and cycles of life. Their sign rules the birth-death-rebirth processes of regeneration, which you can rarely do cheaply, without magic or without breaking some laws. Lucky for you, Scorpio also rules that holy trinity of sex, crime and politics. Get your Scorpion front row seats at the next high-profile, high-drama, train wreck of a public trail. Bonus points for Rob Blagojevich, any Bush administration appointee, Tiger's divorce, Governor Sanford's divorce, or O.J.'s next appeal.