Santa Claus, a figure synonymous with the winter holiday season, has an intriguing history that intertwines Christian traditions with ancient pagan roots.

Many of us are familiar with the merry aspects of winter holidays, but did you know there’s also a lot of cultures around the world have their own spine-tingling traditions that are as fascinating as they are fearsome?

We at are super stoked to welcome the writings of Terry Lynn of Salt + Sky Wellness: tarot maven, Reiki master, Doula and lyrical writer of deep thoughts. Here’s her cards for this season.

I love this installation. It really creeps me out in a good way. “Nine Worlds,” a film from the multimedia installation “The Shaman’s Journey” by Thomas Ross Miller.

May the dark roll over us like a warm blanket, force us inside to gather around the hearth and tuck in together for the cold months. Here’s some stuff to read, while there.

For your listening pleasure, and your nightmare leisure.

WE MISS YOU is a social campaign and digital art installation that deals with our relationship to earth. I love it to bits.

New Orleans is an exciting world famous voodoo hub, buzzing with culture and nightlife ... If you know just where to go!

Check out this international museum dedicated to all things tarot. They have a shop too!

Check out the Buckland Museum, founded by the man who brought Wicca to America.

Read all about one of the founding fathers of paganism - the man who coined the term “neopagan”.

Who are you without all of your thoughts? Without all of your judgements, memories, criticisms, worries and fears? Without your loves and desires? Meditation will show you.

My list of fundamental building blocks to a good spiritual practice.

Do you remember the first time you crossed the hedge?

Since I got this deck, I have not used any other deck. It answers me immediately, unwaveringly. It doesn’t hesitate or get vague or bored of my questions - not once. It’s a sturdy companion, reliable and Pony-gold.

A three-card Tarot reading is all about the business of life. It's practical. It offers solutions. And it's immediate.

Rich with symbolism, Imbolc is the first herald of the returning sun. Perched inside our warm abodes, we look to the future and know it will inevitably be brighter. With the cold all around us but the sun on the eastern horizon, it’s a perfect time to review the past year and make adjustments for the coming one.

The 13 moon cycle calendar is a pre-Christian lunar calendar that reflects the cycles of nature; the moon, the sun, the woman's monthly cycle. Download one here.

The beautiful and intriguing, alleged reindeer goddess of ancient British Isles, ‘Elen of the Ways’, needs more investigation.

Many of us live with folks who are of different or no faiths. The Winter Solstice can be an excellent cross-cultural winter holiday that everyone can participate in.