While the tiresome debate rages over whether Target clerks should be wishing their customers, "Happy Holidays," or, "Merry Christmas," Pagans look at the season in a different light.

On Sunday, December 18, about 40 local Pagans celebrated Yule in an upbeat Wiccan-based ceremony at the Unitarian Universalist Church on Benevolent Street in Providence. The 45-minute ceremony, backed by drumming, bagpipes, and guitar, opened with the invocation, "I conjure and create thee, O Circle of power." Circle members ranged from infants to seniors; a few donned robes or other festive attire, but most were casually attired. There was food as well as chants and songs, including a rousing variation of "Deck the Halls" with vigorous drumming.