When I was little, my grandma had a German Christmas Pyramid (Weihnachtspyramide), one of those carousels with candles at the bottom that turned the fan at the top through the rising heat and made the central scenery (usually the nativity) spin.
I want one because it brings back happy memories from childhood, but I’m not really feeling the nativity and wise men and angels. But I AM crafty!
What figures would you put to replace the nativity figures?
Maybe make a winter scene? Cardinals, small pines, holly, and whatever else says winter. Miniatures would be perfect for that or something similar.
My partner is half German and has one of these. The suggestions to put little people, holly and pine boughs is a good one. I think even Lego people made their way into it one year
Omg Lego people would be adorable!
I immediately thought of a forest scene with flying owls.
Love this!
Flying woodland creatures was my first thought too. Owls, bats, moths... they would all look gorgeous!
This is oddly very relatable at the moment. I too am balancing childhood memories and current beliefs!
I was thinking about focusing on animals or plants since I have a deity free practice. Or maybe leaning into fantasy witch figurines- maybe one dressed with each element? Maybe do it as a collection or scene of stars or a constellation? Lots of ideas but none that really clicked for me so far.
I am curious to hear what you decide on. Best of luck!
Maybe stars on the top level with nature scenes below.
In case it hasn't come up, the same German manufacturer also makes completely secular pyramids. I recently saw many with deer, cats, snowmen, etc, in different sizes and shapes, but they can be bought online too. The nice thing is that all of them are made in the EU, and looking up close, it's easy to see that it is handmade
Here's one with deer in a forest scene!
Here's one with a grandma in a traditional kitchen!
I was actually thinking this too! I feel like it’s much harder to find nativity pyramids than other wintery scenes.
The grandma one is fantastic.
My family had one of those too! 🥰 Now I want one, my daughter would love it.
My oma had something very similar to this! That side of my family is Dutch. I completely forgot about this. Thank you for bringing back a happy memory! I might look into getting one myself as I am not really sure what happened to the one my oma had.
What a lovely idea. If I were you, it would be flying monkeys and danse macarbre skeletons worshiping a meditating baphomet. But our tastes may differ lol. What ever it ends up as, I’m sure it will make you happy.
Ooooh this is a super cool idea!!
We were so excited when we got a new wooden one to replace the brass set. Promptly set it on fire.
That’s unfortunate.
You gotta throw in a Krampus stalking children. Like, for science.
Krampus was my first thought lol
My cats are named Baphomet and Beelzebub, I would go goth as hell with this rebuild Lolol
I know it’s not very witchy but you could just go full in santas grotto. With elves making toys in the middle. The rain dear and slay at the bottom. Santa at the top getting ready…
I hate to be pedantic, but I recommend looking up the definition of slay and sleigh. They sound the same but really are not interchangeable.
My guess is that they used speech-to-text. That would also explain the rain dear.
You can get some now with just Christmassy themes or just kids playing etc. I am on the lookout for my little one as I too grew up with these. You could have any scene you like; if you're in a cold / snowy area, kids ice-skating would be cute, with a dog or cat, birds in flight.
Do you still want it to be spiritual? If not, I would turn it into an ice-skating rink. If you want, you could probably even adapt some of the figurines to match the new theme. If you can get more animals in a matching style, you could keep the existing animals and turn one layer into a forest or something.
I’ve seen these with little wooden figures creating forest settings: trees, deer, etc
I have one of those! I often think I should make one with my pets and family, but it's very low on my to-do crafts list.
The ideas about winter, forrest, animals, are great! Maybe you could also take inspiration from what you want for society or your own spiritual world, and make some pride march, some selene procession or a zoodiac inspired decor. Possibilities are endless.
Ah my family has this exact one!! All the angel wings have broken over the years so now it’s just some fancy dressed lads out on a stroll.
We had one when I was growing up. Parents bought it while stationed in Germany. Loved it. Your photo just brought back a ton of wonderful memories. Thank you. 🙏
We have a few of those in the family!
My grandpa replaced a broken off king or something with a bunny from the easter collection, went around jollily for years before my grandma noticed 😂
Omg that’s amazing 😂😂