Wednesday Whatever – Reclaiming the Winter Solstice

Reclaiming the Winter Solstice
by Melanie Fire Salamander - Widdershins

I’m know I’m not the only person, pagan or otherwise, who approaches the winter holiday season gingerly. To begin with, Americans generally consider Christmas a time to gather with their families. Even for those who get along with their relations, the togetherness (and the cleanup afterward) can be stressful. Further, as a non-Christian, I find it somewhat alienating how Christmas permeates our culture. It’s hard for any non-Christian to ignore – witness the Jewish households with Christmas trees.

Specifically, as a pagan, I find Christmas the height of the borrowed holiday double-bind. The holidays of the winter solstice are the pagan holidays most thieved from and later overlaid by Christianity. Granted anything appropriated by Christians from pagans can be appropriated right back, but the holiday feels somewhat marred in the process. I think this feeling arises partly because the forced marriage of pagan and Christian traditions I grew up with doesn’t entirely work. The symbolism of giving gifts seems flawed, unless you see the receivers as avatars of the infant Christ gifted by Magi(cians), which philosophy I haven’t seen promulgated. In Christmas gift-giving, the traditional pagan solstice gifts have lost their former meanings of luck and fertility and the propitiation of the dead. Because the symbolism no longer works, greed and guilt are often the main components that remain.

Thus, when I was a child trying to be Christian, I found Christmas the holiday that required the most hypocrisy. You knew if you were told to write an essay about the true meaning of Christmas you weren’t supposed to lust for presents, but rather to harp on peace on earth and the blessings of the Christ child. Peace on earth is a fine hope, but I only wrote about it as a child because I knew I was supposed to. But I’ve always loved the Christmas traditions of my childhood. The Christmas tree spangled with tinsel and glowing with colored lights, Christmas feasts, the house warm and scented with baking, snow on the hills, a holly wreath with blood-red berries – because these symbols were Christianized, they remained to color my childhood, and they speak as deeply to me as anything Halloween does.

More than any other Sabbat, the winter solstice I think requires a conscious act of reclaiming. We have many solstice traditions to choose from, more than meet an initial glance. It’s a glorious time, a deep symbol, the return of the sun and the many myths that stem from it. I think the time and symbol are worth reclaiming. I think we owe it to ourselves to meditate, dig deep and choose and practice the solstice traditions that most speak to us.

The Pagan Roots of Christmas

The early Christians quite consciously chose the pagan sun holiday for the celebration of their Son-god’s birth. Christmas falls during the Roman Saturnalia and at the birth of the Mithraic sun god. According to A Witches Bible Compleat, by Janet and Stewart Farrar, the Archbishop of Constantinople wrote that church fathers fixed the Nativity during the pagan holidays because "while the heathen were busied with their profane rites, the Christians might perform their holy ones without disturbance." Other Christians accused those who kept Christmas at the solstice of performing sun worship. Armenians, who celebrate Christmas on January 6, elsewhere Epiphany, called Roman Christians idolaters, according to Funk and Wagnall’s Standard Dictionary of Folklore, Mythology and Legend. Similarly, under the Puritans in 1644, the English Parliament expressly forbade observing Christmas. Augustine admitted that putting Christmas at the winter solstice was a conscious identification of the Son with the sun but defended the symbolism. The Christmas most Americans know as children mixes a celebration of the birth of Christ with traditions from the Roman Saturnalia, the Northern European Yule, and the Celtic solstice.

Saturnalia, The Great Leveler

Saturnalia, a string of related festivals beginning December 17 and lasting a week in its final incarnation, celebrated the Golden Age of the Roman god Saturn. Its roots lay in a solstice ceremony designed to protect winter-sown crops. One of its signal customs was a leveling of rank and age; during Saturnalia, courts passed down no punishments, schools closed, wars ceased, gambling was encouraged, and social distinctions were leveled or reversed. The slave was equal to the freeman, and the master served the servant. All took bawdy liberty in speech and action. Christmas inherited this turnabout of power. Early Europeans’ Christmastime saw the reign of the Lord of Misrule, called in Scotland the Abbot of Unreason. The Lord of Misrule ran the revels from All Hallows until Twelfth Night, arranging parties and theatricals and inflicting penalties for any misdeeds he saw fit. A related custom survived in York till the eighteenth century, as Doreen Valiente writes in An ABC of Witchcraft; there the people carried mistletoe to the high church altar and proclaimed (in the words of a contemporary) "`a public and universal liberty, pardon and freedom to all sorts of inferior and even wicked people at the gates of the city, towards the four quarters of heaven.’"

Saturnalia may have given us our tradition of decking interiors with evergreen boughs, and may be the source of Christmas gift-giving. In the latter days of festival week, Romans exchanged gifts of wax fruit, candles and dolls. Funk and Wagnall’s identifies the fruit as symbolizing fertility, the candles as echoing the customary new fires of solstice, and the dolls as a remnant of human sacrifice. Reports from a Roman outpost reflect the sacrificial aspect of Saturnalia, Funk and Wagnall’s notes; inhabitants there elected a King Saturn and gave him great freedom, only to ritually murder him at feast’s end.

Yule: Fertility And Ghosts

At the winter solstice, Scandinavians worshipped Frey, god of fertility; further south, the Angli celebrated December 24 as New Year’s Eve, called modranecht (mother night), a vigil also connected with fertility rites. In general, the traditional Yule (from the Norse Iul, meaning wheel) was a feast devoted to fertility and the ancestors, which passed on to Christmas fecund and ghostly traditions. The Christmas roast pig is kissing cousin to julgalti, the pig offered to Frey for fertility in the coming year, according to Funk and Wagnall’s. Hence the apple in its mouth. Similarly, Yule was a time to charm grain and fruit to grow thick. Traditional Scots kept the Corn Maiden from harvest till Yule and then distributed her to the cattle, according to the Farrars. The Germans scattered the ashes of the Yule log on the fields for fertility, or kept its last charred pieces to bind in the last sheaf of the coming harvest. The French retained a piece of Yule log through the year to protect the house against fire and lightning, to ensure bountiful crops and the easy birth of calves.

The solstice was also a weather predictor, according to Funk and Wagnall’s. In more recent tradition, a white Christmas is said to mean a prosperous New Year, while a green, cloudy or hot Christmas fills the churchyard. Yule is a time for spirits. European tradition, transferred to the Christian holiday, held that each house should be clean and prepared for Christmas before the household went to church, so the spirits could inspect it. Spirits likewise stayed for Christmas dinner. In Sweden, householders set a special table for them. European folk beliefs say that someone who sits under a pine tree on Christmas Eve can hear the sound of angels – but death will soon follow. Death also awaits one who hears farm animals converse in the barn that night. A person born on Christmas can see spirits. Dreams on the Northern modranecht were believed to foretell the coming year, according to Nigel Pennick in The Pagan Book of Days.

We Three Kings

In the British Isles, Celtic Yule traditions survive with amazing resilience. The fight of the Oak and Holly Kings, representatives of the waxing and waning year, is recalled in the still-current hunting of the wren – a custom also found in ancient Greece and Rome. In the myth behind the practice, the robin redbreast, identified with the Oak King, caught and killed the wren, representative of the waning year and the Holly King. The robin traditionally trapped the wren in an ivy bush, in Ireland a holly bush, the Farrars write. The robin’s tree was the birch, the tree associated with the after-solstice period in the Celtic tree calendar. In the wren hunt, according to Pennick, a group of droluns (Wren Boys) captured the wren, which during the rest of the year was sacrosanct. The droluns ensconced the bird in a lantern and trooped it around the village on a holly branch on its way to death. Alternatively, men with birch rods chased the wren and killed it. Wren Boys still tour County Clare in west Ireland on December 26, now a group of adult musicians who go door to door with a wren effigy on a holly branch. In County Mayo, Wren Boys are holly-bearing children, including girls, who knock on doors repeating a traditional verse that asks for money to bury the wren. In Scotland and the North of England, in a possibly related custom, masked and caroling children formerly celebrated Hogmany on New Year’s Eve, traveling the neighborhood soliciting oat cakes.

The wren’s rival, the robin of the waxing year, was linked to Robin Hood, according to Robert Graves in The White Goddess. Robin was a god of the witches; Graves writes that a London tract of 1693 named Robin Goodfellow an ithyphallic witch-god. In Cornwall, he notes, "robin" means phallus. Robin "Hood," or "Hod," was thought to exist in the hod, the log at the back of the fire, in other words the Yule log. Woodlice who ran from the burning Yule log were called "Robin Hood’s steeds," and Robin was said to escape up the chimney as a robin. The Yule log is traditionally of oak, again connecting it with the Oak King; in some places it’s burnt bit by bit through the twelve days of Christmas, but elsewhere celebrants retain a chunk to light the next Yule log.

Another British Christmas custom recalling the kings’ fight was traditional mummery, in which the brilliantly armored St. George fought and defeated a dark Turkish knight. But, as Valiente notes, the victorious St. George immediately cried out he had killed his brother, showing that "darkness and light, winter and summer, are complementary." A mysterious doctor revived the Turk, and all rejoiced. Too often, as the Farrars write, this understanding of light and dark’s balance turns to a contest of good vs. evil. In Dewsbury, Yorkshire, for nearly seven centuries, church bells knelled "the Old Lad’s Passing" or "the Devil’s Knell" at Christmas Eve’s eleventh hour, warning the Devil that Christ was coming. Other connections link the Holly King and the Devil. The Farrars tie the Devil’s nickname, Old Nick, to Nik, a name for Woden, "very much a Holly King." Santa Claus – St. Nicholas – is likewise a disguised Holly King. Not only do households put up holly garlands in his honor, in early tales he rode a horse, as Woden does, rather than driving reindeer.

More Solstice Tree Traditions

Another Celtic Yuletide custom was wassailing, in which a group of people carried a bowl of wassail (cider) into an orchard. The celebrants chose one tree to represent the whole grove and dipped its branch tips in wassail, stuck bits of wassail-soaked cake among its twigs and sprinkled wassail on its roots, according to Pauline Campanelli in Wheel of the Year. Morris dancers might mime the abundant harvests they hoped the orchard would produce in the following year. Similarly, traditional British believed that Christmas sun shining through fruit trees foretold a big harvest, according to Funk and Wagnall’s. It’s not surprising a culture that named its letters and months for trees had many tree customs. Only one day of the Celtic calendar lacks a ruling tree and ogham letter. The Celts called this day, December 23, the Secret of the Unhewn Stone.

Like apples, evergreens also connect with the solstice, as a symbol of eternal life. Christmas Eve mystery plays of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries combined evergreens and apples, the fruit tied to the trees’ branches. Seasonal celebrants decked interiors with holly, fir, pine, bayberry, rosemary, branches of the evergreen box shrub and also ivy and mistletoe. Ivy is sacred both to Osiris, the Egyptian god of death and rebirth, and to the Greek wine-god Dionysos – both gods traditionally resurrected at this time of year. In the England of previous centuries, Campanelli writes, harvesters bound the last sheaf of grain with ivy and called it the Ivy Girl, a figure considered to combat the Holly Boy. This combat marks an older competition between Goddess and God, from before the Oak King’s entrance on the scene. Such a scenario also appears in the traditional carol The Holly and the Ivy."

Mistletoe, in contrast, connects with the Oak King, found suspended as it is on the Celtic magick oak. The Druids collected mistletoe at the winter solstice, their ritual Alban Arthuan, as well as at the summer solstice; in winter, the mistletoe has white berries, representing the semen of the God and bringing fertility. Traditionally, a girl who stands under mistletoe tacked up indoors may be kissed by any boy who comes up. Traditions of tree trimming and evergreen decoration may have combined to engender the Christmas tree. Campanelli writes that the first Christmas tree was decorated in Riga in Latvia, in 1510, when a local merchants’ guild carried an evergreen festooned with fake flowers to market and burned it there, a sort of combination Christmas tree and Yule log.

The Christmas tree has become popular only in the last 150 years, migrating to the United States from Germany. However, its German name, Tannenbaum, may reflect older roots; Campanelli relates the word to tinne or glastin, the sacred trees of the ancient Celts. More distantly, Funk and Wagnall’s connects the Christmas tree to flower-decorated May trees and May poles. Campanelli draws in the cult of Cybele and Attis, in which ritualists dragged a fir tree into the temple and adorned with it violets, mourning the dead Attis, soon miraculously to rise. A fir cone tips Dionysos’s thrysus, and the pine is sacred to Pan and Sylvanus. Whatever their provenance and meaning, seasonal evergreens shouldn’t hang too long. Funk and Wagnall’s says you must throw them out of doors by Epiphany; Valiente gives you till Candlemas but says if you’ve not done it then, hobgoblins will haunt you.

The Yule’s For You

Given that the Christmas we know comes from the Celtic and Northern Yules and from Saturnalia, using parts of one, several or all of these rites in your rite is only appropriate. Create a Yule of the spirits, or a ritual for garden or personal fertility. Choose a Lord or Lady of Misrule, Holly and Oak Kings or an Ivy Girl and Holly Boy. Or turn to other traditions. Ancient Athenians at the winter solstice held the Lenaea, the Feast of Wild Women. The nine Wild Women of the ritual reenacted the death and rebirth of Dionysos. Once probably a human sacrifice, the god’s representative by classical times had become a goat kid, which the Wild Women killed, then mourned. Then Dionysos was reborn in ritual, and the Wild Women rejoiced. The winter solstice similarly commemorated the rebirth of Egyptian Osiris, who after a mummification beginning November 3 was buried on the solstice. Two days later, his sister and wife Isis gave birth to his son and second self, the sun-god Horus – the return of light to the world. In this hemisphere, the Hopi and Pueblo Indians of the American Southwest hold solstice rituals over several days, including kachina dances, corn and meal rites and war society ceremonies. The Hopi also perform phallic rites and hawk dances. Their neighbors the Zuni relight their sacred fire for the solstice.

You can look for inspiration to non-pagan religions. Though Judaism is a monotheistic tradition, it has roots in an ancient pagan past. Hanukkah, the Feast of Lights, most recently celebrates the dedication of a new altar in the Temple after the old had been destroyed, but the feast falls during a much more ancient Jewish solstice observance. The lighting of the lamps parallels the celebrations worldwide in which a lit fire hails the returning sun. Work with any of these traditions, or find one of your own, perhaps connected with your heritage or travels. The solstice holiday comes woven of many strands; choose one that feels right, learn all you can about it and do what speaks to you, honoring the places and peoples your ritual comes from. Reclaim this Sabbat, and let the reborn sun fill your life with light.

Disclaimer: No one involved in this blog or its contents may be held responsible for any adverse reactions arising from following any of the instructions/recipes on this list. It is the reader’s personal responsibility to exercise all precautions and use his or her own discretion if following any instructions or advice from this blog.

Fair Use Notice: This page may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. This website distributes this material without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. We believe this constitutes a fair use of any such copyrighted material as provided for in 17 U.S.C § 107.

Bonus Post – We Are Not

Written & Originally Posted by Sama
Reposted with permission – thanks Love !!!

we do not say to others
this you must believe
or you will burn.
or, ours is the only truth
you must believe.
for we have found our own way
to the gods
and in the finding
we have found ourselves
our truths, our own beliefs
and not some words forced on us
by another.
we do not kneel in fear
of some avenging deity
who claims to love us
and yet threatens us beside.
we stand before the ones
we worship, now and ever
knowing that they see us
and accept us.
as we are.

Tuesday Try A New Taste – Yule Log Cake

Yule Log Cake
Source Unknown

Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 5 eggs
• 3/4 cup granulated white sugar
• 2 (1 ounce) squares unsweetened chocolate, or 1/4 cup unsweetened
• cocoa powder
• 2 tbsp. water
• 2 tbsp. granulated white sugar
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• confectioners’ sugar for dusting
• solid vegetable shortening (room temp.) like Crisco® for greasing the pan and paper.

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350F (175C). Lightly grease a jellyroll pan (a cookie sheet with higher sides) and line with parchment (or waxed) paper. Lightly grease this also. Sift flour with baking powder and salt into a large bowl and set aside. In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs on high for several minutes until they are very pale and fluffy. Gradually add in the sugar, (and cocoa powder if using it in place of the chocolate pieces, and skip the melted chocolate step.), beating 1 to 2 minutes more or until very thick. Gently, but thoroughly, fold in the flour mixture until well combined. Melt the chocolate in a small saucepan over low heat. In a small bowl, combine the 2 tablespoons of water with the remaining 2 tbsp. sugar and the baking soda, then gradually stir into the melted chocolate until smooth. Quickly, but thoroughly, fold chocolate mixture into batter. Pour a 1/4 inch thick layer of batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top to level it. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of cake comes out slightly sticky. If it is overcooked it will easily crumble and be hard to work with. Lightly sift an even layer of confectioners sugar over a clean smooth dish towel and flip the cake out of the pan onto the prepared towel as soon as it comes from the oven. *Carefully* peel away parchment, or waxed, paper. Trim away any crusty edges and dust the cake with confectioners sugar. Starting with one of the short sides of the cake, immediately roll the cake up in the cloth, jellyroll style, and cool seam side down on a rack.**If you want to get really fancy you can roll the cake from the long side and after adding the filling cut off a 4 inch piece which is then cut in half at a diagonal and placed on the frosted cake as cut branch stubs. Of course, these are frosted too. Toothpicks can be used to hold them in place, just be sure to remove them from the slices before serving.

Filling
Ingredients:

• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup granulated white sugar
• 4 tbsp. cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp. flavored liqueur (such as Grand Marnier), or extract (such as maple, cherry, orange, raspberry, rum etc.)

Directions:

Combine ingredients and beat until very stiff. Set aside in refrigerator until needed.

Frosting
Ingredients:

• 2 cups heavy cream
• 8 ounces (8 squares) semisweet chocolate, melted
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, softened

Directions:

In a small saucepan, bring cream, melted chocolate, and butter to a boil over medium heat, stirring vigorously until blended. Remove from heat. Let stand until set.

Assembly

Unroll the cake and remove the cloth. Spread whipped cream over cake to within 1 inch of edges. Carefully re-roll the cake* and place seam-side down on a serving plate or tray. The plate or tray should be decorated as you want it to be, i.e…foil, paper doily, etc, as once in place the cake will not be movable. Spread with the set frosting, covering the whole cake- ends and all. Make a bark pattern in the frosting with a fork or spatula and a swirl pattern on the ends to look like tree rings. *Don’t roll too tightly and be prepared for a bit of a mess.

Decoration

This is where you can let your imagination and creativity run free. You can make edible decorations like holly leaves out of marzipan (almond paste) dyed with food coloring with cinnamon candies for holly berries. Some of the log can be sprinkled with confectioners’ sugar to resemble snow or green sugar crystals to resemble moss. 2 or 3 vanilla wafers can be pushed into the side for mushrooms, or you can use meringue ones. This site has an excellent recipe for meringue mushrooms. Also, it can be decorated with free-hand designs using colored frostings, or with plastic items that you find in stores like holly, snowmen, anything seasonal. As I mentioned, the limit is your imagination and creativity.

Note: If time or cost is an issue, the cake can be made with 1 box of dark chocolate cake mix, canned frosting, and whipped topping (just mix the flavoring and cocoa in before applying). If using the canned frosting, I recommend mixing 2 tablespoons of softened vegetable shortening to the contents of each can. This will make it creamier tasting and also easier to spread.

Disclaimer: No one involved in this blog or its contents may be held responsible for any adverse reactions arising from following any of the instructions/recipes on this list. It is the reader’s personal responsibility to exercise all precautions and use his or her own discretion if following any instructions or advice from this blog.

Fair Use Notice: This page may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. This website distributes this material without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. We believe this constitutes a fair use of any such copyrighted material as provided for in 17 U.S.C § 107.

Monday Make A – Bottled Snowflakes

Bottled Snowflakes
by Dorothy Morrison; from Yule: A Celebration of Light and Warmth

You will need:

• 1 white pipe cleaner
• length of twine
• scissors
• 1 quart jar with a wide mouth
• 2 cups boiling water
• 6 tablespoons borax
• 1 pencil

Cut a white pipe cleaner into 3 equal lengths, twist them together in the center, then arrange the six legs so that they are equidistant from each other. Tie one end of the twine to a leg, and the other end to the middle of a pencil. (For a more ornate flake, tie the twine around the end of each leg in a continuous motion to make a center wheel). Set aside. Pour boiling water into the jar, then add the borax one tablespoon at a time, stirring to dissolve. (if a little borax settles to the bottom, there’s no need to worry, just go on to the next step.) Submerge the pipe cleaner form in the solution and let the pencil rest on top of the jar. Leave the snowflake in the solution overnight. The next morning, you’ll find it covered with tiny, sparkling crystals. Remove it from the jar, and hang it from the window to catch the sun.

Disclaimer: No one involved in this blog or its contents may be held responsible for any adverse reactions arising from following any of the instructions/recipes on this list. It is the reader’s personal responsibility to exercise all precautions and use his or her own discretion if following any instructions or advice from this blog.

Fair Use Notice: This page may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. This website distributes this material without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. We believe this constitutes a fair use of any such copyrighted material as provided for in 17 U.S.C § 107.

Friday Form A Circle – Catala’s Ritual for Yule

Catala’s Ritual for Yule
by Catala SilverMoon (I had a link, but it’s dead

Supplies:

• Yule log (oak or pine) with white, red and black candles on it,
• chalice of wine
• small piece of paper and pencil for each person
• altar set up (next to the fireplace)
• two lighters or matches
• The altar is adorned with evergreens such as pine, rosemary, bay, juniper and cedar
• the same can be laid to mark the Circle.

Cast the Circle the way you usually do it.
Statement of intent: Priestess says:

"Since the beginning of time, we have gathered in this season to celebrate the rebirth of the Sun. On the Winter Solstice, the darkest of nights, The Goddess becomes the Great Mother and once again gives birth to the Sun and the new yearly cycle, bringing new light and hope to all on Earth. On the longest night of winter, and the dark night of our souls, there springs the new spark of hope, the Sacred Fire, the Light of the World. We gather tonight to await the new light. On this night, the Maiden, who is also Mother and Crone, prepares to welcome the Sun. Let’s now prepare to welcome the new light within."

Invocation to the Goddess and God: Priest lights fire in fireplace and says:

"I light this fire in your honor Mother Goddess. You have created life from death, warmth from cold. The Sun lives once again, the time of light is waxing."

Lights the Goddess candle on the altar and says:

"We invite you, Great Mother, to our circle. Bring us new light, the light of your glorious Son."

Lights the God candle on the altar and says:

"Ancient God of the forest, we welcome you. Return from the shadows, O Lord of Light. The wheel has turned. We call you back to warm us. Great God of the Sun, I welcome your return. May you shine brightly upon the Earth."

Lighting the candles on the Yule Log: Priestess lights the white candle on the Yule log and says:

"I come to you as Maiden. Young and free, fresh as springtime. Yet within me a yearning stirs to create and share and so I become…"

Lights the red candle and says:

"The Mother, I bring forth the fruit of my creativity. Yet an ancient prophet once told me, as I stood with my son, a sword shall pierce through thy own heart also, and I knew that I must become…"

Lights the black candle and says:

"The Crone. The ancient wise one, Lady of Darkness. We three-in-one who brought forth that special child as long ago, also anointed him for burial-A bright light that grew and was sacrificed to be reborn as a new light."

Consecration of the Yule Log: Priestess says:

"Yule is the end of the old solar year and the beginning of the new one. Traditionally, the end of the year is a time to look back and reflect. It is a time to look ahead to the future, to make plans and set goals."

Everyone writes on a piece of paper something he or she hopes to accomplish during the coming year. When finished, the slips of paper are attached to the Yule Log. Priest picks up the chalice and says:

"We toast the new year!"

Then he sprinkles wine on the log and says:

"and in token of its promise, we consecrate this sacred wood as a focus for the energies through which we accomplish our tasks and manifest our desires during the coming cycle."

All drink from the chalice. Priestess says:

"You who have died are now reborn. Lend us your light through the winter months as we await the spring. Let us now light the Yule Log. Once having burned with the Yule fire, these candles will contain the luck of the log throughout the coming year."

Priest and Priestess place the Yule log in the fireplace together. The Yule log burns in the fireplace (remember to save a small piece of the log for next Yule).

Closing: Priestess extinguishes the God candle on the altar and says:

"Thank you Bright Lord for the light you have brought to us this night. May we carry it within us throughout the coming year."

Priest extinguishes the Goddess candle on the altar and says:

"Thank you most gracious Lady for your freshness of spirit, your nurturing care, your infinite wisdom. Live within us throughout the coming year. So mote it be."

Close the circle the way you usually do.

Disclaimer: No one involved in this blog or its contents may be held responsible for any adverse reactions arising from following any of the instructions/recipes on this list. It is the reader’s personal responsibility to exercise all precautions and use his or her own discretion if following any instructions or advice from this blog.

Fair Use Notice: This page may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. This website distributes this material without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. We believe this constitutes a fair use of any such copyrighted material as provided for in 17 U.S.C § 107.

Thursday This Is Your Spell – Russian Divinations for the Solstice

Russian Divinations for the Solstice
from 1001 Christmas Facts and Fancies, by Alfred Carl Hottes

Five piles of grain are placed on the kitchen floor. Each pile is given a name, such as Hope, Ring, Money, Charcoal, and Thread. We girls went to the henhouse and roused a drowsy hen. She is allowed to walk around the kitchen and choose a pile of grain. If she chooses Hope it means a long journey or the fulfillment of a great wish. The Ring, of course, means marriage; Money is wealth; Charcoal portends death in the family; and Thread means a life of toil. How the conversation flows when these divinations are made. Old songs were sung, and the old women and country girls could devise entire stories from the action of the hen.

Sooner or later one of the girls would slip outdoors, and standing just inside the gate, but with her back to it, she would kick her slipper high over her head into the road behind her. Then she would run to see in which direction it pointed, for that is the way from which a lover will come or the way she will go to be married. And, alas, if the slipper points towards the gate she will not be married this year.

Some girls sit in a room alone with the doors closed. Two candles are lighted and two mirrors are used so that one reflects the candlelight into the other. The point is to find the seventh reflection and look until one’s future is seen.

Disclaimer: No one involved in this blog or its contents may be held responsible for any adverse reactions arising from following any of the instructions/recipes on this list. It is the reader’s personal responsibility to exercise all precautions and use his or her own discretion if following any instructions or advice from this blog.

Fair Use Notice: This page may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. This website distributes this material without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. We believe this constitutes a fair use of any such copyrighted material as provided for in 17 U.S.C § 107.

Wednesday Whatever – Repost from 2008 – My Yule Views

Well, here we are. Samhain is past, and Yule is creeping up fast. Time to put up the pumpkins and skeletons and bats and other scary decorations for another year, and break out the Christmas stuff. Woohoo! This is my favorite time of year. Christmas trees, twinkling lights, images of Santa Claus and Father Christmas, ornaments, garland, and beautifully wrapped gifts. People are (usually) kinder this time of year – to everyone. It’s something in the air – the Christmas Spirit! But what is the "Christmas Spirit"? Is it something caused by people just thinking that they need to be kinder during the season of giving? Or is it something more mystical? Is it an actual "spirit" or some sort of coherent "entity" that has the ability to affect the entire planet? Is there a spirit that powerful? I tend to think it just may be. Let’s look at it…

Starting about the time Halloween/Samhain is over, the Christmas (and yes, I say Christmas – it’s been "Christmas" in my world for 41 years, and I’m too old to change, and quite frankly, why should I? What difference does a name make, really? "A rose by any other name…" It’s a holiday that almost everyone on the planet celebrates, that causes normally self-absorbed people to suddenly notice the world around them and feel a need to do something positive. Who cares what you call it – I just want to know how to make it last beyond December 25…) decorations start to appear in the stores. Any more, they’re usually out BEFORE Halloween is done. I went to Wal-mart yesterday, and heard Christmas music for the first time this season! Again, Woohoo!

Once the stuff is in the stores, the "feeling" slowly begins to permeate the air. I think maybe the "Spirit" is in the physical "things." It makes sense… if you were a spirit that wanted to "affect" as many people as possible, what better way..? Everyone goes to the store sooner or later – even my storaphobic (is that even a word..?) Hunny! And the "stuff" isn’t limited to stores, either. It’s everywhere. By Thanksgiving (in the U.S.) you can’t throw a rock and not hit something "Christmassy." Awesome, I say! So now we have a world full of "things" possibly inhabited by the "Christmas Spirit." Affecting everyone they come in contact with. That would explain why normally oblivious people are suddenly aware. Why all of a sudden misers become givers. Why stoics now feel a need to have their home looking Christmassy. And the more "stuff" one is exposed to, the more it affects them…

This theory then begs the question "If it is a Spirit or Entity of such magnitude, why doesn’t it just infect everyone permanently?" Well, think about it. Can you imagine how much energy is required to have such an affect on almost everyone..? Does ANY entity have the ability to maintain something like that? My answer would be no, not indefinitely. That’s why it is only this way once a year, for a month or two. The rest of the year is spent resting, recovering, and recharging, so it can be done again the next year. But it may be getting stronger… The cynics say it starts earlier every year due to greed. But what if it isn’t greed? What if it is the "spirit" gaining strength, and thus the ability to affect us for longer periods? Is it really a bad thing that Christmas decorations come out earlier in the year than they did 30 years ago? Is it bad the people get into the "Holiday Spirit" at the beginning of November instead of the end? That people become more aware, and thus kinder, sooner? I don’t see how that could POSSIBLY be bad…do you..?

I also think some are more easily affected – some like me, who don’t "fight" it. Which in turn gives even more strength to the "Spirit." After all, the people who truly LOVE this time of year tend to be already aware, and therefore the "Spirit" doesn’t have to exert energy on them. I have Christmas "things" in my home – and my workspace – all year round…  Although thinking on that, based on this theory, do you think I am  draining the energy, affecting people year-round..? Upon further thought, I’d have to say no. I’d say rather it’s MY "Christmassy" energy infusing those things, hopefully having a similar effect on those who come in contact with them.

So there you have it – my personal theory about the "Holiday Spirit." From today forward, people will be more & more strongly affected by it. Each time you visit a store, or any location with decorations, pay attention…do you feel a little bit more compassionate? Not on the surface – on the surface you’re liable to feel a bit frustrated and frazzled the closer we get to the Big Day. But inside, in the quiet place, don’t you feel it? Compassion, kindness, empathy, a desire to help someone. Someone who truly needs help – and there are plenty out there. I make a point of doing my "good deeds" in ways many would never consider. I rarely give to any "charitable organization." I give to the young couple from Evansville, caught out of gas in the Camby Wal-mart parking lot at eleven o’clock at night. Trying to ask for assistance (which in itself takes courage) and being looked at by the "good Christian folk" with the "Jesus is my co-pilot" bumper sticker and the In God We Trust license plate like they are some kind of new bug species one wouldn’t want to get too close to. I give to the young kids in the Speedway buying $2.38 worth of gas, with change. I give to the lady in the Wal-mart line trying to pay for her food with change. Granted, there isn’t any tax deduction for these things, but since that’s not what I am looking for, who cares? What there is, is people who will now (hopefully) at some point down the road, when they are able, do something similar for a stranger in need.

And that brings us back to the "Holiday Spirit" because isn’t that what it brings about? A willingness to do something for someone in need, that will never gain one any acknowledgement outside of oneself? And as more people are willing and able to maintain that desire beyond the last two months of the year, the spirit is able to strengthen, and thus affect more people, more strongly, for longer periods of time…maybe one day, the "stuff" will never come down…

Disclaimer: No one involved in this blog or its contents may be held responsible for any adverse reactions arising from following any of the instructions/recipes on this list. It is the reader’s personal responsibility to exercise all precautions and use his or her own discretion if following any instructions or advice from this blog.

Fair Use Notice: This page may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. This website distributes this material without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. We believe this constitutes a fair use of any such copyrighted material as provided for in 17 U.S.C § 107.

Tuesday Try A New Taste – Dawtch’s Yule Feast Rotini

Dawtch’s Yule Feast Rotini
by Me

You will need:

• 2 lbs lean ground beef
• Regular size jar of plain Ragu Spaghetti sauce
• brick of cream cheese
• med sz container or sour cream
• sm (7 oz?) can of tomato paste
• lg container of small curd cottage cheese
• 4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (I prefer the smaller "fancy" shredded)
• box of rotini pasta

Put a large pan of water on to boil for the rotini (follow box directions). Brown the hamburger & drain if needed. You may want to move the hanburger to a large pasta type pan before adding ingredients. Over low heat, add the tomato paste & mix so that it is completely dispersed. Add the Ragu & stir well. When mixed, add the cream cheese, and stir. When cream cheese is completely melted, add the sour cream & mix completely. When completely blended, add the cottage cheese & mix well. You can allow the mixture to simmer over low heat as the pasta cooks.

When the pasta is done, drain. In a large casserole or lasagna type pan, cover the bottom well with the sauce mix. Add pasta to about midpoint of pan. Add several handfuls of the mozzarella cheese and cover with sauce. Mix well so that sauce & cheese is evenly dispersed. Once mixed, add more sauce, pasta and cheese, repeating previous steps, and again mixing all well. When your pan is full, and there is a lot of sauce in the mixture, cover with remaining sauce, then the rest of the mozzarella.

Place in a 350 degree oven & bake for about 25-30 minutes, until bubbly & cheese on top is melted. Remove from oven, and allow to sit for 10-15 minutes while you cook the garlic bread.

This is Yummyyummyyummy!!!!! A Yule Staple at our place!

    

Disclaimer: No one involved in this blog or its contents may be held responsible for any adverse reactions arising from following any of the instructions/recipes on this list. It is the reader’s personal responsibility to exercise all precautions and use his or her own discretion if following any instructions or advice from this blog.

Fair Use Notice: This page may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. This website distributes this material without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. We believe this constitutes a fair use of any such copyrighted material as provided for in 17 U.S.C § 107.

Monday Make A – Cinnamon / Applesauce Ornaments

Cinnamon / Applesauce Ornaments
from Angel

You will need:

• 1 1/2 cups ground cinnamon
• Knife
• 1 cup applesauce
• Straw
• 1/3 cup white school glue
• cooling rack
• rolling pin ribbon
• various cookie cutters
• puffy paints (optional)

In bowl mix together applesauce, cinnamon and white glue. Remove mixture from bowl and knead until it turns into a firm clay. Let sit 30 mins. at room temperature. Flour your hands & rolling paper, or use wax paper as a working surface. With rolling pin, roll out till about 1/8 inch thick. Use cutters to cut out desired shapes. Use the straw to cut a hole out near the top of your shape. Place shapes on a non stick cooling rack to dry, remembering to turn them so they dry evenly and flat. Dry for aprox. 5 days. When dry, tie a ribbon through the hole for hanging. You may now decorate with your paints.

***As always, take advantage of this opportunity to infuse your creations magically! Focus your intent as you mix, cut & decorate your creations. While stirring, chant to yourself

Love, health, happiness, prosperity, harmony, contentment, protection

Picture these qualities becoming part of what you’re making, and as a result, being transferred to the folks who use (or eat, in the case of food) the things you make!

Disclaimer: No one involved in this blog or its contents may be held responsible for any adverse reactions arising from following any of the instructions/recipes on this list. It is the reader’s personal responsibility to exercise all precautions and use his or her own discretion if following any instructions or advice from this blog.

Fair Use Notice: This page may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. This website distributes this material without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. We believe this constitutes a fair use of any such copyrighted material as provided for in 17 U.S.C § 107.

Friday Form A Circle – Julia Phillips’ Yule Ritual

Julia Phillips’ Yule Ritual
by Julia Phillips (Yule 1984)
Found at "The Pagan Library"

Circle is cast and Quarters erected. HPS says:

"We now stand at the turning of the year."

Dark Lord says:

"Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter,
All fades and passes, day to night."

Dark Lord extinguishes candles leaving only altar candles alight. HPS says:

"Let us dance for the long year’s end, for the sun sets quickly in the West, and we begin the long night of hope."

Whole Coven does Wheel or Cord dance widdershins about the cauldron chanting:

"Time and Death, Life and Seasons,
All must pass, All must change."

Star Child now leaves the circle, and stands behind the veil in the North. HPS stands at the cauldron in the center, wearing a black veil. HPS says:

"I am the Hag who engendered you all;
I am the Three and the One who is here;
I am the log that is ripe for burning;
In my end is your hope of beginning."

HPS now lifts the cauldron aloft and presents it to each quarter. She returns to the center, and lights the cauldron candle, from which she lights a quarter candle for each member of the coven. The quarter candles are placed in their respective quarters. Narrator says:

"This is the night of the Solstice; the Mother Night. Now darkness triumphs, and yet gives way and changes to light. Time stops, and all wait while the cauldron of the Dark King is transformed into the infant Light. We watch for the dawn when the Mother again gives birth to the sun, who is the bringer of hope and the promise of summer. Holly gives way to Oak, the Wren to the Robin, Old to New."

Narrator says:

"We stand now in the long night, we pray for the sun’s return. In darkness and shadows the Great Mother groans. The Mother labors to bring forth the sun from her pain. From her cries of labor come forth our cries of welcome; from her toil and anguish our hope is reborn. Let us now call forth the Great Mother, and the Lord of Life, her husband and son."

The Star Child emerges from behind the veil, and lays at the feet of the PS. The HPS points to the Star Child and proclaims:

"Behold the Child! Here lies our king!"

The HPS crowns the Star Child with a crown of mistletoe. She removes her veil and announces:

"I am the Mother who brought forth the child; I am the inspiration, and I am the rebirth."

Narrator says:

"You are the ecstasy of the blessed
You are the light of the sun’s beams
You are the lordly door of welcome
You are the guiding star
Yours is the step of the roe on the hill
Yours is the step of the white-faced mare
Yours is the grace of the swimming swan
You are the jewel in each mystery."

Coven now does Wheel or Cord dance deosil about the cauldron chanting:

"Power of soil and power of air,
Power of fire and power of water,
Power that spins the wheel of birth,
Spins the wheel of joy and mirth,
Spins the wheel of sun and moon,
Push, push, push, Open the gate.
Power of spell and magic free,
Eternal power that binds the sea,
Weaves the web of infinity,
Light of dark and light of day,
Speed the spokes fast on their way,
Push push push – ah ah
Open the gate, So Mote It Be!"

HPS now invokes the Lord of Misrule into the circle. He is challenged upon entry by the Dark Lord, and must explain who he is, and why he is there. The Lord of Misrule is now in charge of the circle, and may behave as he sees fit. At some point, he must take the burdens of the coven for the previous twelve moons and pack them in his bag. Cakes and Wine. The Lord of Misrule must be ritually hunted as a wren to bring about his downfall. The coven mime hunting the wren, while chanting:

"Burn the bush, hunt the wren"

When he is discovered, the coven points their Athames at his neck to symbolize his death.

Close ritual.

Disclaimer: No one involved in this blog or its contents may be held responsible for any adverse reactions arising from following any of the instructions/recipes on this list. It is the reader’s personal responsibility to exercise all precautions and use his or her own discretion if following any instructions or advice from this blog.

Fair Use Notice: This page may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. This website distributes this material without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. We believe this constitutes a fair use of any such copyrighted material as provided for in 17 U.S.C § 107.