Imbolc means “in the belly”. This refers to the pregnant ewes who are about to birth their lambs, but can also refer to the Goddess, as in “in the belly of the Mother”, for this is a time when the seeds are just beneath the surface, ready to sprout; this is a time of quickening and new growth.
#Imbolc #GreatHarvestFestival
The Wheel has turned in the Gregorian Calendar and we are at another new beginning. A fresh start -we love that!
Today we closed the gift receiving of last year by completing the shuffle of the new refrigerator into the old spot in the kitchen and the old refrigerator into a new spot in the mud room. Hooray!
I was reminiscing today about Winter Solstice, Christmas, New Year’s Eve – those markers in our life which signal a confluence of energies and realizations that help to make us who we are and impact how we move through life.
Our Winter Solsitce this year was full! Very full :-)
Wonder filled in its fullness – and also chaotically filled with last minute surprises.
Everyone in […]
“We spend January 1st walking through our lives, room by room, drawing up a list of work to be done, cracks to be patched. Maybe this year, to balance the list, we ought to walk through the rooms of our lives…not looking for flaws, but for potential.” – Ellen Goodman
#NewLife #NewYear #Beginnings
“I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes.
Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You’re doing things you’ve never done before, and more importantly, you’re Doing Something.
Whatever it is you’re scared of doing, Do it.
Make your mistakes, next year and forever.”
– Neil Gaiman
#NewLife #NewYear
“It is never too late for a new beginning in your life” – Joyce Meyers
“It came without ribbons! It came without tags! It came without packages, boxes or bags!”… Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before! “Maybe Christmas,” he thought, “doesn’t come from a store. Maybe Christmas… perhaps… means a little bit more!” ~Dr. Seuss, How the Grinch Stole Christmas!
#Christmas #Ritual #Celebrations
The Shortest Day:
“So the shortest day came, and the year died,
And everywhere down the centuries of the snow-white world
Came people singing, dancing,
To drive the dark away.
They lighted candles in the winter trees;
They hung their homes with evergreen;
They burned beseeching fires all night long
To keep the year alive,
And when the new year’s sunshine blazed awake
They shouted, revealing.
Through all the frosty ages you can hear them
Echoing behind us – Listen!!
All the long echoes sing the same delight,
This shortest day,
As promise wakens in the sleeping land:
They carol, feast, give thanks,
And dearly love their friends,
And hope for peace.
And so do we, here, now,
This year and every year.
Welcome Yule!!”
Susan Cooper
#WinterSolstice #Celebration #Ritual
The Yule log is a remnant of the bonfires that the European pagans would set ablaze at the time of winter solstice. These bonfires symbolized the return of the Sun.
The Yule log can be made of many types of wood. Each releases its own kind of magic and felt sense from the Trees:
On Winter Solstice you can build a bonfire and sing songs with a mug of Solstice Wassail – recipe below:
Its long steeping time envelops your home in the cozy scent of cinnamon and cloves. Adding a liquor like brandy, to taste, will put some spirits in your holiday spirit. Serves 6–8.
2 pints and 1/4 cup brown ale or winter ale
3 or 4 cinnamon sticks
4 cloves
zest from half a lemon
4 apples
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 cup port
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground all spice
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
Preheat oven to 350° F.
In a large saucepan, pour in two pints of ale. Add the cinnamon sticks, lemon zest and cloves and bring to a simmer over low heat.
Score apples around their circumferences with a knife. […]
During Winter Solstice consider not using any artificial light for the entire day. Enjoy the darkness and celebrate it by lighting candles or your Solstice Lanterns!
In order to make them get a jar and decorate by gluing on bits of dry leaves and other materials gathered in nature, then use some wire to make a handle. Make many of these and put them all around your house.
#WinterSolstice #Celebration #Ritual