Merry Meet...
... and welcome to the Yule issue of Cauldrons and Broomsticks. Things have been very busy since Samhain on the Weavings sites: as of 17 December we now have 890 registered on the discussion forum, we have given the whole site a new common look, seem to have fixed the problems with wiccanmail (shhhhhh!). Why not give our home page a visit and see what you think (www.wyldwytch.com/portal).
As we write this, our thoughts are turning to our Yule celebrations. Whatever you have planned, big, small or somewhere in between, we hope you have fun. Celebrating the turning of the Wheel of the Year is an essential part of Pagan beliefs. But you don't need to hold a full blown ritual, with summoning and invocations (great if you do and I have to say that is my favourite way of celebrating) you can just as easily light a candle and spend a few minutes meditating on the changing seasons.
When you think back to how it must have seemed for our ancestors at this time of the year, you can begin the appreciate the reasons for celebrating. It was a cold hard time of the year when the sun is at its weakest and the hours of daylight are few. The land is cold and barren with life having retreated out of sight. The leaves have all fallen from the trees which now are blown bare before the icy chill of the wind. Only the hardiest of plants are still showing any sign of greenery. Depending on where you lived, you may, by now, have seen a landscape before you covered in snow, making travel on foot even more arduous. The temptation must have been to huddle round the fires telling stories and socialising. But at the back of the mind there must have been a worry thought about whether the winter food stocks would last until the first livestock was born and warmer days came round again.
In this day and age, we know for sure that spring will indeed come around again. But how different it must have been for our ancestors. It is relatively easy to see how they must have slowly come to realise that each day, as the days grew shorter, so the sun rose slightly further in the south. Then, at last it slowly started to rise slightly further towards the east as the days, once again, grew longer and warmth returned to the land. By marking the southern most point of the sun's journey they would know when the darkest of days would be. And so, rituals could be carried out each year to ensure that the sun would begin its return journey and be reborn from the depths of winter. Just a few days after the winter solstice our ancestors would have seen that their rituals were a success as the days started to grow perceptibly longer again. Although this is highly speculative, this was probably the time of great celebration. Well, one thing's for sure, I know I would celebrate if my magick resulted in the rebirth of the sun!
And so, as the Wheel continues to turn, we wish you the very brightest of blessings for your solstice celebrations
Garnet WindDancer and Magi
The picture used in this article is the Holly King, courtesy and copyright of JPC Artworks. An 8" x 10" print can be purchased at http://www.jpc-artworks.com. The figure of the Holly King is a type of Green Man, the British vegetation god. In some mythologies of the changing seasons, the year is divided in half and is ruled alternately by the Holly King and his twin brother the Oak King. Echoes of their battles at midsummer and midwinter are found throughout British folklore, as in the mummer plays of St. George and in the tale of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
by Magi
Yule is usually celebrated on the actual Winter Solstice, which may vary by a few days, though it usually occurs on or around December 21st. It is a Lesser Sabbat in the modern Pagan calendar, one of the four quarter-days of the year, but a very important one. It is deeply rooted in the cycle of the year being the longest night and the shortest day, where the Goddess once again becomes the Great Mother and gives birth to the new Sun King. In a poetic sense it is on this the longest night of the winter, 'the dark night of our souls', that there springs the new spark of hope, the Sacred Fire, the Light of the World, the Coel Coeth. The God's birth is symbolized by the return of the Sun, as from Yule onwards the Sun's power is no longer in decline, but begins to return towards it's height at the Summer Solstice. Symbolically the God grows along with the Sun, growing as the Sun gains in power, staying above the horizon longer and warming the planet more each day.
This time of year is also the Christian Christmas celebrated on the 25th December (yes there is a Pagan relevance to this!). But why the 25th? It is clear that the New Testament does not provide the slightest indication of the date on which Christ was born. Early Christian tradition preserved no knowledge of one, and different writers made different guesses, most preferring dates in the spring. The first absolutely certain record which places it on 25th December is the calendar of Philocalus, produced in 354CE. The reason for the choice of this date was stated by a Christian writer, the Scriptor Syrus, in the late fourth century CE:
It was a custom of the Pagans to celebrate on the same 25 December the birthday of the Sun, at which they kindled lights in token of festivity. In these solemnities and revelries the Christians also took pat. Accordingly when the doctors of the Church perceived that the Christians had a leaning to this festival, they took counsel and resolved that the true Nativity should b solemnised on that day.
The pagan feast which Christians replaced was not, however, itself much older. It had apparently been decreed only in 274CE, by the emperor Aurelian as major holy day of a new syncretic state cult with the sun as its official chief deity. The imperial reform built on a much older Syrian cult of the Unconquered Sun which had spread across the western Roman empire in the second and third centuries CE.
So what about the word Yule? In the eleventh century Danish rule over England resulted in the introduction of the colloquial Scandinavian term for Christmas, 'Yule', which provided an alternative name for it among the English. It became popular with them in the next century, and in the thirteenth is first recorded in Scotland, where it had become standard in vernacular speech by the end of the Middle Ages. In Old Norse it is jol, in Swedish jul and in Danish jull. The derivation of the name has baffled linguists; it is possibly related to the Gothic heul or Anglo-Saxon hweal, signifying a wheel, or to the root-word which yielded the English expression 'jolly'. Nothing certain is known and there is equal doubt over whether it was originally attached to a midwinter festival which preceded the Christian one.
One tradition that originated in the UK, (though later spread across Europe) and was practiced in Ancient times was that of the Yule Log, a branch of Ash or Oak that was cut, decorated with evergreens and pine cones, and then burnt in the hearth to symbolize the returning Sun.
The Yule log is lit on Christmas Eve and kept burning through the 12 nights of Christmas until Twelfth Night. A portion of the Log is then to ne kept to light the following years Yule Log, allowing for warmth to stay for the whole year within the household. Some say that the Yule Log had to light at the first attempt, otherwise ill luck would haunt the home for that year! The twelve nights are symbolic of the Celt's belief that, for twelve days at the end of December, the sun stood still (which is why the days grew shorter and shorter). If they could keep Yule logs burning bright for those twelve days, then the sun would be persuaded to move again, and make the days grow longer. If a Yule log went out, then there would be terrible luck.
In England, it was considered unlucky for the Yule log to be bought, and had to be acquired using other means, as long as no money changed hands. Often it was given as a gift by landowners, and sometimes decorated with evergreens. In Cornwall a figure of a man was sometimes chalked on the surface of the log, mock or block. In Provence, where it was called the tréfoire, carols were sung invoking blessings upon the women that they might bear children and upon the crops, herds and flocks that they might also increase.
In some parts of the Scottish Highlands, a variation of the Yule log was observed, here a figure of and old woman, the Cailleach Nollaich, was carved from a withered tree stump. At dusk, the figure was brought into the house and laid upon the burning peat of the house fire. The family would gather round the hearth and watch the figure consumed into ashes, the rest of the evening was spent in games and merriment. The figure, represented, not fertility and life but of the evils of winter and death, the figure had to be totally consumed if misfortune and death were to be averted in the coming year.
Another tradition still used today is that of the Christmas tree, originating in Germany and Scandinavia. Pagans have always decorated with whatever greenery they could find growing at this time of the year. The German Martin Luther is credited with being the first person to decorate his tree with candles, after seeing how beautiful the stars were one night, and wanting to show his children, though nowadays much safer Fairy Lights are often used.
Fire festivals, celebrating the rebirth of the Sun, held on the winter's Solstice can be found throughout the ancient world. The Roman festival of Saturnalia was held on the winter solstice, boughs of evergreen trees and bushes would decorate the house, gifts where exchanged and normal business was suspended. The Persian Mithraists held December 25th as sacred to the birth of their Sun God, Mithras, and celebrated it as a victory of light over darkness. In Sweden, December 13th was sacred to the Goddess Lucina, Shining One, and was a celebration of the return of the light. On Yule itself, around the 21st, bonfires were lit to honour Odin and Thor.
There are many plants connected, in Pagan Lore, with this time of year, the most obvious being holly and ivy. Birch is another tree sometimes associated with Yule, or the Winter Solstice, the time when the year's wheel of the seasons turns. It is the traditional wood for the twiggy part of the witch's broom as well. In magical lore the wood is said to bring about purification and to be able to drive out demons.
Along with the evergreen, the holly and the ivy and the mistletoe were important plants of the season, all symbolizing fertility and everlasting life. Mistletoe was especially venerated by the Celtic Druids, who cut it with a golden sickle on the sixth night of the moon, and believed it to be an aphrodisiac.
Mistletoe, from the Old English misteltãn, is a parasitic plant that grows on various trees, particularly the apple tree, it is held in great veneration when found on Oak trees. The winter solstice, called 'Alban Arthan' by the Druids, was according to Bardic Tradition, the time when the Chief Druid would cut the sacred mistletoe from the Oak. The mistletoe is cut using a golden sickle on the sixth day of the moon. It is often associated with thunder, and regarded as a protection against fire and lighting. In Scandinavian mythology, Balder the Beautiful was killed from an arrow made of mistletoe and wielded by the blind god Hoder. Shakespeare, in Titus Andronicus II calls it 'the baleful mistletoe'.
It is interesting to note that mistletoe was excluded from church decorations, probably due to its connection with the Druids and pagan and magickal associations. This ancient ban on mistletoe is still widely observed.
by Garnet WindDancer
When I was a kid, winter seemed interminable to me. I was never much of a snow-bunny and would pine for a return of warmth and light. Now, as most children, I did love Christmas and the ensuing hubbub but other than that and my birthday at the end of January, I couldn't wait for winter be over. Yule is the celebration of the Winter Solstice, or the longest night of the year. The very next day, light begins to grow again as the days begin to lengthen! It's the return of the Sun! It made winter much more bearable for me.
Now, my kids are much more comfortable in the snow than I was or am and they seem to love this time of year. One of our favourite activities for this time of year is feeding the wildlife. We decorate our indoor Yule tree so why not decorate the trees outside as well? Use whole apples and cover them in peanut butter and then roll them in birdseed. Hang them from the tree branches and watch the birds and squirrels feast! We also make popcorn and cranberry strands. These take time and patience and good quality popcorn! Depending upon the age of the child, use a short length of thread. It takes longer than expected to finish a strand and kids can get bored when they don't seem to be making visible progress. We make some for indoors and some for outdoors but we always transfer the ones we use inside after the holidays are over.
On the evening of Yule, we generally have a nice meal and then we bake cookies and have cocoa. It is a very simple, very heart-felt family time. We also exchange gifts on this night. The rest of the season is so fraught with activity that it's nice to just relax with the family. Sometimes we get so caught up in the rat race and what I call "mandatory fun time" that we forget the joys of just talking. Everyone has a turn to express their opinions and ideas, or to tell a story or joke. Generally, we end up recalling funny memories about when the kids were little or certain things they have done in the past year.
I love to tell the story of the Sun's rebirth, too. You can ask your child what the Sun does; why is it so important to us; why do we need the warmth and light. Believe me, throughout the years, we have gotten some hilarious, as well as thoughtful, responses! One year, Spike told us that the Sun was important because "Mama had to tan her boobies." And Scout, in her usual perceptive way told us once that the Sun caused the Earth to "have babies". Explain that Solstice is the longest night of the year but tomorrow, the days will start growing again!
We still celebrate Christmas with our Christian families and we struggled long and hard to find a way to reconcile this with our beliefs. Granted, much of the symbolism is overtly Pagan and this has made it easier. We have begun to celebrate the Yule Season, kicking off with Solstice. Scout's birthday is December 23rd, and then we spend Christmas Eve with my family. New Years Day is the culmination of our festivities. This way, Yule is the official night of celebration and all the other celebrations are merely extensions of our Solstice night.
Yule recipes from Garnet WindDancer
Garnet's Favourite Hot Chocolate
Solstice Night is much too important to celebrate with hot chocolate from a packet! This recipe is definitely worth the time. Try it and see!
Preheat oven to 375. Wash and slice potatoes into circles. Layer potatoes, sprinkle with S&P, add a few cloves of minced garlic, some onion, some bacon and some cheese. Continue to layer, topping with the cheese. I usually have two layers. Note of caution, if you are expecting guests, use a bigger baking dish and double the above recipe. Trust me! Cover loosely with aluminium foil so the top layer of cheese doesn't burn and place in oven for about 45 minutes. During the last 10 minutes of cooking, remove foil so the cheese can brown. Serve with sour cream. This is a great side dish with anything but is perfect for holiday ham. Adding chopped spinach to the layers is also very tasty.
by Thunder Oak
Many people like to make New Year's resolutions, so here is a chant for discipline -- short and sweet --that might help you to not break it before noon on 1st January!
Light your candle of choice and chant while it burns.
chant: Banish bad habits, Energies raise, keep me disciplined in my ways.
It's best to use for starting a diet, quitting smoking, etc. in waning moon signs, esp. Virgo, since that is an earth sign which has high levels of discipline. If that isn't possible, anytime during waning moon will do. I do this chant before exercising too.
(and the Moon will be waning on New Year's eve, Ed)
by Garnet WindDancer
In a reality where chaos, war and folly is the leading news, where pictures of fly-ridden children are starving before our very eyes and virulent communicable diseases claim more and more lives, it can be hard to appreciate the gentle beauty of the world around us. People, as a whole, have become hardened to suffering and desensitized to the plight of those around us. Especially at this time of year, we become so wrapped up in the pursuit of festivity and commercialism that we ignore the spiritual connotations of daily living. We feel satisfied if we can plan an elaborate Yule ritual and squeeze it in between the office holiday party and preparing that batch of rum balls for Christmas Eve.
Guess what? Spirituality is no more about Sabbat rituals than Christianity is about displaying your new Easter finery on the one day of year you attend church. Most people desire a more fulfilling spiritual journey but few are prepared to walk the extra mile it takes to achieve such balance within our lives. We make it hard for ourselves by planning sunrise meditations, smudging the house every time someone makes a negative remark, and either zealously guarding our beliefs from prying eyes or wholeheartedly launching into the "I'm a Pagan so don't oppress me" speech. I'm just as guilty as the next person when it comes to making big plans and not always following through. So let's just stop. Stop making big plans because when we don't live up to our grandiose ideas of religious expression, we feel like failures.
Besides, spirituality is not a goal that can be achieved. I think the word -spirituality- is wrongly used as a noun when it really should be a verb. We all remember "action words" from grammar school. Spirituality is not something you have, it's something you do. It is a process, a journey and one that we all have, wrongly, elevated from daily living and placed squarely in the higher realms. Sure meditation and ritual and divination all have their place and are a part of it but the act of living itself, carrying on day to day and finding ways to incorporate the Goddess into your life, is a much more potent way to live a magical life.
So what, on a daily basis, can we do? That depends solely upon the practitioner but I believe there are common elements that we can all embrace.
1. Create an altar - Whether it be ostentatiously designed with athame, cauldron and Book of Shadows or a simple collection of candles and shells, you need the unifying force of an altar to act as your starting point. There are many books and online articles that describe the "correct" way to set an altar up but the most important thing to remember is that it should engender in you feelings of peace and tranquillity.
2. A morning/evening ritual - This can be as simple as lighting a candle and some incense at your altar each morning, pausing to pay tribute to the Goddess and to the glory of the coming day. If you have a difficult task ahead of you, ask for guidance and strength. If you have a job interview, ask for luck. Before bedtime, reflect upon the day and the choices you have made.
3. Meditation - It is no secret that meditating for at least 20 minutes a day is beneficial physically and mentally. If you have the time to work this into your morning ritual, then even better! However, most people don't realize that chanting is another form of meditation in that it quiets our conscience mind and allows us to enter a state of heightened perception. Several good chants for morning and evening might be:
Hail to thee Oh Goddess fair
Present in Water Earth Fire and Air
Hail to thee oh God so bright
With me through both day and night.
Evening breeze, spirit song
Come to me when day is done
Mother Earth awakens me
With the heartbeat of the sea
4. Giving Thanks - The majority of us have nothing to do with the raising and growing of our food and so we become detached from the natural process. Taking a moment to give thanks, either to the God and Goddess or the spirit of the plant or animal is a way of reminding ourselves that we are all a part of the circle of life.
5. Ritual bathing - Whether we take a quick shower in the mornings or a long, relaxing soak, the act of physically cleansing ourselves is the perfect time for clearing out a little psychic gunk, as well. Imagine the negativity flowing out of you and washing down the drain. Emerge from the water refreshed and renewed.
This seemed rather apt for this time of the year
Posted by Mouch
.. just wondering what everyone all thinks of this, I tried it out today and it's awesomely great. On a perfect winter day, when the sun is shining and it's snowed a lot, find a perfect drift, still pristine, good and deep. Be sure to bundle yourself up well: long johns (hence the name, you don't want to freeze your bum!), wooly socks, a toque, a hoodie or scarf to keep your neck warm. When you find your perfect drift, stand with your back to it and stretch, then take the goddess position and jump backwards into the drift! You will feel the snow, Water which was frozen by the Air, coming to rest and cradle you on the Earth, and the Fire from the sun is shining into your eyes as the snow melts and freezes around you, forming to your body. Think about your day, about how the snow looked while it was falling, and give thanks to your Mother for this wonderful day and a chance to see everything. When you're good and frozen, content, and refreshed get up and take a look at the imprint your body made in the snow, and how you've left your little mark on the Earth and the Universe, as long as so many people.
Starhawk
The Weavings forum has a Pagan News and Community thread. One of the articles posted took an in-depth look at and included an interview with Starhawk
Read more...
And just so that we know that ignorance and prejudice is alive and kicking:
Mystery of erotic symbol smashed in church by Barbara Davidson
The provocative sexuality of an ancient pagan symbol finally proved too much for one disgruntled visitor to a small church in rural Sussex.
1,000 years of history were destroyed when someone took a hammer to the lewd pagan carving in Buncton Church near Wiston, smashing it to smithereens.
The vandal's actions have horrified archaeologists who say it was the only example of a rare sheela-na-gig carving in Sussex. The overtly erotic pagan symbols have been described as medieval morality figures and are believed to have once served as warnings against lust. Yet parishioners in the small rural hamlet are divided over the fate of the controversial figure, which was carved into an archway high on a wall close to the altar. While some mourn the loss of a part of their history, others are shedding few tears at the disappearance of the etching.
One of the chapel's churchwardens said: "He has been there for 800 years and possibly as long as 1,100 and there's only about 30 in the whole country. We called it a "he", even though it's a "she". Everyone is very upset - it's part of our heritage.
"Someone has very carefully hacked it to pieces with a hammer and chisel. We discovered the bits all over the floor. Absolutely nothing else in the church had been touched. I really don't know why someone would do this. We reckon it's a crank, certainly it's someone mindless. Of course it is a pagan symbol and it could have offended many people but this wilful destruction is a very wicked thing to do."
Another parishioner said the vandalism was the subject of much comment in the village, adding: "People here are quite upset. It's history, isn't it."
But not everyone will miss the carving.
Parishioner William Trelick said: "It's not to condone this person's actions because whoever has done it has done something that is wrong. However it is not something I'll miss because, after all, it's a pagan symbol in what is a Christian building. It's a sensitive thing but I think a lot of people simply see it as a historical thing that has now disappeared."
The vandalism has been reported to the police who are treating it as criminal damage. Experts may be called in to see if anything can be done to restore the carving, although it appears beyond repair.
The meaning of the carving has long been a subject for debate but it is most commonly suggested to have been a phallic or fertility symbol. Expert Dr Matthew Pope, of the Institute of Archaeology UCL, said although not uncommon in Ireland, Wales and Western England, Sheelas were rare in the South East. The example in Buncton had been the only one in Sussex.
Dr Pope said: "A sheela-na-gig is a pagan symbol, pre-dating Christianity, which traditionally depicts old women grinning and exposing their genitalia. They are often quite grotesque carvings, although this one in Buncton was not an extreme example."
Experts who previously studied the carving noticed scratches around the genital area, indicating it may have been "carefully defaced" in the past as opposed to having been rubbed for good luck or fertility. They say it may well have been more exhibitionist before falling victim to some kind of "puritanical enhancement".
The isolated Norman church, which dates back to between 1150 and 1180AD, is shielded from the road by trees. Said to have been built by monks from nearby Beeding, possibly as a preaching station, by the 19th Century it was used just six times a year, with an average congregation of about 100. In 1906 it was restored by a local builder and services are now held in the old stone building once a month.
The sheela was situated under a ledge on the left side of the chancel arch and, unusually it lay on its side.
source: http://www.theargus.co.uk/the_argus/archive/2004/11/30/NEWS20ZM.html
From the archives - Long John Meditation