Chasing Trolls

Yule is also a good time to chase out ill-meaning wights like mischievous elves, dwarves, and trolls. Though it’s said that wights are who they are, and some serve a purpose, some are just trolls – ugly dwarves or fiends – and unpredictable… and sending them back to where they came from is good for both them and us....

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Boughs of Holly

Oak and holly play an important role in many of our holiday celebrations surrounding the winter solstice. In ancient cultures the holly tree symbolized the waning sun commencing with the summer solstice and the oak tree symbolized the waxing sun commencing with the winter solstice.

The Druids believed holly’s evergreen nature made it sacred and that it remained green throughout winter to keep the earth beautiful at a time when deciduous trees shed their leaves....

...... I am so sorry, but this post has been combined with another and moved to my new website, Magickal Ingredients. It can be found here: Holly Magick and Lore

Holly Tree Lore

It is during June that the light of the sun reaches its culmination, and then begins its descent into earth. The Holly speaks to the fierce capacity of the human soul to take the descent into the underworld, bringing inner light into darkness. Thus we can understand the signature of the tree, with its ability to germinate without sunlight, favoring dark, moist conditions that are more strongly related to the downward earth pole. Its stiff, pointed leaves are not unlike thorns or "spears." The Holly yields a hard, white close-grained wood that imparts a quality of solidity and impermeability, as it stands in the depths of winter, impervious to cold and darkness with its somber evergreen color.

The Druid initiates developed a sacred alphabet, called the Ogham, based upon the archetypal qualities of trees. The Holly, known in Gaelic as Tinne ruled the eighth moon of the year, or the month of June. The glyph for Holly is that of a spear, meaning literally, "I am a battle-waging spear."

... I am so sorry, but this post has been combined with another and moved to my new website, Magickal Ingredients. It can be found here: Holly Magick and Lore

Ritual for Yule

Take a warm bath with cinnamon, mint and rose petals to improve psychic awareness. Relax... let the warm sooth you, and consume you.

Decorate the sacred space with gold and silver spheres to represent the returning sun, and wreaths to symbolize the turning Wheel.

Have oak shavings ready as a base for your incense. Add any other personally meaningful herbs to this mixture and start burning it before the invocation to help prepare the sacred space....

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Solstice Story

There was the snow, and the snow fell from the heavens, slowly, thoughtful and deliberate, silent contemplation of a million spirits, crystalline and filled with logic, diversity infinite, and yet, each one did come to bless the child.

There was the night, and she was quiet, she was holy, as all nights are, and even when the nights were dancing, loud and full of whirling stars...

I am so sorry to do this to you, but this post has been moved to my new website, Widdershins (hosted at shirleytwofeathers.com) and can be found in its entirety here: Solstice Story

Winter Solstice Song for Yule

 LYRICS:

On the longest night we search for the light,
And we find it deep within.

I'm so sorry, but this post has been moved to my new website, Widdershins, (hosted at shirleytwofeathers.com), the lyrics can be found here: Winter Solstice Song for Yule -  the video is still here. Enjoy!

The Song of the Holly Fairy

O, I am green in Winter~time,
When other trees are brown;
Of all the trees (So saith the rhyme)....

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The Death of Tammuz

The Death of Tammuz also known as Noosardel (sprinkling water on the path of God) was another Yultide holiday celebrated with an early morning worship service, a tree, and a burning log.

 “Then he brought me to the door of the gate of the Lord's house 

which was toward the north; and, behold, 

there sat women weeping for Tammuz.” 

~Ezekial 8:14

In the legend, Tammuz dies young and his birth is honored on his birthday which coincided with the Winter Solstice. ...

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To Dismiss Winter Greens

All trees or boughs

That have been cut

And kept for luck

Within the house...

I am so sorry to do this to you, but this post has been moved to my new website, The Book of Shadows, hosted at shirleytwofeathers.com, and can be found in its entirety here: A Spell to Dismiss Winter Greens

The Twelve Days of Yule

The following is a variation on the famous song about the twelve Days of Christmas from Scotland.

Gather a few friends around the fire. Have one of them say or sing the first verse aloud. Then have everyone repeat it, the same with the next verse and so on. As the verses get longer, whoever makes a slip in repeating the lines pays a forfeit - any small object they may possess such as a candy or a nut.

(Note also the 13th day of Yule - a sure sign of an ancient origin.)

The Days of Yule

The King sent his lady on the first Yule day

A papingo-aye (exotic parrot).

Who learns my carol and carries it away?

...

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The Twelve Days of Christmas

From the earliest times the twelve days have been regarded as a time when supernatural events can easily happen, when the dead are close at hand and might often be seen.

One reads of the Wild Hunt, or the Fairy Host riding across the lands of Britain and Germany in particular, led by characters such as King Arthur, Woden, and Arawn, the Celtic god of the Underworld. In Ireland these supernatural hunters are known as the Yule Host, and in common with all these bands they are believed to gather up wandering souls and carry them away to the Otherworld.

The Twelve Days of Christmas stand outside of "ordinary time," and celebrations focus on the return of the sun and a continuation of the eternal cycle of life....

I am so sorry to do this to you, but this post has been expanded and moved to The Pagan Calendar (hosted at shirleytwofeathers.com) and can be viewed in its entirety here: The Twelve Days of Christmas

Mistletoe Lore

According to the Celtic mythology of trees, Mistletoe is the tree of the day after the Winter Solstice (Aprox. December 23).

• Latin name: Viscum Album
• Celtic name: It is said that Mistletoe is too sacred to have a written word.
• Latin name :Loranthaceae Phoradendron flavescens
• Folk or Common names: Mistletoe, Birdlime, All Heal, Golden Bough, 
• Parts Used: leaves, berries, twigs

Magical History and Associations: Mistletoe is one of the Druid's most sacred trees - as Ovid said, "Ad viscum Druidae cantare solebant. (The Druids are wont to sing to the Mistletoe.)." In Druidic lore Mistletoe is an herb of the Winter Solstice and is the special plant for the day after Yule. The Druids gathered their Mistletoe at Midsummer or at the 6th day of the moon....

... I am so sorry, but this post has been moved to my new website, Magickal Ingredients, and can be found in its entirety here: More Mistletoe Magick and Lore

Silver Fir Lore

According to Celtic tree mythology, the Silver Fir is the tree of the day of the Winter Solstice. The Winter Solstice. This usually takes place on December 20th or 21st, although it does sometimes occur on the 22nd or 23rd (check your calendar as it changes from year to year).

• Latin name: Abies alba.
• Celtic name: Ailim (pronounced: Ahl' em).
• Folk or Common names: Common Silver Fir, Balm of Gilead Fir, Balsam Fir, American Silver Fir.
• Parts Used: Needles, wood, sap.

Magical History and Associations: The Silver Fir is associated with the moon and with the planet of Jupiter. Its colors are piebald and light or pale blue....

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Mistletoe Magick

Ruler: Apollo, Druids, Venus
Type: Herb
Magickal Form: Berries, Leaves, Wood
Use for: Fertility, protection, love, healing, luck, and invisibility

Mistletoe is another important plant that is used in many holiday traditions surrounding the winter solstice. Druids believed that anything found growing on an oak tree had been sent from heaven and mistletoe found on oaks was especially sacred.

Said to lose its power once it touches the ground, mistletoe is a holy herb and sacred to many deities. Mistletoe was perceived as being in a category all its own....

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Yule Fire and Ice Reflection Ritual

Here is a fun way to gather the family in a simply beautiful Yule project and ritual. With supervision, most children can easily make this themselves; it makes a fun family project.

1. Gather your favorite evergreens. Choose a few cuttings each from such winter favorites as holly with berries, juniper with berries, cedar, spruce, or pine needles. If available, add a few tiny birch pinecones as well (these are one inch or less)....

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Spell to Speed Up Time

[Editor's Note: If you are having trouble finding the patience for Yule to come around, try the following spell designed to speed up your experience of time so that it goes faster for you.]

There are many spells to accelerate time for the caster. This spell is designed to make time fly, or at least feel like it is. Begin by outlining your altar with roses to form a circle. Next, light three candles and place them upon your alter....

I am so sorry to do this to you, but this post has been moved to my new website, The Book of Shadows (hosted at shirleytwofeathers.com) and can be found in its entirety here: Spell to Speed Up Time

Lighting The Yule Log

Here are two different ways to celebrate with a Yule Log.

One practice consists of lighting and burning a Yule Log. If you choose to burn one, select a proper log of oak or pine. Carve (with your Bolline) or chalk upon it a figure of the Sun (a rayed disc) or the Horned God (a horned circle). Set it alight in the fireplace at dusk, on Yule....

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About The Winter Solstice

The Winter Solstice or Yule is one of the Lesser Wiccan Sabbats, and it is also the shortest day of the year, and hence - the longest night. This usually takes place on December 20th or 21st, although it does sometimes occur on the 22nd or 23rd (check your calendar as it changes from year to year).

Other than the most common name of Yule, various other names for the Winter Solstice include Midwinter, Yuletide (the Teutonic version), Alban Arthan (Caledonii Tradition, or the Druids), Feill Fionnain (Pecti-Wita Tradition, which falls on December 22nd)...

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Decorating for Christmas

Yes you can have a family Yule celebration and still have a holiday tree, and hang stockings with care by the fire.

During the Roman festival of Saturnalia, celebrants often decorated their homes with clippings of shrubs, and hung metal ornaments outside on trees....

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Yule Eggnog Bread

4 cups all-purpose, unbleached flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. salt
3 tbs. butter
1 6 oz. packet Sun Maid Sun Ripened Dried Fruit Bits...

I am so sorry to do this to you, but this post has been moved to my new website, The Pagan Calendar (hosted at shirleytwofeathers.com) and can be found in its entirety here: Yule Eggnog Bread