The 10th Day of Yuletide
The Valkyries
The Star
Greens for Good Luck Recipe
The Valkyrie
The Valkyrie are named in many of the Norse tomes, poems, and myths. There are many names, both in lists and singly throughout the record.
The Valkyrie have two main jobs: the first and most widely recognized is to ride down from Valhalla, Odin’s mead hall where only the bravest warriors are welcomed, and to choose from among the battle-slain those warriors for Valhalla; the second is to serve mead to the warriors every evening when they return from their daily battles ‘einherjar’ (single combat) in preparation for Ragnarok (the end of the Norse world).
The Valkyrie also sometimes came down for their own purposes, or those of the gods, and sometimes they became the lovers of brave warriors here in Midgard.
There is so much text about them that I’ve had to be very picky what I read which comes down to the Voluspa; The Children of Odin by Padraic Colum; and Wikipedia. At Wiki I found that in old England, honey bees were often compared to the Valkyrie and there were charms to be said to protect oneself from stings.
If you know me, any possibly you do not, I am a beekeeper and also study European bee shamanism, so these bee charms comparing the honey bee to the Valkyrie absolutely charmed me as much as they would any honey bee!
From Wikipedia:
“They were loud, yes, loud,
when they rode over the (burial) mound;
they were fierce when they rode across the land.
Shield yourself now, you can survive this strife.
Out, little spear, if there is one here within.
It stood under/behind lime-wood (i.e. a shield), under a light-coloured/light-weight shield,
where those mighty women marshaled their powers, and they send shrieking spears.[64]”
The Star
There are many myths, articles, and scientific studies on the Star of Bethlehem and while this is specifically something symbolic of the Christian Nativity, culturally The Star is something that has come to symbolize the magic of the winter holidays and solstice season.
There is science to show that there were some major planetary conjunctions around the time of the Nativity and that these would have shown up as brighter than normal stars in the sky.
What I want to focus on though is the symbolism of The Star and for that I’m going to the tarot.
The Star in tarot is all about hope, faith, and inspiration, these things that we also hold to our hearts during the solstice season.
The Star follows The Tower in a traditional tarot deck, and as such it is also the hope that keeps us going after trauma. The Star is about reconnecting our souls to the Divine, how’s that for a symbol for this season where we are focused on the rebirth of the Sun/Son/Light? As bearers of this light within our human bodies, as those connected to the Divine, The Star leads us home.
Isn’t that beautiful?
Greens for Abundance
In the South, maybe all over, folks eat greens on New Year’s Day. There are a lot of back stories around this but the basic idea is this: we have a lot of greens this time of year, they are abundant! And greens are…green, like money, which we want to be abundant.
You know eating your greens is a good thing anyway, so maybe add an abundance of health and what’s not to love?
I can’t even imagine explaining how to cook greens. I just do it, no recipe required, so I’m sharing someone else’s, which will be linked below.
Cook them today or tomorrow and refrigerate them overnight for the best flavor on New Year’s Day. All you need to do is reheat them and serve.
Ingredients
Ingredient Checklist
12 hickory-smoked bacon slices, finely chopped
2 medium-size sweet onions, finely chopped
¾ pound smoked ham, chopped
6 garlic cloves, finely chopped
3 (32-oz.) containers chicken broth
3 (1-lb.) packages fresh collard greens, washed and trimmed
⅓ cup apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon table salt
¾ teaspoon pepper
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Directions
Instructions Checklist
Step 1
Cook bacon over medium heat in a 10-qt. stockpot for 10 to 12 minutes or until almost crisp.
Step 2
Add onion to stockpot, and sauté 8 minutes. Add garlic and ham, and sauté 1 minute. Stir in broth, collard greens, apple cider vinegar, sugar, salt, and pepper. Cook 2 hours or until desired degree of tenderness.
You can find the recipe on Southern Living’s website by clicking here.
