The 2nd Day of Yuletide 2021
Blessed Yule!
Yule/Midwinter/the Winter Solstice
Norse Goddess: Sol/Sunna, the Norse goddess of the Sun.
Trew: Steadfastness
Winter Solstice
The Sun is at 0 degrees Capricorn.
The Sun is at Galactic Center.
We have honored our Ancestral Mothers on Mother’s Night,
now, we call out to the Light.
At the Winter Solstice the sun is at its lowest point on the Southern horizon (if you live in the Northern Hemisphere).
We are in the darkest quarter of the Wheel. In the existential cave. The time before we begin germination but are simply resting deep in the soil.
I call this Cave Time. As we move into Capricorn, the first Earth sign on the Wheel (given that Samhain is the beginning of the Wheel of the Year), we also move into the energies of the bear who rests in the cave. Who hibernates nestled into the breast of the mother, who is reborn from her in the Spring. The bear gives birth and nurses her young in the darkness of Winter’s Cave.
I always think of Arthur at this time of year. King Arthur. Arcturus…Arthur…meaning Great Bear. This King was connected to the land. His body represented the land. When his thigh was wounded and would not heal (much like King Henry the VIII), the land also because ill. Crops failed. Rains ceased or came too frequently. And when Arthurs heart was broken, in one way of telling the story, the land was also broken apart. When Gweniviere and Lancelot fell in love and broke Arthur’s heart, when the Feminine Queen broke the Masculine King, the Feminine ways were then quashed by the Masculine. The Priestesses were subsumed by the Priests. Catholicism reigned. Avalon disappeared into the mists.
These are the myths that open at Solstice. These myths are still alive in our bodies if we can listen to them. Here. Real.
Are you able to sink into the darkness? To go into hibernation in some small or large way? This is what our soft, warm, animal bodies call for at this time of year. A place of solace, softness, warmth. A belly full of hot tea or warm soup. A night to dream.
The Yule Log
Thought to bring luck and prosperity, the Yule log must be handled with clean hands, and a chunk of the previous year’s Yule log must be used to light the fire—on the first attempt!
There were all sorts of rituals, traditions, and superstitions attached to the log and the lighting and tending of the Yule fire.
As with many things, our lives today mean that honoring these old traditions must be renovated with intention and goodwill so that we are able to continue them in ways that are supportive of our lives today.
Tonight we burn the Yule log—but who has a tree large enough to cut a log that could smolder for 12 nights? Who has a fireplace large enough to put it in? Not many of us.
So most of us light beeswax candles set into a log, or candle holders placed among branches of evergreen foliage, and we do our ceremonies and honorings in this way.
Or maybe we eat a rolled cake in the shape of a Yule log.
We have to move with the times.
Many of us now have a small ‘log’ with candle holes drilled in, which we call our Yule log. We might decorate it with branches of evergreen, place it on our altar, and place mulled wine or mead there as well when we open space to do ceremony.
Why wine? Yule is Odin’s festival and he is a god of drink! It is also traditional in some places to leave wine or port as a spirit for the spirits of place or ancestors.
However you envision and manifest the Yule log, know that it is good. You are carrying forth the traditions of the ages and everything changes or it dies. We are keeping these traditions alive for those who come after us.
Norse Goddess: Sol (or Sunna)
Sol, seems the perfect Goddess to honor at the SOLstice.
In a World where the Feminine is typically relegated to the Lunar, to the mirror aspect rather than being seen as the Shining One, Sol is the Norse goddess of the Sun. She rides through the sky in a chariot, chased by a huge, slavering wolf.
Henry Adams Bellows translation:
The sun, the sister of the moon, from the south
Her right hand cast over heaven's rim;
No knowledge she had where her home should be,
The moon knew not what might was his,
The stars knew not where their stations were.
From Wikipedia
Sol is the goddess of the sun and Mani is the god of the moon. Ever chasing one another around the Wheel, ever chased by wolves, they are dedicated to holding the balance in our cosmos.
See the bottom of this post for links to more on Sol.
Frankincense
Why did the Magi bring Frankincense to the Christ Child? Let’s explore.
Franc means pure and incense means smoke. Frankincense is a resin perfect for creating and holding the resonance of purity. This resin has been used in temples, churches, and sacred spaces for millenia.
The Priestesses of old, and the myrrhophores used Frankincense to create and hold the energy of sacred space. Imagine yourself in a gorgeous temple space, the scent of frankincense wafting through the air, the sounds of music soft on you ear…
Frankincense oil and resin helps to open the third eye in order that you might see the gifts of spirit and understand your own Sacred Wisdom. It links up and repairs old, broken energy lines from this life and from past lives, and repairs soul wounds that can also follow from past lives. It is healing and delicate and acts as a soothing balm for delicate and burnt out energy fields.
Frankincense will regulate the flow of Chi (Qi) or life force energy through the body, out into the energy field, thereby repairing the auric field. This is a deep, healing, powerful oil or resin to work with.
(Most of the info here from Felicity Warner’s, “Sacred Oils”. My go-to book for essential oil usage. So worth having on your shelf as a reference.)
Trew: Steadfastness
the quality of being resolutely or dutifully firm and unwavering.
Links:
For the Littles and those who love mythology and stories in general, East of the Sun and West of the Moon. Not about Sol and Mani, per se, but an excellent, excellent story. One of my all time favorites.
