The 4th Day of Yuletide 2021
The Reindeer Goddess/Elen of the Ways
Reindeer
Elderberry, dbl extracted syrup recipe, for hard times
Elen of the Ways, The Reindeer Goddess
Elen of the Ways is a name for the Celtic Deer Goddess. She sings of this time of year, of the mystery of women who, even today, make their fortunes by raising herds of reindeer and selling them for meat, milk, and hides.
The Deer Goddess spans cultures throughout Northern Europe and out onto the vast Steppes of Asia. There are stories of her flying through the sky in a sleigh pulled by her reindeer from Eastern Europe, legends of her in Russia, and Elen has reawakened in Scotland, where the Cairngorm reindeer herd has been reestablished in the wild highlands.
The Deer Goddess is a goddess of the land, of the sovereignty of both self and the land, and her spirit leads us back to the times when women and men were held as equally important. Women were viewed as the Creatrixes and known as those most intimate with the land and with the Spirits of the Land. We know what we know, we women do, and we know how to Priestess the Earth.
There’s a great article here on Elen, and I’ve copied and pasted this passage from the article, though it’s not a quote by the article’s writer:
“As Caroline Wise, goddess historian and the leading expert on Elen of the Ways, says “An aisling of my own showed me it concerned the awakening of the land, establishing a balance of the earth energies through the meridians of the land, keeping the Wasteland at bay.”’
Elen of the Ways is also one who knows the routes from one place to another, the secret tracks through the forest, and the doorways that lead us into other worlds. She knows the ways of the creatures and of the fae.
I want to link another article by my friend, Semele Xerri. It a beautiful sharing from a woman well-acquainted with the wild heart of Wales. Here she writes of Elen and the white hart.
As we prepare to step into the energy of Christmas Eve, I thought it important to share a bit about the magic and mystery of the reindeer (scroll down for that) and the Deer Goddess.
Forest Spirit, by Amy Brown.
On a personal note, Elen is greatly important to me as one of my first connections to an ancestral goddess and she remains one of my most potent allies. Even as a child growing up a little bit wild on the land, I was always the most attuned to the animals around me. I had a horse when I was in my early teens and two good dogs, I spent most of my time outside, walking, riding the horse, sitting under the trees. It was good. I was wild but also very much connected to the land I lived on and the animals around me.
Reindeer
Reindeer, also known as caribou in North America, circumpopulate the Arctic circle. Many Indigenous populations rely on them for much—fur, meat, milk. Reindeer are herded and kept as livestock in many places. They are often milked, can be ridden, and, yes, they can pull a sled or sleigh.
As a teen, even though I knew that Dad was Santa, I left treats on the roof for the reindeer. My bedroom window opened onto the flat carport roof, and though our chimney was up another story, over the attic, I knew Santa would have to land on the flat spot and magic himself up high because there was nowhere for those deer to stand on the very top.
One year I definitely heard sleigh bells, and while I suspect that my older brother had got up there and was prancing around, I still feel the magic that came along with that sound.
Reindeer were tamed and ridden long before man and horse became codependent.
Reindeer stags, like all male deer, shed their antlers in the autumn. Female reindeer, unlike many female deer, grow antlers and they only shed them after they calve in the Spring. (And if you’ve read that the does never shed their antlers, the encyclopedia says differently.)
Picture Santa’s sleigh, pulled by 8 reindeer, or 9 if you want Rudolph to be in there. Do they have antlers? In mid-winter?
Chances are that your mind’s eye sees the reindeer as antlered stags, with the possible exception of Vixen who must be female, amiright?
In truth, if the deer have antlers at Christmas, they are does. All of them. Even Blitzen. Even Rudolph.
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof sounds a lot daintier all of sudden.
ELDERBERRY-REISHI TINCTURE
For several years we have relied on this herbal medicine to get us through every tickle and sniffle to come up. It’s more than a tincture and has a few more ingredients than a simple Elderberry tincture or syrup.
Elderberry, Blueberry, Bilberry, Reishi Syrup
(you can use cherries instead of the blueberries or bilberries, or not use any of those and just do the elderberries and reishi mushrooms. Those are the must-haves for this recipe.)
Start on the night of the new moon. Put 5 Tbsp of dried elderberries, and 3 Tbsp each of dried Bilberries and Blueberries, and 1/2 of a Reishi mushroom, dried, into a clean saucepan, cover with filtered water with about 1″ of water over the top of the berries. Bring to a simmer and let this bubble slowly until liquid is reduced to the point where it just barely covers the berries and mushroom. Pour all of this into a 1 quart jar. Fill the jar to the shoulder with 40 proof brandy and cap. Shake. Let sit for at least two weeks, shaking occasionally. Once the full moon shows it’s pretty face, you are ready to decant, though you can allow this to sit for as long as you want but shake it once in a while to let it know you love it.
To decant, simply pour through a fine mesh strainer into a clean, non-reactive saucepan. Heat very gently on the lowest setting until it’s warm and add 6 oz. of local, raw honey. Remove from heat and stir or whisk until the honey is incorporated. Don’t let it get too hot or the enzymes in the honey will be killed by the heat. You want to be barely warm. The honey is important.
Put this into a clean jar or bottle and whenever you feel a tickle or sniffle, take about a tablespoon–we use little ceremonial cups (aka aperitif glasses) and fill them about 1/2 way–several times each day.
This also makes a great dessert cordial for preventative use. ;)
If you want to use fresh or frozen berries, please do, but you will want to use about double the measure of them because they are larger and juicier. The juice will also cut the percentage of alcohol in the tincture, so you may want to use a larger quantity of alcohol—at least 25%— or bit less honey.
Happy Healing!
