Embracing Autumn: Scarlet and Crimson Treasure

As we move further into Autumn there are more and more splashes of red to be seen in the trees and hedgerows. The rowan berries are the first, in August, but as September progresses they're joined by rosehips, haws, the berries of honeysuckle, and nightshade - and of course, unripe blackberries.

Bright scarlet rowan berries hang in distinctive clusters, in contrast to the crimson haws which are distributed much more evenly amongst the hawthorn foliage. 

In the hedgerows hereabouts there don't seem to be many rosehips - but there is a huge crop of haws. Some claim this signals a harsh winter ahead of us, but I tend to think it's more to do with favourable pollination conditions back in the spring when an exuberant froth of blossom covered the hawthorns.

I often think of the hawthorn as being the epitome of spring - its bright green leaves are among the first to break when the world begins to green anew, and the appearance of its flowers usually coincides pretty well with Beltane. Yet at this time of year when its leaves have darkened to glossy forest green and rich red haws jewel the hedgerow it is a striking feature in the landscape. In spring hawthorn seems full of lively joie de vivre, perfectly matched to the festivities of Beltane. As we approach the Autumn Equinox, its energy is of quiet, benevolent dignity - and generosity. There are enough haws for both us and the birds to enjoy - take advantage of this bounty and go foraging. 

Embracing Autumn: Hawthorn Brandy

Haws can be used to make many delicious edibles - jam, jelly, syrup, chutney, wine etc. Just Google 'hawthorn recipes' and you will find lots of inspiring ideas to make the most of your foraging. One of the simplest recipes of all is Hawthorn Brandy. If you've ever made Sloe Gin it's made very much along the same lines -  but everyone makes sloe gin, so why not try something a little different instead?

After picking your haws, pick them over and wash and dry them. Put them into a plastic bag and place them in the freezer overnight (this will soften them and begin to break down the skin so that their flavour will infuse the brandy effectively). Weigh the haws and put into a Kilner jar or similar tightly-lidded wide-mouthed container. Add sugar (half the weight of the haws), a pinch of cinnamon and some lemon zest. Pour over enough brandy to completely cover the ingredients, fasten the lid on tightly and shake well to dissolve the sugar. Store the jar somewhere dark, allowing the fruit to steep in the brandy for at least a couple of months (better yet until Yule). Shake the jar regularly. When enough time has passed, strain out the haws and lemon zest and bottle the flavoured brandy. Enjoy!  

 

Winter Blessings and Beauties, Day 78: An Extra Hour

Ever since the Winter Solstice/Yule, the days have been lengthening by a little over two minutes a day. And so, tomorrow we will be getting an hour more daylight than we were back then - and of course the days will continue to get longer until the Summer Solstice in June.

Winter Blessings and Beauties: Day 78

An Extra Hour

We have a whole extra hour of daylight to make use of... what are we going to do with it?  

Winter Blessings and Beauties, Day 72: Marking the Midpoint Between Yule and Imbolc

Today we find ourselves at the midpoint between Yule and Imbolc. If Yule is the deepest, darkest period of Winter it seems unbelievable to me that we are already halfway to Imbolc and the beginning of Spring. Purely coincidentally, the period of bitterly cold, icy weather that we've been experiencing for the last couple of weeks has today given way to a thaw. 

Winter Blessings and Beauties: Day 72

Mark the Midpoint Between Yule and Imbolc

At the midpoint between Yule and Imbolc, take time to pause and sense the shifting energies. Yule is the deep heart of Winter, the hinge of the solar year. We're now moving from the dark still point of Yule towards the growing light of Imbolc and the first stirrings of Spring. Can you sense the pulse of the Earth fluttering back towards wakefulness? How has the light changed? The scents on the wind? Is there a change in the birdsong or the colours in the landscape? How does your body react to the lengthening days?

Take a moment to recognise and give thanks for the patterns of the ever changing year. Take in a good breath of fresh Winter air. The days of Winter will soon be dwindling away along with all their Blessings and Beauties, making way for the debut of Spring. Why not raise a mug of hot chocolate to toast the wonderful Winter while you still can? 

Winter Blessings and Beauties, Day 52: Family Traditions

 

In the days between Yule and Christmas, I'm thinking about all the personal or family Traditions I associate with this time of year. As I've mentioned before now, it was my family's Tradition that we put the Christmas tree and decorations up during the weekend prior to Christmas. We were also scrupulously careful to make sure they all came down and were neatly packed away on Twelfth Night - it's supposed to be unlucky to leave them up after that.

When T and I were married, we had a Tradition of enjoying a special feast on Christmas Eve - smoked salmon, caviar, oysters, avocado and king prawn salad, crusty bread and an indulgent dessert, accompanied by a bottle of champagne. It was the only time of year we ate such a luxurious spread, but we did it without fail every Christmas Eve. I'm not quite sure where the Tradition came from, except that it was something we did on our first Christmas Eve together, enjoyed and decided to keep doing every year! 

I should say here that I don't think something has to have originated way back in the mists of time to be considered a Tradition. After all even the most ancient of Traditions was a new idea once. The only thing necessary for something to become a Tradition is repetition. Then again, it is really something special when a Tradition becomes so established that it is passed along to others, or down the generations within a family. 

One inter-generational Tradition that was passed to me was that of 'First Footing' on New Years Eve. My maternal grandmother was of Scottish ancestry and this Hogmanay custom was very important to her. As a tall, dark-haired man, my Dad was called upon to step outside the door just before midnight on New Year's Eve. Then as soon as the clock had struck twelve, he'd knock on the door and be admitted back into the house, carrying with him a piece of coal and a glass of whisky, symbolically bringing luck and plenty into the house.

Winter Blessings and Beauties, Day 52:

Winter Traditions

What winter family Traditions have you inherited? Do you still follow them? Have you passed them along?

How do you feel about the Winter Traditions that you hold? How does continuing them make you feel? Are there any you would like to drop? What stops you from doing so? If they no longer serve you, think about leaving them behind. Consider starting new Traditions that better reflect you and your life. Which Traditions continue to hold meaning for you? How will you carry them forward? With whom will you share them?

What winter Traditions have you initiated? How did they start? How have they developed? Who have you shared them with?

Winter Blessings and Beauties, Day 51: The Light at the End of the Tunnel

We have now arrived at Yule, the Winter Solstice - the shortest day and longest night of the year in the Northern hemisphere. From now on days will gradually lengthen and nights grow shorter - although imperceptibly at first. Although we passed the halfway point of winter a few days ago (the exact midpoint between Samhain and Imbolc), it is from today onwards that we begin the climb back up towards the light half of the year from the deepest, darkest days of Winter.

Understandably (and especially this year), many people choose to celebrate the returning light at Yule, but I think we should also be honouring the dark at the height of its power. This year - probably because I've been posting daily about the Blessings and Beauties of Winter - I've felt a pang at the idea that Winter and the season of darkness is already beginning to wane. Is that weird? I think it's actually good that the practice of actively engaging with the positive side of Winter every day has changed my way of thinking about this much maligned season.

Which is not to say I'm not looking forward to the first snowdrops and the warmer, brighter days they herald! But for me at least, even in this most difficult of years, the 'Winter Blessings and Beauties' experiment seems to have sped up the first half of Winter, and helped me more consciously enjoy the things that make Winter unique and special. I hope it's helped you too. 

Winter Blessings and Beauties - Day 51

The Light at the End of the Tunnel

We have journeyed through the dark together into the very heart of Winter - savouring every step of the way, lingering over the pleasures and treasures we have found en route. As the sun stands still at its nadir, let us too pause and take stock. Looking back over the first half of Winter, remembering the all the facets of the season that we've explored and savoured so far... then turning to look ahead at the light at the end of the tunnel, beckoning us forward. What adventures and discoveries await us in the second half of Winter, as we journey through the growing days into Spring? 

Winter Blessings and Beauties, Day 48: Saturnalia

 

The Roman Festival of Saturnalia was celebrated from 17th-23rd December, with feasting, gift-giving and much merry-making. It was a time when normal social conventions were turned on their head - gambling was allowed and slaves were waited on by their owners. A 'King of the Saturnalia', was elected by drawing lots and would preside over the festivities, issuing arbitrary whimsical orders which had to be obeyed by his 'subjects'.

It's believed that some of the customs associated with later European celebrations of a Winter festival have been influenced by the Saturnalia festivities, including that of electing a 'Lord of Misrule'.

To this day, the days leading up to the Winter Solstice and Christmas have a quality of 'time out of time' mixed in with a celebratory atmosphere. Schools wind down for the holidays and there is often more fun than learning going on; a festive air pervades the workplace and there are office parties, and meals out; the darkness is lit by a myriad of fairy lights; people frantically shop and prepare for feasting and merrymaking with loved ones. There is a sense of anticipation, and to a certain extent the usual rules are suspended. 

Isn't it interesting how our modern celebrations so closely mirror many of the ways the Romans celebrated their mid-winter festival 2,000 years ago? Is it because the Romans set a template that has been followed down the years? Or is it human nature to feel the need to cut loose, let our hair down and light up the darkness with a big party? Or is it just the tension between the darkest, slowest, quietest time of the year crashing up against our impatient desire for the return of the light?  Personally I suspect it's a little of each. 

Winter Blessings amd Beauties, Day 48

Saturnalia

Take a few moments to centre yourself. Breathe slowly and deeply and feel your way into the energy of midwinter. How does the contradiction between the slow, deep rhythms of the sleeping earth, and the excited, jubilant energies of the human world as it gears up for midwinter festivities in anticipation of the turning of the darkness feel? It feels to me as if the two opposing forces coming together generates a charge of intoxicating energy. Is it any wonder that the King of the Saturnalia and the Lord of Misrule revel in their ability to turn convention on its head and undermine the usual order of things?  They are the perfect incarnation of the paradoxical midwinter energies in this liminal time, when winter approaches its peak - which is simultaneously the point at which it begins to wane.

Winter Blessings and Beauties, Day 44: The Dance of Dark and Light

 

Today, there was not only a New Moon, but also a total solar eclipse (visible in Chile and Argentina). And of course we are only a few days away from the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year. This must be one of the darkest of dark nights! And yet... all these things are cyclical. 

Winter Blessings and Beauties: Day 44

The Dance of Dark and Light

The phases of the Moon, the cycles of the Sun: the Moon, Sun and Earth interact with each other in a giant cosmic dance. The dark Moon will in time become the bright Full Moon. Eclipses throw growing shadows across the Earth before eventually receding. The longest night will give way to the growing light, and in six months' time we will be on the cusp of the Summer Solstice, when the sun's strength is at its peak. It seems a world away on this dark day. But it is coming. Remember this in times of dark: the light is coming. And in the days of summer light, remember that the restful dark has a part to play in the great Cosmic Dance too. Light without dark is diminished, as is dark without light. It is the dance between the two that makes the World such a beautiful place.      

Winter Blessings and Beauties, Day 25: Marking the Midpoint Between Samhain and Yule

I have been posting daily Winter Blessings and Beauties now since the day after Samhain, 1st November. By my calculations, that means today we are halfway between Samhain and Yule, and more than a quarter of the way through the period between Samhain and Imbolc. From the perspective of writing a daily blogpost on winter, the first 25 days have gone by really fast! The days continue to shorten, the nights grow colder, and Yule grows ever closer. 

Apparently 25th November is St Catherine's Day, or to use its old name, Catterntide. Jacqueline Durban has written a wonderful blogpost giving a traditional recipe for making Cattern Cakes here. If you would like to mark the occasion, the Cattern Cakes sound like a wonderful way to do so!

Winter Blessings and Beauties: Day 25

Mark the Midpoint Between Samhain and Yule

At the midpoint between Samhain and Yule, take time to pause and sense the shifting energies. Samhain is the onset of winter and Yule its midpoint, when the sun reaches its nadir and pauses, before beginning to grow in strength again - just a little each day. can you sense a difference in the pulse of life? Does the air smell different? How is the soft animal of your body reacting to the shortening days and frosty nights?

Take a moment to recognise and give thanks for the patterns of the ever changing year. Take in a good breath of cold winter air, and raise a toast to winter (hot spiced apple juice, maybe?). Or celebrate by baking a batch of Cattern Cakes!   

December Will Be Magic Again...

It's December - which means Christmas is nearly upon us.

Yes, I'm Pagan, but I do celebrate Christmas. Christmas has always been a time to get together with my family, and I wouldn't miss it.

Yule, the winter solstice (21st December) is when I shall make my Pagan seasonal celebration. Rather like my attitude to Hallowe'en and Samhain, I enjoy both Yule and Christmas, but they mean very different things to me. Yule is a spiritual celebration marking the shortest day (and from then on, the returning sun), and my Christmas is a secular one, a time of family reunions and celebration.

This year I will celebrate Yule with the members of my local Pagan Moot, as well as a small solo ritual. Then a few days later my Mum and Dad and also my sister and brother-in-law (and their dog!) will be joining us here in Wales for Christmas. I'm really looking forward to doing the entertaining. We've ordered a goose from a free-range farm just up the road (don't tell Buffy & Angel) and I'm planning lots of other locally produced Welsh yumminess too. I've been splitting lots of logs so we'll be able to have plenty of fires in the woodburning stove. And I'm already getting excited about putting up the decorations in our lovely new kitchen-diner.

Three cheers for multiculturalism!