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As the fall winds down to a close and early winter drizzles its way into the Witch\’s Garden, the desire to hibernate gets even strong. As humans we can\’t exactly do that, but as witches who follow and honor the seasons, we\’re making more time for warm fires in the fireplace, soft comfy clothing, blankets, hot meals, games, and time with friends. We\’re stoking our own inner fires for the coldest time ahead.
Reminders:
- Please bring back your cloth bags with the name tag attached, so we know that you returned your bag. Each customer gets two bags for the year – one to pick up full of goodies, and one to return empty so that we can refill it for you next month. The cycle continues until the end of the year, when you can choose whether to keep both bags, one bag, or return them both for us to recycle next year. Right now we’re using a lot of paper. We’ll try to reset next month with more cloth bags, but we won’t be replacing them again this year.
- We will also re-use any glass, metal, or packing materials you return. Please help us keep costs down by letting us reuse as much as possible.
- If you have any trouble with the form, the blog, or the website, please let us know so that we can iron out any kinks.
Password Update
The password for the site is now:
Witchka
On the night of Saturday December 9, this will become:
FearlessFeetInSnow
This password will be good until the next delivery, in late January.
As always, the password is based on S.J. Tucker’s lyrics, this time from the song “Baba Yaga,” off the album \”Tangles\”. This song fortifies me for the cold months. On Band Camp, S.J. writes,
It\’s about an archetypal crone figure from Russian folklore coming back to life in the form of a street person, to guide young men and women and teach them what\’s important in the world: not your cell phone, not your car, not the law, but your roots, your convictions.
As the wise and ancient Baba Yaga tells all those who will listen to her stories:
I will be here when you\’re ready.
My fire will still burn when yours starts to go.
I have always been here,
I with my fearless feet in the snow…
I\’ll be here just to watch you grow.
For all the Soojy goodness the interwebs can hold visit https://linktr.ee/
Yuletide and the Winter of the Wheel
Winter festivals – celebrations of light and togetherness – have been a part of human traditions as far back as we have written records. From the 12-day Sumerian Zagmuk, cited by some as the oldest known festival, to Roman Saturnalia, to present-day religious celebrations like Yule, Christmas, and Hannukah, this is the season in which the warmth of hearth, society, and deity hold back the dark of winter. Yuletide, a western pagan/neopagan tradition stemming from European roots, is celebrated in a variety of ways throughout these traditions. For some, rituals and customs are tightly entwined with religious beliefs. For others, it\’s about celebrating the ones we love. It\’s a time to bring light to the darkness, to work with shadow, to do the messy work of loving other humans… it\’s often not an easy task or an easy time, but as we pull together we find our way through the shortest days and discover that once again longer, warmer days are just ahead.
The Cold Moon and the Winter Solstice
This month\’s full moon is known as the Cold Moon. Even in west TN we approach the coldest time of the year, when icy wetness seems to cover everything. Historically, these were times to ration food through the coldest months, to rest and conserve energy, to stay inside and keep warm. As the winter solstice approaches, when day and night are of equal length, we acknowledge and respect the power of the dark while celebrating the warmth of the light.
The Celtic Tree Calendar
A tradition of some Celtic pagan paths, most likely arising in the 1800s but based on the historically ancient ogham writing system, relates a tree species to each lunar month. This month’s lunar correspondence is with Elder. Though easily damaged, elder quickly recovers and puts out new growth. This moon is a time of endings, but each ending carries with it the potential for new beginnings. As with this time of the Winter Solstice, working with Elder is excellent for spellwork calling for resilience, renewal, or the end of one cycle leading to a new beginning. This month\’s wood-related working is elderflower tincture, a summer medicine preserved in alcohol for winter use.
The Turning of the Wheel
Two pagan stories surrounding this time of year are those of the Oak and Holly Kings, and the divine child born of the goddess. The Oak King rules the lighter half of the year when summer is waxing, and the Holly King takes over as the year begins to wane and rules until the light begins to return at the Winter Solstice. This tale views the sun\’s light through the year as waxing and waning on a yearlong cycle, much as the moon waxes and wanes every month.
In god and goddess symbolism relating to the wheel of the year, the goddess herself waxes and wanes – a maiden in the spring, married to the young and hale god of the greenwood in summer and conceiving a child, bearing a son at the winter solstice before embodying the Crone in the coldest time of the year, in January and February. The god himself wanes, in some traditions seen as an old man like the Holly King or St. Nicholas in the winter, in others sacrificing himself in the fall to ensure to coming again of green woods and long days in the spring. In these traditions he is reborn as the son of the goddess at Yule, the winter solstice – much as Christians celebrate the coming of a divine child on December 25, even though the historical birth of Christ would have been in the summer.
Your Delivery, and Using Your Items
Everything in your box is yours to do with as you please. I don’t put together “spell kits” or provide rituals for you – you have your own path to walk, and I have mine. Instead I try to provide you with items to use in your own practice, sharing some of my own plans and ideas as inspiration. Legalese, because it’s an important thing sometimes: By using these items, you acknowledge that YOU are responsible for any and all outcomes, including any allergic reactions, and not me or The Witch’s Garden. Know thyself, witch.
So what’s in the box?
This month’s box includes handmade magickal ingredients for care, protection, healing, and a little joy. For local deliveries, from far left and spiraling inward:
Elderflower Tincture – This tincture was soaked in vodka for 6 weeks, strained, and soaked again for another 6 weeks. Drink a teaspoon to a tablespoon of tincture in tea or water for rhinitis, sinusitis, or when you have a cold or the flu. Contraindications: As always, check with your doctor first especially if you\’re on other medications. Elderflower may work to level out blood sugar, which can interfere with blood sugar management during surgery, so stop use two weeks before any surgery. For the same reason, monitor your blood sugar carefully when using elderflower if you have diabetes.
Yule Log Candle Holder from Emma\’s Limbs – Here\’s what our resident woodworker Emma has to say about her yule log creations: These half-rounds were cut as yule logs last year and have cured for a year and a half. The candle holders are standard size to fit a pair of tea candles, so these are perfect for people who want a yule log without the need for a fireplace. Three bits: 1) If you do have a fireplace or fire pit, you can burn this after your candles have died down. 2) If you don\’t have a place to burn the wood, you may want to bury the log after burning your yule candles. Decomposition is essentially a slow, slow burn. 3) Probably this goes without saying–but this is made of wood. Wood is flammable–so place this on a fireproof surface before lighting and don\’t leave burning candles unattended!
Witch\’s Ball – In Elm\’s house, some ash from each year\’s Yule log ash is stored in a Witch\’s Ball. It\’s first hung on the Christmas/Yule tree and then stored until the following Yule, when it is used to dress the current year\’s log before it\’s burned. The next day, once the fire is out, some of the new ash is placed in the ball and the cycle repeats. You can also fill your ball with spell ingredients of your choice, paint it or leave it clear depending on your magickal needs, and hang it on a tree or in a window through the winter.
Snowflake Ornament from LaSheet\’s Treats – Created by Rebecca Turner, these gorgeous clay ornaments were created with the same blue peaflower ink that you received with a book and glass pen earlier in the year.
Shower Steamer from LaSheet\’s Treats – Created by Rebecca Turner, this is a \”bath bomb for your shower\”. Designed to let off fragrance without the bubbles, use this steamer to turn a regular part of your routine into a ritual blessing. Wake up the senses and step out rejuvenated with her curated blend of eucalyptus, cinnamon, rosemary, lemon, and spearmint essential oils in a matrix of baking soda, citric acid, and epsom salts.
Holly – Symbolic of the wintery Holly King, the fresh evergreen holly in your bag is a reminder that there are greener times ahead. Oak and holly together are a metaphor for this deep winter season when the cold reigns, yet has already surrendered to the coming warmth ahead. This holly was cut from the 50+ year old holly tree that graces the northwest corner of our home.
Apache Tear Bracelet – Created by our wire goddess Raine LaMee, the stone in your bracelet is an Apache Tear. Found naturally rounded like this, the stone is volcanic obsidian. For some Native Americans these are considered the earth\’s tears. When you are facing grief and sadness, wear your Apache Tear bracelet for support and help on your journey.
Mulling Spices and Pomander – This spice blend is a classic winter herbalist\’s blend for warmth, comfort, and immune support in the cold months. Correspondences include prosperity, sustenance, support, and community. The \”pomander\” is a classic ornament, a dried orange or orange slice dotted with cloves that were hung to bring freshness and cleansing to enclosed spaces in the winter months. Given as gifts or made with family, these were symbols of blessing and community against the cold.
Bamboo Charm – The symbol wood-burned onto your bamboo link is a bind-rune for Courage and Determination. Carry it with you into tricky holiday situations, string it on a necklace or bracelet, or hang it with your pomander.
Suggestions for Use: Let your Yule Log be the centerpiece of a winter ritual. Decorate it or your altar with Holly, anoint it with a touch of elderflower tincture, and consider adorning it with some or all of the citrus and spices from your bag of Mulling Spices. Maybe mull some tea, cider, or wine for your ritual by simmering mulling spices with your drink of choice until the flavor is to your liking – 20 minutes to a few hours. If you\’re in an apartment or don\’t have a place to build a fire, use your \”Yule Log\” as a candle holder. If you can have a fire and want to burn the yule log, get your fire blazing, dress the log with oils, spices, or decorations, and then put the yule log on to burn. Traditionally, someone would watch until the fire burned down to ashes, making sure the yule log burned up completely and only ash remained.
In our home, we each write on two pieces of paper – the first, something that we want to draw toward us throughout the following year, and the second, something we want to get rid of or push away, perfect for fire magick. The former, we keep on our altar throughout the year and then bury at the following Yule. The latter, we all tie to our yule log before we burn it, letting the things that no longer serve us go up in yuletide smoke.
If you\’re using the log as a candle holder, treat your paper with a little elderflower tincture and some of the mulling spices and light it from your yule log tea candles. Let it burn down on a fireproof surface (a cast iron skillet or a mini-cauldron, for example) and then, once cool, transfer your ash to the witch\’s ball. If you\’ll be burning the log in a fire, you can fold your paper and press it into the indentations in the log before it goes on the fire. If you like, bind them in with string. Red is traditional but go your own way.
You might go a step further by writing the thing you want to draw into your life in elderflower tincture on the back of your snowflake ornament or your orange pomander, then hanging it where you\’ll see it throughout the year. As it dries the tincture will become invisible, but the magick of your writing or sigil will remain.
Use the shower steamer either before or after your ritual to step between mundane and ritual space. Use your elderflower to physically support your immune system through the winter dark while we\’re pulled into closer quarters, indoors and often in groups.
The mulling spices can be a delight for all the senses – touch, taste, smell, sight, sound. Wrap your hands around a mug of cider, wine, or tea simmered in the blend, as you hang your pomander and/or ornament somewhere special. Take a mindful moment to thank your deities or the universe for simple pleasures and know that right here, right now, with something to warm your belly and hands and a pretty sight before your eyes, you are ok.
May you be safe, cared for, and among friends as we go into the winter holidays. Blessed Be.