The Wheel of the Year: Ostara (Spring Equinox)

'Ostara', by Helen Nelson Reed

 Going back to the Wheel of the Year posts, here's a  (belated) quotes+pics post about Eostre, the Spring equinox, also called Easter, Meán Earraigh and Alban Eilir.  I personally don't really celebrate Eostre and stick to enjoying a week-full of holidays, eating chocolate eggs and looking at nature (which could actually qualify as 'celebrating Eostre', though xD), but I'm always interested in studying mythology and neopagan feasts, so here it is :)

-Sources and copyright: Sources can be found at the end of the post and images and quotes are credited and used for non-profit aims. Artists, if you don't want your artwork to feature here, please let me know! The authors of some of these pics remain unknown to me. If you know the authorship, or if you are the author, please let me know, and I will credit them. 

-Pagan origin and characteristics:

"Meán Earraigh marks the Spring equinox, when night and day are of equal length and spring officially begins. Birds begin their nesting and egg-laying, and eggs - symbolic of rebirth,  fertility, and immortality- are tossed into fresh furrows or eaten by ploughpeople. They are also carried by those engaged in spring planting." (A Druid's Herbal for the Sacred Earth Year, Ellen Evert Hopman)

Ostara, by Christopher Bell, source

"Ostara, (...) also called Lady Day, is a Pagan holiday, celebrated every year on the spring equinox, usually March 21.     Saxons had a festival every year for their spring and fertility goddess, Eostre, involving variations of many traditions we use today. (...) Eventually, the christians adapted the word 'Easter', and some of the traditions.     The 'Easter bunny' comes from an old sign of fertility, the rabbit. (...) Chicks as well, which emerge from their shells (...). Both animals were sacred to goddesses of Spring annd fertility, and were often honoured around the spring equinox.     Eggs are also symbols of fertility (...) in Old Europe, eggs were decorated and given as gifts, as wishings of abundance in food and prosperity." (Source)

"Most of what people commonly associate with Easter is pagan in origin (...) Pagan roots of Easter lie in celebrating the spring equinox, for millennia an important holiday in many religions. Celebrating the beginning of spring may be among the oldest holidays in human culture. Occurring every year on March 20, 21, or 22, the spring equinox is the end of winter and beginning of spring. Biologically and culturally, it represents for northern climates the end of a “dead” season and the rebirth of life, as well as the importance of fertility and reproduction." (Source)

Eostre by Wenndy Andrew

More about the paralell elements of the polytheistic and monotheistic beliefs and celebrations of the Spring Equinox here. Many people don't seem to know that "a focus of spring religious festivals was a god whose own death and rebirth symbolized the death and rebirth of life during this time of the year", which is another reason why I think that all human religious are the same one with variations depending on the culture of origin - and this is why I find it it utterly ridiculous to fight over which religion is 'the real one' (and among other things, this is also why I am a religious-book-atheist - I don't believe in any deity described by humans in their books and mythologies as 'the real one' -, but a pure agnostic regarding the possibility of the existence of a divine being, because I think that I ca hardly claim the existence or non-existence of such a thing without empirical evidence). 

Pagan holidays turned Christian: Easter. The origin of Easter is Germanic, though, the Celts didn't celebrate it, for them Spring begins with Imbolc.

• The Goddesses of the Spring Equinox:

-Ostara/Eostre, Germanic Spring and Dawn Goddess:

This Germanic Goddess (Old English: 'Ēastre', Old High German: '*Ôstara', source), a goddess of dawn and the sky, and a 'bringer of light' (related to the idea of the Sun Goddess), is the namesake of the festival of  'Easter'.

 "Pagan Anglo-Saxons had held feasts in Eostre's honor, but that this tradition had died out by his time, replaced by the Christian Paschal month" (Source)

Goddess Eostre/Ostara by Johannes Gehrts

"Ostara, the Spring Equinox, derives it name from the Goddess Eostre. The Earth is now clearly awakened from her slumber. The day and night are equal but the light is gaining (...) This is a time of feasting and celebration. There is a sense of energy and promise personified by the beauty, strength, and freedom of the young virgin Goddess. This is when the clover appears in the fields, a symbol of the rebirth of the Maiden aspect of the Triple Goddess. Significant symbols are the lamb, the hare, and the egg, all universal archetypes of fertility, renewal, and new life (...)" (Source)

Eostre (author unknown to me)

 -About the term 'virgin': About this excerpt, I would like to note than in this context of 'the Goddess' the term 'virgin' simply means a 'young woman' and has empowering connotations of 'strength', 'freedom' and 'power' (the root of the word is actually the same as the one in 'virility', but thanks to Patriarchy men got the 'strength', 'power' and 'freedom' connotations while women were stuck with 'modest', 'naïve', 'inexperienced' and 'sexually untouched by men'). Here 'virgin'  has nothing to do with the goddess's sexuality or sex life (as in 'sexually inexperienced' or 'untouched (by men)'). The later patriarchal connotations, deeply influenced by monotheistic religions such as Christianity (and most ancient and polytheistic societies were generally quite patriarchal and male-dominated as well, even though the women fared better in their myths and religions), are full of oppression: sexism, misogyny, double standards and heteronormativity. The Goddess is both 'virgin' and 'mother', because she can create life without the intervention of males, and she is both 'virgin' and 'lover' because she can have a free sexuality without oppressive notions of 'purity' or 'modesty'.

-Boann, Irish cow goddess:  Associated with fertility and healing (water,cows), creativity, inspiration and wisdom (water, the Salmon of Knowledge, source) and astronomy.

Boann by ThaliaTook

"The female aspect of this festival [Meán Éarraigh, the Neopagan Celtic Spring equinox] is personified by Boand (...), who is sometimes equated with the River Boyne. (...)     Boand is known as "She of the White Cows". It is worthwhile to remember that Brighid was raised on the milk of a white cow with red ears. Otherwordly beasts such as dogs and cows are generally described with this colouring. Sacred kine are often said to emerge from lakes; water is the entrance to the Otherworld.  If you visit the River Boyne, you will find that she is quite maternal, flowing gently (...) like a placid milk cow." (A Druid's Herbal for the Sacred Earth Year, Ellen Evert Hopman)

-Religion-free spiritual aspects of Eostre in Neodruidism:

'Moonlit Hare' by Amanda Clark

"Alban Eilir (light of the earth), the vernal equinox, around March 21

Physically: The time of sowing most seeds and first growth

Magically: The sun gaining in strength over the night; the greening of the earth" (The Path of Druidry, Penny Billington)

"Light overtakes the dark. Rebirth of life. Contemplate new beginnings and fresh ideas. Serious mediation on your hopes and dreams for the coming year. Solar festival of fire, light, and fertility." (Source)

• Sources:

-A Druid's Herbal for the Sacred Earth Year by Ellen Evert Hopman
-The Path of Druidry by Penny Billington
-Ravens Wyrd - Equinox
-Ostara: Anglosaxon and Germanic vs Christian
-The Pagan elements of Easter 
-Pagan holidays turned Christian
-Eostre (Wikipedia)
-Boann (Wikipedia)
-Boann - The Somathread

                                                                                         

The Wheel of the Year: Samhain

So here we  are, Samhain, the beginning of the Dark half of the Celtic year. A blessed three-day long Samhain to all those who celebrate it and may no evil spirits find you tonight - or humans getting drunk and throwing eggs at strangers' houses because "yay, FUN!"...which might be way worse, now I think of it *facepalms while weeping at humanity's twisted view of what it is to "have fun"*

Samhain might be my least favourite festivity in the Celtic/neopagan/neodruidic Wheel of the Year, although I do admit the neodruidic and Celtic-inspired feast can have a strong charm of its own. As an agnostic neodruidess, my activities during these three days (31 October - 2 November, seeing as Samhain festivities traditionally lasted for three days) usually consist on a walk in the garden or a trip to the mountains, plus a seasonal plant adornment in my kitchen 'agnostic altar', plus a cake, usually including pumpkin and/or nuts.                                  

 The current Halloween festivities, however, generally annoy me. I've got no problem with people dressing up, I'm a cosplayer myself. And it isn't because 'it isn't a traditional feast in the area', an argument I'm frankly tired of reading and hearing. You can enjoy any festivity disregardless of your area as long as you like it, feel drawn to it and are respectful about it,  My reasons are:

1.  All the death and horror themes, which are generally not to my liking. 

2.  I associate it with the days becoming shorter and the illogical decision of shortening the already short days courtesy of the infamous Winter time change. Not a fan of short days, or cold, for that matter.

3. But what I really, really dislike about Halloween is the way people 'have fun'. Once again, dressing up, having a party, that's all good. Not so good if your main aim is getting drunk at a park and potentially bothering people, though. And how the hell is going from house to house throwing eggs and putting toothpaste in door knobs even remotely OK??  Would these people (kids, teenagers, adults, there's a bit of everything) enjoy it if I suddenly came and threw eggs all over their house, and then defended my right to have fun, calling them 'intolerant weirdos'?? Do you know how bad day-old eggs smell? Do you know how disgusting it is to clean  that up? Why is it even remotely OK that I have to clean rotten eggs up in my goddam house so that some egotistical drunk teenager idiots and some spoiled kids, sometimes with their morally-dubious, irresponsible parents actually accompanying them while they throw rubbish at people's houses (A+ parenting!!), have FUN?!  Having fun does not mean having a go at people in this way, since last I looked. Seriously, if you like throwing eggs and stuff so much, why don't you go throw them at your own windows and walls? Don't want to clean that up afterwards, right?  And let's not talk about the assholes that throw eggs and stuff at buses and cars. Not only have the poor bus drivers to clean all that up after their whole day's work - they could cause a damn accident!

  *Ugh*

So anyway, to celebrate Samhain today :) I've decided to post a series of Power Point slides that I made about the festivity and the seasonal gods and goddesses according to Celtic mythology.  The Irish+English+Spanish texts are part of a show about the Celtic festivities that I and my fellow Irish students and teachers prepared and took part in during 2011-2012. 

-DISCLAIMER about the images:  I always try to credit every image I use in my blogs, same as I'd like people to do with my own artwork and photographs. I really like to illustrate my posts and projects, and I deeply appreciate the work of all the artists and photographers that make that possible. However, it's not always easy to credit a picture, seeing as most of them come from Google searchs and many lack watermarks. All of this makes the job of tracing back each picture to its owner/artist/original page very difficult. I do try to take my time in order to do this, but I don't always succeed. So I'll gladly credit any picture that remains here uncredited, if you know who's the original artist. And if you find you own some of the pictures shown here and you don't want me posting your (credited) work in this blog, please do let me know as well!

 -Morrígan's name is spelled in a variety of ways, from 'Mórrigan', to 'Morrígan', to 'Morrigán', to 'Mórrigán', to even 'Mórrígán'. Personally, I enjoy the last version quite a lot, although I alternate from time to time.

Celtic Goddesses: Brighid (part 1)

Brighid triad cosplay (My IG)

 To start with my goddesses section in this blog, I'd like to dedicate a series of posts to the Celtic goddess Brighid. To read about her festival, Imbolc, you can check these posts: 1 and 2

   Brighid is one of favourite goddesses in mythology. Smith, artisan, healer, musician, poet, bringer of life and light, warrior-protector...She's just so empowering and awesome, an awesome model of a woman complete within herself. Plus she's normally depicted with long red hair (sometimes golden, both refer to her being a solar goddess), so she has it all (as I love red hair)! :) 

    I'd like to focus on a shameless picture overload of my favourite artworks about Brighid (I tend to show a lot of artwork in my posts, I really like the visual component), plus write a bit about her, plus some quotes and links to a couple of poems and Neopagan songs. Saint Brighid, the counterpart of the goddess in the Christian world, will probably feature a bit too, because she's rather remarkable, being an abbess and all.

 It's going to be quite long, but if you're interested, read (and watch) on!

   -Part 1 (this post): The Goddess Brighid: Triple goddess. Some mythology. Symbols and characteristics. 

   -Part 2: Brighid's four main aspects (mainly pic overload).

   -Part 3: Poems and songs and more artwork. 

   -Part 4 (and final): Brigid and Saint Brigid of Kildare. Parallels in other mythologies and religions: Solar-protective goddesses. Focusing on Minerva/Atenea. Isis. Varda/Elbereth and Arien.

  

DISCLAIMER: All the quotes and artwork are duly credited. In some cases I don't know who the author or artist is, so if you know, please let me know, and I'll credit them! Fellow Deviants, let me know if you do not wish me to show your (credited) artwork here.

The Goddess Brighid:
"I am Bríd, beloved of Erin, spirit of fire, healer of ills, warrioress of old, protector of life, woman of power, sovereign Mother of all creation. I create, I inspire, I make magick. I am old, I am young, I am eternal. I am the All-Power personified. I am me…Bríd.”  -  (Celtic Myth and Magic – Harnessing the Power of the Gods and Goddesses by Edain Mc Coy, 65.)

Brighid as a Triple Goddess (Miranda Grey). My favourite depiction of Brighid.

Brighid was a very important goddess among the Celtic peoples. She is considered a triple aspect deity, with three main aspects: One of life, fertility and healing; one of poetry and inspiration; and one of crafts and smith-work.  She has also a warrior-protector aspect as Brigantia. 

   Thus, Brigid is primarily the patroness of poets, smiths and healers. She is also the patroness of the Druids, "in her aspects of poetry (Bards), healing and prophecy (Ovates) and blacksmithing (Druids)" [S.Morgan Black]. As a goddess of fertility, Brighid is also the protector of children and farm animals (particularly cows). Apart from smithwork, her crafting sphere includes weaving, brewing and dyeing. 

   Brighid rules the elements of fire and water. Water is associated mainly with her healing aspect and her being a triple goddess related to the the changing Moon. She is also considered a 'Solar goddess' (there are many of these in Celtic religion, like Lugh and Belisama) and as such, she is heavily linked with light, fire, fertility, creativity, inspiration, wisdom, healing and protective warrior skills. 

  "As a Sun Goddess, born at the exact moment of dawn, she bears the gifts of knowledge, inspiration, and the life and healing energy of the sun. She is complete within herpland areself." (Source)

   "She is the goddess of all things perceived to be of relatively high dimensions such as high-rising flames, highlands, hill-forts and upland areas; and of activities and states conceived as psychologically lofty and elevated, such as wisdom, excellence, perfection, high intelligence, poetic eloquence, craftsmanship (especially blacksmithing), healing ability, druidic knowledge and skill in warfare." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brigid)

Fire is probably the most powerful symbol of Brighid. It is linked with her three main aspects:

 "1.   Fires of Inspiration – poetry, learning, divination, witchcraft, occult knowledge and prophecy.  In this aspect She appears as a poetess and a muse.
2.   Fires of the Forge – smithcrafts, blacksmiths, goldsmiths, housecrafts. In this aspect she is seen carrying her famous cauldron used for melting metals.  She may even date back to the beginnings of pottery and its firing. Through this forge aspect She is also associated with the martial arts, as a warrior goddess, who forges spears and arrows.  A smith creates anew and fixes broken things.
3.  Fires of the Hearth – medicine, spiritual healing and fertility, midwifery, inner healing and vital energy. In this aspect She is known as the Goddess of Healing." (Source)

 As well as honouring sacred wells, sacred fires were lit in worship of this goddess. In Kildare there were nine priestesses who tended to a sacred fire. This tradition continued in the Christian era, in the form of nine nuns tending to Saint Brigid's fire.

 The name 'Brighid' has various possible meanings: "The Bright One", "The High One"/"The Exalted One", "The Powerful One", and, especially, "A Flaming Arrow". This last name refers to the solar aspect of the goddess, linked with fire and light, symbols of life and poetic inspiration.

 "and Brigit, that was a woman of poetry, and poets worshipped her, for her sway was very great and very noble. And she was a woman of healing along with that, and a woman of smith's work, and it was she first made the whistle for calling one to another through the night.(...) And the meaning of her name was Breo-saighit, a fiery arrow."
(Lady Gregory, Gods and Fighting Men)

My reenactment of Brighid (IG)

  In Irish mythology, Brigid is the daughter of the Dagda (the 'All-father' and protector of the tribe), and her mother is either the war-goddess Mórrígán, or Boann the cow-goddess. She is considered by many a pan-Celtic goddess, a Mother Goddess figure worshipped by many different Celtic tribes. The root of her name can be certainly found in many place names and river names across the continent (like 'Britain', for example, coming from the Brigantes tribe, who worshipped Brigid as Brigantia). It is also found in inscriptions and in myth, folktales and hagiography.

 "She has been worshipped by the Celtic people as a Saint for over fifteen hundred years, and as a Goddess long before the Roman invasion of Britain and the birth of Christ. Her cult was so powerful that the Celtic peoples had to adopt her as a Saint. (...) Brigit is a "pan Celtic" goddess, who was worshipped by both the Giodelic and the Brythonic Celts in the British Isles and beyond.(...) "
(Susan Morgan Black, essay on Brigit) 

  However, there are others who think that this is not all that clear, and that rather than being a pan-Celtic goddess, there might have been different deities with the bríg root (which means 'high' or 'exalted') in their name, given to them as a title. An interesting discussion of this can be found here: http://celticmythpodshow.com/blog/brighid-what-do-we-really-know-by-francine-nicholson/.

Symbols:
-Water. Sacred wells. The changing Moon.
-Fire, candles. The Sun.
-A white snake (healing and fertility)
-Cattle and domestic animals, especially sheep and a white red-eared cow (fertility). Also the ox, boar and ram. Lebor Gabála Érenn says Brigid has two oxen, Fe and Men, that graze on a plain called Femen. She also possessed the 'king of boars' Torc Triath, and the 'king of sheep' Cirb.
-The swan (art and poetic inspiration).
-The hammer and anvil.
-The harp.
-The colours white (healing, life), red (fire) and green (healing, fertility).
-A white wand, sacred woods.
-Wheat and flowers. Bees (fertility, creativity).
-Weapons and an orb of victory (as Brigantia)

The Wheel of the Year: More about Imbolc

I felt like posting something more about Imbolc, so here goes. I think that one of the best essays I've read about this festival -about its religious and mythological background and about its traditions- comes from Ellen Evert Hopman's A Druid's Herbal of Sacred Tree Medicine. It's a neodruidic book that's basically about the Ogham tree alphabet, but part two also focuses on more general aspects of modern druidism, and in one section she talks about the Celtic fire festivals.

DISCLAIMER: The following are excerpts from said book. No copyright infringement intended, entertainment and culture diffusion purposes only.
 Images are credited duly, unless the artist is unknown (by me) - in which case, if you know the name of the unknown artists, please let me known and I'll gladly credit them.

  ELLEN EVERT HOPMAN - A Druid's Herbal of Sacred Tree Medicine. Part 2 - Celebrate the Celtic Fire Festivals - Imbolc (bold is mine):

 "The festival of Imbolc (in the bag, in the belly), or Oimelc (ewe milk) in Scotland, is celebrated on February 1 and 2, or when the ewes begin to lactate. It is also called Lá Fhéile Bríde in Ireland, because it is also the festival of the goddess Brigid or Bríde, patroness of the flocks, herds, and motherhood. The observance is called Gwyl Mair Dechraur Gwanwyn in Wales, Laa'l Breeshey in the Isle of Man, and Goel Kantolyon in Brittany. The English name for the festival was once Candlemas, which eventually revolved into Groundhog Day festival of modern times.

The Feast Day of Brighid

Depiction of Saint Brigid, with many of the attributes of the former goddess Brigid: The wheat as a symbol of life and fertility,  the candles as a Solar symbol, the harp representing her musical and poetic inspiration aspect, and the sword representing her protective warrior aspect. Artist unknown by me.

Saint Brigid is one of the best known and most venerated of Celtic saints (...) Saint Brigid was said to have been reared on the milk of a white cow with red ears, the typical coloration of a Celtic Otherworld beast. She was said to possess a girdle that could heal all disease.

But long before Brigid the saint there was another Brigid, one whose identity and feast were gradually subsumed by the later historical figure, a goddess who was known as Brigid in Ireland, Bríde in Scotland, and Brigantia in Britain, Daughter of the Daghda, she was a triple goddess, said to always appear as three sisters, each named Brigid. Her spheres of influence were poetry, smithcraft, and healing. She was the patroness of the Druids and Bards. The Brigantes, a British Celtic tribe, honoured Brigantia as the High One and Mother of the Gods. She was the most prominent pan-Celtic female deity. (...) Her mother was Boann, Cow Goddess of the White Moon (...), making cows her sacred animals. She was also associated with the white mare, the serpent, and the red-eared, white-bodied hounds who guide travelers to the Otherworld.

Brighid was especially associated with healing wells and springs, and with sacred fire. As Brigantia she was especially concerned with the flocks and herds and with the produce of the earth.  These spheres were later taken up by Saint Brigid of Kildare, patroness of numerous holy wells, whose fire temple was tended by nine maidens until the Pope declared it heretical and shut it down. (The perpetual fire of Brighid has recently been relit by nuns in Ireland, and Pagans and Christians across the globe are once again tending fires in her name).
(...)

Found on Pinterest

Imbolc marks the midpoint of the dark half of the year. It also marks the beginning of the lactation of the ewes, an all-important milk festival of the ancients. (...) Along with the streams of new milk, Imbolc marks the time when other streams of life are reinvigorated in the land - forest animals begin their mating rituals and serpents begin to stir in their lairs. Farmers test the soil to see if it is thawed enough for the first plowings, and snowdrops spring up in the spots where Brigid's feet have trod.

At this time the Hag of Winter, the Cailleach, who has ruled since Samhain (...) drinks from the Well of Youth and her face is transformed from haggard old age to the serene and youthful face of Brigid. For this reason, Brigid is sometimes called The Maiden of the Rising Sun.

Brigid and her Druid rod. Artist unknown by me.

The Cailleach carries a Druid wand of great power, a white rod (...). With its magic powers she controlls the elements and the weather. Brigid carries a white rod too; but, whereas the Cailleach's rod brings storms and harsh weather, Brigid's brings warmth and new life.

It was said that where Brigid walked over the waters or touched them with her finger the ice melted, and that the land turned green where she spread her mantle upon it or when she breathed upon the hills. Families would leave a cloth outdoors on the eve of the festival to be blessed by the Sun and by Brigid on Imbolc morn. (...) the cloth would be cut into strips to be tied onto a sick person or animal throughout the remaining year.

The Wheel of the Year: Imbolc

  

My reenactment of the Goddess Brighid (IG)

 First of all, belated happy Imbolc to all those who celebrate this neopagan/neodruidic feast, or to those who simply feel interested about the Celtic calendar and the goddess Brighid! And for those in the Southern hemisphere, a happy (belated) Lughnasadh as well!

Imbolc blessing. Found on Pinterest.

  As a pure agnostic-atheist neodruidess, I celebrate this feast from a purely seasonal, spiritual (rather than religious) and culturally interested point of view, more than from a neopagan one - although I do like to delve into Neopaganism, as well as Celtic culture and general mythology, and Brighid is one of my favourite goddesses. What I sometimes do on these couple of days (1st-2nd February) is walk in the garden to welcome the first signs of Spring and tie a ribbon in one of the trees on the 31st January (or 1st February sometimes, it depends), following the Imbolc tradition of hanging a strip of cloth or ribbon in a tree to seek blessings and protection from the Goddess. I'm not much into rituals myself, but I quite like this particular tradition and have sometimes done it, it seems like a very druidic and drawn-to-nature thing to do, same as having a small altar of seasonal plants or decorating a Yule tree.

My 2014 Imbolc ribbon.

  So to celebrate one of my favourite festivals in the Wheel of the Year, I've thought about a couple of posts to talk about Imbolc and the goddess Brighid.

  A couple of years ago, on my final year of Irish in the Official Language School (EOI) in Madrid, we organized a couple of shows, and one of them was about the druids and the Celtic calendar This is what my teacher Emily Allen and I wrote about Imbolc (in Irish, English and Spanish), and the Power Point slides I created:

   -Sources include Wikipedia and some books. Irish translation is original. 

My slide. Images from Google.

Tosaíonn Imbolc ar an gcéad lá de mhí Feabhra agus baineann sé le teacht an t-Earraigh, go mbíonn na laethanta níos faide, níl sé chomh fuar, agus feictear na chéad bláthanna ag teacht anuas. Tagann an focal ‘Imbolc’ ón t-Sean-Ghaeilge, “i mbolg”, agus tagraíonn sé do na caoraigh a bheith ag iompar.

Imbolc begins on the 1st of February, and it's related to the coming of Spring, now that the days are becoming longer, it's not so cold and the first flowers begin to sprout forth. The word 'Imbolc' comes from the ancient Gaelic "i mbolg", and it refers to the pregnancy of ewes.

Imbolc comienza el día 1 de Febrero y está relacionado con la llegada de la primavera. Los días comienzan a ser más largos, no hace tanto frío y empiezan a aparecer las primeras flores. La palabra 'Imbolc' viene del Gaélico antiguo, “i mbolg”, y se refiere a la gestación de las ovejas.

The Wheel of the Year: Winter Solstice and Yule

'Solstice gathering', by Anne Stokes (Ironshod on DeviantArt)

• Neodruidism mindset:

"Alban Arthan (light of Arthur), the winter solstice, around December 21

Physically: Taking stock before the "hungry months"; using up any excess that will spoil

Magically: Witnessing the darkness in the longest night; celebrating the rebirth of the sun; taking stock at the darkest time; seeing what you are incubating.

Activity: Relighting a candle for the returning sun.

Deity form: The magical child. "

The Path of Druidry. Walking the Ancient Green Way (Penny Billington)- chapter 4 

 

                                       

Yesterday's Winter Solstice, the longest night of the year and the day that marks the beginning of Yule, caught me out of home for nearly whole day, so here comes a belated Yule post to celebrate the Solstice and the season! 

Given that yesterday I was too busy eating chocolate cake and fangirling about Benedict Cumberbatch's awesome acting in The Imitation Game along with my mum - a very good way to spend the Winter Solstice, nonetheless! - it was today that we put up and decorated the Yule tree (which we don't do every year, I hate being pressured and forced to do something, so I don't see festivities as activities and rituals I'm forced to fulfill). I also made my little ritual of cutting some small branches of plants of the season in our garden and decorating my 'altar space' with them. That's basically what I do in Yule (And my agnostic druidry resolutions about new goals, new inspiration and sloughing off the old). I usually choose these Wheel of the Year festivities in order to convince my procrastinating mind to bake a cake from time to time, as well xD. 

Regarding the gift-giving part of the festivity, both Christmas and Neopagan, I have to say that I strongly dislike all the Christmas consumerism vibes and general pressure to buy, buy, buy, and to reunite with the family in compulsory dinner events whether you like it or not, so I generally just ignore all those parts. Depending on the year, I may choose to gift something to my inner circle, but only because we all want to, as the fancy strikes us, and never as an obligation (I love giving gifts, but preferably when I want to, not when capitalism and social conventions tells me I have to xD). We humans have enough on our plate to add ridiculous guilt-processes such as society telling us we don't love people unless we spend lots of money on certain events (Christmas, Valentine's day, Mother/Father's day, you name it) :/. That's so ridiculous.

 Apart from the fact that I deeply dislike all the consumerism and mindset values forced on us at this time of the year (even though many people celebrate Christmas in a secular way, I also believe religious stuff should not be forced upon us, that is personal, let people do what they wish in their homes but don't bombard me in public spaces with carols and religious motives, jeesh), one thing I like about Yule is that it means that the light will begin to grow from now on. Not only do I like all the Sun symbolisms in Neodruidism and Neopaganism, but I also consider it  a hopeful time because I favour light and get pretty depressed in the darks days of Autumn and Winter. Knowing that the days will begin to be longer from now on makes me happier :).

"The apples represent the sun, the source of all life. The evergreens are symbols of immortality. The stalks of wheat represent the harvest - the triumph of the forces of light and life."

A Druid's Herbal for the Sacred Earth Year, chapter 4 (Ellen Evert Hopman)

 My Yule tree, representing an evergreen pine tree, with apples, wheat adornments and yellow to represent the Sun :) Plus the violins (which remind me nicely of Sherlock BBC, although I've been using them for years), and the pagan-ish gnomes:

"Holly, ivy, mistletoe, and other greens decorate the house. A house so recorated is prepared to welcome the nature spirits who may be seeking safe shelter from the cold and dark outside. A sprig of holly is retained all year for good luck."

A Druid's Herbal for the Sacred Earth Year, chapter 4 (Ellen Evert Hopman)

 

2020 update: Since 2019 I've been a big fan of Good Omens, so my apple decorations now come in handy to to match my Crowley obsession lol xD Stanning apples in trees since 4004 BC with the Tree of Knowledge xDD

 

Back in 2013-14, I sometimes also went for a 'season altar/adornment' for Yule: With evergreens (pine, holly/holm oak (we have both) and ivy) and fir cones. And the oak leaves from Mabon as an offering of thanks to the pine who gave me the couple of branches for the adornment. I like to dispose of the last season's leaves and branches in this way:

•  About Yule: Origin and traditions: 

 Sources (from my druidry books, Pinterest and other sites) are duly credited.

I only own the pictures of my 'altar' and my Yule tree. The rest I found in Google, DeviantArt and/or Pinterest, and are duly credited whenever I can! Some of the info pins' authors remain unknown to me. If you know the authorship of some of these pics, or if you are the author, please let me know, and I will credit them gladly!

   -Origins: Midwinter/the Winter solstice (the Summer solstice in the Southern hemisphere), the day with the shortest amount of sunlight and the longest night, is the most universally celebrated of the seasonal festivals - in order to help people get through the cold and bleak Winter months, and to welcome back the steadily lengthening days. Many civilizations welcomed their solar deities at the times of greatest darkness. There are many ancient structures around the world, dating from the late Stone Age, designed to mark the Sun's placement on this day. The famous megalithic sites of Stonehenge and Newgrange, for example, are aligned with the solstice sunrises and sunsets.

                                      

   The Scandinavian and Germanic peoples called this festival Yule, and this is the celebration upon which current Neopagan Yule is most based. The origin of the word has several suggested origins: The Old Norse word jöl and the Old English words gēola and iul ("wheel"). It marked the last month of the old year and the new month of the new year and was followed by eleven days of extended celebration (feasting and gift-giving were common elements).  To celebrate the return of light, folk would bring out their stored food and enjoy cheerful festivities. Dances, songs and the decorating of houses and trees would take place until what is today known as 'Twelfth Night', and the Yuletide festivities were brought to an end with a final day of merriment and activities.

   The Celts did not seem to celebrate the Solstice as the Germanic peoples did (some sources say that the druids decorated their 'temples' with evergreens as a symbol of everlasting life at this time, though). But in modern Celtic paganism and Neodruidism, Yule, alongside the rest of the solstices and equinoxes, is celebrated alongside the four ancient Celtic feasts (Samhain, Imbolc, Bealtaine and Lughnasadh). In  addition to Yule, the Solstice is also called Alban Arthan ("the Light of Arthur"). One possible meaning of the name refers to the Ursa Major or Great Bear constellation (Art being Brythonic Celtic for 'bear'). This constellation shines out in the sky and can symbolise the rebirth of the Sun. In modern druidism, Winter Soltice is also referred to with its Irish wording: Meán Gheimhridh.

'(Solstice) First Light', by  Spiralpathdesigns on DeviantArt

 

  

 For their part, the early Romans celebrated the Saturnalia, a festival of light in honour of the god Saturn leading to the Winter Solstice (the end of the year). The festival consisted in days of feasting and gift-giving. The renewal of light and the coming of the new year was celebrated in the later Roman Empire at the Dies Natalis Solis Invicti, the "Birthday of the Unconquerable Sun" in honour of the Roman solar god Sol Invictus, on December 25th (In the Julian calendar, December 25th marked the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year).  

As the Roman Empire came under Christian rule, the celebration of the Saturnalia and Natalis Invicti was still too popular with the Roman pagans for the Christian church to outlaw it, so over time it reassigned meanings to the traditions, recasting these customs into and/or heavily influencing the seasonal celebrations of Christmas (and New Year). Christianity chose the 25th of December to mark the birthday of Jesus Christ, placing it in line with the pagan Winter Solstice and festivities such as  as Natalis Invicti (more about this issue here)

 Fun facts - The Bible actually forbids such things as 'decorating trees from the forest', so 'Christmas tree' indeed xD And Christianity at the time of the Roman Saturnalia and Natalis Invicti also actually condemned the celebration of birthdays, be they related to people or deities (the date of the birth of Christ is not specified in many cases). So...yeah, ironic that they basically got heavily influenced - as every religion does *gasp* - by a series of former condemned Pagan festivities for their own Christmas :S xD 

   And even though these festivities are clearly and obviously earlier in the timeline of the history of the world, there are still plenty of Christian people who claim that, Christianity somehow always being the origin of all things, it never got influenced by Yule (Christmas tree and log cake, for example), Saturnalia, Natalis Invicti or any other Solstice-related Pagan festivities for their Christmas and the Nativity of Christ (we could also mention here that the former Middle Eastern myth of 'virgin' goddess Anahita and her son Mitra mirrors and precedes the Virgin Mary and Christ in practically every way, same as many pagan myths about the Goddess giving birth on her own to the God at this time, or the God being reborn at this time, which signals the return of the light). Still blows my mind how they can believe that Christianity wasn't influenced by former religions, beliefs and traditions, but there it is, they actually do :S xDD

 Today, Yule is generally considered a Neopagan celebration. It's a seasonal time that is celebrated particularly by those who wish to reconnect with nature and the pagan festivals of old, which align with the changing seasons in the Wheel of the Year. It's also a time for reflection, resolutions and renewal. A time to set new goals, ideas and projects.

  -Pagan religion elements: On the longest, darkest night, communities of old gathered around the Yule log to celebrate the birth of the son of the Goddess, the Star child, which would become a Sun deity representing the return of the light. In Wicca, Yule celebrates the rebirth of the Hornéd God, brought now back to life by the Goddess. The Goddess herself has a solar aspect as well, and is linked to light and fire as much as the God. She is honoured as the Mother Goddess, the mother of the Star Child, and the Triple Goddess (as seen in Brighid, deeply associated with fire, light and inspiration). 

'Yule', by cgb30 on DeviantArt. It depicts the Goddess (Cerridhwen), and the Hornéd God (Cernunnos).

In Wicca there is also a battle between the Holly King and the Oak King, in which the Oak, who represents lighter times, will finally win.

'The Yule Cup' by Christopher Bell

'Solstice blessings' (showing the Yule Goddess, probably Brighid), by Zingaia on DeviantArt.

"The deities honoured at Meán Geimhridh are the Dagda and Brighid, daughter of the Dagda, patroness of the Druids and Bards, and Goddess of healing, smithscraft, music and poetry.

(...) Brighid's flame of inspiration, like the flame of winter's new light, pierces the darkness of the mind and the spirit at Yuletide, while the cauldron of the Dagda brings assurance that Nature will continue to provide for all his children."

A Druid's Herbal for the Sacred Earth Year, chapter 4 (Ellen Evert Hopman)

  

-Modern vs ancient traditions: The ancient festival traditions were meant to celebrate the rebirth of the Sun and the balance of light and dark. This magic involved decorating homes, sharing gifts, lighting bonfires and giving offerings to the gods, such as red berries and seasonal greenery.

Many of the customs that we associate today with Christmas have their origins on Yule and other pagan Solstice festivities. Christmas trees and wreaths echo ancient customs of bringing greenery inside for protection during the Winter months. The Norse people placed great significance on the enduring symbols of fir, pine, holly and other evergreen plants. Pine in particular is associated with life and rebirth, as many trees can grow from a single cone. Mistletoe has long been considered a magical plant, sacred to the Celtic druids in particular, as well as to the Romans, the Greeks and the Scandinavians.

 The Yule log is generally a cake nowadays, but originally it was a branch used to light the house fire, especially an oak one. Oak was chosen for its slow-burning qualities and its ability to produce great heat. Part of the oak branch was saved for good luck, and was used to kindle the next Yule fire. The modern candle kindling echoes back to the ancient bonfires and the hearth flames, all Sun symbols to bring back and celebrate the start of the lengthening days.

Other sources:

http://www.owlsdaughter.com/owls-wings/

http://wicca.com/celtic/akasha/yule.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheel_of_the_Year#Midwinter_.28Yule.29

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/515240013590560291/

http://www.druidry.org/druid-way/teaching-and-practice/druid-festivals/winter-solstice-alban-arthan

Nice infographic about the origins and traditions of Yule (click for larger images):

Yule pagan holiday information, by LaPulia Studio

              

And to finish, I loved this:

"The Shortest Day", by Susan Cooper

Happy Yule, everyone!!