Today marks our shortest day & longest night - the Winter Solstice marks the turning point when our light will slowly return from our deep midwinter.
I like to celebrate this change & this was previous years ...
It is the time when greenery is welcomed in the home - holly, ivy, mistletoe, logs all signify the connection to nature in the deepest winter nights.
It is a time to hang garlands on the door & bring greenery & light in to the home, a time for log fires, candles, comfort & joy.
In times long gone, winter was a time to reflect & be thankful after a busy summer & harvest. The short days signalled to animals to conserve their energy by hibernating & it felt as if time is suspended. A bad harvest for our agrarian ancestors would have been disastrous so they gave thanks for any blessings that came their way, acknowledging their dependency on nature & its fickle ways.
Our busy lives have little time to rest, reset, restore so this is time to do just that in the lead up to the busy festive season with all the expectations & emotions that brings. Embrace the sleeping, glistening landscape, the pure snows, the quieter times, the warmth of steaming bowls of soup or indulgent hot chocolate wrapped in gloved hands, with steaming breaths in the cold air. Take in the smells of woods or forests that bring a natural stillness & calming when things start to overwhelm you, when memories become raw ...
Some Anglo Saxon & Norse cultures celebrate Modraniht, Mother's night, the long line of Mothers who came before us & their influence on us. They are the wise & benevolent women ancestors whose wisdom guide us. Stories of grandmothers, great-grandmothers & other women in the family are shared & passed on so their spirit lives on. It is both a solemn & joyous time honoring them.
My winter simmer pot is ready to give the home a wonderful natural scent of cloves, cinnamon (for success, wealth & abundance), star anise (for healing, luck & clarity), juniper berries, rosemary (for protection), sage, lemon grass, lemon & orange (happiness & prosperity & symbolises the return of the sun)
May you welcome in the light again with candles & positive thoughts; in the dark of winter, we make the light
Dee🕯️🌲🕯️🎄🕯️
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