Marking the Winter Solstice

 

Our days are much shorter with dawn coming later & night coming earlier. 

It is the time to 'nest' when you can, to take stock as the year winds down to Christmas. 

I like to bring in fresh greenery in to the home - fir, holly, ivy, pine cones & my garland is up on the front door to welcome in visitors too. 

I went in to the woods last weekend to forage & came out with a handful of gorgeous fallen branches. 

I have tied them up in to a swag & put them on the patio chimnea that faces the house so they can be seen from the windows. 

The taller branches are in the funnel of the chimnea, along with the autumn ones I picked up some weeks before from the same woods. 

They are a visual link to nature & my love of forests & woods. 

There is something very therapeutic about spending time in woods or forests, the smell of pines, of gentle sounds of nature & being able to pick up some branches - it is an important connection. 

The Winter Solstice marks the shortest day & the longest night of the year, when darkness abounds & the light will slowly start to return again.  

This is how I have marked the Winter Solstice previously 

It is a good time to reconnect with nature & the natural rhythm of the season. Bringing in natural greenery is important too - less faux, more real. 

This time is also known as Yule, or Modranight (Mother Night), or Midwinter - it is the gentle pause in the seasons.

Norse & some Anglo Saxon cultures celebrate the influence of Mothers on this night, their wisdom & lineage remembered, their stories told so they are not forgotten. It is a lovely tradition. 

This is some of my female ancestors who had a big influence on my life. I am so fortunate to have several generational photos of my maternal line ... 

I like to do a simmer pot of winter scents at Solstice to fill the home with fresh fragrance & light candles to mark the return of the light. A dark cycle completing ... 

These are the herbs associated with the Winter Solstice. 

 I look forward to the light slowly returning but I also love the dark nights when homes are lit by gentle lights over the festive season. 

Thank you for stopping by & visiting with me, 

Dee 🕯️🌲🍁🪾🔥

The Holly & the Ivy - bringing the greenery in ....

 It is time for me to take my garden clippers & head off to the local hedgerows to cut some holly & ivy to bring in to the house as a traditional greening or to  'deck with halls with boughs of holly ... '

We have had a wreath on our front door since the first Sunday of Advent but I love to go one step further & bring in some fresh greenery in the last week before Christmas. 

I have brought out the portmeirion candlestick & dishes with the traditional images ... 

This custom has pagan origins and the familiar carol is well known & it is common to see it on cards & decorations at this time of the year.  I picked some fresh holly branches at my friend today ... 

Holly & ivy are evergreens so they remind us of the coming Spring, the return of the light after a dark winter period. The prickly holly leaves & blood red berries are sometimes associated with the crown of Christ & the blood shed. 

Mistletoe is also closely associated with it, sprigs are still hung under which you can kiss. This was used by Druids in time past as a symbol of joy & peace.  Enemies had to form a truce if they met in woodlands under which mistletoe grew ... 

I love lighting a candle in this candle stick that is the classic holly & ivy,  I have brought in fresh holly & ivy as is traditional. It is good to observe small rituals associated with this time of the year. 

Thank you for your time; each visit is appreciated, 

Dee ~💕~