This year, for whatever reason, I have been in a festive spirit for weeks. I wish I could pinpont it to some specific thing that I could share as a surefire way to get in the mood, but it’s been a gradual accumulation of little wonderful things, helped along splendidly by a couple of light snowfalls. Getting to visit schools filled with kids exploding with Christmas energy definitely sets the mood. Reading seasonal books helps; traditions help too.
For books, Winter Solstice (as suggested by Austen several years ago) is one that I am right in the middle of; I knew from reading a few other Rosamunde Pilcher books this year that I would have to allow a bit of extra time to get through it in order to finish on the Solstice - and I think I’m on track! I kicked off my seasonal books with listening to Murder in Season mid-November. (I will never choose one of the series as my best books of the year, but I will keep reading them!) Just this week, I listened to Nigel Slater’s The Christmas Chronicles as I drove. It’s a delicious, warming, cozy deep dive into English Christmas traditions, with luxurious food writing that was just a joy to listen to. (It did make me impulse purchase two types of cheese when visiting the grocery store, but they certainly won’t go to waste.) It covers Pagan and Christmas traditions and lore, markets in Germany, wreath making, Christmas pudding, and on and on. I will say that there is also a healthy dose of snobbery. (Heaven forbid someone buy a supermarket turkey! Or use red as a decor colour - how garish! And if you can’t send your cards in time to arrive before Christmas, don’t bother - you’ll offend the recipient. And if they’re written in ballpoint pen, you might as well resign yourself to eternal damnation.) Those laughable things aside, it was still cozy and comforting, instructive and informative, and after borrowing the audiobook through the library, I just ordered myself a copy of the print book to enjoy year after year. It has all of the Christmas feels.
Solstice has become increasingly meaningful to me over the years. So many things about the wastefulness, shallowness and commercialization of how Christmas is celebrated and advertised much (but not all) of the time just don’t feel good to me, and I’ve always felt that there is so much more. This year I’ve been learning more about the depth of the history and folklore of this season that predates Christianity. As for the Winter Solstice, it feels lovely to connect to the very visible shift that comes after the longest night when the light returns. It’s such a symbolically rich event to celebrate, and people all over the world have been doing so for a very long time. I’ve been watching The Witches Cookery videos on YouTube for the past few weeks; she’s Bavarian and shares so much of the lore and history of this time of year from the Pagan tradition. It’s so interesting to see how celebrations evolve as time goes by, and the things that stay the same - like the returning of the sun.
December 21is often a work day, but this year it falls on our first day of Christmas break. We keep things fairly simple, but here are three things I try to incorporate every year.
Oranges: In order to grow, oranges need a great deal of sun, which is essentially contained in each fruit. Isn’t that a lovely thought? They are round and orange, like the sun, and when sliced and hung on the tree, as the light shines through, each one looks like a sun with outward rays. And the vitamin C at this time of year is always good! You can slice and dry them in a dehydrator or the oven, or just enjoy the delicious treat of a perfectly ripe clementine or orange. (In The Christmas Chronicles which I mentioned above, I learned a story of how the tradition of oranges in stockings came to be when Saint Nicholas saved three daughters by giving golden orbs to them.)
Solstice Cake: For the past several years, I have made a gingerbread bundt cake, decorated with pomegranate seeds, icing sugar, and sometimes candied cranberries and rosemary. It’s a quick and simple cake to put together; it’s round to echo the shape of the sun, and the warmth of the spices is reminiscent of the warmth of summer. I include a little bit of honey from our bees to remember the warmth and bounty of the sun that still exists at this darkest time of year. The recipe is here.
That little lump on this side of the pond is the beaver!
Bonfire: If the weather cooperates, we like to have a bonfire down by our pond. It’s not so much fun when it’s gusting to 80 and pouring rain, but it is absolutely perfect on a clear and calm night. A hot drink and an old coat (cinders!) make it especially enjoyable. I’m not sure how it will affect things this year, but we have a beaver who has been hanging out around the pond for a few weeks now - I’m not sure why, or where she came from... my suspicion (although a bit of a reach) is that she saw the two giant piles of branches that we piled up this fall but didn’t get around to burning and saw a pre-fab lodge? Regardless, I haven’t figured out exactly where amongst the long grasses, pond edges and branch piles she is living - so I don’t dare burn the branches in case she’s finishing them up for some sort of winter shelter. We do have a fire pit there, so hopefully if we have a fire in it, it won’t disturb her too much. We’ll leave the branch piles. We have some old beehive boxes to burn; I love the idea of the beeswax and propolis remnants on the wood being consumed by the fire, and the vestiges of summer going up in smoke as we turn toward the sun.
I am very much looking forward to Wednesday and the pause it brings; to the looking back and forward, to thinking about the legend of the Holly King and the Oak King battling it out, to considering all of the light and summer sun that is contained in so many of the foods that we enjoy. May you find light in this darkest time of year. I’ll leave you with a Winter Solstice blessing I came across recently (author unknown).
A Winter Solstice Blessing
May you find peace in the promise of the solstice night,
That each day forward is blessed with more light.
That the cycle of nature, unbroken and true,
Brings faith to your soul and well-being to you.
Rejoice in the darkness, in the silence find rest,
And may the days that follow be abundantly blessed.