Yule Preparations - Day 2

In my last post, I mentioned that I was going to represent the God and Goddess in my Yule celebrations. Now, I am a solitary witch and so do not subscribe to a particular Wiccan tradition - if you do then you are likely to already have close associations with particular deities and the associated names. But I enjoy the ecclectic nature of being solitary in this instance, that I can choose what I feel most drawn to and what I feel would most suit my spell or ritual. As long as I give thanks and am humble, I see all is well with this.

For this particular Yule, I am choosing the Triple Goddess and the horned God.

To represent the Triple Goddess I am going to use an altar cloth with her/their symbol on it. I am also going to use a display that features something else I talked of yesterday - the crystal ball. This will placed at the centre as it's to represent the full moon, the mother - full and abundant. On either side, to represent maiden and crone, I will have an acorn and an owl. Potential and vitality balanced by wisdom and a psychic eye.

Now for the horned God - I am going to use the guise of the Holly King for this. Plenty around and this represents perfectly a rich, deepness in character (in the dark green) and the scary edge (in the prickles)! Holly is something that I'm so happy to use in my Yule rituals and spells as not only does it have its Pagan traditions but it's one of the many things that remains with us today and so brings with it all the happy memories of childhood memories.

Now need to get cracking on putting some structure together for al these ideas!

Fran xxx

Yule Preparations - Day 1

It's funny that at this time of year, Yule represents the earth going to sleep or dying before its rebirth. And yet we are all running around like crazy trying to get everything done!

That said, it's time to start thinking about Yule traditions and making plans for my festive celebrations. In terms of renewal, I'm actually quite happy with the way that most of the important aspects of my life are going at the moment so I'm going to aim for stability - to keep up the good work and keep everything ticking over so that I am then ready for another spurt of enthusiasm and progress come Ostara. It's been a very chaotic time and so I am happy to see some calm and balance come in, it will be grounding for me.

I'm happy to throw in a bit of giving thanks for the opportunities I've had lately though - I don't plan to make it too sensible a party!

Anyhoo, here are some of my ideas so far:

• Red and green candles, for the sake of being tradionalist. And lots of them too being a celebration of light.
  
• Plenty of holly and mistletoe, for the same traditionalist reasons as above!
• Almonds, cloves and cinnamon
• Snow quartz
• Thyme - a great herb for this time of year.
  
• Last year I went for divination with a tarot reading. Plan to fit in crystal ball work this year.
• Symbolism for the God and Goddess, for which I have some ideas already but will let you know the details a bit nearer the time.

Can't wait for the next wave of ideas!

Fran x

Yule Blessings!

Just a quick one to wish you a Happy and a Blessed Yule! I'm hoping to post the results of my Yule tarot reading tomorrow and will let you know how my spell goes.

Have a great day/evening!!!!

Fran xx

Free Spell - Yule

I have finished my Yule spell! I’m really looking forward to it this year, I’ve got some high hopes and some interesting ideas I’d like try out. So, here we go - here’s how my week is going to pan out.

Tarot Reading
As mentioned here, I will be doing a tarot reading on the Sunday (20th). I will be using a 12 card spread to show the following:

1st card - what this past year has taught me.
2nd card - what my weaknesses are
3rd card - what next year holds for me in general
4th card - card for the 1st quarter of the new year
5th card - card for the 2nd quarter
6th card - card for the 3rd quarter
7th card - card for 4th quarter
8th card - where I will see my strengths grow
9th card - where I will find hurdles to my progression
10th card - how to overcome these hurdles
11th card - What new energies should I be ready for
12th card - conclusion and outcome

With this information I intend to write a statement of intent for my spell work the following day. This means writing down my hopes as well as some promises to myself that I will endeavour to work on.

Yule Altar
Around the room, I am hanging candles in jars. This has a soft but conscience altering affect on the room and builds some very warm, comforting energies. It is the perfect environment for working on change which can be unnerving in many ways. You will want to feel safe with the new path you are taking.

I will lay out my altar space with a barest minimum. My reason for this is to ensure that I do not carry over any energies from the past into my aims for the future. I am planning a 7 candle semi circle, I will complete the circle with my arms as I sit opposite, creating an intimate space between us. The candles will be 4 red and 3 green with tumblestones of red aventurine and malachite placed in between each one.

I am covering the altar with green velvet and will be placing bark, holly and pine in the middle, bound together in red ribbon to combine and strengthen the energies. I will also have a green apple which is going to be a central part of my spell. I’m really lucky in that a friend of mine is the actual apple grower! I have total faith therefore that it has been grown in a natural environment - and a trip out to the orchard is always lovely J The significance of the apple, in case you’re wondering, is that it is at the very last of its “life”, the harvest has finished. I will enjoy the season’s bounty but also prepare for a new one.

Yule Spell
First, light the semi circle of candles going from left to right. Say:

These brightest of flames
Lights the fire within
Its passion proclaims
A new life will begin

I will then read out my statement of intent from the previous day’s tarot reading (which I am going to write on red paper), focusing on building excitement as well as conviction!

Then taking the apple in my hand, I will say:
My apple is bounty
Ripened by the waning sun
My abilities are plenty
Growing and just begun

My aim is to discover
And to enhance all areas of my sphere
My potential I will uncover
The path ahead is to become clear

For the following 7 days I am going to light one of the candles for 5 minutes, repeating the first section of the spell. Then I will open up my mind to images, thoughts and any inspiration that comes to me to aid me in this new beginning.

As ever, there is so much that you can do to adjust this spell if you want. I always fully recommend the personal touch, never more so than when you are looking for new beginnings and self discovery.

Good luck and brightest blessings!!

Fran xx

Yule Diary

As mentioned before, Yule is a time for new beginnings and much of the traditional celebrations centre around this fresh, exciting energy. Many spells encourage change and try to open up opportunities. I often try to add something in my spells to help unblock energies also.

This is because there can be all sorts of underlying reasons why you may not be moving forwards in your life as you should be - a fear of leaving the past (with the associated memories) behind, worrying that you are not up to the challenges that lie ahead or you may simply be averse to change. It is always worthwhile spending a little time considering how you feel about your new plans. What makes you feel nervous and what are the obstacles. If you tackle these, your Yule/new beginnings spells are more likely to work for you.

Over the next few days I’m going to be thinking of the best Yule witchcraft ingredients, colours, wording etc. But in the meantime, I need to start being totally honest with myself!

Yuletide Time!

Is Christmas on its way? I’d hardly noticed! ;)

To you and me of course this means the Winter Solstice - Yule! It doesn’t feel like 5 minutes since I was writing about my Samhain/Halloween plans but already there’s more to do. I’m certainly not complaining though, I absolutely love this time of year and I could do with working some more on my Samhain led focus!

I’m going to do the same thing again, posting all of my plans as I go along, sharing the final spell when I’ve completed it. I’ll also include some of the Yule traditions celebrated by others so this may give you some ideas or inspiration for your own merry making :)

In the meantime, here’s some little nuggets of Yule info to warm the cockles:

• Winter Solstice for 2009 is 21st December. (I’m planning to spread out my spells, rituals and honouring between the 21st and the 25th, for convenience sake as much as anything. Don’t want to be a stick in the mud on Christmas Day either!)

• This is the longest night of the year - it’s all uphill from then on! The sun will be returning to us (in the shape of longer days), bringing life, food and light back into our lives. The fire of the traditional burning of the Yule log represents the sun.

• Mistletoe, holly and ivy were all brought into Pagan homes due to them being evergreen and therefore representatives of the greenery that was to return in the coming months.

• In many Pagan traditions, the winter solstice is the new year.

• This is the time in the Wheel of Life when the God is reborn to the Goddess so birth and regeneration is celebrated.

• Oh, and apparently there’s also always been a tradition of exchanging gifts. Don’t know what happened to that one, eh?!

Happy Shopping Blessings! x