Embracing the Shadow to Release the Light

For the last 3 years I have had the privilege of spending Yule with my Hedgeriding sistars on a beautiful property on Gadubanud country at Apollo Bay. This time is in honour of the deep, dark wisdom of Winter Solstice & perfect for sitting in circles to process life as we craft & cook & tell stories. With fires burning & incense filling the air, we work our insights into crowns & magickal pouches & mommets & baked goods, & in doing so we are able to ground & centre ourselves around the growth that is available at such moments.

The reality of multiple perspectives & how they can influence our sense of self was a conversation that taught me a lot this Yule. It is easy to get lost in the way that others see the world they share with us & the distraction created with this can often elicit feelings of frustration or fear or futility… potentially a very disempowering experience.

One magickal craft that helped me to regain & reinforce my own perspective was the Yule Pouch. We began by crafting a pouch to hold the working, something that is created with what is available & woven to appeal to our personal aesthetics. Then we fill the pouch with symbolic representations of the dreams that we have for our year to come, such as a clove of garlic for protection against sickness or a small fruit to ensure that our efforts bring us an abundant return or words written on a bay leaf to hold wishes. During the Yule bonfire we take a moment to energise the pouches in a quiet, meditative state, & then they are sealed. These pouches are placed in a significant place in the home to radiate the contained magick throughout the year.

The pouch that I made last year was emptied to be refilled this year. In doing this I realised just how successful my last Yule Pouch was as it hung above my bed since the time it was sealed… all that I had asked for had come to be! It is subtle & gentle magick that I highly recommend.

As I write this, today is the shortest day & longest night & I am preparing to celebrate this auspicious time with my partner & my children. We shall feast & make a small altar in the lounge room that we can assemble our mattresses around for a slumber party. The night will be filled with movies & stories & a few simple spells…

Dreaming Stone Spell

Take a stone that feels right & hop into your bed with it. Hold it in your left hand (right if you are left-handed) & listen to what it has to say to you. Then hold it in your right hand (left if you are left-handed) & dream about the life that you wish to be living. Let this dream flow from your mind, down through your arm & hand & into the stone. Give the stone a kiss & place it on a dish of salt beside your head while you sleep on the longest night. In the morning, place the stone in your pillow case so that it is under your head every night as you dream. Journal your dreams in the days/weeks/months to come or discuss them with your friends & family. In this way you are able to access the insights that you need to manifest the life that you dream of. Toss the salt outside your bedroom window. When you feel the time is right, cleanse the stone for reuse or return it to the place that it came from (eg. earth or sea etc.).

Wishing with Bay

Make a fire or light a candle & sit beside it thinking about what you wish for more than anything in the world. This wish must be something are willing to work towards & make sacrifices for it to come to be. Write the wish onto a bay leaf, read it out 3 times & then burn it in the flame of the fire or candle. Let the ash drift where it may.

Whatever your adventures are for this Winter Solstice, may they be blessed.

HAPPY YULE!!

Alison xxx

Winter Solstice

Yule 2016

Solstice Blessings!

The candles are lit here at The Hedgewitchery in preparation for the longest night… The children are playing with their Solstice gifts, the oven is baking our evening meal & warming the house, there are nuts & pastries & hot chocolates. Tonight we will sit around a fire & craft our dream wishes using quick drying clay, have a shadow puppet show, set out our crystals to catch the residual Full Moon glow overnight & the rebirthing Sun light at dawn, & place dream incubation bowls beside our beds to enhance our dreaming experiences. We really love this time of year!

This Winter is asking me to take the time for self reflection & to become aware of how I am reflected through my external world. This is what I will be doing to help with that…

At sunset (5:08pm here in Melbourne)…

  • Stand facing West & sing my Sun Prayer- “Every morning I wake up to see Your shining face. You give me the energy to face this human race. You’re watching over me all throughout the day, and in the evening time You slowly fade away… It sends chills down my spine to see the Sun’s shine!
  • Make an offering with gratitude in your heart for the bounty of Sun. Mine will be a liquid libation.
  • Contemplate how life has unfolded since the last Winter Solstice & look at the changes that have been made within your core in the past year.
  • Pluck out a piece of hair while thinking about who you are now, then bury it at the western-most spot of your property.

At midnight…

  • Sit in meditation then consider goals that you would like to see drawing nearer in the next year.
  • Make a “To Do” list that outlines the steps to reaching your goals, with the highest priority at the top.

At sunrise (7:36am here in Melbourne)

  • Face the rising Sun & sing His praises.
  • Make an offering, mine will be the dream incubation water that I have with me through the night.
  • Read aloud the “To Do” list from a place of internal power.
  • Give thanks for the return of Sun & spend as much time basking in His light as you can.

Have a lovely night folks.

Alison xxx

Winter Solstice rite

Spirit Animal: The Hawk by FuShan via deviantart

This rite is to be done in two parts… Part 1 at Sunset of the longest night, Part 2 at Sunrise after the longest night. Where I live that will be Sunday the 21st June.

You will need:

A bowl of Holy Water (I will be using Florida Water that I made last Balsamic Moon)

A bowl of Bay leaves

A candle that will burn the whole night through but not much longer than that

Sandalwood incense (with myrrh if you have it)

Mandrake oil or Frankincense oil

A pen, paper, matches, a skewer or blade, & a spade

Part 1

Begin at Sunset. Take your candle &, using the skewer, inscribe it with symbols or words that make you feel connected to the mysteries, that bring you protection & potency. Then light it with the matches & light your incense from its flame.

Stand tall & with grace, facing West. Dig deep & ponder who you have been & then write your story down on paper. Read it back to yourself. Then, rip it into tiny pieces & place them into the bowl of Holy Water. Hold the bowl in your hands & pray for your past to rest in peace.

Take the bowl to an outdoor space in the West. Pour the water out with the paper that was you & bid yourself farewell.

Return indoors & take the bowl of Bay, inhale its scent & place it next to the candle. Rub a drop of Mandrake or Frankincense oil onto your Third Eye then sit facing East, close your eyes & dream of your perfect place. From this spot, allow yourself to fly as Hawk & venture into unknown spaces & times. Look long at the details of any visons that are exciting or desirable or enticing to you, pondering how these visions can be turned into wishes for your coming times.

When you return, write these wishes onto the Bay leaves, 1 wish per leaf. Hold the bowl of wishes in your hands & pray for your future to bring dreams coming true. Sit the bowl next to the candle.

If you can, stay awake all night busying yourself with productive work such as baking or sewing or crafting. If you need to sleep, it would be nice to do so with your candle & bowl placed safely nearby.

Part 2

As the Sun rises, light some more incense & read back over your Bay wishes. Watch the Sun rising & give thanks for the return of light after the longest night. This is done nicely with a warm cup of tea or bowl of porridge.

When you are ready & your praises have been sung, take the Bay wishes & your spade to an outdoor space in the East. Bury your Bay leaves, pat the soil down & whisper your blessings over it. Return to this spot often to place fortune over your wishes. Allow your candle to burn until it goes out naturally.

Notes:

  • create sacred space for these processes in whatever way suits your sensibilities
  • be sure to dispose of the candle wax & incense dust responsibly & intentionally, eg buried under your tree friend
  • make a list of the steps you can be taking to ensure the manifestation of your wishes & stick it somewhere that you can see it, crossing off each step as you complete it

)O(

Winter Solstice

The Winter Solstice festival is known as Yule in many circles, the root of this word in Old Norse means wheel & it represents the lowest point of the wheel of the year… when waning becomes waxing. This is the time when Mother Night encircles the Sun in her loving arms for the longest time during his cycle, & she returns him to us renewed & full of hope. As the Sun cycle waxes new, I will be spending 12 days in celebration of the returning light with candles lit, fires burning, feasting, story telling, baking & camping out in the living room with my children working dream incubation spells. Here are some ideas for your Winter Solstice celebrations…

Incense Blend…

I will be filling my home with this wonderful blend for the whole festival time to keep my spirit adrift & to open my heart & blood to the potential of this time.

Juniper berries

Frankincense resin

Damiana leaves

Dragon’s Blood resin

Cinnamon bark

 

Dream Incubation…

This is great to do with children to honour this time of year. We place mattresses in the living area so that all of our heads are angled to a central point & set up this spell in the middle.

As the Sun sets on the longest night, write or draw your wishes on a piece of paper. Fold it once, set it at the head of your bed & place a stone on top of it (we use smokey quartz or moonstone). In the center of these wishes place a bowl of sacred water (or water from a natural source, or filtered tap water at the very least) with lavender flowers in it.

Before you go to sleep, take turns whispering your wishes into the bowl of water & as you rise in the morning, discuss your dreams from the night before & how they may be clues for making your wishes come true.

After your Winter Solstice celebrations, return the water & lavender to nature, bury your wishes under a tree & carry your stones with you or keep them under your pillow.

 

And from the inspiring Michelle Duke-

Yule Log…

The longest night is a wonderful time to go deep within, to reflect, to enter the womb of creation. Seek out those parts of yourself that have been long forgotten, lost, unloved, & prepare to reawaken them from their slumber.

Gather together- Corn Husk, Cinnamon, Clove, Ginger, Nutmeg, Sandalwood, Frankincense, Orange rind

Fill the corn husk with the herbs & any other symbolic things that you would like to burn, for example written words or hair. Wrap twine around it to create a log shape. Toss the Yule Log into your Winter Solstice fire or burn as a smudge for your home.

)O(

YULE – The Winter Solstice

The longest night will be on Friday the 21st of June… tomorrow. I will be sharing a lovely story-telling, dream-pillow-making, soup-eating, mulled-wine-drinking evening with some wonderfully magickal folks to celebrate this festival. I will also be stepping through 3 gateways during the course of the longest night to honour this time & encourage my own energy to grow & flow with the natural currents available to me.

SUNSET (17:08 AEST) – Moving Through The Western Gate

At sunset I plan on lighting a candle in the West & watching as Father Sun takes his descent into His longest journey through the darkness of Mother Night. I will grieve for Him as He goes & in that grief I will bring all that I need to release to the surface & out through my right palm to anchor it into a rock. I will place a tear onto the rock & sit it next to the candle.

THE WITCHING HOUR (midnight) – Moving Through The Southern Gate

I will take the rock & glass of wine to the bridge over my local river at the Witching Hour. Holding the rock in my left hand & the wine in my right hand I will send my awareness to the water below, down through the water & through the earth beneath it, through the molten center of this planet & up & up through the soil & out of the soil on the other side & through space to finally stop in front of Father Sun. I will tell Him why I wish for His return, tell Him of the importance of His presence in my life. Then my awareness will slowly come back until I am once more on the bridge & I will whisper into the cup of wine “Thank you Mother Night for His safe return.’ & I will pour the wine into the river. Then I will whisper to the rock “Thank you for the lessons that the grief you hold has given to me, I can let them go now.” & then I will throw the rock into the water.

SUNRISE (07:36 AEST) – Moving Through The Eastern Gate

In the East I will light some incense & sit in meditation reflecting on all of the parts of my world that are building & growing. I will give thanks for the return of Father Sun & the gifts that He is bringing into my life & I will give thanks for the abundance that has been provided to me.Then I will sing…

‘Every morning I wake up to see your shining face

You give me the energy to face the human race

You’re watching over me all throughout the day

Then in the evening time you slowly fade away.

It sends chills down my spine to see the Sun’s shine

It sends chills down my spine to see the Sun’s shine…’

(words by me)

HAPPY YULE!

)O(

MOON Virgo SUN Aquarius

The Full Moon in Leo was a big time for many people that I have crossed paths with, & for myself it became a time to stand firmly in my Emotional Body & clear anything that was fogging it up. This clarity has been ground breaking. My Emotional Body is clear & crisp & now whispers to me, ‘No longer accept the external expectations of others.’ I am so grateful for this wisdom.

And now I look to this Virgo Disseminating Moon feeling my body, my flesh & blood, my fluids & filaments. I search my body for the answer to undying questions. I hold my body to this ever-present Earth. I learn from my body as it speaks to me. I learn from this Earth as She speaks to me… Their needs are not very different really.

As Lammas approaches I prepare to seek out the best of my harvest, the most loving & most joyous of all that has been growing around me. I will send their seeds with Lugh on His journey into the Shadow Realms where they will be blessed with the richest & deepest of love, & when they return to me with the Dawning after Yule, I will relish in their Spirit & the hope that they will bring to my future.

)O(