midwinter solstice cool yule

days noticeably longer- like by a half hour. And with these nights of bright moon, even the dark is less so. 

20 days since Solstice. Halfway to Imbolc.
It will be Spring.
Even if the days of single digit temps are here finally.

We are needing enforced down time as we evolve through this wombtime of winter.Upon a bed of ashes we built our fire
on a day of cold with lightly scattered snow.
Days of warmth and deep chill followed, gently carrying us through the gates of winter and past
to the edge of cycles
around the wheel.it was such a powerful ritual, a full one,
many families and folks and also solitude time
before and after alone with nature,
with the stream and the wind and the hard earth. 
I couldn’t write many notes
only some words here,
letting most of the pictures tell their story

passing the flame from a candle to a candle
which would light our magical fire

 

a fire lit with no match   burning next to the frozen well

  humble flame in the blue dark   3 chimes to start, each with a space deeper than the last
   

Bryan breaks the stick at exactly Yule. A new tradition.

Children waiting, not always so patiently, pacing or sitting, within or without,
with devices or not, coming & going. Tiny Tim.

our sweet grass alight our hands bright the fire speaks illuminating the night
 

 

 

 

 

wise fire- keep us healthy and strong encompassing fire- help us focus  mystical fire- carry our prayers   runes on icefrom the ancestors:Uruz or the primordial ox- aurochs
from the spirit of Nature & Place: Laguz, the lake, that which we draw up from, note that our waters are frozen, thinking about the reservoir and our water sources.
from the Gods & Goddesses: Manaz or the Self. There was something special being spoken about how we tend to look at the Gods and Goddesses as other and that there is an essence of humanity(that the Gods and Goddesses are in or through people) and that the mystery of this whole divine thing is more about the self.
and for the Season: Elhaz, the Elk Sedge, a position of attention or prayer or activity or action.

Be alert, the world needs more lerts.