Chapter 15

december

December is a month for holiday celebrations, no matter which religion you follow. For Pagans, that holiday is Yule, which falls on or around December twenty-first. Yule is a celebration of the Winter Solstice, the longest night of the year.

In the Wiccan symbolism of the turning Wheel of the Year, this is the time when the Holly King (who represents the dark half of the year) is overthrown by the Oak King (who represents the light half of the year), thus ensuring the slow return of light and warmth. The goddess, as Mother, gives birth to the infant god, completing the cycle of birth, growth, death, and rebirth. Hope is born again.

Wiccans celebrate Yule by making wreaths of pine boughs or holly, or by bringing a small living tree indoors and decorating it with apples, cinnamon sticks, or popcorn to feed the wood sprites that might come in with it. Fir trees are traditional because they are symbolic of the “life in the midst of death” aspect of the season, since they remain green when most other trees are bare.

We kindle bonfires and light lots of candles to represent the return of the light, and burn a Yule log for good fortune in the coming year.

Clearly, many of the traditions most people associate with Christmas are rooted in the pagan festivities of Yule. The tree, wreaths, holly, and mistletoe are familiar pagan symbols, and the Christmas colors of green and red come from these as well. The five-pointed star on top of the tree is derived from the pentacle that symbolizes the five elements of Earth, Air, Fire, Water, and Spirit. Even Santa Claus—the Oak King in another guise—brings gifts to represent the prosperity of the coming year.

Because of the many similarities between the two holidays, many Wiccans choose this time of year to share their pagan celebrations with their non-pagan friends. People who might be uncomfortable coming to a ritual may be quite happy to be invited to a Winter Solstice party.

Blue Moon Circle uses this time to include the significant others of our group members. Often, family and friends attend as well. Rather than have a Full Moon ritual, we often have a Solstice feast instead, and simply enjoy the holiday and the pleasure of being able to share it with the ones we love.

Yule ritual

Supplies:

• Bag or basket with small gifts, enough for everyone (these can be packets of incense, candles, small statues—anything that would appeal to most people and cost very little. A local dollar store is a great place to find such things.)
• A Yule tree, if you want to use one
• Drums

Of all the holidays of the year, Yule seems to be the easiest to share with non-pagan friends and family—maybe because so much of it is so familiar to them. This ritual is written with that in mind, and takes into consideration the possibility of guests who might be less familiar with ritual in general. Therefore, there is more explanation than usual. Feel free to leave some of the explanatory passages out if they aren’t necessary for your group’s ritual.

• • •

HPS/HP:

Welcome to our celebration of the Winter Solstice, also known as Yule. Today is the shortest day of the year and the longest night. Tonight the darkness rules. Yet we rejoice in the light to come as each day moves us toward the spring and new growth. We come together to celebrate the turning of the cosmic Wheel, a constant cycle of dark and light, death and rebirth, where nothing is ever lost, and all things have their proper time and place. Tonight we rejoice together. (Group members beat drums for a minute.)

HPS/HP:

We will now cast our circle and create a sacred space. We purify the circle with sage, representing the elements of Fire and Air.

• Group member walks around the circle with sage.

HPS/HP:

We purify the circle with salt and with water, representing the elements of Earth and Water.

• Circle member walks around the circle with salt and water.

HPS/HP:

Next, we summon the spirits of the four quarters to guard us.

Group member calls East:

Watchtower of the East, element of Air, join us in our circle, and watch over us as we celebrate. Blow away all negativity, and leave us feeling clear and centered. Welcome, and blessed be. (Light yellow candle.)

Group member calls South:

Watchtower of the South, element of Fire, join us in our circle and watch over us as we celebrate. Burn away stress and turmoil, leaving us filled with the joy of the season. Welcome, and blessed be. (Light red candle.)

Group member calls West:

Watchtower of the West, element of Water, join us in our circle and watch over us as we celebrate. Wash away our doubts and fears, and leave us open to new possibilities. Welcome, and blessed be. (Light blue candle.)

Group member calls North:

Watchtower of the North, element of Earth, join us in our circle and watch over us as we celebrate. Help us to be grounded and firm in our intentions. Welcome, and blessed be. (Light green candle.)

HPS invokes the goddess:

I invoke the goddess, gracious lady of the moon, from whom all blessings flow. At Yule, we celebrate you in your guise as Mother, bringing us your gift of a new son and hope for the future. Surround us with your love as we celebrate this rite in your honor. Welcome, and blessed be.

HP invokes the god:

I invoke the god, King of Oak and of Holly. You grew old in the service of your people, and now you are reborn again. Share with us the wisdom of the old king, and the youthful energy of the new as we celebrate this rite in your honor. Welcome, and blessed be.

HPS/HP:

Hand to hand I cast the circle. (Hands are joined around circle.) The circle is cast; we are between the worlds. This is a sacred space, outside of time, where we are joined in perfect love, and perfect trust. Let all we do within this space be for good. So mote it be.

HPS/HP:

Winter Solstice is a day celebrated by many different cultures throughout history. Even Christianity adopted many of the pagan elements of Yule, such as the Yule tree or Yule log, and the symbolic kindling of lights that has evolved into the lights hung upon the Christmas tree. All through the world people have historically observed this important day in the cycle of the yearly Wheel.

HPS/HP:

One thing that almost all cultures have in common is the giving of gifts! (Enthusiastic drumming. Yells of joy). We will now pass out these small gifts to you, as a memento of our time here together. (Group member walks around the circle handing out gifts.)

HPS/HP:

Of course, there are many important gifts that are less tangible than these.

Group member:

There is the gift of family and friends.

Group member:

There is the gift of a day to spend together with those we love and cherish.

Group member:

There are the gifts of health, of prosperity, of knowledge, and of joy. (If you have more members, this can be split up further.)

Group member:

There is the gift of love.

HPS/HP:

And there is a gift that we traditionally ask for at this time of year—peace on Earth, and goodwill toward all. In these troubled days, we need this gift more than ever. So, tonight we will join together and cast a spell for peace. A spell is much like a wish or a prayer—it is intent made manifest. We focus our will, and send that power out into the universe to create positive change. And in doing so, we pledge our commitment to work toward that change. Any spell is powerful. Working together in this sacred space, with all our energies focused on the same goal, who knows what we can achieve?

Now we raise energy by drumming, by clapping, by dancing. As we do these things, let us focus our thoughts on our goal tonight, the goal of peace. When the time is right, and the power is at its peak, we will stop drumming and recite the spell together. After the spell, we will ground ourselves, releasing the energy we have built up into the earth below.

• Circle members drum, clap, and stomp their feet. When the energy reaches its peak, HPS beats drum hard to signal everyone to stop. Then she leads the group in reciting the spell:

Great Goddess, Great God, please grant this boon

Bring us peace, and bring it soon

With winter’s quiet and snow’s pure fall

Bring peace to the world and joy to all

With each white flake let love give birth

Bringing calm, serenity, and peace on Earth

So mote it be

• • •

• Ground by touching hands to the floor to discharge any excess energy. Hug and kiss, if everyone is comfortable with that.
• Pass cakes and ale. Cider or mulled wine are perfect for this holiday, as are decorated cookies.
• Pass the speaking stick.

HPS/HP:

This is the time that we pass the speaking stick. Each person will have a chance to talk about gifts they would like to receive, and those they would like to give in the coming year. If you don’t wish to speak, that’s fine. (HPS starts. Examples: “I’d like to receive the gifts of health, prosperity, and love. I’d like to give the gifts of compassion and patience.”)

• Dismiss the quarters. (“I thank the Guardian of the East for watching over our circle. Farewell, and blessed be,” and so forth.)

HP thanks the god:

Great Oak King, we thank you for joining us in our celebration tonight. May your reign be easy—and brief! Farewell, and blessed be.

HPS thanks the goddess:

Great Goddess, you who are Mother of us all, we thank you for your presence here, tonight and always. Farewell and blessed be.

• All join hands.

HPS/HP says:

The circle is open but never broken. Merrie meet, merrie part, and merrie meet again! (Raise hands into the air, and then let go of each other. The circle is opened.)

December New Moon

Crafting a Yule wreath

The Yule wreath is a perfect symbol for the season. Its circular form represents the never-ending cycle of life and death, and the evergreens, holly and other plants remind us that life continues in the midst of the winter cold and dark. You can even tuck in a piece of mistletoe, if you want to add a bit of romance!

Although practicing magick is often a serious business, sometimes it is nice just to relax and have a little fun. Reverence and mirth, after all—they both have their place. So, for the December New Moon, Blue Moon Circle takes a break from the serious work of crafting magick and crafts a wreath together instead.

Not only is this an enjoyable and entertaining way to pass the time, but it also gives us a chance to chat, play, and to get to know each other better—something that is often difficult to do in the midst of the more intense practice of our Craft.

Supplies:

• One wreath base (this base can be made from willow, or any other twisted wood or vine; it should be easy to find at your local craft store, or any large “supercenter”-type store)
• Freshly cut evergreen boughs (you can always cut these off of a small Christmas tree if you don’t have any evergreens growing near you and can’t find pre-cut evergreens at your local florist.)
• Holly, mistletoe, herbs (rosemary is especially nice—any living plant that lasts for a while when cut will do, even flowers like roses or carnations in seasonal colors.)
• Pinecones
• Cinnamon sticks
• Lightweight wire (like florist’s wire)
• Flat ribbons in red, green, and gold
• Permanent ink fine/medium point marker
• A glue gun might be helpful, but you can do without one.

Note: If you really want to be relaxed about this, you can skip casting the circle on this occasion. If you like, enjoy some mulled cider or wine and a cookie or two while you’re working (to keep your strength up . . .)

• • •

• Consecrate and cleanse the circle with sage or incense.
• Consecrate and cleanse the circle with salt and water.
• Cast the circle hand to hand.
• Call the quarters.
• HPS invokes the goddess.
• Gather together all your supplies in the middle of your circle (this may be easiest to do around a small table.)
• Take turns passing the wreath form around the circle, and tucking in pieces of pine bough.
• When the wreath is mostly filled in, take your marker and write your wishes for the coming year on some of the ribbons. Take turns winding your ribbons in and out of the wreath. (If you want them to be more hidden, you can start with this step.)
• Once the evergreens and ribbons are complete, pass the wreath around the circle and let everyone take turns placing the other items wherever they like on the front of the wreath. You can use the wire or glue to help them stay on, which is especially helpful with the pinecones and pieces of cinnamon. Don’t forget to think about what your symbols mean and why you are making the wreath, but do remember to have fun and don’t worry too much about making it look perfect.
• When it is done, you can hang some more ribbons around the bottom part of the wreath. (You can write the name of your group on these if you want, or more wishes, or leave them blank.)
• If desired, you can bless and consecrate the wreath when it is done. This step is nice, but not really necessary—it is already filled with positive energy by the act of working together and the love and friendship you shared while making it.
• Pass cakes and ale. Hot cider or mulled wine are perfect.
• Pass the speaking stick.
• Dismiss the quarters.
• Thank the goddess.
• Open the circle.

Note: You can hang the wreath wherever you meet the most often, or you can share it. Be sure to display it at your Winter Solstice feast, if you have one.

December Full Moon

Winter Solstice feast

December is a hectic month for most of us. Even the most dedicated Pagan is often pulled into the traditional holiday celebrations of Thanksgiving (in North America) and Christmas or Hanukkah, due to connections to non-Pagan family and friends. And work can be crazy too—especially if you’re in retail! Many of us end up juggling family, travel, and business obligations, any of which can be overwhelming.

As you could tell from the introduction to this chapter, Blue Moon Circle deals with all this in a very Wiccan way—we have a party.

Winter Solstice, even more than most pagan holidays, is a traditional time for feasting. We come together in warmth during a time of cold and create a light in the darkness with revelry and fun. It is the perfect time to include your family and friends in a non-threatening pagan celebration, especially if your significant others are generally not comfortable attending rituals.

There is no right or wrong way of doing this. You can invite a few people or many, include kids or not as you choose, keep it casual, or get all dressed up in your holiday best. Blue Moon Circle celebrates with an adults-only, semi-formal dinner party, complete with a gift-giving game, but you and your group will probably come up with Solstice traditions of your own.

Meanwhile, the following is a description of the Blue Moon Circle Winter Solstice feast to use as a guide for your own festivities. If you started this book in January, you have now completed a full year of Wiccan group practice—and that in itself is cause for celebration! If not, then you still have much to look forward to. The members of Blue Moon Circle join me in wishing you and yours a very magickal year to come!

• Send out fancy invitations at least three weeks in advance—even to the members of your own group. (It’s fun to get an invitation to a party in the mail.) Be sure to specify who is invited, and whether or not children are welcome. If the feast is going to be potluck (and it is far easier on whoever is hosting it to have everyone bring something), discuss ahead of time who is bringing what, who will be responsible for sending out invitations, making decorations, and so on.
• If you are playing the gift-giving game, be sure and tell people to bring one gift per person attending (if two people are coming, they need to bring two gifts.) Gifts should be wrapped. It is a good idea to have a few extra gifts on hand in case someone forgets to bring one.
• The night of the feast, decorate the house in which the party is being held with plenty of candles, your group wreath from New Moon, and other festive seasonal touches. Greenery swags, Yule trees, and pinecones are all nice ways to bring nature inside during a time when it is too cold to celebrate outside. You can make the house smell festive too, by using scented candles, stovetop potpourri, or by hanging up oranges with cloves stuck into them.
• Participants should gather in a room where everyone can sit comfortably, more or less in a circle. At my house, this room is the living room, with some people sitting on the couches or on chairs dragged in from the dining room, and some sitting on pillows on the floor. If there are people who don’t know each other, it is a good idea for all circle members and their guests to introduce themselves.
• Now is a perfect time to play the gift-giving game. It is a good ice breaker, and gets the party going without the usual awkward silences. The game is played as follows:
• Put out all the gifts within the circle at the feet of the giver. Gifts should be wrapped and should have cost no more than about ten U.S. dollars or any other pre-set amount. Gifts should be good for a man or a woman. Examples include small books such as Llewellyn’s Herbal Almanacs, decorative boxes, crystals, seasonal ornaments, candles, chocolate, and other treats. Some of them should have a pagan theme, but probably not all.
• Ask everyone to write his or her name on a slip of paper, and put all the slips in a hat or bowl or a whimsical container of your choice.
• The person whose name is pulled out of the hat first picks one gift from all those in the circle. The gift is opened immediately, and shown to everyone.
• That person picks the next name out of the hat. The second person has the choice of picking any unopened gift from around the circle, or “stealing” the gift that the first person chosen. (I think you can see where this is going . . . )
• The second person picks out the name of the third person, and so on. Each one gets the option of choosing a new gift or “stealing” one that has already been opened. There is no limit to how many times a gift can be “stolen.” Each person goes once. In the end, everyone ends up with one gift to take home, the floor is covered with scraps of wrapping paper, and the room is filled with laughter.
• Now it’s time to feast! Be sure to serve seasonal foods like squash or pumpkin, root vegetables, and apples. Books with recipes for Wiccan holiday foods are available, too. (Witch in the Kitchen by Cait Johnson and The Wicca Cookbook by Jamie Wood and Tara Seefeldt are two great examples. See the Appendix C for details.) Corn bread, some form of roasted bird, and stuffed acorn squash are among the Blue Moon favorites. If vegetarians are coming, be sure to have plenty of options for them. Hot mulled cider and hot mulled wine are perfect for the occasion, or you can serve the traditional wassail.
• Wassail comes from the Anglo-Saxon toast “Wes hal!” (“Be in good health!”). Yule, traditionally a time for revelry and drinking, was outlawed by the Puritans for obvious reasons. Neighbors would go from house to house and be treated to wassail at every door. You can imagine what the group was like by the time they reached the last home in the village!
• Needless to say, wassail is traditionally made with alcohol (anything from bourbon to burgundy, depending on the recipe you follow), but you can always make a non-alcoholic wassail for the children’s table, if there is one, or for those who would prefer not to imbibe.
• There are probably as many variations on the recipe for wassail as there are Pagans, but most of the recipes contain the following ingredients in one form or another:
  • Apple cider (approximately one gallon, or about four liters)
  • Wine, whiskey, or brandy (as much or as little as you like)
  • Various spices, often including allspice, cloves, cinnamon, and ginger. If you use whole pieces of the spices, they look pretty and are easier to fish out, so start with fewer and add more if needed.
  • Some form of sweetener, such as maple syrup or brown sugar (to taste)
• Mix them all together in a pot on the stove and heat until warm but not boiling. (Or use a slow cooker, if you have one.) If you want, slice an apple crosswise to reveal the pentacle shape on the inside, and float a few slices on top. Orange slices are pretty too.
• Don’t forget to toast each other!
• And that’s about it. Eat, drink, and be merry (but don’t forget the designated drivers), and enjoy each other’s company. Happy Solstice!

[contents]

There are many great books available on just about any aspect of Wicca imaginable—and I suspect that, sooner or later, you will have as many as you can afford in your personal or group library. There is no way you can learn everything you need to know about herbal magick, stones, oils, holidays, history, or any other magick-related subject just by reading one book.

On the other hand, there is nothing more frustrating and annoying than having to search through eight or ten books just to find the one piece of information that you need to complete a ritual or project, especially when you are just getting started. So, it is nice to have some basic facts in one easy-to-find place.

Eventually, your Book of Shadows will probably be that place. Until then, I have compiled the essentials of magickal practice in this section. Here you will find the fundamentals of ritual etiquette, samples of quarter calls and god and goddess invocations, and some simple correspondences for use in spell crafting, along with other useful stuff.

Some of the rituals in this book already have quarter calls, invocations, and cakes-and-ale blessings written out within the ritual. In many of the New Moon and Full Moon rituals, these are left for you to fill in with the words of your choice. You can either make up your own (a good practice once you have more experience) or choose from among the options given in this section. Either way, unless everyone in the group has a copy of this book to read from, it is helpful to write quarter calls and other ritual words out ahead of time until you become more comfortable with them.

Remember that everything in this book, including the contents of this section, are only suggestions—words of advice from your friendly neighborhood High Priestess. Wicca is all about following your heart and listening to your own inner voice. If you are doing a spell that calls for a green candle, and your instinct tells you to use red, by all means do so.

This book and the information in this section are meant to be used only as a guide, and as a way to make your group practice easier and more fun. So mote it be.

[contents]