Saturday, December 22, 2007

Happy Solstice to One and All

Gavin writes: I wonder how many of you still do the traditional things. What do I mean? Here are a couple of examples. Blowing out the candles on the banquet table and then relighting them. Or igniting the good rum that you've poured over the "Christmas" pudding, now to be borne into the darkened dining room. These are only two small ways to remember and honor the original, and only valid, reason for the festival--the return of the Sun. Even a solar deity needs a little help and encouragement from time to time, and the newly reborn Sun is no exception.
The steamed Christmas pudding is probably a no-no in every single one of today's diet regimens; but still, once a year, why not? The one we eat has usually been kept back for a year on a quiet shelf in the fridge, in a timeless tradition kept by the Frost (or should I say Frith?) family. Mrs. Frith, Gavin's maternal grandmother, was a cordon bleu chef in a time before women could officially gain that title.
In this season of benevolence and maxed-out credit cards, be kind to people.
BB Gavin and Yvonne

PS If you'd like the recipe for that Frith pudding, request it and I'll post it on this site. Meanwhile, join us now for a rousing chorus:
Mithras loves me! Sun-God bright,
Lighting up the darkest night.
There's no question He can't answer.
Just be careful of skin cancer.
Yes, Mithras loves me (3 times)
A sunbeam told me so.
- - - - - - - - -
Pagan Temple, thanks for the information re conjunctions. Oops! In listing world-shaking events of 1968, we omitted the deaths of Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King and the birth of St. Monty T. Keep us straight, boys and girls.

4 comments:

SecondComingOfBast said...

You're welcome. Now, for this Yule, I wonder about the impact of-

Moon waxing full toward a conjunction with retrograde Mars, which is in opposition toward a conjunction with-

1. Sun
2. Pluto
3. Jupiter
4. Mercury

All four of which are within four degrees max (28th degree Sag to 2nd degree Capricorn.

Quite an impressive display for a Yule-wouldn't you say?

As for the pudding, I would dearly love to see you post that myself. I only wish you'd done so a bit earlier.

If you'd like, feel free to check out my "Yule Nog" recipe on my blog. Just type Yule Nog into the blogger search engine at the top of my blog and it should bring it right up.

Ceraun said...

Ah,hahahahahaha!!!! "Saint!" Now that's rich!

Our Yule celebration was overshadowed by the death of a dear friend this year. We started out with a new person that had contacted Wu Shih about attending our Yule ritual, then right before we were set to begin, she stepped outside to smoke a cigarette and disappeared! We actually had the giggles for a while, but we did have a very nice ritual. Afterwards we toasted to our friend that has passed over, feasted and generally just enjoyed everyone's company.

And today is one of my step-daughter's birthdays, so we are going to have some cake and celebrate her birth as well.

Hayley said...

I only wish I had been able to celebrate Yule this year.

That said, I am however getting to have a good time post-Yule with my christian family for Christmas. Which mostly consists of non-religious just good family time- and that's pretty important in my book.

But as far as Yule goes I unfortunately got fairly ill at the beginning of the week, and I'm still sick enough that planning and executing a ritual (as I'm a solitary and have no traditions although I wish i did in that regard), was just out of the question.

That said, I'm glad you had a traditional and apparently merry Yule. And I'm looking forward to doing the same in 2008

LighningSparx said...

I can't wait to try the recipe for Solstice Pudding. I love traditional things... for me its a way to honor my past, my elders. Its a great feeling.

Blessed Be

~Lightning Sparx~