Category: Yule

Solstice Again

December 18, 2020

I spent most of yesterday working on the Solstice video, and then it didn’t survive publication. Here it is again.

I’m taking the rest of the year off. See you at the New Year.

Solstice 2020

December 18, 2020

Happy Solstice!

Enjoy the video. I’m taking the rest of the year off. Check back at the New Year. Hearth

Happy Solstice!

December 21, 2018
Clockwise: Maple Tree buds, Red Salamander, East Branch Ausable River, Sunset on McKenzie Mountain

Happy Holidays, Frozen Shoulder Edition

December 14, 2018

Shoulder injury continues to heal. Can’t resist sharing this inevitable version of a winter classic. Made to order for the silly season. Greetings from a frozen place, and if the cold never bothers you, you definitely don’t live here.

Blessings of the Season

December 22, 2017

Early 20th Century Postcard by Carlo Chiostri.

From Invoking Animal Magic:

There are a few positive Christian legends about spiders. In one story, spiders decorate the Christmas tree with their webs, which is why tinsel is applied to holiday trees today. In another a spider spins a thick web over the cradle of Baby Jesus to hide him from the wicked King Herod. Since Christmas is the most pagan of Christian holidays, it seems reasonable that some pagan solstice stories about spiders became woven with Christian themes.

Happy Holidays everyone!

A Hare at Heart Lake

December 23, 2016

So again I am musing, as I do every winter, about the plethora of Snowshoe Hare tracks with no Hares in sight. Yet during this outing I did spy a Great Horned Owl gliding between the branches. Snowshoe Hares are hard to spot, but I suspect this owl is up to the challenge. In most photos it’s taken me about a minute to spot the Hare even though the frame is small and I know it’s there. I’ll bet these bunnies are all around me and I just don’t see them.

I’m more and more aware that it’s not just the trees, rocks, and water that witness my presence in the woods. All around me are eyes peering behind twigs and bushes. I’m never alone.

While the Sun is in Her Southern Domicile

December 16, 2016

Illustration by Anton Hartinger.

 

Well, I got my manuscript polished and sent off this week. Now it’s time to buy presents and send cards, and to take a break both from work and getting worked up. Happy Solstice, Yule, Christmas, Hannukah, Kwanzaa, or whatever other holly/holy day you celebrate!

Bright blessings,
Hearth Moon

The Antler Wagon

December 2, 2016

I’ve written a lot about deer, especially reindeer, this year. Here is a poem about the Saami reindeer sun goddess Beiwe.

She rides across heaven in antler wagon.
She rides across heaven in antler wagon.
Holding her daughter, she defines the day.
Holding her daughter, she defines the day.
She crosses antler heaven holding her daughter,
defining a day in the wagon ride.

Bring peace to hearts in the blackness.
Bring peace to hearts in the blackness.
Offer red blood of white reindeer.
Offer red blood of white reindeer.
In the heart of the blackness offer red blood.
White reindeer bring peace.

Bring light to wake forest in springtime.
Bring light to wake forest in springtime.
Make rings of birch branches.
Make rings of birch branches.
Birch forest light rings, bring branches, make
time wake the spring.

Her reindeer daughter brings heart. Her reindeer
antlers hold the light of day. In the
forest she wakes blood in birch. Time
branches, crosses heaven, makes
an offering. Black, red, white define
the wagon ride. Peace.

Photo: Alexandre Buisse/Wikimedia Commons.
Photo: Alexandre Buisse/Wikimedia Commons.