Author - Linda E. Savage, Ph.D. DD

Yuletide Blessings my friends,

I send my heartfelt wishes for a meaningful holiday and a hope filled New Year to each and every one of you. December 21st is the longest night in the Northern Hemisphere. Since ancient times, Winter Solstice had been honored with ceremonies using some form of light. All over the world folks have gathered for bonfires, lit torches, candles, and oil lamps.  The traditions reassured them that the days of more light would be returning. Today, rarely do we appreciate what the effect of long dark nights would have been.

Yule has always been the time when tribes, clans, families and communities have gathered together. People often trekked many miles to spend time with kin, feasting, drinking, and telling stories around the huge hearths where the Yule log provided warmth and light.

Celebrate Abundance my friends,

August 2^nd is Lammas, the first of three festivals celebrating Mother Earth’s bounty. For this first harvest festival, baking loaves from the first grains and offering them at a communal meal has always been central to these gatherings, going back to thousands of years before the Common Era. Harvest festivals celebrate the abundance of the Great Mother.

The Celts called this time Lughnasadh (loo-na-sa), Native Americans called it the Green Corn Festival and in Slavic Regions it is called the feast of the Big Glad Woman. Ireland celebrates Lammas as Big Sunday and farming communities gather at hundreds of traditional hilltop sites to set up craft fairs, feast, play games, and dance. A part of every one of these gatherings is a ceremonial meal where the first fruits of the harvest are shared in gratitude.

Celebrate Life Force Energy on May Day,

May Day is the time when nature has truly come alive. Our ancestors joyfully embraced the fertility of Mother Earth; flowers bloomed, offering their pollen to the bees. The Celtic name for this period is Beltane, which means bright or sacred fire. During the festival, great bonfires were lit and animals and fields were blessed in hopes for an abundant year. Traditionally May Day began on the eve of May 1st and was celebrated with feasting, dancing, and merriment for two weeks. 

Beltane was a time when lovers ran off to the fields and woods together to honor the Great Goddess with ecstatic lovemaking. The Maypole, symbolizing the phallic energy of the season, was festooned with ribbons.

This year in the Northern Hemisphere, the Vernal Equinox is March 20th , as the Sun enters Aries. Millennia ago this was considered the beginning of the New Year; hence the sign of Aries at the beginning of the Zodiac. The Persian New Year is still celebrated on the Spring Equinox, following these very ancient traditions.

Equinox means that day and night will be balanced at the equator. Also known as Ostara or Eostre (the origin of the name Easter), the hours of light and dark will be equal. In ancient traditions this is known as the time of Green Fire, which refers to the sap rising in trees and to the electrical energy pulsing through the rapidly growing plants.

Turn towards the light of self-compassion, my friends,

Imbolc is the time of hope for new life and the return of the light.

In the US, most people think of February 2nd as Groundhog Day, the portent of how many more weeks of winter are in store. However, for thousands of years, Imbolc, meaning “in the belly” was a sign of hope as there would be lambs born in the spring. In addition they saw the noticeable signs that the days were lengthening. 

The abundance of 2’s (2/2/2022) portends the possibility of harmony, balance and co-operation, according to numerology. In addition 2 is also associated with adaptability, consideration, coexistence and valuing relationships. This feels hopeful, even with COVID still with us.

Yuletide Blessings my friends,

I offer my heartfelt wishes for a meaningful holiday and a hope filled New Year. December 21st is the longest night in the Northern Hemisphere. The Winter Solstice is honored with ceremonies using some form of light all over the world. Folks have burned Yule logs, gathered for bonfires, and lit torches, candles, and oil lamps.  The traditions reassured folks that the days of more light would be returning. We string electric lights around our homes at this time but rarely do we appreciate what the effect of long dark nights would have been because it is so easy to switch on a light.

An important theme for Yule has always been finding the light within.