By Fire Well and Tree

Good day! And welcome to Day 11 of the Three Cranes Grove Solstice-a-Long!   As we prepared the practical nature of hearth and harvest yesterday, today we let go of the Otherworld energies we welcomed as the Winter Wanderer and Spirit of the Greenwood, as they shapeshift into the Boar and Stag, both with other-wordly associations of prosperity and abundance we hope to have for the new year. Light the previous candles and then light the eleventh, placing the appropriate symbol and offering. Southern Hemisphere :   The Cosmic Boar Hunt is a theme that, according to Alexei Kondratiev in “The Apple Branch,” symbolizes the cycle of the sun and the earth’s fertility.   The boar’s head would be used for swearing oaths, but most of us don’t have access to one of those.   So, a statue of a boar would be fine, and special honoring for Frey and Freya (or, as always, other deities and spirits) perhaps, given their associations with the animal.   Offering...

Good Day! And welcome to Day 10 of the Three Crane Grove Solstice-a-Long! As our 12-days are nearing a close, we must begin preparations for heading back into regular time, and for the tasks to come. Light the previous candles and then light the tenth, placing the appropriate symbol and offering. Northern Hemisphere : Preparing for the Harvest. On a practical level, this means just what it says, even if your harvest is only a couple of tomatoes from your garden.   Placement of a harvest tool, or similar symbols of the harvest on the altar, and offerings to harvest deities and spirits. Southern Hemisphere:     Preparing the hearth for the remainder of the winter is the theme.     Placement of a distaff if you have one, or other household related things on the altar, and honoring Frigga or other hearth and home deities.

Good day! And welcome to Day 9 of the Three Crane Grove Solstice-a-Long. Today we honor the spirits of the plant realm, both in the winter and the summer. Light the previous candles and then light the ninth, placing the appropriate symbol and offering. Southern Hemisphere :   Celebration of the evergreen.   Honoring and meditating (or even journeying) on the world tree, placing a sprig of real evergreen on the altar. Northern Hemisphere : Celebration of the healing herbs.   Folklore about collecting herbs at this time, but we can expand to honor whatever plants are in full growth at this time.   Healing deities, too (Airmid and Miach, Eir)

Good Day! And welcome to Day 8 of the Three Cranes Grove Solstice-a-Long! Today we honor the precipitation, in whatever form we see it, for the vital role it plays. Light the previous candles and then light the eighth, placing the appropriate symbol and offering. Northern Hemisphere : Celebrate and honor the spirit of rain and summer storms.   When they aren’t too severe, we need them for our food! Place a symbol and maybe some ale for Thor (or other rain or storm deity). If the weather cooperates, collect rainwater and place it a bowl on the altar. Southern Hemisphere :   Celebrate and honor the spirit of ice and snow.   They are difficult, but even they have their place in the scheme of things.   Symbols of snow and ice and honoring Skadhi and Ullr.   If the weather cooperates, a bowl of snow can be placed on the altar.

Day 7: Feast of Fools/Feats of Skill Good Day! And welcome to Day 7!   Traditionally, this day after Christmas is Boxing Day, and there are many customs that could be traced back to this being a time when the social rules were suspended, switching roles and ritualized disrespect (meaning it isn’t real).   There are a couple of ways to do this, and I’ve split them for the hemispheres. Light the previous candles and then light the seventh, placing the appropriate symbol and offering. Southern Hemisphere : This could go a couple of ways: If there are children present, put them in charge of something that they don’t normally do, like fixing dinner, or being in charge of the evening’s ritual and candle lighting.   Or one could make offering to Outdwellers, Tricksters, or other spirits of Chaos, in recognition for their role in making us learn and grow. Northern Hemisphere : Take advantage of the longer day (and maybe day off?) to play games of chan...

Good day! And welcome to Day 6 of the Three Cranes Grove Solstice-a-Long! There’s little doubt that the solstices are associated with spirits of great power, whether at their birth or their strength. We take this time to honor both of those. Northern hemisphere :   Honor of the divine hero or champion, defeater of dangerous wild powers of nature (Giants, Titans, for example), or brings about the much-needed skills and items to the folk. Southern hemisphere :   Child of light in many cultures (Angus mac Og, Mabon ap Modron), bringer of hope and light in the darkness. Light the previous candles and then light the sixth, placing the appropriate symbol and offering.

Good day! And welcome to Day 5 of the Three Cranes Grove Solstice-a-Long! This day both Northern and Southern hemispheres honor the animal Spirits of the Land. Light the fifth candle (after re-lighting the prior candles), and place images of those spirits and offerings for them on the altar.

Good day! And welcome to Day 4 of the Three Cranes Grove Solstice-a-Long! Somewhere in the depths of my pagan experiences, I recall a workshop or reading or something somewhere that juxtaposed the Oak King and Holly King as fighting at the solstices, and then somehow linked them to Jesus (celebrated 12/25) and St. John the Baptist, whose day is 6/23, as if that was some echo of the Oak King/Holly King mythos.   Now, I’m not sure I buy that, specifically, however I do know that in New Orleans, St. John’s Eve is celebrated with a head-washing ceremony in honor of Marie Laveau.    The idea of purification by water is evident in MANY cultures. So, today…take a bath. Or wash your hands, or do whatever but in the spirit of purification. We all walk through everyone’s psychic gunk during our days. I liken it to walking past someone who is smoking, or wearing a lot of perfume, or whatever, and that scent seems to cling to you.   Wash that away, so that you are n...

Good day! And welcome to Day 3 of the Three Cranes Grove Solstice-a-Long Here’s one of the days where the Northern and Southern hemispheres will diverge a bit. On Day 3 we welcome a personification or deity of the season. Southern Hemisphere :   Welcoming the Winter Wanderer.   The most obvious example of this is Odhinn, but there may be others that fit this from the other pantheons. After re-lighting the candles from Day 1 and 2, place a figure of this spirit on the altar. If you’re greeting Odhinn, those woodland-style Santas work really well.   Whomever it is, an offering of mead or ale to welcome them in from their journey, and maybe some apple or grain for their steed (Sleipnir) if they have one. Northern Hemisphere :   Welcoming the Spirit of the Greenwood.   The spirit of the growing season can be personified by the Green Man (not strictly pagan, I know), but there could be others in other pantheons.   Lighting his candle and the...

Good day! And welcome to Day 2 of the Three Cranes Grove Solstice-a-Long!    As part of the daily devotion, light last night’s candle, place a symbol of the sun on your altar and light your second candle in honor of the Sun, however you see her.   An offering of incense to welcome her. Southern Hemisphere : Special honor to the Solar Deity(ies) Northern Hemisphere : It’s your turn to vigil during the day as described in Day 1, and you’ll end at sunset, and can then do the honoring of the Sun as described above.   Maybe something like “As the longest day draws on, I raise this horn in honor of ____, in gratitude for the year that has passed, and with hope for the year to come.”  I've tweaked the schedule of toasts to make sense for daytime hours. Please add or take away hours as your local daylight accomodates.  Again if you can't do all day, just hitting Sunrise, Noon, and Sunset is just as good.  (I've also "Celtified" it, too!  :)...

On this first night/day we honor our ancestors first, of our blood, our heart, and our spirit, in both the southern and northern hemisphere. Place a symbol of the ancestors in your hearth culture on the altar. Since the Solstice occurs tomorrow, one could also have a Solstice Eve vigil.  Vigils are popular, but since many of us have to work the next day, they are often not practical.  The custom comes from making sure the sun would rise in the morning, (for the longest night) one would stay awake to keep the yule log burning all night, to ‘lure the sun back.’  Even though not everyone will be able to participate, enough folks usually do that so far, the sun has always come back.  If you don’t have a fireplace or other suitable location for a yule log, a candle dedicated for the purpose will do just fine. PRACTICE SAFE VIGILING! Do NOT leaving burning candles unattended for any reason, for even a second.  If you feel that you’ll be falling asleep, EXTING...

Remember how I said I was all down with sun worship?   Because the ‘over culture’ for most of us is different in June than it is in December, this doesn’t end up being just a flip-side of the one we do in December.   The most obvious example is a big huge gift-giving holiday, but there’s also the flipping of the mundane calendar to a new year.   So there will be slight differences. Again, the goal is a wave of druidy energy going around the world, 24 hours a day, for 12 days…. Earrach of Pittsburgh had a tradition I’ve adopted since his passing, and that is to break a stick at the exact moment of the solstice or equinox.   ( http://thebookofsassafras.blogspot.com/2017/03/the-breaking-of-stick.html ) I did it in his honor for Autumn Equinox and I’m adding it in here.   Check the Internet for the exact time of the Solstice in your area, set an alarm, and break that stick! As always, there is no mandate to follow this exactly, and feel free to cha...