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 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...

12/22: Good Day! And Welcome to Day 3! Today we will be honoring those archetypal figures of the season, who will be our guide through the devotional.   It has been very powerful to engage in a trance journey to directly welcome and honor the Winter Wanderer or the Green Man, as is seasonally appropriate.   Especially in the north, acknowledgement of the Wild Hunt can be important at this time as well, so an offering of grain for the steed of the Winter Wanderer, in addition to mead or ale can be offered. I think the Green Man would appreciate an offering of clear spring water.   Woodland Santas you can find at some holiday stores can represent the Winter Wanderer on your altar, and a Green Man face works for the Summer.