May all your darkest days of winters be behind you and your spirits and hearts be open to the return of light. Charmed Daily Blog is taking a short break to spend quality time with the family and we will return on January 3, 2018 with all new posts. The Cynnamon Charmed Shop will remain open, I will still respond to customers or followers with any messages to our email at [email protected] or Facebook messenger. Safe travels and have a blessed Yule! ~ Keri
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Orange quarters Cloves 1 cup Cranberries 6-Cinnamon Sticks 1-2 Pinecones ½ c Hickory Nuts Pine sprig/Cedar sprig- or other evergreen sprigs. 2-3 Vanilla bean Cynnamon Charmed Yule Herbal Blend (optional) Essential Oils of choice- (optional: but examples include pine, cedarwood, clove, vanilla, ylang ylang, orange, or other citrus in a good reputable brand—a couple drops each) Insert the cloves into the orange quarters. Combine all above ingredients into a saucepan on the stove or a small crockpot/slow cooker. Add water to cover all the above. Turn on low and let it simmer adding water as needed. Careful not to let the water run out. Alright, so the decorations are up, presents wrapped, baking done and you find yourself sitting there on December 21st wondering how you can celebrate Yule as a separate occasion from the Christmas season being displayed all around you. How do you recognize and honor your pagan roots? Some of us live in multi-faith households or have family in our homes that are of different paths. The majority of us grew up in Christian households, and is trying to carry on family traditions that included those traditions while still honoring our own personal practices. This is a hard line to walk. Just because we are not Christian and follow our own path does not mean that we want to dishonor those we are close to and their beliefs. So somehow, the season becomes this mixture of all the above and finding the true meaning of the season becomes a personal discussion we have within our own heads. Some things we do can be symbolic of our own beliefs on a personal level but appear to others as just an ordinary Christmas tradition, such as the Yule log cake. Within my family, there is support but not a huge amount of understanding. I also understand and support the Christian traditions that are accustom here and that I grew up with. Therefore, I think the mutual respect shown gives a fair field for us to support each other rather full understanding is acquired or not. Because my family is open minded, they are becoming more and more understanding simply because they do not shut themselves off from learning my ways. I have hosted several Christmas dinners in my home because I respect the people I love and their beliefs. However, a few days before the 25th, I also honor my own beliefs in Yule ritual. There has been times this has been done alone and other times it is done as a family. Either way, it is done and it doesn’t have to be an elaborate event. Here is a simple Yule ritual I offer to you: What you will need: ( you can use our previous blog on Yule Correspondences for help if needed) Collect a log of your choice. This doesn’t have to be a tree you go cut down, don’t make it too hard. However, put thought into it. Make an educated choice in the wood you may choose for your log and the properties that wood has. If you already have a log that you collected and decorated through the season, now would be the time to put that log to use. 2 pieces of paper and pen Matches or a lighter Herbs of your choice/ Cynnamon Charmed Yule Herbal Blend Ritual: -Create your sacred space and call your deity as your tradition suggests -Center and ground yourself - Think about the cycle of the sun and then meditate on the traditions you follow regarding the Yule season....For example: its history, the story of the holly king vs. oak king, The cycle of life from birth, to Fool, to Lover, to Hunter, etc. Whatever emphasis your tradition puts upon the Yule season, now is the time to honor that by remembering and offering thanks for all the Sun provides us through the year: light, warmth, energy, life, etc. -Start a fire. This can be a fire in your fireplace or outside in a fire pit. IF you are really short on space you could use wood shavings rather than an entire log and start the fire in your personal cauldron - As the fire starts and grows meditate on the previous year. Think of all that you have gone through and accomplished. All the ups and the downs. Mediate on all areas that affected you this past year: family, career, love life, health, etc. When you are ready write down on one piece of paper all that which did not serve you well last year. -As the fire really catches hold and begins to take off, and you have finished writing, cast your paper into the fire…..releasing all these things that you don’t want to carry forward. Right here and right now you are giving them up and giving up the hold that they have had over you. As they burn you feel their burden ease off your chest and release you. -Now that you are over the past year you sit in the present anew and ready for the future. Ready for the next year, the next Sun cycle. You have hope for the future and anticipate the return of light in the sky and in your life. - As the fire begins to wane, meditate on what the next year may hold. What are you looking forward to? What are your hopes? ….your goals? Now write them all down on the last paper. Thinking on all you would have manifest in the year to come. - When you are complete sit with your paper and mediate. Visualize how all of what you listed would play out like a movie in your head. Be sure to include all the details of what this would look like in your life and affect those even around you. As you build energy for the future cast this paper into the fire. -You have just manifested your goals for the New Year. Be sure to journal throughout the year so you can look back and see how they unfolded according to your will today. -Now thank the God/Goddess and throw in your herbs of choice or Yule Blend as offering. - Be sure to close your sacred space as your tradition suggest. - Blessed Yule! Ingredients: 32 oz-100% Cranberry Juice 32 oz-100% Orange Juice Cranberries (optional)- Ahead of time: freeze cranberries individually or into ice cubes with orange zest 2 Oranges (optional) 2 Liter- Sprite Fifth -Vanilla Vodka Pint- Triple Sec Instructions below makes 4 -8 oz servings BUT you will have plenty of ingredients above to make many more. Don’t forget your designated driver. NOTE: If you are counting calories you could substitute diet or low sugar versions of juices and Sprite but you’ll still get substantial calories in the Vodka and Triple Sec. Instructions: Combine 12 oz cranberry juice, 5 oz orange juice, 6 oz vanilla vodka, 3 oz triple sec, 6 oz of sprite. Mix well and fill glasses. Add frozen cranberries or ice with previously frozen cranberries and orange zest inside. Garnish with sliced orange wedges. A previous blog this week talked about the Yule log and the symbology we see around that. We talk about how the traditions evolved into the Yule log and how there are other ways to carry on that tradition through symbology. Today I would like to offer you guys yet another way. How about making a Yule Log cake???? Ok so some of you may be wondering how that would even relate, BUT, give me a moment to explain this. We are talking about carrying on traditions in changing times even if it is symbolically. In a Yule log cake you are making a log out of cake. The cake takes on the appearance of the Yule log. The oven it is cooked in is providing the heat and life source we think of when we are talking about the Sun and it is also nourishing our bodies with food, which many early people probably cooked their dinners in their home hearths over a fire lit and burning by their Yule tree/log. You could even add three candles to the top of your Yule log cake to further symbolize the traditional log. In addition, all the effort and energy put into the labor of making your cake can be compared to the work and energy put into the harvesting of that Yule tree many years ago. So if you find that this is the way you’d like to carry on the Yule log tradition in your family, here are a couple recipes you can choose from and may find helpful: (For your entertainment, see the photos at bottom of page for how my 2016 Yule log cake turned out) Note: Don't forget the decorations! Get creative! Taste of Home Recipe----@ https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/yule-log/print TOTAL TIME: Prep: 30 min. Bake: 30 min. + cooling YIELD:8 servings Ingredients
1 slice: 610 calories, 30g fat (10g saturated fat), 106mg cholesterol, 337mg sodium, 80g carbohydrate (64g sugars, 2g fiber), 4g protein. © 2017 RDA Enthusiast Brands, LLC Yule Log Cake @ https://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/yule-log-cake/e28d9b7f-1fe1-46b9-94f2-b1045cbfa1a5?p=1#! Prep 35 min - Total 2 hr 5 min -Servings 12 6 eggs 1 box Betty Crocker™ SuperMoist™ devil's food cake mix 1/2 cup water 1/4 cup vegetable oil 1 tablespoon powdered sugar Rich Chocolate Frosting 1/2 cup whipping cream 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (6 oz) 1 tablespoon corn syrup 1/4 teaspoon vanilla Filling 1 container Betty Crocker™ Whipped vanilla frosting Steps Heat oven to 375°F (350°F for dark or nonstick pan). Line bottom only of 15x10x1-inch pan with foil or waxed paper; spray with baking spray with flour. Place paper baking cup in each of 8 regular-size muffin cups. In large bowl, beat eggs with electric mixer on high speed about 5 minutes or until thick and lemon colored. Add cake mix, water and oil; beat on low speed 30 seconds, then on medium speed 1 minute, scraping bowl occasionally. Pour 3 1/2 cups batter into pan. Divide remaining batter among muffin cups. Bake 14 to 16 minutes or until cake springs back when lightly touched in center and cupcakes test done when toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. If necessary, run knife around edges of pan to loosen cake. Turn cake upside down onto clean kitchen towel sprinkled with 1 tablespoon powdered sugar; carefully remove foil. While hot, carefully roll up cake and towel from narrow end. Cool completely on cooling rack, about 1 hour. Cool cupcakes 10 minutes. Remove from pan; cool completely, about 30 minutes. Save cupcakes for another use. Meanwhile, in medium microwavable bowl, microwave whipping cream uncovered on High 1 minute to 1 minute 30 seconds or until it just starts to boil. Stir in chocolate chips and corn syrup; let stand 3 minutes. Beat gently with wire whisk until smooth. Beat in vanilla. Refrigerate about 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes, until spreading consistency. Unroll cake carefully, and remove towel. Spread filling evenly over cake; roll up cake. Place cooling rack on sheet of waxed paper. Place cake roll on cooling rack; frost cake. Using fork, drag tines through frosting to look like log. Let stand 15 minutes. Transfer cake to serving platter. Store loosely covered in refrigerator. Let stand at room temperature 30 minutes before serving. © 2017 ®/TM General Mills All Rights Reserved OK, in full disclosure, I am an herbalist and I am creative. I can cook and pretty well, usually, BUT I sort of draw the line at baking. I gave this an honest 110% effort and just miserably failed. I am not saying there is anything wrong with any of the recipes, I am pretty positive it was something I messed up ALL on my own. So, just in case you all have any Yule log mishaps this year, I have disclosed the pictures of my 2016 Yule log cake for you to look at, compare to and, hopefully, you’ll chuckle at and feel MUCH better about your own efforts. LOL The Yule log is a pretty dominant and a recognizable decoration and ritual accessory for rituals and pagan home décor during Yule….but why? Well this tradition goes back many, many years and for the most part seems to originate in Europe. As with many pagan traditions, while the details may vary depending on specific area the basics stay the same. In early days the Yule log was actually a Yule tree and a family would make a big deal out of selecting that tree. Depending on tradition, a certain type of tree would be sought out. In Europe, and the most common Yule Log today, the preference was on Oak. While the tradition in France was Cherry wood, Scottish tradition called for Birch wood, etc. So the family would create a ritual or tradition around the hunting and harvesting of their Yule tree and once they found it and brought it home, they would burn it from the bottom to the top in their indoor fireplaces. In many cases, it was good luck to keep the very first log from the tree, its bottom, and save it until the following Yule where that log would be burnt with the first cutting of the Yule tree for the current year. In a sense, creating a circle of the year. I would assume the significance placed on the burning of a tree for their celebration was in relation to the necessity, symbolism and a sign of the times. Symbolically fire is representative of the Sun and the light that it would shed on that darkest day of the year. In addition to being the darkest, generally speaking it would be the coldest as well. Therefore, that tree would be a symbol and a source of survival in those times before central heating. The tree was a sacrifice that was very much appreciated, honored and vital to survival. After Yule, the ash would be placed in the garden to fertilize the soil for the next year’s harvest. However, careful not to discard that ash too soon, because if it was thrown out on Yule day it was actually bad luck. So as times change and everything has evolved we now have, primarily, the Yule log. Most of us do not have the resources to harvest or to even burn an entire tree. However, we are able to make that part of history a part of our own celebrations even today. We can collect a log, decorate it with evergreen or mistletoe and burn it in our fireplaces the following year OR for those of us without a fireplace there are other options. That log can be made into a family craft where you drill holes for candles and place the candles in the log. Since Yule marks the “end” of a year and beginning of a new, three candles are most appropriate: past, present, and future. Take a look at our previous blog on Yule correspondences for some suggestions on possible candle colors appropriate for Yule. The candles are able to bring the fire, symbolic light and warmth, to the celebration. I think of the Yule log when I look at today’s Christmas tree. I think back to how it was a real tree at one time and has now evolved into artificial trees. Many Christian traditions have pagan roots and so it can be entertaining and educational to see how things compare. For instance:
Resources: http://www.ibtimes.com/winter-solstice-2014-3-things-know-about-pagan-yule-celebrations-1763756 https://www.whychristmas.com/customs/yulelog.shtml Come on over to the Cynnamon Charmed Facebook page by clicking HERE to watch the drawing and the winner announced in our video posted today!
Not only am I the owner and herbalist here at Cynnamon Charmed; like many of you, I am also a MOM! The holiday season brings a mother of three a very busy schedule. I had to take a break from production at the shop the past couple of days for a Child Emergency:
Okay, the story.....My youngest daughter needed a dress for her Mayflower part in the school winter concert. OF COURSE, she told me on pretty late notice and so I immediately got to searching. Finding one in her size proved to be harder than I had thought but I finally found one and ordered it. I sat relieved waiting for its arrival BUT then a while later I realized: I ordered it a week ago and never got a shipping confirmation, so I contacted them and it was back ordered. No time to get another found and shipped in with the concert a week away and the postal services already running behind because of holiday shipping. SO I spent 20 hrs hand sewing (NO machine) her a complete dress. Now I sew, some, for the shop BUT I have never taken on a task this large. I had never done any clothing, I had no pattern and I had taken some very quick measurements from my daughter as she stood fully dressed in Winter gear waiting for the bus to come. So after thousands of hand sewn stitches, hands that ache, a dress complete and MOST importantly a daughter happy.... I shall spend the rest of this week playing catch up. However, I am pretty proud of her outfit and the hug and smile made every stitch worth it. The things you do for you kids To help with your Yule celebrations, I have put together a correspondence list for your reference. These are my go to items during the Yule season in terms of ritual, decorations, cooking, etc.
Flowers, Herbs, Trees, Plants: oak, pine, cedar holly, mistletoe, berries, pine, evergreens, cinnamon, cloves, wintergreen, ivy, poinsettias, rosemary, ginger Stones: red/orange stones and green stones in general: citrine, emerald, ruby, garnet, peridot, bloodstone, quartz, carnelian Deity: Apollo, Dionysus, Isis, Brigid, Diana, Demeter, Osiris, Set, Gaia, Odin, The Horned God, Holly King, Oak King, Triple Goddess Colors (candles, decorations, etc. ) : green, red, gold, white Stay tuned later in the month for Yule themed recipes and ritual ideas. Throughout the year a lot of influence is found and attention given to the moon. However, it is during the sabbats that we take a look at the Sun and its position. Yule is the Winter Solstice and the lack of sun causes death and cold. The sun is needed for warmth, growth and the continuation of life. There are many traditions/lore followed throughout this time of year. Although I am sure not to cover all of them, I will discuss some traditions which I am familiar with. In many traditions (Celtic, Greek, etc.) there is significance on the twin kings battle. The names of the Kings vary depending on tradition but the story remains basically the same. They war against each other for the ultimate throne continuously. The Oak King is represented in the Oak trees and the Holly King in the holly. As we watch the weather change, you can see that in the winter months the holly trees thrive while the oaks are naked, bare and just surviving. It is throughout this time that the Holly King is winning his war. Yet, in the summer the Oak is full, colorful and absolutely stunning. That is the time that the Oak King is in his prime and winning the ultimate fight. So to every season there is another one looming and as the kings war one is winning, one is losing but each will have their turn. At winter solstice, the Holly King is winning; however, his prime has been found and so the only place to go is down for him. From here on out the Oak Kings rain will gain strength until it reaches its prime at the Summer Solstice…..and so the cycle continues. Christians have traditions that are similar to pagan celebration of this sabbat as it’s the time of Jesus’s birth. Holly is important to them because of its representation of drops of blood shed for salvation. The holly wood is said to of been used to make the cross. Some even believe that the word “holy” was once derived from “holly”. Dionysus, a solar god, and Zeus’s sun was said to have turned water into wine by sacrificing his life in the Roman traditions. So these people considered drinking the wine of Dionysus, drinking his blood. This in turn, has some similarities to the later used Christian concept of using wine as the blood of Christ. In Egypt the significance was placed on the Battle of Isis. This one is very similar to the Celtic tradition in that there is a war between brothers. Here it is between Set and Osiris. Osiris wins out and the Set is resurrected by his brother’s wife, Isis. Isis and Osiris are the birth parents to the God that Egyptians honor as the Sun, Horus. As, I mentioned earlier, there are far more traditions and lore than I mentioned here in relation to the Winter Solstice. In the majority of them the core theme seems to run the same. It is the translation, and in the expression of these cultures that we see change the most. It is very interesting really, seeing how one idea can be interpreted and expressed in many different ways. This month we will focus on Yule. We will discuss correspondences, ritual ideas, recipes, and more to help you celebrate the season in a way that is meaningful to you and your family. References: http://www.angelfire.com/wa3/angelline/yule_customs.htm http://www.quick-good-fortune.com/Winter-Solstice-Magic-Traditions.html https://wicca.com/celtic/akasha/yule.htm Photo Credit: https://stairnaheireann.files.wordpress.com/2016/04/20120_750454465069017_7650429561785146739_n.jpg |
Keri Nichol
Founder, Artist, Herbalist, and Writer Archives
August 2018
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