Yule

Second to Samhain, Yule is my favourite Sabbat.
The Winter Solstice is nearly upon us, falling on the 21st of December, this Sabbat is here as a time of celebration to remind us that there is life returning after the darkness of winter.
Yule marks the shortest day of the year, and the longest night; the opposite side of the wheel to the Summer Solstice.

The word Yule, and the general festivities, relate back to Germanic paganism, with the first recorded use of the name Yuletide being found in 1475. In it's earliest form the term yule, or yuletide, was significant to a 12 day festival in the month of December, or sometimes just a referral term for the month itself.

As with most of Witch tradition, the true origins and rites are rather jumbled - but the general belief is that the days of Yule, are a celebratory festival during the Winter festival, rejoicing in the rebirth of the SUN, and/or the Great Horned God.

In simple terms, you are thanking the gods/goddess that you have survived a long hard winter, and are joyful that the sun is being reborn. The longest night is behind you, and their is hope.

The Oak King rules from midwinter to midsummer - the period of increasing light.
At this time of year, the Oak King defeats his brother, the Holly King, and regains control of the seasons.

For December Witches and pagans take evergreen trees indoors, to encourage woodland spirits to reside within, and stay warm and safe.

The evergreen tree was sacred to the Celts, because it did not die! Its boughs became a symbol of the eternal divine. Your gods and nature have not abandoned you, when all the greenery around you cannot penetrate the hard earth. Bringing full trees into your house is a more recent tradition, but it held the same basic priniciple. This tree would live the winter, and so would you, and when the sun returned to the earth, you would replant the tree back to nature. 

This is one example of many where Christianity twisted and distorted the pagan holidays to suit themselves - thus was born the Christmas tree. When Christianity was coming into power, they tried to place their own holidays at the time of pagan rites, that people already knew and recognised. This made the transition easier for people at this time of change.

Mistletoe is another ancient tradition. - Druids revered the oak tree, and the mistletoe that grew from it. During the winter when all other signs of nature had vanished, the green twigs of mistletoe and their white berries, were seen as a sign of eternal fertility.
They travelled far, and climbed high for this mistletoe to clear couples of infertility.
Often hung over their doorways, over the years we have developed the tradition of kissing beneath it.
So...don't kiss too passionately, now you know the supposed effects ;)

 Yule Logs - Originally not a scrummy, chocolate cake at all!
Can you believe?!
The Yule log was just that, a log. Harvested with your own hands, and placed in the fireplace. The log would be decorated, for the season, and then put in the fire as the main kindling, at winters end. The fire here, representing the newborn sun.
Nowadays, what with fireplaces being hard to come by. Many witches, use their yule log as a base for three candles. The candles still represent the coming sun, it's a lot safer. and you can reuse the same log year and year again.

Holly And Ivy -  A sprig of holly near the door is said to invite nature sprites. It is a deterant for evil beings, and a welcome to positive entities.
It is also a symbol of remembrance for the historic battle of the Holly and the Ivy; the one mentioned above, where the Oak King regains power over the seasons.

So...Christmas is probably more witchy than you thought.

Here are some correspondences for magical workings over the sabbat;

Colours

Gold

Green

Red
White

Animals

Stag
Reindeer

Bears

Deers

Owls

Snow Geese

Food

Gingerbread
Cinnamon

Mulled Wine
Spiced Meats

Herbs & Plants

Holly
Ivy

Poinsettias
Pine
Mistlestoe

Magic Working

Yule Log

World Peace Spells

Healing Work

Love Spells

Wreath Making

Kitchen Magic

Merry Yuletide!
Blessed Be!

Apophyllite

Would you look at this beauty!?!

Apophyllite is native to India, and it occurs in ancient lava and basalt flows. It is most often found in glassy rectangular prisms in it's natural form. It was only discovered in the 1800s, but may have been given a different name before this date, which makes it's history hard to trace.

These crystals contain a high amount of water molecules in their structure, which is firstly what makes the appearance differ slightly to that of clear quartz, but secondly that which  makes them compatible with those with a connection to the water element.

(Like me as a Scorpio)

It is believed to be a very spiritual crystal, it bridges the gap between the physical and spiritual realm - it helps your spiritual connection, and there for should aid wonderfully in divination.

It can be used also in meditation, as a crystal it is known to aid in calm and tranquil feelings; so this combined with it's breaching of the spiritual world, makes it ideal for dreamscape work, journeying, scrying, astral travel, and meditation.

If you hadn't guessed by this crystals attributes it is connected to your third eye chakra.
Apophyllite is known as an "ascension stone", which means it helps bring light and clarity to emotional situations. It helps you be more honest with yourself about things, and brings the truth from others.

I got this gorgeous gem from http://www.crystalfaery.co.uk/ 

Visit the online store, for all your crystal needs - just follow the link for 'Crystal Cavern', or feel free to browse and enjoy the other wares they have to offer.

Lusty Jasmine

Jasmine is one of my favourite flowers. It has so much more to it than most people realise.

Jasmine flowers are white and delicate, part of a climbing tree; these flowers are best picked at night, as this is when their aroma is most intense.

Jasmine for this reason has strong connections to the night, and the moon. Whenever I work with the Moon, Jasmine is usually involved.

Properties;

Antidepressant
Antiseptic

Antispasmodic

Aphrodisiac

Sedative

We all will have heard that Jasmine is an aphrodisiac, but it is so much more than that. We call it an aphrodisiac because Jasmine increases the number of spermatozoa in men, which helps reduce infidelity. And because of it's deeply relaxing nature, most herbologists think that this may be responsible for it's effect over sexual problems like impotence, premature ejaculation, and frigidity.

Jasmine is a superb hormone balancer, it helps relieve spasms of the uterus, and eases menstrual pain. Mix with raspberry leaf, in a tea, and you have a super effective womb tonic.

This does mean that it is best avoided during pregnancy...unless you are ready to go into labour, in which case go nuts!

Jasmine is a valuable remedy when it comes to severe depression. It's calming to the nerves, whilst also being warming to the emotions. Such a power combo. Burning jasmine in the home will help aid your mind, as will carring essential oil mixed into a carrier oil to apply in the style of a perfume.

See!
How amazing is Jasmine.

If you'd like posts on a specific herb or flower, comment below, and I will do my best to oblige.

Britain's Young Witches

Over the Halloween period, here in the UK, BBC1 aired a one off show entitled 'Britain's Young Witches' - a huge breakthrough to have this on our TVs, trying to break the stigma around Witchcraft!
This video can be found on BBC Iplayer, I will post the link below, so if you're in the UK, you can give it a watch.
I enjoyed it, and I'm glad it was broadcast to so many people.

I will just tell you my niggly bits about the show; firstly, everyone bar the book keeper were young, yes, but they were also young to the craft. At most they had been practicing for 3-4 years...now I am in know way saying that that makes them any less of a witch, or that their voices count for less... but it did not help the stigma that witchcraft is a passing phase, a current trend. Having some more experienced Witches would have been beneficial, even if they didn't have as many insta-likes.
Secondly, the comments on appearance, and witch asthetic. This was just stupid. People who share similar beliefs, usually enjoy similar types of tv shows, or similar hobbies...why is it so unbelievable that they share similar fashion trends, that are unrelated to Witchcraft. Aswell as the fact if you simply look at Harmony Nice, compared to the two gentlemen witches in the show, their styles are so very different, the suggestion was laughable.

Anyway that aside, it's definitely worth a watch.

Britains Young Witches

Blessed Be

xoxo

Happy Samhain

Merry meet, and a happy Samhain to all readers.

What a sabbat it was!

What did you guys get up to? Share in the comments, I'd love to read what you guys have been doing.

Matt and I waited in for trick or treaters, which is always fun.

Then I spent an evening with my witch sister, Suzie. She made me magical mulled cider, and I broke her 'Nightmare Before Christmas' Virginity. Then we made midnight margaritas, and watched 'Practical Magic'.

 When I came home, it was time for my favourite part of Samhain - ritual work, and my 12 card spread for the new year.

This is a shot of my altar, looking all mystical in the candle light.

Let me turn the lights on, so you can see what's going on!

Along with my Directional correspondence, my altar had Crow feathers, to call in and honour the Morrigan, My Pentagram, white flower petals, and parts of a roe deer skull, so I could harness the energy from ancestors and nature.

Directional Correspondance;

North - Earth

East - Air

South - Fire

West - Water

As I do every Samhain, I pulled 12 cards to tell my what the new year has in store for me.

It is always a perfect and magical way to end Samhain.

Never forget to give an offering to the Gods you've worked with; I cast a little of my blood in the fire in thanks to the Morrigan - she is a Goddess of war after all.

This work left me utterly drained for the day following Samhain.
Large ritual work definitely takes it's toll, so be wary that you don't plan much for the following day. My body was hurting, my emotions were all over the shop, and my physical and mental state were utterly drained. Especially around Samhain and Beltane, the veil between the worlds is so thin, it is easy to tap into a lot of magical energy.
After any ritual work, be sure to drink plenty of water, and have a comfortable place to sit down, for atleast a few minutes.

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Blessed Be
xoxox