tis the season...

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Not what I was hoping to find, but still...

Beltane
Jethro Tull, Songs From The Wood (Chrysalis Records - 1977)
Have you ever stood in the April wood and called the new year in?
While the phantoms of three thousand years fly as the dead leaves spin?
There's a snap in the grass behind your feet and a tap upon your shoulder.
And the thin wind crawls along your neck it's just the old gods getting older.
And the kestral drops like a fall of shot and the red cloud hanging high
come a Beltane.

Have you ever loved a lover of the old elastic truth?
And doted on the daughter in the ministry of youth?
Thrust your head between the breasts of the fertile innocent.
And taken up the cause of love, for the sake of argument.
Or while the kisses drop like a fall of shot from soft lips in the rain
come a Beltane.

Happy old new year to you and yours.
The sun's up for one more day, to be sure.
Play it out gladly, for your card's marked again.
Have you walked around your parks and towns so knife-edged orderly?
While the fires are burned on the hills upturned in far-off wild country.
And felt the chill on your window-sill as the green man comes around.
With his walking cane of sweet hazel brings it crashing down.
Sends your knuckles white as the thin stick bites. Well, it's just your groaning pains.

Come a Beltane. Come a Beltane.
Come a Beltane. Come a Beltane.
Come a Beltane. Come a Beltane.
Come a Beltane. Come a Beltane.

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Happy Yule

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The season of the Winter Solstice or Yule, celebrated by Earth-based religions the world over, is among the oldest (if not the oldest) traditions observed this time of year. Like most people raised in a Judeo-Christian environment probably are, I'm admittedly lean on any real knowledge of Pagan religions, so I'm pretty sure my illustration is horribly flawed (for one thing the angle of the sun in the background photo tells me we can't possibly be facing North) but I'm hoping my Pagan friends and visitors will see the intent and not the ignorance.

My hours of research on the topic have taught me a few things though. Yule begins with "Mother Night" the night of December 20th and continues for 12 days (sound familiar?) ending January 1. The Winter Solstice, around December 21, is the longest night of the year and it is then that the sun begins its journey back to Earth, bringing with it life-sustaining light and warmth. As in more "mainstream" religions, the victory of light over darkness is a central theme.

If you're so inclined, a good resource I found for information is Wychwood where I found this excerpt explaining the celebration in brief (used without permission, but hopefully with forgiveness).

Try to imagine yourself in a very cold climate, where the Winter nights are very long, indeed. Firewood and food are both becoming very scarce and you have begun to fear for your own survival. As you keep a lonely vigil through this, the Longest Night, you feel as though the Darkness has taken over the Earth and the Light will never come again. Imagine your joy at that first spark of light and your hopes that, someday soon, the snow will melt and you will be warm and well fed! This is the way our ancestors must have felt about this time of celebration.

The celebration of the Winter Solstice, as often as not referred to as Yule, is common to almost every culture. For this reason, although the Christian Church has long since adopted it as the birthdate of Jesus, it has retained more of the ancient Pagan tradition then any other holiday or festival. In early times, December 25th (the date now recognized as Christmas) was commemorated as the Birth of the Sun God, Mithra, and January 6 (Old Christmas) was a Dionysian festival. In Egypt, a celebration dedicated to Osiris was held at this time.

From: The Old Ways: Yule - by Doug and Sandy Kopf

For those of you celebrating this ancient holiday, Waes Hael (old Anglo-Saxon meaning, roughly "Be Well" and the origin of the word "wssail"). Peace is my wish for you in this and all seasons. Whatever holiday you observe (or don't), I hope the season is kind to you.

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