ANNWYN:

MM all

Guys if you didn't know I am in the middle of moving

melilott:

{G}

piaso:

where you moving to?

ANNWYN:

Penn

Red Deer:

OK all... since Ann's the one on Pagan Time tonight...

piaso:

fun fun

DaveB:

have you lived there before??

Red Deer:

let's go

ANNWYN:

I did not have time to turn off my IM so if you will refrain from that during class please

DeathDesire:

yes..

Ocean'sEdge:

yes please

Red Deer:

Annie, I'll ward for you if that's OK

ZenMastr:

the east coast....fast becoming the center of Wiccan operations{G}

piaso:

I will stick with cali

ANNWYN:

Yule

KnightHawk:

brb

Freinsch:

I will back up log

ANNWYN:

Alban Arthuan

ANNWYN:

Yes Red thanx

Red Deer:

Thanks Freinsch

Red Deer:

OK... etiquette

ANNWYN:

shoot

Red Deer:

1) The Door Ward holds the right of EXCLUSION WITHOUT COMMENT. Should an exclusion be called, please do NOT talk to or about the excludee until Wicca 101 is completed.

2) Please keep all Blessed Be's, Merry Meet's and Merry Part's in IM until Wicca 101 is completed.

3) Would 1 or 2 who expect to be here for all of Wicca 101 please log as backup. If I am bumped for any reason or lose my logs, I will E-mail you a request to send me your backup log.

ANNWYN:

except me.. no IM's please

Red Deer:

Thanks again Freinsch...

Red Deer:

With that, you have the floor, Evil Twin

autumn:

i will red

ANNWYN:

ready?

Red Deer:

Thanks autumn

ZenMastr:

aye

Ocean'sEdge:

yup

ANNWYN:

Alban Arthuan

autumn:

ready

Sylverhare:

ok

Red Deer:

SHOOT (HOOT)!

ANNWYN:

open to forces of inspiration and conception

Rowan Berry:

ok

Mr Charles:

ok

NiteWillow:

Go

DaveB:

ok

KnightHawk:

ok

ANNWYN:

Guide is Arthur the great bear - Pole star. We will be talking about Yule this evening from the perspective of both. The physical activities that mark this day and some of the spiritual work also linked to this time of year. Many cultures in the Northern Hemisphere participate in festivals that encourage or celebrate the return of light to the Earth. I emphasize Northern Hemisphere because after all it is midsummer for our relatives south of the equator. In our ritual choices we must consider ways that our ritual connect to other pagans as community, but also how they connect to our own surroundings. The evidence of winter in Minnesota is considerably different than that which I experience in Houston. Although, one is more dramatic, if we are mindful... Mindfull... of our physical surroundings the signs of nature... we are aware of the changes the season brings in our own areas.

Remember also physically what this time of year meant to those who lived in times without supermarkets and electricity. They had already gathered much of the wood close to their homes for fires. They were having to go farther and farther from their homes. The amount of natural light was lessening daily. Would there be enough food for all to live through the winter?

Yule is from an old English word... "geol" (with Norse and Saxon similarities) meaning Wheel. The Christmas wreath is a symbol of this wheel. Many of the traditions that are celebrated at Yule are Germanic in origin, however as they were carried over to England/Ireland by migration and invasion. It is possible that many similar customs overlapped and were synthesized into a more uniform celebratory practice.

We find cultural evidence, which in many cases are simply pagan religious practices were sugar coated {G} to avoid reprimand from the church. Sweets and treats as sweet life ahead ...when the light and warmth returned. Breads and cookies for future bountiful harvests. In looking back at the origins of many of the customs... we see a period that ranges roughly from about Dec. 6 to Jan 6, although our own Solstice falls generally around Dec. 21. This is also the cusp of Sagittarius/Capricorn. Dec. 25th which was an artificial BD for Christ duplicates other such births of gods representing light and resurrection or return of light. Dionysus, Helios, Mithra, Osiris, Quetzalcoatl, Tammuz. Romans called the occasion birth of the Unconquerable Sun/SON.

Many cultures have a Santa type figure... now go with me on this one{G}. His very appearance may be pagan in origin some say he is dressed in the colors of the Godess - Red coat with White trim and covered with black soot

Red Deer:

aye

ANNWYN:

He often is shown with a sprig of Holly in his cap (representative of the Holly King)

ZenMastr:

and aye

ANNWYN:

and sometimes carrying a bunch of Birch twigs... the tree that represents the first month of the year... here we have blending of old to new. As a possible Shaman figure he is drawn magically through the air by eight reindeer

autumn:

aye

ANNWYN:

eight again possibly connected to the 8 Sabbats on the Year wheel

Red Deer:

Yup... Elenya found an interesting book... "When Santa was a Shaman"

ANNWYN:

deer being sacred to Many..

Red Deer:

AYE!

ANNWYN:

LOL..sounds great

TreeBrother:

...AND aye

ZenMastr:

Rein Deer{G}

Rowan Berry:

LOL

ANNWYN:

horns of the Deer representing several things... one of course the Horned God, the hunter and the surge of life itself. He is carried in a sleigh - a possible carry over from the solar chariot - and he lives in the North Pole - which is the point on the earth that represents the point on the year wheel where this sabbat is placed... and is the land of spirits. He judges your gift according to your actions thus bringing and delivering spirit into material according to what has come before. And here is the good one. He enters through the chimney

TreeBrother:

aye! {G}

ANNWYN:

the smoke hole... traditionally used by shamans on journeys... and witches when leaving their house by broom... teehee

Ocean'sEdge:

Aye {LOL}

ANNWYN:

Now that I've carried that about as far as I can...let's look a bit more into the light/rebirth aspect

Red Deer:

Aye!

ANNWYN:

We see this time as the time of the shortest day and the longest Night. Even after man realized through his astronomical understanding, as evidenced at sites such as New Grange and Stonehenge where the Megaliths were designed to mark the solstice and equinox times, man continued rituals that represented the return of light as a form of sympathetic magic.

When we perform ritual it not only indicates changes that will occur during the year materially and in nature, but imitates our own personal transmutations... and transformations. The North/South Axis that runs from the Winter solstice to the Summer Solstice (at the South Pole) runs from spiritual to material. That which was conceived at Samhain is born at Yule as Promise to find complete fruition at Midsummer.

ZenMastr:

that's beautiful, Ann..

ANNWYN:

Some traditions use the image of the Oak King and the Holly king...one of life and one of death one reigning over the light half of the year and one over the dark. During the Dark part of the Year, the God becomes the Hunter/Hunted. The hunter metes out death but hunting can also be searching... a quest ... a spiritual hunt. By enacting some of our Yule rituals... such as the bringing evergreens into the home to represent everlasting life, lighting fires, candles and of course the Yule Log to encourage the return of light... we are seeing that which dies is again reborn... When things are their darkest there is still hope. One common belief amongst Wiccans is that things are always changing growing... becoming. Even as the dark is reaching its height it is dying and giving way to light... to life.

Even as we ourselves physically die we believe life will come again in the birth : death : rebirth cycle, helping us not only in the natural observances around us but to come to terms also with our own death. With the birth of the divine child of promise... what was before is no more. To assure an easy birth you cannot hold on to the past.

In the time between Samhain and Yule, the spiritual search can lead you to understand that which is holding you back, that which you must discard in order to move forward. Most do this in some form at Samhain, but the time spent in Summerland the time to refresh and rejuvenate... as the God has... is a time where the final RELEASE can occur. So that spiritually you emerge from the land of the darkness.. from the tomb...through the womb... Like pure light ready to begin anew...

And the wheel turns.

Now...open discussion

Mr Charles:

What is Summerland?

DaveB:

Yes, what is Summerland?

Ocean'sEdge:

Ann that was absolutely beautiful

ANNWYN:

Summerland is one of the names used for the land in between

ZenMastr:

thanks Ann! whew!

skizzle:

I'm in awe

Red Deer:

Excellent Annie

MissAine:

wonderful Ann..

ANNWYN:

Thanx all

Red Deer:

Summerlands are where spirits go

MagicFigures:

Great Ann

Sylverhare:

{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{ANN}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}} masterfully done

Red Deer:

for healing, and to await being reborn

Mr Charles:

does that refer to the time between Samhain and Yule?

Witch Cat:

Thanks Ann :)

melilott:

WOW that was great ann

DaveB:

thank you, Ann that was wonderful

Rowan Berry:

Annwyn that was perfectly beautiful!

ANNWYN:

in reference to the Year wheel yes Mr Charles

Mr Charles:

thank you

ZenMastr:

also to check accounts between lifetimes to look in on the progress made previously... there's plenty of light in Summer!{G}

ANNWYN:

I wanted perhaps to discuss the Yule Log... if any one would like

ANNWYN:

LOL Zen

melilott:

yes please ann i'd like that

Red Deer:

ok log lady

Ocean'sEdge:

yes please

DaveB:

sure

Freinsch:

Sure Annwyn.

ANNWYN:

Log lady... please

Mr Charles:

yes please.. it would be most interesting as all the other info

ZenMastr:

You'll log, Fr?

Warmuth:

I have always thought of the time of conception as being the Vernal Equinox... the fertility and Harvest as the Pregnant Mother and Yule as the birth of the Son/Lover/Father

ANNWYN:

tradition has it that you should never buy the Yule log

Red Deer:

LOL zen

Rowan Berry:

yes please

melilott:

i'm still loggin

Freinsch:

har ar Zen

ANNWYN:

Warmuth...

Warmuth:

Yes?

ANNWYN:

There are different believes I am sure... and I do not propose that this is the absolute.

NiteWillow:

I use oak does this matter?

ANNWYN:

just as many pagans also see the sun as godess rather than as god

Red Deer:

Warmuth, it seems to me the two are compatible...

ANNWYN:

and warmuth are we looking at different cycles?

ZenMastr:

isn't that more flowering than conception? for the beginnings of things are often hidden in the darkest times...

ANNWYN:

Oak is the preferred wood...

ZenMastr:

spring, i mean

Warmuth:

No... Just putting it foreword... also the Persephone Legend... of being underground with the Lord as having reign

Red Deer:

The father dies before the son is born... the cycles interweave nicely

DaveB:

what other wood can you use??

ANNWYN:

the words Tannenbaum.. probably describe an evergreen oak rather than a pine

lone Druid:

Oak is the strength of all.

Mr Charles:

you can't burn pine...can you?

ANNWYN:

She does go as my understanding to the underworld at that Samhain.

DaveB:

is there a story behind Oak??

Rowan Berry:

evergreen oak? Wow!

Warmuth:

to learn

autumn:

why wouldn't Apollo also be an appropriate god to honor at Yule

ANNWYN:

we do not see the decay above ground before then do we Warmuth?

Red Deer:

Yup... there's an evergreen oak that has little red galls which look like holly berries, and it has pointy leaves

ANNWYN:

I have seen Apollo also but would suggest your own follow up

ANNWYN:

Oak... is of course sacred to the Druids.. but the use of oak seems to predate that

Warmuth:

She leaves at Samhain... but this is the DARK time

Sylverhare:

Oak is the tree of the waxing sun, so burning it is representative of the Light returning, for this reason I also decorate with acorns painted gold, to represent the new born Oak King

ANNWYN:

possibly because there is both a deciduous and evergreen variety

Red Deer:

aye, sylver

DaveB:

thank you

NiteWillow:

I also save some of the ash for next Yule

ANNWYN:

Warmuth.. yes... I understand that... but the associations I use are different

ANNWYN:

at the vernal equinox...the child is yet a youth the attraction has begun..

Warmuth:

I'm not contradicting... just mentioning it

ANNWYN:

we see the flowering and the first union at Beltane.. the actual

ANNWYN:

No I am not arguing... and perhaps it is semantics we are discussing as well.

Warmuth:

true

melilott:

is class over

ANNWYN:

Because of the term conception... as in spiritually and internally when you prepare for the upcoming year.

ZenMastr:

"Language is a disease"-Laurie Anderson

Capt T Zyr:

This may be the most people I have seen in here-- ever!

Freinsch:

Discussion is still goin on, I think

ANNWYN:

you have seen the harvest... and go over what worked and did not and then formulate the ideas

Red Deer:

Yes

Capt T Zyr:

What's the topic?

autumn:

so may i log off now red?

ANNWYN:

the conceptions of what you want in the year to come... just as you would look for seeds from the sturdiest plants... not the ones that were weak

Ocean'sEdge:

Ann can I ask what an appropriate substitute might be for those of us unable to burn a Yule log??

ANNWYN:

Yes...ocean please

ANNWYN:

Mel.. I am done other than questions or discussions

ZenMastr:

set your trees on fire{VBG}

autumn:

please...do...ocean

ANNWYN:

Uh.. exclude Zen{G}

autumn:

lol zen

ZenMastr:

hehe

Ocean'sEdge:

No no, I was asking

melilott:

then i don't have to be good any longer red?

DeathDesire:

uh oh

ANNWYN:

You can of course use an ornate log...with a flat bottom

Ocean'sEdge:

sorry damned typo demons again

Red Deer:

well, mel...

ANNWYN:

you can drill holes for candles.. and still decorate it... the log also represents the reunion of Godess and god...

Warmuth:

Ocean... it's a type of sympathetic Magick to bring back the Sun... burn candles or anything you want

autumn:

may i ask a dumb sounding question

ANNWYN:

in the material... here as son and mother

Ocean'sEdge:

ohhh I like that

DaveB:

drill holes in the log??

Capt T Zyr:

No question is a dumb-sounding question...

ANNWYN:

Many use a piece of the Yule log to light the next years log

ZenMastr:

except mine {G}

ANNWYN:

the ashes are also considered a protection amulet...

Ocean'sEdge:

{ got some really cool drift wood.. }

autumn:

you keep talking bout a Yule log... what exactly is a Yule log?????

Freinsch:

No Zen, it is your answers (G)

ANNWYN:

in the case of the mock Log.. the stubs from the candles burned would be the same

ZenMastr:

hehe

Capt T Zyr:

{winds up harvesting and binding sage from her native desert realm}

ANNWYN:

I got lost...

Red Deer:

Many use the trunk of this years Yule tree for next year's Yule log

ANNWYN:

autumn are you not familiar with that term

Rowan Berry:

think you got a way to get rid of the driftwood eh ocean?

autumn:

no ann

ZenMastr:

i use a mock log, a faux pas, and some tanned balm....

ANNWYN:

In days of old a large log was brought into the home to be burnt

ZenMastr:

sorry{G}

Capt T Zyr:

Gross pun, Zen!

ANNWYN:

as some one suggested to encourage the return of light

Red Deer:

{sending mock turtles after Zen}

ANNWYN:

you must remember that our forbears.. were not aware as we are that spring/light will return...

TreeBrother:

mock...ing...biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiird

Freinsch:

{Zen that is Tanning Balm}

DeathDesire:

LOL

ANNWYN:

also many will leave lights or candles burning all night

Ocean'sEdge:

Actually rowan was thinking maybe If I decorate the stuff it'll look decent on my table

ANNWYN:

yes...also tannin as used in hides...Frein

melilott:

ok official notice i am no longer being good

ANNWYN:

Fir is good...Ocean

Capt T Zyr:

That's 'tannin'!

ANNWYN:

to wrap it with ..

DeathDesire:

YEAH!

ZenMastr:

i just wish these damned turtles would stop mocking me...hehe

ANNWYN:

I have a question

autumn:

oh, ok, thanks for your help ann

Ocean'sEdge:

LOL

Capt T Zyr:

Turtles: Neener-neener-neener!!!

Mr Charles:

thank you Annwyn for a Most interesting class tonight. It is really enjoyable to learn the true meaning of the symbols of this holiday time... Blessed Part to you

Ocean'sEdge:

yes Ann

ANNWYN:

what color candle do most of you use if any in your Yule Log

Red Deer:

Watch out for that lobster quadrille, Zen

PAniteowl:

can I but in?

ANNWYN:

BB Mr.

DeathDesire:

gold

TreeBrother:

green, Ann

Ocean'sEdge:

Red and White

MissAine:

merry part to all... thanks Ann.. was great

Mr Charles:

Blessed Part Room

melilott:

just shove your butt right in pa {G}

ZenMastr:

green

Sylverhare:

In the Log itself I use golden candles, but I also use red and green in the house at this time of year

Freinsch:

TKS Annwyn

Capt T Zyr:

I use black ones, because in the Elementalist tradition, Yule corresponds to Earth/Midnight, whose color is black.

PAniteowl:

{g} longest nite ... longest darkness, light was struck to remind the sun to shine

ANNWYN:

My tradition uses... red... white... and black... But I have also heard of other colors used and was wondering.

TreeBrother:

that's interesting Capt

Capt T Zyr:

The vigil-candle denotes the return of light in our Tradition.

Ocean'sEdge:

oh good

ANNWYN:

That is great Capt.. I like that.

autumn:

EVER!!!!!! lol

Witch Cat:

Ann, thank you, very interesting - "Nature is a mutual cloud, which is always and never the same."

Warmuth:

LOL

melilott:

and your flag pole up

DeathDesire:

again?.. LOL

Capt T Zyr:

Elementalism will also work well in concert with just about any other Trad... it's pretty simple.

ZenMastr:

i use green as an invitation... for new things to come in the next year, Ann

TreeBrother:

same here, Zen

Capt T Zyr:

{G} Green is Mabon for us!

ANNWYN:

Zen.. I have seen that to... also as color of new life

ZenMastr:

aye

ANNWYN:

Guys I must get back to my packing...

thanx for listening to me...{G}

Ocean'sEdge:

Thank you ANN

TreeBrother:

grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrreat class Ann!!!!!!

Sylverhare:

MP ANN, WONDERFUL class

Ocean'sEdge:

{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{ANNWYN}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}

MagicFigures:

Thanks and MP Ann

Ocean'sEdge:

good luck dear

Warmuth:

thanks ANN

autumn:

mp ann

ZenMastr:

MP ann, be safe

ANNWYN:

Merry Part all... see you in about... um... not sure... teehee

PAniteowl:

My apologies Ann... was unavoidably detained... will catch it on the posts... but sounded great

Freinsch:

MP Annwyn

ANNWYN:

Blessed Part Warmuth

Red Deer:

MP ANNIE and THANKS

Witch Cat:

Merry Part :)

Rowan Berry:

mp ann and thanks