#landspirits

🕯️ Happy St Lucia’s Day! 🕯

Yuletide in many folk traditions is a huge time for different kinds of magic, and that is very very true of Nordic folk customs. And as seems appropriate for the year I’m having, this year I’m thinking about Catholic syncretism of Lussi Longnight.

This is the night when the month of Jul begins.

Lussi is a spirit who rules over this night. Her name translates to “Light,” and she is known as a mother or queen of the vettir (spirit) and Huldrefolk. She would ride around the countryside with her horse of Yule Riders and look in to homes to check that everything is ready for Yule. This was also the night when the animals would get together and pass judgment on how their humans have kept them - a vestige of animist, reciprocal relationships. It is important to celebrate Lussi Longnight to preserve your health and have a good winter.

In the Catholic tradition, a young girl dressed in a white dress, red sash, and a crown with four candles. She still parades through the streets, and Lucia’s name still means “light.” She has the power to bring back the Sun. Lucy is the patron saint of the blind.

Together, these two form a powerful image for this day of celebration: we pray to them to bring back the light and to ease the hardship of winter.

📸 credits:

Bits of gnosis picked up from sitting under an old Yew in my local forest.

There isn’t a plant or tree without a solar quality (even the most shade-loving), nor any without watery qualities (even the fiery desert kinds), and very few without earthy/underworld connections. 

As every person is made different by the nature of their upbringing, so is every member of the greenfolk individualised by the source of their water and soil, the memories and happenings upon and within their land.

Therefore, in a pinch, when you need help or protection; better you ask the gentle lavender bush who has stood by your house for decades, than a store-bought stalk of sage.

Yet remember still that you would consult a specialist among the greenfolk just as you would among humankind. Anyone can stick a bandage on you or tend your fever, but not everyone has the skills of a trained healer. Likewise with plants and trees. 

Genetic memory runs stronger in plants and insects, less so in animals, even lesser in humans. The greenfolk are more connected to their ancestors than we are to ours. Wisdom refined over generations. 

Every tree in an ancient woodland is connected. Befriend one and ask them for what you need; they will lead you to the right friends. 

Be patient with trees. Their longevity and slower pace of life means it can take seasons to establish a significant relationship, but once built they can last generations. 

Herbs and smaller plants may be more responsive but shorter-lived; take care of their offspring and the land they grow on; future generations will remember the kindness shown to their ancestors. 

You always were.

Yeah, but for a long time, because of university pressures, I feel out of touch with the land. To me, being a Druid means being close to the land, and there’s no Druidry without it. I need to get that connection back.

Come out and see. The land will show you.

You know, I think weeds are the more talkative ones in the plant kingdom. It feels like they have all the neighbourhood gossip. They know I’ve been shut in my room, all day, everyday, trying to keep up with coursework. And that I’ve been trying to take strength from the energies of the earth. 

For those of us who live in the city, flora and fauna for our craft that are local and forageable are very few and far between. Gifts from the spirits of the land may well come in other forms, such as precious jewellery that somehow wound up on your walk through the neighbourhood. If you should chance upon such a thing -- especially after actively praying and offering to the land -- while it could be pure coincidence, it could also be taken as a blessing and affirmation from the genii locorum. 

I am still debating whether it is even more significant that the necklace I found is a form of jade, which has an important history for us Chinese. But with my limited knowledge, I think it is actually greenstone / pounamu which is sacred to the Maori. I have an abundance of happy memories and emotional ties to Aotearoa, so it remains a special connection nonetheless. 

*horns blasting* Behold—more new content has come! This time, we're covering land-spirits in feuds. How will their fury fall, I wonder?

Lesson (1304 words) | Video (9:42)