Lammas

ESBAT-Zeit & LAMMAS: 

YULE SKY LANTERNS

To honor the loved ones that we have lost, on December the 21st (Yule/The winter solstice) we will be writing the names of the lost loved ones on sky lanterns and sending them up into the air.  Standing in a circle of tea-lights, a prayer will be said and afterwards a meal which may include one of the following yule-foods: Cookies and caraway cakes soaked in cider, fruits, nuts, pork dishes, turkey, eggnog, ginger tea, spiced cider, wassail, or lamb’s wool (ale, sugar, nutmeg, roasted apples).  You don’t have to be wiccan to join in, just be respectful. Anyone can get involved,anywhere. I hope you all have a lovely yule !!

This is my favorite recipe for Wassail punch! It’s extremely easy to make, too. Here’s what you need to do:

1. Gather the following ingredients: 

2 qts apple cider

2 cups orange juice

1/2 cup lemon juice

12 whole cloves

4 cinnamon sticks

1 pinch ground ginger

1 pinch ground nutmeg

2. Next, in a slow cooker or a large pot over low heat, combine the apple cider, orange juice and lemon juice. Season with cloves, ginger and nutmeg. Bring to a simmer. If using a slow cooker, allow the punch to simmer all day.

The Yule Log

The burning of the Yule Log is a pagan winter solstice (and later Christmas) tradition practiced among numerous cultures in northern Europe and Scandinavia.

During the Yule celebration, Nordic and Germanic pagans would drag a huge tree or log into the hall and burn it for several days of feasting and revelry. At the end of the Yule celebration, a piece of the log was saved to lite the log of next year’s Yule.

References:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yule_log

Christmas Unwrapped - The History of Christmas, History Channel (1995)

Winter solstice at Stonehenge.