December 16th, 2016

I'm officially home for winter break! I actually got back around 12:30 yesterday morning, to weather which is roughly 40⁰ colder than it was at school; I was not prepared to come back to -18⁰.

I stayed huddled inside as much as I could yesterday, and among other things got my Yule tree set up in my bedroom.

One of my grandmas moved in with us at the end of the summer, and has been sharing my room ever since. This has made it harder to keep my altars out, not necessarily because she's close-minded or anything, but just because she needs places to put her things, and they've mostly ended up on or around the spots I usually have an altar. That's been a little frustrating, but at least we're both enjoying the tree.

My mom has been buying me Hallmark's fairy ornaments since they started coming out with them 12 years ago (12 years! I was eight at the time...), and this is this year's edition, the tulip fairy. She promptly joined the tree with my other winged friends.

December 13th, 2016

I got the family Christmas card in the mail today; along with the usual letter, my mom sent along a little ornament she made.

I think she wanted to send everyone a little extra love in these difficult times. It's so cute, I hung it on my Yule tree.

Tomorrow afternoon I'll be taking the train home for winter break. I'm excited to be back - this semester has been good academically, but rough on just about every other level, and I need the holiday.

December 3rd, 2016

I've been feeling the Yuletide spirit pretty hard after Thanksgiving; my family went and picked out a Christmas tree, and ever since I've been listening to carols and drinking peppermint hot chocolate. I also got the little Yule tree in my dorm all set up.

Then on Thursday, I received a package from my mom with some more holiday goodies in it, including this little guy:

It's an ornament, but it's a bird wearing a hat! I love it so much, it's adorable!

I didn't have time to put up my larger Yule tree while I was home for Thanksgiving, so I'll have to do that when I get back for winter break in a week and a half. Let me just say - I am ready for this semester to be over with.

I also had Habitat for Humanity's home dedication ceremony to attend this morning. It was a really nice little event, and I'm so happy for the new homeowners. In the midst of all the hardships in the world right now, it was great to be a part of such a meaningful thing in the community. The home is so crucial to any family, and getting to help build the place and then turn it over to the people who will live their lives there is an incredible privilege.

It's been an emotional week for a lot of reasons, but it's these moments that really make it worth it. Blessings to all as we go ever deeper into the dark and rest of winter. May this time of introspection and reflection bring healing and wisdom.

December 12th, 2015

The semester's winding down, which is good, because I'm exhausted, but even as school is giving out, the holidays are picking up. I did some shopping for gifts last weekend, and ended up getting myself a few things as well. Earthbound always has some great stuff.

I got this pentacle ring with triquetras on the sides.

And then they also had these lovely Quartz crystal ornaments on ribbon, so I got one for my mini Yule tree.

SIPA had their Yule ritual a bit early, seeing as many people go home over the winter break, so I went to the store yesterday and picked up some drinks to take. They also were doing a gift exchange, so while I was at the store, I found this lovely box of incense. It comes with six scents, both as sticks and as cones, with a flower-shaped burner to go with. I thought it was real cute and appropriately witchy!

December 10th, 2013

The weekend after Thanksgiving, I decorated my Yule altar and set up my tree. It's super colorful to match my room, and my mom bought me a shiny pink tree skirt this year to go with it. I also added my wide collection of fairy ornaments to the décor.
It feels so nice to have most of my Yule gifts made and purchased. On the off-chance that someone I know stalks my blog, I'll not post the contents of said gifts, but they're all wrapped and pretty. I still have to make something for one of my grandmas and my uncle, but otherwise...


Also, I found this while dredging the mire that is Facebook and thought it seemed relevant to this season of the year.

Happy Yule, Christmas, Saturnalia, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Festivus and other generic winter holidays to all of my readers.

Yule Altar

I also have a video made of my Yule altar, after I added some things, plus my Yule tree:

December 6th, 2011

Well, I meant to post about this on Saturday, but we ended up being really busy, so instead I'm posting today. Huzzah! Last Saturday, we got the house all decked out for Yule/Christmas (Yule in my room, X-mas everywhere else) with trees, snowmen, Santas, and all the other crazy things stuffed into the 13 big tote boxes we dredged from the garage. We also bought our live tree for the living room and decorated it, as per tradition. It is likely I will have pics of that later, but for today, I have some shots of an artificial Yule tree in my room. It doesn't look openly Yule-ish, but it has a Goddess figure on top in place of a star, and mixed in with all my super-shiny, crazy-colored ornaments are 7 little fairy ornaments from Hallmark that I've been collecting.

This, obviously, is the tree.

And this is a close-up of the wee Poinsettia fairy. I have a special ornament idea to share as well, but you'll just have to wait for Esbat for that! ;)

November 27th, 2011

After a hiatus of something like two weeks, I'm proud to announce that I'm back! :) Now that Thanksgiving is over, I can get really into the Yule spirit, and today I put up my personal Yule tree. Every year, my parents get a real Christmas tree for the living room that we all decorate, but every room in the house gets its own artificial tree, so I've co-opted mine for Yule purposes. It's not decorated yet, because Mom didn't want to get all the decorations out, but it's up. I've also been listening to Yule carols on Youtube. My personal favorite is Solstice Night, a Pagan take on Silent Night. Here are the lyrics, for those who are interested.

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Silent night, Solstice Night
All is calm, all is bright
Nature slumbers in forest and glen
Till in Springtime She wakens again
Sleeping spirits grow strong!
Sleeping spirits grow strong!

Silent night, Solstice night
Silver moon shining bright
Snowfall blankets the slumbering Earth
Yule fires welcome the Sun's rebirth
Hark, the Light is reborn!
Hark, the Light is reborn

Silent night, Solstice night
Quiet rest till the Light
Turning ever the rolling Wheel
Brings the Winter to comfort and heal
Rest your spirit in peace!
Rest your spirit in peace!

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