Happy Yule!
Dec. 20th, 2024 08:05 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithWe held our Yule ritual tonight. :D
Earlier today, we picked a specific spot for the "Royal Family" hollies, dug a starter hole, and hauled the pot down there. It's toward the west end of the driveway, tucked against the Midwinter Grove just north of the driveway. You can see some pictures of them that I took the other day.
Tonight several of us gathered to celebrate the sabbat and plant the hollies.
I put on my new winter coat in the house. 2 minutes later: "I'm mellllting!" That coat is seriously warm. It's stuffed with something called "Ultra Loft down alternative," so if you see that while coat shopping, it's well worth a look. Also the pockets are not merely big enough for my hands, I could probably shove a whole scarf in there. #pocketwin
We called quarters and cast the circle, followed by the statement of intent.
Then we dug the hole, which was rather a hassle because there were grass roots over the top and tree roots underneath. 0_o I had to fetch my clippers and get down on my knees to cut through the tree roots. In the future, it might be prudent to dig as much of the hole as possible before ritual and just throw a tarp over it.
And the hollies did not want to come out of the pot for no discernible reason. Not roots coming out the bottom, not frozen, not stuck to the side, no idea why. I resorted to sticking my trowel down the sides, all around the pot, several times, like trying to pry a stuck cake out of a pan. I did, eventually, get the hollies out of the pot and into the hole, properly aligned so both of them will get sun from the driveway. We filled in the hole as best we could. Tomorrow I'll need to go out, spread some compost, put down groundcloth, and mulch around the hollies. Plus now I have another nice big pot for planting things come spring. \o/
I read "Our Lady Greensleeves" (since none of us can sing). There's a proper performance of it on YouTube. It made a perfect piece of liturgy for dedicating our new hollies to the Midwinter Grove.
We did cakes and ale, with gingerbread-esque Mexican cookies and cranberry Sprite. Then we released the quarters and opened the circle.
It was a good ritual and raised a lot of energy. \o/
Earlier today, we picked a specific spot for the "Royal Family" hollies, dug a starter hole, and hauled the pot down there. It's toward the west end of the driveway, tucked against the Midwinter Grove just north of the driveway. You can see some pictures of them that I took the other day.
Tonight several of us gathered to celebrate the sabbat and plant the hollies.
I put on my new winter coat in the house. 2 minutes later: "I'm mellllting!" That coat is seriously warm. It's stuffed with something called "Ultra Loft down alternative," so if you see that while coat shopping, it's well worth a look. Also the pockets are not merely big enough for my hands, I could probably shove a whole scarf in there. #pocketwin
We called quarters and cast the circle, followed by the statement of intent.
Then we dug the hole, which was rather a hassle because there were grass roots over the top and tree roots underneath. 0_o I had to fetch my clippers and get down on my knees to cut through the tree roots. In the future, it might be prudent to dig as much of the hole as possible before ritual and just throw a tarp over it.
And the hollies did not want to come out of the pot for no discernible reason. Not roots coming out the bottom, not frozen, not stuck to the side, no idea why. I resorted to sticking my trowel down the sides, all around the pot, several times, like trying to pry a stuck cake out of a pan. I did, eventually, get the hollies out of the pot and into the hole, properly aligned so both of them will get sun from the driveway. We filled in the hole as best we could. Tomorrow I'll need to go out, spread some compost, put down groundcloth, and mulch around the hollies. Plus now I have another nice big pot for planting things come spring. \o/
I read "Our Lady Greensleeves" (since none of us can sing). There's a proper performance of it on YouTube. It made a perfect piece of liturgy for dedicating our new hollies to the Midwinter Grove.
We did cakes and ale, with gingerbread-esque Mexican cookies and cranberry Sprite. Then we released the quarters and opened the circle.
It was a good ritual and raised a lot of energy. \o/
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Date: 2024-12-21 06:19 am (UTC)Yes ...
Date: 2024-12-21 06:25 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2024-12-21 11:37 am (UTC)Thank you!
Date: 2024-12-22 08:42 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2024-12-21 04:06 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2024-12-21 08:13 pm (UTC)