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Where did the name December come from?

Posted by Whispr

The name of this month comes from the Latin word Decem. In the Roman calendar,
December was the tenth month right after March.
This month is also known as The Cold Moon to some of our Pagan Ancestors.
According to Celtic beliefs, this is the time to keep the light alive in the present
Darkness. So they made sure to keep the fires burning especially for disconnected or
lost family members or friends. The light from those fires had the power to lead them
home, so to speak. December is the second month of Samhain. This is a time to
remember your past, learn by it, or cherish it and then set it freethats right, let it go.
By letting go, you can focus on what it is you wish for the future to come. But the only
way you can focus and visualize what you desire for the New Year is by allowing the
past to die, finding your closure. Then, rebirth happenssomething new can be born.
Its also a time to reconnect your relationship with the Mother Earthknow your place
in her cycle of things so that you can better receive your blessings and spiritual bliss
from that. Feel your connection with her. December is the time for Christmas, Winter
Solstice, or Yule. Christmas is December 25th, and Yule or the Winter Solstice is on
December 21st. Now to Pagans, this is the time that our sacrificial God, sometimes
known as the Sun God, dies and is then reborn. There is a certain lesson in Paganism
that we come to see and accept. Everything must die but only to be reborn again. The
old must be allowed to fade so that the new can rise from it. Death is but a doorway to a
new phase of life. And we see this in our history, like now, with the Sun God.
When the first Full Moon comes, after Yule, that is considered the most powerful time
of the entire year. It is on that day that we welcome the rebirth of the Sun God, now the
Child of the Sun, into the world. We recognize the Great Goddess as our Mother
because it is through her that he becomes and that we become. We see evidence that life
begins againas each year, each season, each passing phase does exactly that.
Many Pagans will light as many candles as they can on this day or night (depending on
when they do their rituals or praise of respect) because the light is particularly
importantagain
remembering the light in the darkness. The light of the Sun Godthe light of the
coming yearthe light of lifeas you can see, this can represent so many things.

December 21 will become a celebration in Ancient Egypt for the return of Osiris, but it
is on December 25th, 3 days later that I find the most interesting. On that day, Ancient
Egypt will celebrate the birth of their beloved Horusson of Osiris. While Christians
will celebrate their Jesus, Pagans have long since celebrated their own Sacrificial Gods
and births. The similarities of Horus, Isis, and Osiris, and between that of Mary, Jesus
are remarkable. There are dozens of similar Holidays for the Month of December
represented by various Pagan Cultures and their deities. Too many, in fact, for me to
list here. But I will make note of them on the Pagan Days or Pagan Holidays, which are
posted daily on The Pagan & the Pen.
Astrology, the Gods, and how it all fits together.
This month belongs to Sagittarius & Capricorn.
Now some interesting things about these signs
Sagittarius (November 22-December 21) is governed Jupiter. Now, if you have been
reading the Pagan Holidays for this month, then you will remember that Jupiter is the
God of all Gods according to Rome. Known by many names, Sheppard of the Stars,
Prince of Light, Optimus Maximus to name a few. Since this month belongs to the Sun
God and of light, I thought this an interesting link.
Capricorn (December 20- January 20) Whats interesting about Capricorn that most
people dont know is that one of the things is known for is being the gate of Death. I
find this suiting since Sagittarius represents a God of Light and this month represents a
God dying and then being reborn.
Capricorn is the 10th sign of the Zodiac and was once represented by the God Eaa
Babylonian deity that was called the Antelope of the Sea. This is a time when the Sun
enters into the 10th phase of its journey and becomes a time of fresh wisdom, new life,
and new phases. According to Babylonian lore, Ea would rise up from the waters,
embrace man and give him divine wisdom.
Now the Planet Saturn rules over Capricorn and again, this suits the month we are in
for as Capricorn is the last phase of this month, it brings with it
Wisdom (what have we learned in our past)
Responsibility, (remember what I said above about reflecting on ones past) d
Determination( possibly what you are determined to see happen in the future or to do
different).
Since Saturn is also recognized as the Lord of Saturday, we also know him as the Lord
of Time, and also as Kronos.
Time, being another key feature of this month because once this phase has pastonce
the old year diesa new year is borna new time begins.

A Fall Field Guide Nuts

Posted by Rev. Carol A. Ingle (Raven)
A handbook for those who, to paraphrase the late Euell Gibbons, love to reap what
they have not sown.
FOR CENTURIES WE HUMANS HAVE joined the squirrels and the raccoons, the
turkeys and the boars, the deer and the chipmunks in the harvest of fall nuts. Nutting
was once serious business, a matter of survival, of storing sustenance for the coming
winter. So it was with Native Americans and colonists, and with European peasantsand so it remains today among people still living a hand-to-mouth existence with the
earth. Few foods offer nutrition as completely and as compactly as the nut. Botanically,
it is a seed, the embryonic life of a tree. But in effect, it is a hermetically sealed energy
capsule, packed with protein and fat; a nourishment concentrate.
Most people today go nutting for pleasure. The nuts remain the quarry, but nuts
aplenty (though perhaps of less noble bearing) can be had in any grocery store.
Nutting, on the other hand, puts you inside the fall forest kaleidoscope, every step
acrunch in leaves, the air crisp and laden with the musky scent of autumn. There is no
better time to be in the woods, and no better excuse (whether or not you need one) than
to be gathering tasty nuts.
Ah, there's the crux of the matter: Not all nuts are tasty. Some are astonishingly bitter.
Others, though toothsome, require extreme determination, if not demolition, if one is
to crack them apart-and then they may yield little more than a smidgen of edible
kernel. Most folks know a nut when they see one, but what kind of nut is it, and is it
worth picking up?
Acorns
No matter how many mothers have told their children otherwise, acorns are not
poisonous; they are one of the oldest foods known to man. Evidence of their
consumption has been found amid the debris in Paleolithic cave dwellings. They were
the staff of life for many Native American groups, who ground the nuts into meal for
bread and mush. The Pilgrims found baskets of roasted acorns hidden in underground
chambers and, noting the nuts' similarity in taste to that of chestnuts, welcomed oak
mast into their diet. A wise move: Acorn kernels provide a complete vegetable protein,
up to 707o by weight in some species. More than half their bulk consists of energy-rich
carbohydrates.

Amazingly, the annual nut crop from oak trees in North America surpasses the
combined yearly yield of all other nut trees, both wild and cultivated. (So if you're
wondering whether gathering up a bushel or two of acorns will deprive some creature
of sustenance, worry not.) There are more than 60 species of oak trees in North America,
and every one of them produces edible acorns.
Some, however, are more edible than others. Oaks are broadly divided into two groups:
red (or black) oaks, and white. Generally, nuts from trees in the red-oak group have a
bitter taste, thanks to their high content of tannin, an astringent substance. White oaks,
however, contain less tannin and produce acorns that are considerably sweeter.
To distinguish between the two groups, look at the leaves of the tree in question. If the
leaf lobes (the projections around the outer edge) are distinctly pointed, the tree is most
likely a bitter-acorn, red-oak variety: pin, black, red, scarlet and willow oaks are
members of the family. White-oak leaves, on the other hand, have rounded lobes.
Chestnut, bur, live, white, gambel (also known as Rocky Mountain white) and post
oaks are examples of sweet-acorn types. Another distinguishing feature is the inner
surface of an acorn's cap: If it's smooth, the nut probably is from a white oak; if it's
fuzzy, chances are the nut was produced by a red.
Regardless of the type of acorn you find, taste a few before you gather quantities.
Acorns vary in bitterness not only from species to species, but from tree to tree. Sample
some nuts from several different trees, then forage from the best among them. Pick
only fresh nuts, and discard any specimens that appear moldy or that have worm or
insect holes (this is good practice, of course, when gathering any variety of wild nuts).
Once you've removed their caps and shelled them, exceptionally sweet acorns can be
eaten as they are, either raw or roasted (bake them in a slow, 250 to 300F, oven for
about an hour). But even "sweet" varieties can be too bitter for some tastes, and in some
places only red-oak acorns are easily available. Fortunately, tannin is soluble in water
and can be extracted, leaving behind palatable nuts. Boil the kernels whole for 15
minutes, pour the water off (it will be brown with tannin), add fresh water, boil for
another 15 minutes, pour the water off, and add fresh and so on, until the water is only
barely tinted. White-oak acorns may require only one or two changes of water, while
red-oak nuts may need many. (Incidentally, you may want to save that first batch of
tanninrich water; it is a wonderfully soothing topical wash for bee stings, insect bites,
sunburn and rashes.)
Once the tannin has been removed, roast the nuts and use them as you will. They're
good finely chopped and added to bread or muffin dough. Most acorn fans, though,
like to grind the nuts into mealjust put them through a blender or grain mill, or
pulverize the kernels with a mortar and pestle. Acorn meal, light brown and pleasant
tasting, can be substituted for up to half the flour in any recipe.

Beechnuts
There is no mistaking the handsome American beech (Fagus grandifolia). Its strikingly
smooth, duskygray bark has served as a scratch pad for generations of lovers and others
with something, anything, to say. The earliest Sanskrit characters were inscribed on
strips of beech bark. And it was a beech tree in Washington County, Tennessee, on
which Daniel Boone carved the famous missive, "D Boone cilled a bar on tree in year
1760." (That tree lived until 1916; it was estimated to be 365 years old.)
In autumn, the beech's toothed, spear-shaped leaves turn a rich copper color or a nearluminous pale yellow and begin to fall, revealing reddish twigs and small, prickly burs.
As they mature, the burs split open, exposing two (sometimes three) small, triangular
nuts that ripen-usually by first frost-and drop to the ground. Competition for beechnuts
is fierce among four-legged creatures, and the kernels can be hard to see once they're
scattered among leaves, so your best bet is to try to gather them from lower branches
just before they're ready to fall. If you're lucky, you'll get a few before the squirrels and
raccoons do.
Beechnuts have a thin shell that you can peel off with a fingernail. The flesh is sweet
and nutritious: nearly 2070 protein! Fresh nuts spoil quickly, though, so dry them in
full sun for a day or two (you or the family dog will have to stand guard over them), or
roast them in a slow oven.
Though still abundant, American beeches once covered vast stretches of the Midwest
from Kentucky to central Michigan. Unfortunately, settlers recognized the beech as a
sign of good soil, and countless trees fell to the ax and plow. Eventually, their demise
also contributed to the extinction of the passenger pigeon, which relied on beech mast
for much of its diet.
Though the American beech is strictly an eastern tree, its similar-looking Old World
cousin, the European beech ( F. sylvatica ) also produces edible nuts and has become
naturalized both in the Northeast and in western coastal states.
Chestnuts and Chinquapins
Your chances of coming across a nut-bearing American chestnut (Castanea d entata) are
almost nil, but no article on edible wild nuts is complete without mention of this oncegreat tree. Less than 100 years ago, stands of majestic chestnuts, some specimens
measuring in excess of 120 feet tall and six feet around, covered a range of more than
200 million acres east of the Mississippi, from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. Gathering
bushels of sweet, fresh chestnutswhich were reportedly far superior in taste to the
Italian and Chinese chestnuts we eat nowwas a traditional autumn activity.

Today, except for a few isolated specimens, all the great trees are gone, the victims of
chestnut blight, a fungus carried to this country at the turn of the century on planting
stock imported from the Orient.
As the disease spread from New York westward, infected trees were cut down in a
futile attempt to halt the blight. The stumps remain, demonstrating the chestnut's
superior rot-resistance, and many continue to send up sprouts, some of which survive a
dozen or more years. On occasion, one of these seedlings produces a small nut crop for
one or two seasons before succumbing to the blight. Sadly, then, most living chestnut
trees are identifiable by their sapling size and by the old, weathered stumps from
which they grow. Their leaves resemble a beech's, but are longer and more deeply
toothed.
The chinquapins are close cousins of the American chestnut, and though they are also
susceptible to blight, they are a bit more resistant and bear much earlier, at only two or
three years old. The Ozark chinquapin (C. ozarkensis) is a small tree with long, deeply
toothed leaves; it grows in a limited range encompassing western Arkansas, eastern
Oklahoma and southern Missouri. The Allegheny chinquapin (C. pumila), really more
a tall, thicket like shrub than a tree, sports similarly shaped but less deeply toothed
leaves than its cousins. Its range extends from southern Pennsylvania through most of
the Southeast to Texas. Both kinds of chinquapins yield sweet, small chestnut-like nuts
(they look like flattened acorns), with each kernel encased in a hard shell within a
prickly, round bur. Both the bur and the shell are difficult to remove, but they yield-in
miniature-the taste of a bygone era. Chinquapins can be eaten raw, roasted or boiled.
Black Walnuts
Prized even more for its rich, dark wood than for its tasty nuts, America's black walnut
(Fuglans nigra) is one of the great unknown victims of the two world wars. Just before
and during both conflicts, black walnuts were felled en masse to meet the demand for
gunstocks. Still, the tree survives throughout its original range:
nearly all the eastern half of the U.S. except the far north. In the West, there are four
other native walnut species with extremely limited ranges. Of them, only the northern
California walnut (F. hindsii) produces nuts approaching the size and quality of its
eastern cousin's.
The black walnut is easy to identify, particularly in the fall when, beginning early in
the season, its leaves turn yellow and drop off, revealing clusters of one-and-one-halfto two-inch-diameter green globes-the nuts, enclosed in smooth, fleshy husks. In a few
weeks the green fruit falls, too, and slowly turns black as the husk decomposes.

There are three formidable challenges to be met in harvesting black walnuts. First, you
must get to the nuts before the squirrels; this is a matter of picking them up as soon
after they fall as possible (sometimes a minute or two is none too early). Second, you
must remove the nut from the husk before the flesh decomposes and saturates the inner
shell and kernel with bitter brown juice. (That juice, incidentally, is an indelible dye
that simply does not wash off clothing or skin.) And third, you'll have to extract the
nutmeat from the shell.
All manner of methods have been devised for dehusking walnuts. Euell Gibbons
suggested wearing heavy boots and simply toeing the husks off against the ground.
Too often, though, much of the husk remains anyway. Others dump the nuts in their
driveways and let a couple of days of traffic squash the husks off. This makes for a
messy driveway, however, and the nuts tend to shoot out in all directions from under
rubber tires. It's best to face facts, don old clothes, slip on a pair of rubber gloves and
cut and scrape the husks away with a knife. Put the freshly hulled nuts on an old
window screen, give them a good hard hosing to wash away bits of husk, and let them
dry in the thin October sun.
Walnuts, like most other nuts, keep best in the shell. This is as good an excuse as any to
put off the difficult job of cracking them open and removing the kernels. Commercial
English or Persian walnuts open easily and yield whole or half kernels. Not so the
black walnut. You have to smash your way in, and then pick out the pieces of edible
nut from the fragments of hard shell. You can buy special nutcrackers, or tackle the job
the old-fashioned way: Put a flat rock in a cardboard box, place a nut on the rock, and
smack it with a hammer. Once you've tried black walnut pieces in homemade ice
cream, bread or muffins, you'll know the reward is worth the effort.
Butternuts
A close relative of the black walnut and otherwise known as the white walnut, the
butternut (Fuglans cinerea) ranges farther north, extending into New England and parts
of Canada, but not as far south. The butternut ranks among the highest in food energy
of edible nuts, with a whopping 27.907o protein, 61.207o fat and about 3,000 calories to
the pound. Wild nut aficionados rank cinerea kernels near the top in taste, too.
Though its leaves resemble those of the black walnut and its crown is similarly
rounded and open, the butternut wears fewer leaflets on longer stems, so its foliage
overall appears sparse. Its bark is distinctly lighter than the black walnut's dark gray or
brown bark, and is generally smoother. Butternut trees bear early-at just two or three
years of age. The fruit is elliptical, like a long, narrow egg, and has a thin, green outer
husk covered with fine, bristly hairs that give off a near-permanent brown dye.

The inner surface of the husk produces an equally powerful orange dye. (Time to get
out the old clothes and rubber gloves again.) The nut inside is oval, with a deeply
ridged and pitted shell that's almost but not quite as difficult as 1. nigra to crack.
The thin, fragrant, oily kernel inside each shell can go rancid quickly, so it's important
to shell and use butternuts soon after you've husked and dried them. No problem;
butternuts are sweet and delicious straight from the shell, raw or roasted, or baked in
cake or pastry.
Hickory Nuts
Hickories-in all, some 20 species and subspeciesare widespread throughout the
eastern and central United States. The hickory is the consummate "pioneer tree," not
only because of its importance to early settlers as a food source but also because of the
hard, durable wood it provided (and still provides) for tools and tool handles.
When you're a nut gatherer, hickories are both a joy and a frustration. Though several
kinds yield delicious, sweet nutmeats, others produce fruit that is bitter or almost all
shell. It's not always easy to tell one kind from the other.
Fortunately, the two most desirable nut hickories display a distinctive trait belied by
their names: The shellbark hickory (Carya laciniosa) has rough, loose bark that
separates in narrow strips; the shagbark hickory (C. ovata) has an even more distinctly
fringed trunk, with long, loose strips of bark that often shed and accumulate at the foot
of the tree. Both types bear a nut encased in a thick, green husk that, when ripe,
separates to the base in four parts. The shagbark hickory usually has five leaflets per
leaf and produces relatively thin-shelled nuts; the shellbark generally sports seven
leaflets per leaf and yields thick-shelled (but nonetheless meaty and tasty) nuts.
Another common thick-husked variety, the mockernut hickory (C. tomentosa), yields
sweet but small (some would say minuscule) nutmeats within a thick shell; the
mockernut's seven or nine leaflets per leaf give off a characteristically pungent odor
when crushed.
The pignut hickory (C. glabra), like the shagbark, has five leaflets per leaf, but each nut
is encased in a thin husk that seldom separates all the way to the base. Depending on
the individual tree, the nuts may taste sweet or bitter. One of the most widely
distributed hickories, and the least desirable for nuts, is the bitternut (C. cordiformis).
Luckily, it's easy to identify. The bitternut hickory has the smallest leaves in the
family-seven to nine leaflets on a relatively short stem-and the buds at the ends of its
twigs are bright yellow. The nut husks are thin and flecked with yellow.

Like walnuts, hickories keep well in the shell once husked and dried. They're easier to
crack than walnuts or butternuts, but the job still calls for a hammer or some other tool
of brute force.
Pecans
Actually a hickory, the pecan (Carya illinoensis) is our most important native nut tree
and has earned a special niche in our culture and cuisine. The pecan is the ideal nut:
easy to harvest, thin-shelled, meaty and delicious. Little wonder that many Indian
tribes prized the pecan above all others. Native Americans are believed to have
extended the range of the pecan by planting the nut as they traveled the Mississippi
River and its tributaries. Spaniards exploring the New World, and, later, settlers
venturing west of the Appalachians, encountered the huge spreading trees, some more
than 120 feet tall and four feet in diameter, along the entire Mississippi River Valley
and through much of eastern Texas and Oklahoma.
The trees were so numerous that it was common practice among our forebears to
harvest pecans each year by selecting the largest, heaviest-bearing trees and cutting
them down. This waste is particularly puzzling because the pecan, which bears its oval,
green-husked fruit in clusters of three to 10, readily drops its nuts. Usually by midautumn, the husks split into four crescent-shaped pieces and the ripe, pale brown nuts
fall to the ground.
Dozens of new pecan varieties have been developed since the turn of the century, and
the nut is grown commercially in orchards from Georgia to California. Still, fully half
the market crop is produced from native species. Wild pecans may be a bit smaller than
their commercial counterparts, but their shells crack easily and yield whole, sweet,
rich-tasting kernels. There are no bitter or inedible pecan types. Gather all you can
find.
Pine Nuts
What the West lacks in deciduous nut-bearing trees it more than makes up for with
nut-bearing pines. Among the different species native to the West that produce
delicious edible nuts are ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa), Coulter pine (P. coulteri),
sugar pine (P. lambertiana) and Digger pine (P. sabiniana). Some of these produce
enormous quantities of edible kernels; the sugar pine, for example, produces huge
cones up to 18 inches long and four inches across, packed with seeds.
The largest and tastiest pine nuts, though, are produced by the scrubby little pinon
pine, a familiar tree throughout the arid Southwest. Pinon nuts, a trendy gourmet item
of late, have been a staple among Indians of the region for millenia.

Evidence of their consumption has been found in fire pits at archaeological sites in
Nevada dated 6,000 years old. At 3,000 calories to the pound, pinons are hardly diet
food. Some tribes are said to have forbidden their consumption by pregnant women,
for fear that the nuts would fatten the babies too much, making delivery difficult.
There are several species of pinon (also commonly spelled pinyon): In extreme
southern California, the Parry pinon (P. quadrifolia); in the deep Southwest, the
Mexican pinon (P. cembroides); in southern California and Nevada, the single-leaf
pinon (P. monophylla); and through much of the Southwest, the widespread common
pinon (P. edulis). The last is the state tree of New Mexico and the major source of
pinon nuts harvested for market in this country.
Gathering pinon nuts can be sticky business, particularly if you do so in late summer,
when the green cones are still closed and heavy with resin. The cones must be dried in
hot sun for several days or charred in a fire to drive off the resin and open the cones
sufficiently to free the nuts. An easier approach is to wait till late September or
October, when the cones begin to open and take on a brownish color but before they're
releasing the nuts. Moisture causes the cones to swell and hold the kernels tightly, so
choose a hot, sunny day following several days of dry weather. Spread a tarp on the
ground beneath the tree, shake the tree hard a few times, and pick out the nuts that fall
to the cloth. Going from tree to tree, you can gather several pounds of nuts in just an
hour or so using this technique-if it's a good year for the nuts. Pinons produce a large
crop only every three or four years.
Two other methods, unfortunately, are commonly used to harvest pinons. One is to cut
the entire tree down (sound familiar?). The other is to rob the nests of pack rats and
squirrels, where considerable quantities of pinons may be stored. Wildlife officials in
areas where this is common practice ask that the pinon plunderers replace the nuts
with pinto beans, so the animals won't be without food for the winter.
Pinons can be consumed one at a time, raw or roasted, like sunflower seeds; just crack
the shell between your teeth and eat the inner meat. To process larger quantities, roast
the nuts in a low (300 F) oven until the shells turn brittle. Then spread the nuts on a
counter top or a table and use a rolling pin to crack the shells and free the kernels.
Pinons are great in granola and trail mix, added to baked goods or sprinkled in soups
and on salads.
If You Go Out in the Woods Today...
Next time you go for a walk in the autumn woods, take a sack with you, slow your
pace to a careful scrutiny of the forest floor and leafy canopy, and gather up some of
nature's best-tasting and most nutritious foods. You'll soon learn why we humans,
even before we were humans, have always been nuts about nuts.

A Prayer for the Beginning of Winter

Posted by Rev. Carol A. Ingle (Raven)

In early winter, we can see the skies becoming overcast, and smell
fresh snow in the air.
Take a few minutes to think about the fact that even if the skies are
cold and dark, it's only temporary.
See the gray skies overhead, preparing the way
for the darkness soon to come.
See the gray skies overhead, preparing the way,
for the world to go cold and lifeless.
See the gray skies overhead, preparing the way
for the longest night of the year.
See the gray skies overhead, preparing the way
for the sun to one day return,
bringing with it light.

Yule Meaning and History

Posted by Rev. Carol A. Ingle (Raven)
Yule, pronounced "you all", or jol is the Winter Solstice, the shortest day and the
longest night of the year. Yule, in Old Norse means, Wheel. As the Wheel of the Year is
significant in pagan culture, it is important to note that Yule of the year means wheel.
Which, if having read the previous article, Samhain, in the 99, October issue of The
Seeker, it was noted that Samhain, may not have been the Celtic New Year, but rather
Yule. Yule, starting with the birth of God, and a celebration of beginning of longer
days, makes sense as the beginning of the New Year.
Yule, of all the Sabbats, is the one that causes the most confusion among those who
follow the pagan path. Specifically those who are new to the path and are breaking
away from their Christian faith and way of life. Yule, is, has, and always will be a
pagan holiday. With that said, I guess I need to further elaborate.
Yule has many pagan elements and more pagan history in it's foundation and pagan
rites than Christian has. Yule has been celebrated since the beginning of time in the
Northern Hemisphere. Many of the cultures located in the Northern Hemisphere
celebrate Yule, all with a common theme, the birth of a God. Most of these Gods are
associated with the Sun or with death and re-birth.
Yule, like Christmas, celebrates the birth of God. Several pagan Gods, have Yule as
their birth date:
Ra
Cronos
Lugh
Mirthra
Odin
This list is my no means complete, but does give you a general idea, that more than one
God has celebrated his birthday during Yule. However, the Roman God Mirthra plays
a most important role in the preservation of Yule, and it's other name, Christmas.
Approximately in the year 312, Constantine, Emperor of Rome, declared Rome
Christian. This however was not done because Constantine was Christian, he was not
baptized until 337, it was more do to the fact, that Rome was declining, and
Constantine saw in Christian religion, what Rome lacked, moral fortitude and the
ability to self organize.

To attempt to persuade his fellow pagan Romans, he choose Mirthra's birthday (Yule)
as the same a Jesus', and from there just let human nature take its course. It didn't hurt
that after many hard fought battles, of which he won, had all armor and shields
painted with Christian symbols, and that he told the populace that the Christian God
granted Rome these Victories. In Rome, whoever controlled the Army controlled Rome.
Which raises the question of confusion again.
Did the Christians steal Yule, or did they preserve it for us? It is important to
understand that while historical facts and data are important, they are not necessary to
enjoy the Sabbat. If one believes that Yule is a celebration of the coming of light,
warmth, and the birth of (insert god of your choice) that whether we call it Christmas,
Yule or the Winter Solstice is unimportant. Yule is the one Sabbat that allows us to
celebrate with other faiths without compromising our own. There are many pagan/preChristian customs that are still part of the Christmas celebration.
The giving of gifts was first founded in Rome to celebrate Saturn's Festival. The use of
jingle balls is and Old Norse custom to drive away the evil spirits, in a time and place
where night was longer than day. Mistole is an old Celtic custom and is commonly part
of every household during Yule. The wreath, the complete circle, representing the
Wheel of the year, is also still a custom.
Which brings us to the Yule tree. The tree of choice is the Fir, Evergreen or Pine. The
reasons these particular trees where probably use is because that these where the only
trees that were considered to be still alive, enternal. According to McCoy, these trees
where sacred among the Druids, as they were the trees that didn't die. The Druids
would decorate the trees with images that represented their wants and desires for the
coming year.
It should be noted that while Yule is considered a primarily Christian Holiday, it does
not do anyone any good, declaring their theft. Rather we should be thankful that they
have done such a great job of preserving it for us, and relish the fact that you know,
and understand, why they decorate the tree, give gifts, and use bells. It might make
Yule at the homestead easier on those families of mixed religion philosophies.
So when someone wishes you a "Merry Christmas", don't tell them I am not a Christian
but rather say, "Merry Yule to you also", and know that Jesus wasn't a bad guy, but
rather in a very elite group of Gods, who all celebrate their Birthday on Yule.

Can't Sleep All the Way

Through the Night?
Posted by Madame Butterfly

Did you know that raw honey contains an ideal ratio of fructose to glucose which
supports the liver, an organ that works overtime on its job of breaking down fats and
toxins? Much of this work is accomplished during the sleep cycle which explains
why sleep is so important to feeling refreshed. It literally allows the body to detox.

A spoonful of raw honey has a dual action for sleep:

1) Restoring glycogen to the liver so that your brain doesnt activate a stress response,
which often occurs when glycogen is low (this could potentially pull you out of sleep).
2) Honey also assists with the release of melatonin a hormone produced by the body
that naturally helps with sleep.
P.S. Be sure that you are getting real raw honey. The more processed type (if it doesnt
say raw honey it probably isnt) has probably been subjected to heat treatment,
filtering and so on which destroys the beneficial nutrients. It may also even be fake.
Source: herbs-info.com

What you may want to used to help with

the pain of a tooth ache
Posted by Bea

There are many great herbs and salts to help with tooth care, this is what I used.
Last Friday I had made an appointment with my dentist, who by the way is very pro
herbal, my kinda guy, and I wanted to get a tooth checked that just didn't feel quite
right, a bit touchy and was concerned at my age to not loose a tooth. So anyways, that
night everything started going south, pain started, and it was bearable sort of, so I used
clove oil, it helped, along with cups of chamomile tea. Gargling with 1 teaspoon of salt
per 1 cup of warm water will burst the outer cell wall of most bacteria. Tea bags are
something I learned from another dentist I had years ago who was from Vietnam, and it
worked to help draw infection at that time.
But over the weekend it went nuclear, and where I live shops close at 6pm, and dentists
are not there on weekends, or on call, the nearest help was quite a ways away and
shaky at best, so I knew I was in it for the long hall till Monday. However, according to
my dentist, all the natural herbal and mineral remedies kept the infection at bay, and
that was a very good thing.
It was not something I would recommend to anyone to try and stick it out with a bad
abscessed tooth if you are prone to heart conditions, as the infection if it goes systemic,
is life threatening. So for me, I took a calculated risk, I toughed it out. The clove oil and
cups of warm chamomile tea, etc., helped the infection stay down till I got into the
dentist. But the pain was not something I want to ever experience again in this lifetime.
I strongly believe in preventive herbal medicine, meaning, I try to stay on top of any
condition that may come up, and most are helped or cured if your wise with your teas
and tinctures, but don't gamble with your life, sometimes we have to cautiously go
towards conventional medicine, and I do mean cautiously, always get another opinion
or two or three, if your not comfortable with what you are being told.
...'Be well all'... in these coming holidays, mind yourself ...

What Tree Did You Fall From?

Posted by Shari

Find your birthday and then find your tree. This is for fun and
somewhat accurate, also in line with Celtic astrology.

Dec 23 to Jan 01 - Apple Tree

Jan 01 to Jan 11 - Fir Tree
Jan 12 to Jan 24 - Elm Tree
Jan 25 to Feb 03 - Cypress Tree
Feb 04 to Feb 08 - Poplar Tree
Feb 09 to Feb 18 - Cedar Tree
Feb 19 to Feb 28 - Pine Tree
Mar 01 to Mar 10 - Weeping Willow Tree
Mar 11 to Mar 20 - Lime Tree
Mar 21 (only) -Oak Tree
Mar 22 to Mar 31 - Hazelnut Tree
Apr 01 to Apr 10 ! - Rowan Tree
Apr 11 to Apr 20 - Maple Tree
Apr 21 to Apr 30 - Walnut Tree
May 01 to May 14 - Poplar Tree
May 15 to May 24 - Chestnut Tree
May 25 to Jun 03 - Ash Tree
Jun 04 to Jun 13 - Hornbeam Tree
Jun 14 to Jun 23 - Fig Tree
Jun 24 (only) - Birch Tree
Jun 25 to Jul 04 - Apple Tree

Jul 05 to Jul 14 - Fir Tree

Jul 15 to Jul 25 -Elm Tree
Jul 26 to Aug 04 - Cypress Tree
Aug 05 to Aug 13 - Poplar Tree
Aug 14 to Aug 23 - Cedar Tree
Aug 24 to Sep 02 - Pine Tree
Sep 03 to Sep 12 - Weeping
Willow Tree
Sep 13 to Sep 22 - Lime Tree
Sep 23 (only) - Olive Tree
Sep 24 to Oct 03 - Hazelnut Tree
Oct 04 to Oct 13 - Rowan Tree
Oct 14 to Oct 23 - Maple Tree
Oct 24 to Nov 11 - Walnut Tree
Nov 12 to Nov 21 - Chestnut Tree
Nov 22 to Dec 01 - Ash Tree
Dec 02 to Dec 11 - Hornbeam
Tree
Dec 12 to Dec 21 - Fig Tree
Dec 22 (only) - Beech Tree

YOUR TREE (in alphabetical order)

Apple Tree (Love) -- quiet and shy at times, lots of charm, appeal, an
attraction, pleasant attitude, flirtatious smile, adventurous,
sensitive, loyal in love, wants to love and be loved, faithful and
tender partner, very generous, many talents, loves children, needs
affectionate partner.
Ash Tree (Ambition) -- extremely attractive, vivacious, impulsive,
demanding, does not care for criticism, ambitious, intelligent,
talented, likes to play with fate, can be very egotistic, reliable,
restless lover, sometimes money rules over the heart, demands attention,
needs love and much emotional support.
Beech Tree (Creative) -- has good taste, concerned about its looks,
materialistic, good organization of life and career, economical, good
leader, takes no unnecessary risks, reasonable, splendid lifetime
companion, keen on keeping fit (diets, sports, etc.).
Birch Tree (Inspiration) -- vivacious, attractive, elegant, friendly,
unpretentious, modest, does not like anything in excess, abhors the
vulgar, loves life in nature and in calm, not very passionate, full of
imagination, little ambition, creates a calm and content atmosphere.
Cedar Tree (Confidence) -- of rare strength, knows how to adapt, likes
unexpected presents, of good health, not in the least shy, tends to look
down on others, self-confident, a great speaker, determined, often
impatient, likes to impress others, has many talents, industrious,
healthy optimism, waits for the one true love, able to make quick
decisions
Chestnut Tree (Honesty) -- of unusual stature, impressive,
well-developed sense of justice, fun to be around, a planner, born
diplomat, can be irritated easily, sensitive of others feelings, hard
worker, sometimes acts superior, feels not understood at times, fiercely
family oriented, very loyal in love, physically fit.
Cypress Tree (Faithfulness) -- strong, muscular, adaptable, takes what
life has to give but doesn't necessarily like it, strives to be content,
optimistic, wants to be financially independent, wants love and
affection, hates loneliness, passionate lover which cannot be satisfied,
faithful, quick-tempered at times, can be unruly and careless, loves to
gain knowledge, needs to be needed.

Elm Tree (Noble-mindedness) -- pleasant shape, tasteful clothes, modest

demands, tends not to forgive mistakes, cheerful, likes to lead but not
to obey, honest and faithful partner, likes making decisions for others,
noble-minded, generous, good sense of humor, practical.
Fig Tree (Sensibility) -- very strong minded, a bit self-willed, honest,
loyal, independent, hates contradiction or arguments, hard worker when
wants to be, loves life and friends, enjoys children and animals, few
sexual relationships, great sense of humor, has artistic talent and
great intelligence.
Fir tree (Mysterious) -- extraordinary taste, handles stress well, loves
anything beautiful, stubborn, tends to care for those close to them,
hard to trust others, yet a social butterfly, likes idleness and laziness
after long demanding hours at work, rather modest, talented, unselfish,
many friends, very reliable.
Hazelnut Tree (Extraordinary) -- charming, sense of humor, very
demanding but can also be very understanding, knows how to make a
lasting impression, active fighter for social causes and politics,
popular, quite moody, sexually oriented, honest, a perfectionist, has a
precise sense of judgment and expects complete fairness.
Hornbeam Tree (Good Taste) -- of cool beauty, cares for its looks and
condition, good taste, is not egoistic, makes life as comfortable as
possible, leads a reasonable and disciplined life, looks for kindness
and acknowledgment in an emotional partner, dreams of unusual lovers, is
seldom happy with its feelings, mistrusts most people, is never sure of
its decisions, very conscientious.
Lime Tree (Doubt) - intelligent, hard working, accepts what life dishes
out, but not before trying to change bad circumstances into good ones,
hates fighting and stress, enjoys getaway vacations, may appear tough,
but is actually soft and relenting, always willing to make sacrifices
for family and friends, has many talents but not always enough time to
use them, can become a complainer, great leadership qualities, is
jealous at times but extremely loyal.
Maple Tree (Independence of Mind) -- no ordinary person, full of
imagination and originality, shy and reserved, ambitious, proud,
self-confident, hungers for new experiences, sometimes nervous, has many
complexities, good memory, learns easily, complicated love life, wants
to impress.

Oak Tree (Brave) -- robust nature, courageous, strong, unrelenting,

independent, sensible, does not like change, keeps its feet on the
ground, person of action.
Olive Tree (Wisdom) -- loves sun, warmth and kind feelings, reasonable,
balanced, avoids aggression and violence, tolerant, cheerful, calm,
well-developed sense of justice, sensitive, empathetic, free of
jealousy, loves to read and the company of sophisticated people.
Pine Tree (Peacemaker) -- loves agreeable company, craves peace and
harmony, loves to help others, active imagination, likes to write
poetry, not fashion conscious, great compassion, friendly to all, falls
strongly in love but will leave if betrayed or lied to, emotionally
soft, low self esteem, needs affection and reassurance.
Poplar Tree (Uncertainty) -- looks very decorative, talented, not very
self-confident, extremely courageous if necessary, needs goodwill and
pleasant surroundings, very choosy, often lonely, great animosity, great
artistic nature, good organizer, tends to lean toward philosophy,
reliable in any situation, takes partnership seriously.
Rowan Tree (Sensitivity) -- full of charm, cheerful, gifted without
egoism, likes to draw attention, loves life, motion, unrest, and even
complications, is both dependent and independent, good taste, artistic,
passionate, emotional, good company, does not forgive.
Walnut Tree (Passion) -- unrelenting, strange and full of contrasts,
often egotistic, aggressive, noble, broad horizon, unexpected reactions,
spontaneous, unlimited ambition, no flexibility, difficult and uncommon
partner, not always liked but often admired, ingenious strategist, very
jealous and passionate, no compromise.
Weeping Willow (Melancholy) - likes to be stress free, loves family
life, full of hopes and dreams, attractive, very empathetic, loves
anything beautiful, musically inclined, loves to travel to exotic
places, restless, capricious, honest, can be influenced but is not easy
to live with when pressured, sometimes demanding, good intuition,
suffers in love until they find that one loyal, steadfast partner; loves
to make others laugh .

New Year spells and rituals

Posted by Whispr
To Refresh Your Spirit For The New Year
This is not for making new years resolutions which are usually broken by most people.
Instead this is to inspire New Spirit for the New Year. It is to purify and to refresh your
spirit. It should be performed in the morning and then again in the evening. It should
also be done outside, but if this is not possible then inside. In the morning go outside
and immerse your hands in the snow( if performing inside then immerse in a bowl or
basin of chilled water) until they are chilled through, then anoint your brow and say...
"substance wasted, substance spoiled, now be redeemed.
Seeing thyself in substance undefiled,
forming thyself a new from this frail substance
gathered and revived."
Repeat in the evening
Snow Person Healing Spell
Make a mini-snow person that represents your friend or relative. Make twenty-one
snow balls.
As you make each snowball, think of your friend and of banishing the illness
from him or her.
Set the snowballs around the person to form anice circle. Chant the following:
Surround her, enfold her, heal her, hold her,
Walk around the snowballs in a counterclockwise (widdershins) direction as you
chant. Clap if you think no one is watching.
When you feel you are finished, hold your hands towards the snow person and say:
Winter winds on a winter day
Winter sun melt her troubles away.
Wheel revolve, death to birth
Air to fire, water to earth!
May this spell not reverse, or place upon me any curse.
May all astrological correspondences be correct for this working.
So mote it be!
Snow Wishes
With your finger or your wand, carve a wish into the snow. Ask the goddess to
grant your wishes. Draw a circle around the wish you wrote in the snow for it
will symbolize the closing of the circle through actions to make your wish come
true.
Write a wish on a piece of paper and bury it in the snow under a tree near you
or where you find peace. Wait for the snow to melt.

Your Life is to Plan

Posted by Nancy Anderson
DEAR FRIENDS, and Family
A new year will soon be here, it is the time for a personal inventory, and to bring forth
what we are living fully to express who we are and to understand what we came here to
be and to do.
<>I think of it in this way.<>Just before my birth I made many choicesvery much like
a planner of eventsI set up through my thoughts, my life's plan, I chose each and
every experience before I took this journey. When the time was right I then decided to
take on physical form and be born into the human experience. I made my plan and I
worked my plan to create my masterpiece. I often see what I chose to do and when it
appears to me I notice that I'm happy and I'm helping others. I'm brought to my knees
from time to time with sadness and grief that I also chose to learn from those types of
experiences to understand the ways of compassion for others, I also notice when I am
restless I indeed have gotten off the path, that I had created before this birth.
At the start of this new year it is a perfect time to look for what you chose for your
master piece? What are you working on? What gives your life meaning and joy? When
you find it do more of it and leave the rest behind. Look for your plan and work your
plan.
Words of Wisdom "Be bold," don't settle for anything less! Express your deepest heart's
desire. It will help you transcend the ego and guide you into higher consciousness.
As we that are called, "grown ups," worry so about our children we need to think, that
they also chose their birth for certain experiences. It might be best to hold back our ego
and not to interfere in their journey. That is the hard test isn't it?
It may sound like a contradiction, but the truth is that when you dedicate your life to
fully express your "own" magnificence (your "own" God-given talents), you will serve
All. Only then will your "helping others" have any significance.

Nancy Anderson.
Peace, Love and Understanding.

Living in Your Future

Posted by GraceWatcher

There was a time when you were happy, when you were in the flow and had success and
love in your life. Then something happened and your life changed. There was struggle,
disappointment and sorrow. The old ways of doing things no longer worked but the
new ways had not yet been revealed to you. You now long for the past and for the
happier times you had then. Perhaps if you went back to that time and place you would
be happier. Your focus is on some place beyond the present moment, yet it is where
every opportunity for creating all that you want resides. The future cannot be any better
or different than the present moment because this is where your future begins..
The future you long for does not exist beyond the present moment. Whatever you have
had to experience in the past prepared you to create your life at this moment. Whatever
occurred in your life in the past represents the lessons you needed to learn. They may
have been lessons in appreciation, gratitude or power. You may have needed to become
aware of your fears or beliefs or find your source of inner strength. All of these
represent your soul lessons that brought you to where you are in this moment. And all
of them prepare you for a future that includes the joy, abundance and love you long for..
Your experience is one of growth and movement, as with all things in the Universe you
are here to transform, to experience the past and use it to create a new future. Each of
you has been experiencing your soul lessons that arise from karma and have been asked
to heal them. Each thing that is removed from your life is something you no longer need.
You can be happy and successful again in new and different ways. But your energy and
attention are required in the present moment if you are to create a future that reflects
what you desire..
The joy you experienced in the past is a blessing that will be magnified in the present
moment when you allow yourself to consider the possibility of new ways of being. The
Universe has unlimited creativity and has a greater awareness of your possibilities than
you can imagine. It is your co-creator in the reality of your dreams. Set your intention for
joy, abundance, peace, love and success in all that you do. Appreciate the past and its
lessons, be grateful for what you had and know that this and more is available to you.
This is where you create the future with each step you take from moment to moment.
Embrace the present because that is where the future begins... Know joy and peace now
and you can create it with each new step on your path!

Lets Get Crafty .....

Ornaments For A Cool Yule :)
Posted by Harobed
So the time is near and all of us are either decoratimg our trees or thinking about
it.Every year I go scooting around the net looking for new ideas for my Yule tree and
for the most part what I find is the same old thing.So what to do ,well we'll make a few
at home.Celebrating dosnt have to be all staid and ceremonious it can be fun,groovy
creative and still show your intentions of the season.Nor does everything need to be
real ,intention and symbolism go a long way girls so start looking at things with new
eyes. There are tons of inexspensive ornaments to be had right now that can be used
for a yule tree .As much as I love them it dosnt have to have a Pentacle to be deemed
tree worthy! By all means if you have access to fresh use it but also consider the ones
you can lovingly unwrap and use each year.The ornaments Im showing you today I
made with tiny grapevine wreathes (3 inch wreathes) ,bits from my work basket and a
few things most all of us have hanging around.These are easy little things anyone can
make and they will last for years.
For this one , I made a small spell bag stuffed with herbs and salt.A tassel with agate
and wooden beads to dress it up and a cinnamon stick peace sign is assembled and hot
glued into the center. Voila! A wish for Peace on Earth .
Next one up is my bow to Mistletoe ,other than your obligatory smooching aid for the
season this plant has many uses for a Witch , Druid Elders had rituals for harvesting
Mistletoe it was so sacred a tool.You could follow in their steps and hang mistletoe to
bring abundance your way. So powerful was the belief of its mystical attributes the
Norsemen laid down their arms if they met beneath it.
Here you see an ornament I picked up for a dollar ,seated at the foot of the Mistletoe is
a stack of Cinnamon logs and a sprinkling of BayBerry,Sage and Holly berries for
protection and abundance. So by now I've got my hot glue gun in full gear ,the Yule
muse is whispering to me and I start thinking suppose Dr.Suess wanted an nice Yule
ornament for Cindy Lou Whoo ,she would need the groovy rune.Out comes the
Cinnamon sticks ,suede , Copper and another sprinkling of Yule herbs.
A little while later and here is my hippy bow to Freyja ,who stands for wealth
,abundance,protection of both hearth and home.She is bedecked with Citrine the
abundance crystal ,nuts,seed pods , Holly berries and has a groovy top knot of Copper
spirals .All tokens befitting of the rune it adorns.

Season of the Crone

Posted by Whispr

Season of the Crone

Crone of Winter's Spellbound cold,
In her Cauldron of black are told
Secrets ancient,truths and tails:
mystery Her light unveils.
She is wisdom she is changes:
time and space she rearranges.
In Her hands the card of Death,
for transformation is Her breath.
Crone Of Winter,Grandmother wise,
look into her gargoyle eyes.
Let Her lessons teach you well:
life is but a Magick Spell.

~Gerina Dunwich 2000~

Evergreen Tree/Christmas Tree

Posted by Whispr

According to legend Saint Boniface, an English monk who organized the Christian
Church in France and Germany, came upon a group of pagans around a great oak tree,
about to sacrifice a child to the god Thor.
To stop the sacrifice and save the child's life Boniface felled the tree with one mighty
blow of his fist. In its place grew a small fir tree. The saint told the pagan worshipers
that the Fir was the Tree of Life.
Another legend tells us that Martin Luther, founder of the Protestant faith, walking
through the forest one Christmas Eve, was awed by the beauty of the stars shinning
through the branches of the evergreen trees. He cut a small tree and took it home. To
recreate the same starlight beauty, he placed candles on all its branches.
Yet another legend tells of a poor woodsman who met a lost and hungry child on
Christmas Eve. He gave the child food and shelter for the night. The next morning he
found a beautiful glittering tree outside his door. The hungry child was really the
Christ Child in disguise. He created the tree to reward the good man for his charity.
The origin of the Christmas tree can be traced back to the ancient Romans who during
their winter festival decorated trees with small pieces of metal. Some say the origin of
the Christmas tree may be the ~Paradise Play.~ In medieval times most people could
not read and plays were used to teach the lessons of the bible all over Europe.
The Paradise Play, which showed the creation of man and the fall of Adam and Eve
from the Garden of Eden was performed every year on December 24th. Since it was
performed in winter, apple trees baring fruit couldn't be found so a substitution was
made. Evergreens were hung with apples and used instead.
The Christmas tree comes to us from Germany. Martin Luther is credited with being
inspired by the starry heavens one night, and expressing his feelings to his family by
bringing a fir tree into his home, and attaching lighted candles to its branches. Fir
meant fire, and fire is an ancient symbol for spirit. The tree also pointed toward the
heavens.

Evergreens were thought to represent the ever-burning fire of life. The color green
signified the life force through the year. Eventually decorative balls represented the
planets, while the star that radiates from the top reminds us of Bethlehem. The entire
tree and decorations teach us that the universe is witness to the Incarnation.
Red at Christmas reminds us of the fire of the Spirit. Green affirms nature, and the
ongoing life. And in the Incarnation, Spirit unites with nature.
In fact, the Christmas tree symbolizes to us a further appreciation of Jesus' birth. It is a
means of retelling a miracle in a colorful and beautiful way so that we can further
understand and appreciate Jesus' entering our world.
Actually, the tree is a reinterpretation of pagan rites, along with the use of other
greens and decorations to commemorate in ancient times a celebration of the feast of
Saturnalia - the birth of the Sun in the sky at the Winter Solstice. Along with the
giving of gifts, the feast was later Christianized with the selection of December 25th to
announce the birth of the Son of God to the world.
The tree also tells the story of a cosmic event - a mystery. In personal celebrations of
Christmas the tree begins its use in the 16th century, and is later brought to America
by German immigrants.
The heavens and earth rejoice in the coming of the Lord of Life. Our decision must be
either for our Christmas tree to represent the celebration of the birth of Christ, or
simply an acknowledgment of the pagan festival of the Winter Solstice.
What does the beauty of the Christmas tree say to you?
Old Irish name for Fir is ~ Ailm~ meaning ~that which goes forward~ and also

...www.angelfire.com/journal2/flowers/pcd40.html

The Oak and Holly Kings

Posted by Freefire Cauldron

The Holly King and Oak King

The Wiccan God is the Lord of the Greenwood, consort to the Lady of the
Greenwood. Known also as Cernunnos, the Green Man, Herne the Hunter, and Lord
of the Wild Hunt, he is a god of fertility, growth, death, and rebirth.
Two God-themes figure predominantly in Wiccan Sabbats: the Sun-God theme and
that of the Holly King and Oak King.
The Sun-God rules the seasons. At Yule, he is the new babe, the emodiment of
innocence and joy. He represents the infancy of the returning light. At Imolg, his
growth is celebrated, as the days are growing longer and light stronger. At Ostara, he
is a green, flourishing youth whose eye is taken by the Maiden Goddess. On Beltane,
he is the young man in love who takes the Goddess as his bride. Their consummated
marriage is celebrated with maypoles and bonfires. At Midsummer, he comsummates
his marriage in a union so complete that it becomes a death. He is mourned at
Lammas, and at Mabon, he sleeps in the womb of the Goddess. At Samhain, he waits
in the Shining Land to be reborn.
The symbolism of the Horned God is also played out the theme of the Holly King
and Oak King. The Horned God is the Holly King and the Oak King, two twin gods
seen as one complete entity. Each of the twin gods rule for half of a year, fights for
the favor of the Goddess, and dies. But the defeated twin is not truly dead, he merely
withdraws for six months, some say to Caer Arianrhod, the Castle of the ever-turning
Silver Wheel, which is also known as the Wheel of the Stars. This is the enchanted
realm of the Goddess Arianrhod where the god must wait and learn before being
born again. Arianrhod means "silver wheel" and the castle is the Aurora Borealis. She
is the goddess of the astral skies and there she rules as goddess of reincarnation.
The golden Oak King, who is the light twin, rules from midwinter to midsummer.
The darksome Holly King rules the dark half of the year from Midsummer to
Midwinter.

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