Yuletide with Covenant of the Goddess & Winter Poetry

Yuletide is here once again.  

Come celebrate with us!  For the next 20 days, we will be sharing the recipes, songs, crafts and other Yule treats from the festive halls and homes of  CoG  members.  For additional ideas and inspiration, look at last year's posts.  

We'll kick this year's celebration with a poem

Winter in Wisconsin

by Mari Powers (2010)

National Solitary

Wheel of evergreen, and lanterns aglow,

The Holly King walks among us,

as the wheel of the year turns to Yule.

Windy Oya blows cold from the North.

And from Her tundra,

comes the still silent snow.

The fairy folk gather on sparkling mounds of white

from Old Ashipin to Aztalan.

As the sun sinks lower every night,

it lights a rose and amber glow in the West.

The great hunt is done.

The Sidhe move to their winter mounds.

The corn king lies smoldering 

and the blue hag of winter

begins her long reign.

The sun retreats early.

The rose and amber glow in the west hurries 

to step aside for the moon.

In the early predawn on this winter’s solstice 

the full moon makes spider webs in the snow.

On this darkest night, the pine trees are spindles.

Deep in the woods, in a still grove of oak,

Cerrnunos raises the call across the frozen forest.

The fairy come out of the sparkling mounds of white

and gather to celebrate.

The north wind 

carries His voice over meadows of snow.

The fairy folk rise to the call.

They have no care for the cold that keeps us inside.

Dressed in their holiday best,

snowflakes glitter in their hair.

They are shimmering ghost lights in a circle.

The fairy queen spins the return of light

in the dark of winter beginning.

In the morning, we find circles of green mistletoe 

and red holly in their wake.

Yuletide with CoG #14: Winter Sword Meditation

Winter Sword Meditation

(submitted by Hawk, National First Officer)

The Sword in Winter

Moon:   Cold moon/Full Moon January

Incense:  Cedar, Pine, and Raspberry Leaves

Oil:  Frosted Holly or other mint based oil

Candles:  White and Elemental Candle for Sword Working

Before you, upon a wall of clean and polished white stone, hangs a tapestry.  The thread is polished and shining.  The tapestry is simple:  a wooden door with an ornate handle of gold.  The tapestry seems alive with movement and magic…and you reach towards it, focusing on the golden latch.  You are not surprised to feel the cool touch of the precious metal.  You turn the knob slowly to the right and hear a satisfying click as the door begins to open…

You venture out from your safe and warm abode into the chilled and frosty outdoors.  It is twilight and to the West, the winter sun settles beneath the horizon amidst a tapestry of fiery red, and orange.  To the East you can see the darkness of night approaching. Silvery starlight dances in the sky as a crisp wind begins to blow from the West.  The Moon is full and polished and riding on the sky in a dazzle of silvery light.  The wind seems to be tinged with voices…singing…laughing…weeping.

A path upon the frozen earth beneath your feet becomes clear.  It begins at your own doorway and unfolds into the West.  As you step forward, you feel a slight shift in the Earth beneath you.   Breathing deeply and feeling the strong beat of your heart within your chest, you take a second step.  Another shift beneath your feet leaves a tingling sensation…and when your vision clears, you stand at the threshold of a magnificent forest.  Clad in thick snow, the forest is silent as you stand before it.  Standing to either side of the path are two trees.  Tall and mighty, they look to be Oak, but then your vision blurs again for a brief moment and when it clears, the trees are Birch.  As you stand there, the trees continue to transform into what you now realize are all of the Sacred Trees.  You feel a beckoning to continue on the path and so you step forward again into the West.

After quite some distance, you see the path diverge into several directions.  One turns and leads to the North and another to the East.  Your path continues Westward and as you puzzle over where to go next, the wind comes forth again, bringing with it the voices that are clearer now and closer, it seems.  You continue West on the snowy path.  

Before you the forest suddenly opens to unveil a magnificent lake that seems to stretch for miles upon miles.  It is still night, even here, yet the starlight is brighter, more dazzling, and everything seems to be white or silver…and glowing.  You hear the singing again…a very high, melodic voice accompanied by the strings of a harp…but it is still far away, you think.  

The lake is frozen, you realize, and is such a startling blue color that you are certain that the ice is too thin to tread upon.  And yet…you place one foot on the lake’s edge and the ice is firm.  You step forward carefully.  The ice looks thin, but it feels thick and solid beneath you.  You look up from the frozen surface and see a flash to the North.  Up higher, against the starry sky, you see a shooting star streak North to South and then disappear in a blaze of gold and red.  You see the flash again and this time you are sure that whatever it is, it is farther out on the ice.

You walk towards the flash.  Within moments, you see an object sitting upon the ice that flashes and pulses, it seems, with the dancing starlight above.  As you get closer, you then see that it is a broken piece of ice….no….not broken…it is a small tower of ice that actually rises forth from the surface of the Lake.  Inside it, a sword rests.  You can see a jeweled hilt with dragons whose eyes blaze red and gold with each twinkle of the stars above.  

Take your time and look at the Sword…watch how it dances…feel its vibration…hear its song…

You silently thank the Lordly Ones, the Folk of the Lake, for this vision. 

(from the forthcoming "Arthurian Magic: The Tapestry of Winter" book by VC)

(image and header provided by~Magickal Graphics~)