Tenth Day of Yule, 2011

Ten days have we celebrated the Gods and Kin. Ten days have we watched the sky darken and felt Winter's cold embrace (though not, perhaps as cold as some years). Ten days has it been since the start of Yule.

Which means just two days left. But do not feel sorry, for the cycle of life keeps going.

Yule is about family, but that's not as easy as it used to be. People these days are constantly busy, constantly working, or these days not working at all with no money. We have spread ourselves out all over the country, or even countries plural. We no longer live all in the same house, or same neighborhood, or city, or state. In some cases, and this is common for a lot of us, we've lost our families because of our religious choices, or we still have them, but we have to hide what we are or not make a big deal about it.

But on this tenth day of Yule, let us think of our families, both divine and mortal, be it by blood, by faith, or by choice.

Here is last night's pic:

As you can see, lots of candles on there now. Hopefully I can get all twelve to fit on there in the end.

And here are the gifts:
Ten Vikings Pillaging,
Nine Worlds of Lore,
Eight Maidens dancing,
Seven Alfs a leaping,
Six Horns of Mead,
Five Golden Rings! (Oh come on!)
Four Runes Inscribing,
Three Days of Kinship,
Two Goats of Thor,
And a Raven in a Yew Tree.

Sixth Day of Yule, 2011

Alright, day six is here to greet us.

Note to bloggers out there, making these posts the night before will have the side effect of making it very hard to remember what day you're actually on. You're thinking it's the sixth day, but there's only five candles and you're having to remind yourself just where you're at.

Anyways, last night's offering was Oliver's Camelot Mead again, just as it was on the first night. Hopefully there will be enough mead left for the Ninth and Twelfth nights as well. If not, I have some "Apothic Red" wine that I'm told is very good, though personally while I like the bottle (it's red and black and made me think of Alchemy when I first found it) I can't say I like the taste. I'm really picky when it comes to booze, and flavors. So far, the Camelot Mead is about the only one I can really stand drinking. But oh well, I'm not getting paid to be a wine critic or to sell this stuff, so moving on.

Here's the pick of last night, where you can see the offerings in their glasses before Hel, Thor, and Freyja.

Hopefully the computer issues that kept me out the last couple days are fixed, and I won't have that problem again. If I do, well, we'll see how it gets handled.

Also, today is the 24th and Christmas! So set out those milk and cookies people.  Santa might be a "Christian" guy, but some of his aspects can be traced back to Odin, and he is a jolly old elf/alf indeed. So be good, boys and girls, and perhaps he shall bring you a present, and if not, at least you made this holiday just a little more Pagan. And have a merry Yule, Saturnalia, or what have you

Anyways, the gifts:

Six Horns of Mead,
Five Golden Rings! (I wish)
Four Runes Inscribing,
Three Days of Kinship,
Two Goats of Thor,
And a Raven in a Yew Tree.

Fifth Day of Yule, 2011

So today is the fifth day of Yule. This would have been made earlier, but troubles kept me from making it.

Not much to say today, so I'll just post the pic from last night and call it.

And the present:
Five Golden Rings! (Hey, I'm being traditional here)
Four Runes Inscribing,
Three Days of Kinship,
Two Goats of Thor,
And a Raven in a Yew Tree.

Holy Water and Wards

So, over the last couple weeks I have put together new wards for my place, using a set of bindrunes, and I've actually made holy water, with the help of a witch friend of mine. The holy water actually charged under the lunar eclipse we had, so we'll see what effects that has on it, if any. I need to put it in a different bottle and remove the silt at the bottom, but it has been made and I have a couple really cool bottles thanks to another friend to chose from. Hopefully in the next few days I can put the new wards up, and see how they work.