
Hello beautiful souls,
The winter solstice is upon us once more and that means the Yule celebration is here. The 12 days prior to the 21st up until the beginning of the new year is the celebration of Yule, with the 21st being the Wild Hunt and the Longest Night.
During this time there are many different traditions that happen with the making of Yule logs and homemade gifts, too much feasting and merry-making.
The energy of winter holds a time of going within and dealing with fears coming up. This year has been especially difficult and challenging for all with the pandemic that has hit the world. It started in the winter and has stalled us all in this perpetual winter energy all year long. Now, we’ve come back full circle to winter once more, and we must look at the harsh lessons that have been brought to our attention about ourselves and the lessons that were taught to us. This can bring up anxiety and fear of the unknown. This fear can also manifest itself as the fear of “not doing enough” with so many out of work this year and people staying at home. The sudden change in a normal routine has definitely taken its toll on people mentally. There’s a feeling of needing to do “something”, but what does that even mean? Did these concerns pop up for you?
Acceptance and forgiveness should be prominent during this time. Do not look back and pine for what once was, waiting to “get back to normal”. We are forever changed, and the world as we knew it has changed. Ignoring that fact will only cause more harm to one’s own mental state. Remember to stay present and find the wonder in your everyday life.
What are your traditions this time of year?
It’s important to hold onto performing traditions or starting new ones if you didn’t practice anything before. There are many different things you can do this time of year. Making a Yule log, dressing candles for the hearth, making winter foods, making and hanging garlands, watching holiday movies, making holiday cards, etc.
I love to create homemade items for gift giving at this time of year. Things like body care items or baked goods, tea, and cocoa. My newest addition to my DIY crafty ways are macrame ornaments. All these things are easy to do and can be so special to receive.
I found an easy tutorial on YouTube to make a tree. It was really fun to do, and there are a million different patterns you can create. Be it cute plant holders or pet beds, there are a ton of useful items and clothes you can make in this macrame style. It definitely appeals to boho-chic loving individuals. If you are a magically minded person, you can weave your intentions and blessings into the ornaments. You can also add crystal beads to hold these intentions. You can scent them with a drop of essential oil around the wooden ring, or perhaps you have an organic room spray you can scent it with.
Gift Wrapping
I’m also very mindful of what I use to wrap up these gifts with. I like the furoshiki style of wrapping with cloth. There are also tons of videos on YouTube on how to do this. It’s fun to do, and you can get inexpensive material at your local fabric store. The best part is that the cloth wrappings can be reused again for gifts or even wrapping up a lunch. We still use paper gift bags, but we save them and reuse them many times over to minimize waste.
So much waste is created at this time of year. It’s really not necessary to buy overpriced toxic papers, just to toss them in the trash after ripping them apart. Literally, every household that celebrates a holiday at this time will be creating gift wrapping trash. Not many people purchase the paper version of the newspaper anymore, but I used to save the funny comic strips paper and wrap gifts with that. It really upsets me personally, thinking about all the waste that is created, but it’s why I do my part to cut that out as much as possible.
So however you choose to celebrate the holiday time, we hope it is fun and that you make some great memories.
Be well on your journey.
~Shara
I do have a couple of affiliate links here if you wanted to pick up the same items I bought for the macrame project. It does help us out a wee bit. Thank you!
