Hello lovely
Welcome to this Sundays fortnightly letter.
I’ve been thinking a lot about traditions; ones we take on, ones we grow ourselves and ones we let go of.
TRADITION - the transmission of customs or beliefs from generation to generation, or the fact of being passed on in this way.
I think that originally, traditions were ways in which to connect to the earth, the season we are in and the heart of ourselves. Traditions can create incredible beauty and connectivity to our human lives and our community both human and non human.
Often people have traditions in their lives they don’t particularly enjoy but feel they have to carry them on, and sometimes people decide to grow into their lives, traditions they may not have been handed down or taught, but they are ones that help them grow a more connective and beautiful life and sometimes they reignite ones that used to be followed by their family many years ago, or even ones that are ancestral.
I’ve been thinking of the traditions I carried forward, but have since decided to compost away for they just don’t suit me personally, or they aren’t in my integrity. As a mama, these traditions may be things that I realised I didn’t want to hand down. For many years, I didn’t realise that you could step out of the routine that had been handed down to me, yet when I realised I could create anything, it was lovely to think about the traditions I would like in my life and in my children’s lives.
This time of year is especially infused with tradition, much of them having ancient roots within our ancestors.
Such as bringing boughs of evergreen into the home, having Yule logs, eating puddings of dried fruit, creating light, giving presents, feasting, having crackers, Christmas Day meals, stockings, offerings to Father Christmas, cards and all sorts of other things.
I realised, I didnt want this time of year, or any time of year to be a celebration that involved a crazy amount of sugar and processed foods. For me, traditions, celebrations and rituals are connective in their nature, waking me up to my body, my family, freinds and the season. I feel sugar does the opposite. And of course there are some things I still do that involve a sense of sweetness. I still make christmas cake and figgy pudding like my granny did, but without so much sugar and so on.
But there are traditions, mainly ones I remember with my granny that I regrew into my families life.
Such as gathering greenery from the forest to bring into our home, reminding us of the life force still present. Making wreaths, hanging up holly and mistletoe, and my favourite is honouring the deer and the more than human beings at this time, by feeding them and taking gifts out to the woods. This is an especially lovely thing to do either on Christmas Day or solstice day.
I recently wrote about it in my monthly harvest post that is for paid subscribers
But in brief, when I was a child, my granny used to take me into the forest where we would smear peanut butter onto trees for the deer to lick off. In older times, before Father Christmas, there was a mama reindeer, who would fly the coming light safely across the skies in her big antlers. The male reindeer lose their antlers in winter, whereas the female, who are bigger and stronger than the males, would lead their herd safely across the lands at this time, and so it was she who was picked to guard the sun and keep it safe.
And now, with my wee one, we make balls of nuts, butter, coconut oil and so and leave them out as offerings in the forest, as well as put peanut butter on the trunks of trees.
These offerings, aren’t just for the deer now, but we also leave gifts out for all the furred and feathered beings, as an act of gratitude and love for all they do.
We walk through the forest, placing the balls into roots, branches and stumps, whispering, singing or shouting our thanks.
One of my main objectives with creating new or growing old traditions, is to grow a sense of gratitude for the land around for my children, for my own heart.
Another tradition, starts with the winter solstice, we honour the darkest night and the shortest day. We gather and speak of the seeds and light we hold in our own darkness, we offer gifts to the forest and simple gifts to each other that will inspire our journey ahead and resonate with the seeds we wish to unfurl and let taste the light of our days. This may be books, a journal, pencils, fire starters, seeds, thread or whatever it is that has the same flavour of their interests, longings, wants to explore.
In times gone by the solstice was a time when people would honour the darkness, but also be on a vigil, waiting and watching for the light and fasting. Just like waiting for someone to birth. And finally around the 24th or 25th the light would be fully birthed and people could feast and celebrate, knowing we had fully stepped over the threshold.
And so I have loved our celebrations and traditions beginning with the solstice and the darkness. It makes sense to eat less in this period as our guts are affected by the increased darkness.
In this way, for me, christmas makes more sense. I don’t think I believe that Christ was born at christmas time, (Ive read that he was born in another time, but the story of his birth was moved and overlayed into pagan traditions to make pagans more Christian, but I haven’t researched that in any big way) but I do know the light is reborn then. The light that calls us to grow, to reshape, to form forests, medicine, inspiration and beauty.
What traditions do you have? And what traditions are you composting and what ones do you want to grow?
Thank you for being here, and may winter bring you much beauty.
Brigit xxxx
Hello dear Brigit! ❤️❄️✨ First of all I want to thank you for another beautiful and inspiring post. Reading about the mama reindeer who carried the returning light between her antlers brought tears in my eyes. What a story and image! 🙏. One tradition that I have created myself is that I make my own christmas cards every year now since a very long time. It gives me a moment to dive in to my own creativity and curiosity about what ”theme” wants to be birthed and sent as love and light to my friends and family. It is often messy and a bit caotic but also meditative and it connects me to the heart of the winter season. I also like to celebrate Lucia who comes with light and hope in the darkness snd here in Sweden where I live, we bake soft saffron wheat buns with raisins, called lussekatter or lussebullar. I like to decorate inside the house with some tomtar and angels and with amaryllis and hyacinths with moss from the garden and whole cinnamon and dried orange slices and special lights. Here in Sweden almost everyone has several ”adventsljusstake” in their windows. These are special electric candlesticks that you start to light on Advent. This years theme for my x-mas cards was japanese inspired with a steaming teapot in the center and often with nature around it. I put every card in vellum paper on which I have written a haiku. My intention is always to bring some hope, beauty, inspiration and serenity. I wish you a Merry Cristmas and a Happy New Year❄️💕, Frieda
Dear Brigit, you remind me of all the beautiful traditions my Danish grandmother taught us. My heart longs to do what I did as a child - go out into the woods with Mormor, gathering mosses and acorns and leaves, creating winter scenes to dress the tables, creating simple, natural hygge with oranges and cinnamon and almonds. Ah well. Dreaming is good too. Thank you for a beautiful post ❤️