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The Modern Merlin’s Corner-December 2024: Saturnalia, Yule and Winter Celebrations
IO Saturnalia! I hope my readers are having a joyful and blessed Saturnalia and start of the holiday season. Before getting into the subject of this month’s column, I want to take a moment to address some changes coming in 2025 to this column. Rest assured, I will still be contributing this column to our publication, but I will be re-defining it in some ways, excluding certain subject areas, as they will be touched on by other columns I will be writing, and add in other subject areas into this one. This column will still remain fairly eclectic, but I will be expanding it to include more on the subjects…
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Yule Correspondences
Lesser Sabbat – Winter Solstice Begins Wednesday, December 21, 2022 and ends on Sunday, January 1, 2023 Other Names: Jul (“wheel”, Old Norse), Saturnalia (Rome ~December 17 & 18), Yuletide (Teutonic), Midwinter, Fionn’s Day, Alban huan, Christmas (Christian~December 25), Xmas, Festival of Sol, Solar/Secular/Pagan New Year Animals/Mythical beings: yule goat (nordic), reindeer stag, squirrels, yule cat, Sacred White Buffalo, Kallikantzaroi-ugly chaos monsters(greek), trolls, phoenix, yule elf, jule gnome, squirrels, wren/robin Gemstones: cat’s eye, ruby, diamond, garnet, bloodstone Incense/Oils: bayberry, cedar, ginger, cinnamon, pine, rosemary, frankincense, myrrh, nutmeg, wintergreen, saffron Colors: gold, silver, red, green, white Tools,Symbols, & Decorations: bayberry candles, evergreens, holly, mistletoe, poinsettia,mistletoe, lights, gifts, Yule log,…
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Modern Yuletide Tales
**This is an excerpt from my first book, A Modern Celt: Seeking the Ancestors. The Winter Solstice has always been an incredibly magical time for me, despite not being (as far as we know) typically a Celtic festival. Here are some of my more mysterious experiences during the shortest day and longest night. My most precious memories of the winter solstice all seem to be of going to a specific lakeside on the longest night. I remember it always feels later in the day than it is, because despite it only being early evening it is already pitch black, and once you move away from the roads there…
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Pixie Witch Kitchen
Spicy Crispy Yule Stuffing This is my favorite stuffing recipe that my mom taught me to make years ago. It’s just something she did one day and it was amazing. I changed it up a bit to make it spicier but if you don’t like spicy foods just don’t add the pepper. Most stuffings are soft and soggy but this one is nice and crispy. My friends and family always ask me to make it during holiday dinners. So now its time to share it with you and I hope you guys enjoy it as much as we do. Its also vegan friendly just change the butter into the cooking…
