Gods preserve us from Shopmageddon.

 Dear Reader,

In case you noticed it, the no man's land of Turkey Day has been breeched and winter holiday shopping season has descended complete with musical accompaniment. Samhain has been pushed back into September but it still struggles forth despite the encroachment of Bing Crosby's music. I am retreating into my hermit hole with my knitting and crafting.

Just today, I went to pick up a few things for Turkey Day and it looked like tempers were getting short at the self check out kiosks. The line went all the way into the produce department and was three carts (approximately four people) wide. There were only two cash registers open. With a little luck, I got the one with the small line.

Shopmageddon, also known as Black Friday, looms and it troubles me. If I have errands to run, I don't want to get trampled, nor do I want them to be instantly sold out of the goods I am searching for. I hear you can make a modest shield with a large Tupperware lid and a yoga mat. I don't know if I would need it as it draws close to Yule and everyone goes mad. I should have stocked up on duct tape to make one.

The holiday shopping season, in honesty, is one I hate the most because the focus is moved away from friends and family to stuff. It is a season of greed and excess indulgence. Since getting diabetes, I've become more aware of these things because people don't stop and think about others, except as potential customers or potential show pieces for others to admire their stuff.

This reduction of humanity by the forces that sell us stuff and advertise everything under the sun didn't fully hit me until a few years ago. Some may argue that this focus shift is evidence of a decline in humanity away from the Divine. I would argue this is the evil side of mass marketing, instant fashion, and decadence in what is offered for increasing prices.

May we get through this season when we're all but ordered to go and keep up with the Joneses.

Blessed Nativity & Sai Herthe's day

Dear Reader,

The past month has been quite challenging. Computer technical issues combined with the chaos of preparing for Nativity & Yule made it hard to find time to blog or do much writing at all. When Mother's Night came, I decided to spend Nativity resting. I have been doing needlepoint by day and crochet in the evening. I am finding it difficult to work around my anxiety and social phobia to go out and do things.

I will be back to my regular posting schedule as of Distaff day (that would be the day after Epiphany, the 7th of January). I am spending Sai Herthe's day doing some light cleaning and then back to the embroidery. When we hit the end of Nativity, I will post pictures of what I've been making and a little bit of the story of some of these projects. Right now, I have to go mind the children and wash up some dishes.

I will be getting back to any inquiries and comments that have been on my blog next week by Wednesday at the latest. Thank you for your patience.

Life update & Blessed Mother's Night.

Dear Reader,

As Yule is literally right around the corner, I have been busy. We've been cleaning house, cooking, and decorating. This is on top of the usual daily rounds of parenting and keeping house. Honestly, I'm looking forward to the break that I'm going to take after Nativity starts. I am taking the 12 days of Nativity (which is when my family also celebrates Yule) off from things like making projects for other people and doing hard housework. Just light housework and the minimum necessities to keep the house running.

Today was exhausting. I had this goal of getting all of the hard cleaning and housework done by sunset. Sundown was at 4:30 in the afternoon. Thus, I was hustling and going at it in serious effort all day from when I got up at 5:30 this morning. I am unofficially celebrating Yule over the weekend too, because why not get a few more ounces of joy out of the days. Big family doings are happening on the 25th with the extended family celebrating Christmas. It's going to be a busy day.

In the last few days leading up to Nativity, I am going to be working on getting my planner set up for next month and writing more devotional poetry. Tonight, I am tired and my feet hurt from being on them all day. Hefting furniture around to clean around it is not as easy as it used to be when I was 20. I blame the fact that I turned 40 this year.

Tonight is Mother's Night. I honor the disir and my foremothers tonight. If I weren't so worn out, I'd keep vigil until sunrise. In my stead, I will have a little electric candle going on the altar and in my ancestor's shrine. I also put out an offering of rose water for Dea, the great Mother, during her time of labor. I remember labor, it was thirsty work and tiring. I can only imagine how great the work of labor is for Dea in this world, such as it is.

I wish you all a peaceful and blessed Mother's Night. My posting will be sporadic because the kids are on vacation right now. I am also making a point of resting over the time of Nativity, which means I may be doing other leisure activities instead of posting in the coming time. I view Nativity as a time of celebration and joy. I view Yule the same way. I also believe they are a time where the hard work of life should be suspended enough so that we can enjoy ourselves during this period.

Filianic Calendar Notes - Astraea 3336

The Filianic Calendar denotes the beginning of the season of Winter with the first day of the month of Astraea (11/28). In many households, this is when the Yule tree is put up. There are also those who will set up an Advent wreath at this time.

Each Rayadi/Sunna's Day/Sunday, a candle is lit with prayers of anticipation of the birth of the Daughter. This happens until the week of Nativity. Different color candles are associated with different themes for each week. More will be discussed about this as the season of Advent progresses.

The holidays observed this month are the following:

Advent begins: Astraea 1 (11/28)

Feast of Conception: Astraea 11 (12/8)

Winter Solstice, Mother's Night: Astraea 24 (12/21)*

Nativity Eve: Astraea 27 (12/24)*

Nativity Day: Astraea 28 (12/25)

Yule is reckoned as beginning with Mother's Night and lasting for thirteen nights and twelve days in the Germanic/Nordic faith traditions. The celebration of Nativity is thirteen nights and twelve days, beginning on Nativity Day.

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Mother's Night is celebrated by some on the evening of the Winter Solstice. It is argued to have historically fallen around Nativity Eve and there is many historical signs to indicate that this was a shift of the traditional date to coincide with newly adopted Christian practices.

Yuletide

Three days into the celebration of Yule and I am feeling somewhat burned out. I originally planned to celebrate Yule and Nativity with the kids. Now, as I am sitting here on the evening of the third day of Yule, I honestly don't think I have the energy to go for the whole 17 days. Having the overlap between Yule and Nativity is pretty cool. It makes less stuff to worry about, but I am finding that it is taking a lot of energy to get stuff for this done and manage the household needs along with the remaining stuff I need to take care of for presents.

I spent the night before the Solstice meditating on the Disir. I put out some offerings just for them that evening. The night before the Solstice is known as Mother's Night. In ancient times, rituals were done to honor the ancestral mothers, known collectively as the Disir. I presume that Freyja was honored as well because she is the Vanadis and I am confident that Frigga was honored at this time. Dame Hulda (Holda, Bertcha, and many other names) is honored at this time as well. She is described alternately as a grandmotherly figure or a stern goddess known as the Lady in White. There is a good amount of folklore about Dame Hulda.

It is said that from Mother's Night to Distaff day (Jan 2) women took a holiday from their household labors, except for that which was needful. The practice of spinning was one that was notably suspended. Different opinions as to what Dame Hulda would do if she found a distaff still loaded come from different regions where she was honored. Some said that for each thread of fiber found left on the distaff, Dame Hulda would bring misfortune to the mistress of the distaff. Others said that for each thread of fiber, she would bless the owner of the distaff. Honestly, I fall on the blessing side of the ledger. But that is only because it has been my experience.

I have been giving the kids little gifts each day of Yule. We're saving the big gifts for the 25th. The rest of the extended family celebrates Christmas. It is also the first day of Nativity. Thus, we're doing the big presents from us and 'from' Odin that day. I think it will help make the holidays less confusing for them. As much as I want to do something special and unique for Nativity, I anticipate being exhausted.

Nativity is the date of the birth of the Daughter. It is a twelve day celebration. It includes the date of the Daughter's birth, the feast of Epiphany, and the day known as Duodecima or 3 Princesses day. I find myself sliding into the habit of referring to Duodecima as 3 Queen's day. It is a bit of a departure from the canon but it just feels correct. And considering that Duodecima is celebrated with Queen cakes (which are sweet heart shaped cakes) the use of the word queen only makes more sense.

The mythos surrounding Nativity eve and Nativity are in many ways parallels to modern mythos of Chrismas. At Nativity eve, the Mother Marya is understood to enter into the Cave of the World to birth her Daughter Anna*. This birth takes place at the dawning of Nativity day. The story of Nativity is beautiful and charming in its simplicity. While the story could be argued to begin with the Conception, the feast of Conception is approximately two weeks before the festival of Nativity begins.

I don't think the separation of the Conception from Nativity diminishes either. It is my understanding that the Conception is separate to reflect the importance of this event and the wonder of it, I also think this is something that is separated so that it is not lost in the Nativity narrative or somehow not given proper consideration. From a theological standpoint the mythos of Nativity is a logical extension of the mythos of creation, which is celebrated in the season of autumn. All of this, however, is better suited for its own post.

Some of the folklore that surrounds Nativity eve is similar to the secular folklore of the Western world. There is a demigoddess figure known as the Star Fairy. She is considered the Queen of the Air Fairies (some argue of all Fairies) and she goes from household to household on Nativity eve blessing each home. She rides in a chariot drawn by eight white horses and she is dressed entirely in white. It is said that she gives gifts to children who are virtuous and leaves a switch for children who are not. She is said to enter the home by coming down the chimney. In many ways, she is like the figure of Santa Claus. I like to think of her as a cross between Queen Mab and Santa, actually.

My children haven't been introduced to the concept of the Star Fairy yet. I am not sure how to approach it. I view the Star Fairy as an embodiment of the holiday spirit. Much like how others view Santa Claus. (I have some issues surrounding Santa Claus, but if I were able to suspend them, I would view Santa the same way.)
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* The orthodox Filyani spell the Daughter's proper name as Inanna. I use Anna for two reasons. One it is a logical derivative of the name Inanna and the etymology makes sense. Two, the Daughter of Filianism is different from the Sumerian goddess Inanna and I don't want to accidentally invoke one when I'm trying to reach the other. Awkward things would happen with that, at best.