Yuletide Greetings and Tiny Treasures

Happy Yule, Happy Chanukah, and Merry Christmas! I can’t believe another year is coming to an end. Thank you all for spending at least part of it with me. I appreciate my friends, fans, and readers more than I can say, and I wish you all a wonderful holiday, no matter how you celebrate.

I will be hosting my yearly Yule dinner party on the 21^st for Blue Moon Circle, family, and friends. I look forward to it all year long. And now I have something else to celebrate too—the release of a new short collection of short-short stories set in the world of the Baba Yagas and the Riders!

 

 

This project wasn’t something I had planned on doing, but I was chatting with one of my author friends a few months ago and that conversation made me think of a few little short-short stories I had posted over the years at the Literary Escapism blog as part of the promotion for the fabulous Coastal Magic Convention. I knew that most people hadn’t ever had a chance to read them.

Then I was talking about them to Crystal Sarakas, who sometimes acts as my virtual assistant, and she said, “I know you’re in the middle of your crazy busy season, and I almost hate to even suggest this, but would you consider writing a new story to add to these?” (Then she ducked.) It really was crazy, but I loved the idea. And when I said, “What about a Chudo-Yudo story?” she jumped up and down and squeeed. Then we went looking for the perfect cover, and I found the one above, by cover artist Lindsay Tiry, and it inspired the story of the same name as the collection title. Three of the stories are centered around Yule, so this seemed like the perfect time to put this tiny collection out as a gift to my faithful readers. Consider it my thank you to your sticking with me and the Baba Yagas for all this time.

The book is out in digital format as of today, and will be available in paperback (a small one, called a chapbook—it will be pretty skinny!) as soon as we can get it set up. I hope you enjoy these little treasures, especially the new one.

Find the book here: https://amzn.to/2Ma5DKT

Of course, because I’m me, I’m doing a big giveaway to celebrate the mini-collection’s release. It includes a Kindle Fire 7 tablet, a signed copy of the last novella (Dangerously Driven), and a stuffed dragon in honor of the new Chudo-Yudo story. Check it out!

While you’re checking things out, you might want to swing by my Etsy store, if you still need some (really) last minute gifts for the reader or witchy type on your list (or for yourself). I’ve got signed books, my gemstone jewelry, and some magical gift sets, among other things. https://www.etsy.com/shop/deborahblake

 Thank you again for taking this journey with me…my peeps are the best.

Wishing you all a blessed Winter Solstice and a happy New Year. May the year to come be filled with joy.

Blessings,

Deborah

P.S. Diana has settled in really well, and sends her love, along with the rest of the Wild Bunch.

To enter the contest, just fill out this Rafflecopter form. As always, no purchase is necessary (although of course I'd love it if you bought the new mini-book).

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Witchcraft Classes Starting Up On Patreon

For those who are looking for a little magical study in their lives, the first of my live witchcraft classes is on Wednesday evening. This is available to my patrons who give $25 per month. That amount is right in line with what I would charge for a class at your local pagan store or in person. We'll be holding the class online, using video conference via Zoom. (If you can't join us online, the video can be viewed later.)

Our first class will focus on Yule with a Q&A to follow. The awesome part is that you get to suggest topics for future classes! There is a limit to the number of folks who can sign up for this so if you're interested, pledge at the $25 level on my Patreon page! 

 

 https://www.patreon.com/deborahblake

Yule Celebration Giveaway!

Yule, also known as the Winter Solstice, starts either Monday night or Tuesday morning, depending on which part of the country you live in. (If you're in the Southern Hemisphere, you're observing the Summer Solstice instead, of course.) In celebration of all the holidays at this time of year, as well as my new Llewellyn book contract (you KNEW I was going to do a giveaway for that, right?) I'm going to do one last giveaway this year. It's a cool one!

Everyday Witchcraft tote bag and notebook, plus a broom ornament, plus swag!

Isn't this adorable?!

OMG! Look what's on the back of the tote bag!

The giveaway includes a reversible oversize tote bag with EVERYDAY WITCHCRAFT on one side and The Witch's Broom (still on sale in Kindle form for only $2.99, but I have no idea for how long!) on the other side. Also, the last of my Everyday Witchcraft notebooks, and a cool Yule broom ornament I special-ordered from some lovely Pagans in France on Etsy to give to my family and friends--this was the last of those, too. See how special y'all are? Plus, of course, some misc. swag and bookmarks and such.

By the way, check out how popular Everyday Witchcraft still is! (I tend not to check, so when I happen to look at the page, it is always a pleasant surprise. Thanks SOOOOO much to all of you who have bought a copy!)
#11 in Books > Religion & Spirituality > New Age & Spirituality > Wicca, Witchcraft & Paganism > #15 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Religion & Spirituality > Earth-Based Religions > Paganism & Neo-Paganism

All you have to do to enter the contest is to use the Rafflecopter form below and choose some or all of the options. (USA only this time, alas. Don't worry, I'll do another world-wide one in the new year.) 

Tell me, what do you celebrate at this time of year? Hanukkah, Yule, Christmas, or some combination? What do you do to celebrate?

Wishing you all a fabulous holiday season and a blessed Yule!

 a Rafflecopter giveaway

Greeting the Light, Embracing the Dark

Sunday, December 21^st marks the Winter Solstice, known by some as Yule. The solstice is celebrated around the world in many different fashions; it is the longest day of the year, and therefore marks the returning of the light, as each day after brings with it a few more minutes of sunlight. For those people like me who live in chilly climates, this holiday symbolizes hope in the midst of the cold and dark. This is part of why many cultures bring pine trees and other greenery indoors, as a symbol of life in the season when most things are either dead or dormant.

The Winter Solstice is the official first day of winter, though, so even as we greet the reborn sun, we know that we must somehow make it through the next few months of relative darkness while we wait for spring to return. Many folks struggle with depression due to the lack of sunlight, or feel oppressed by the cold and the long nights.

As a Pagan, I have found ways to lessen my own winter blues by learning to go with the flow of the season. Winter in more primitive societies always meant slower, quieter days, usually huddled around the fire with family or tribe. People went to bed earlier because of the longer, darker nights, and rested up for the burst of energy required for planting in the spring. They told stories, played games, and worked on handcrafts like spinning, sewing, or woodcarving. (They probably did a lot of cuddling, too.)

In our modern society, we tend to ignore the turn of the Wheel of the Year, and try to maintain the same schedule and level of activity no matter what the season—but it usually doesn’t work very well, and we end up stressed and tired and blue. So while most of us can’t just stay home from work and sit by the fire, there are a few ways we can take a hint from our ancestors and embrace the winter darkness in ways that feed our souls and keep us mentally, physically, and spiritually healthier.

If you can, try going to bed earlier, or at least be quieter in the evenings; turn off the TV and read a book, put together a picture puzzle, or write in a journal. If you have children, spend some time together telling stories—take turns reading from a shared book, or each make up part of a continuing saga that you tell each night. Focus on imagination instead of electronics, putting away the phones and gizmos for a few hours and learning a new craft or practicing an old one. If you have an elder in the family who has a creative gift, now is the perfect time for them to share it with others. Cook together as a family, making hearty stews or soups, or kneading bread.

The dark times are meant to be more internal and less external, so you may wish to spend more time alone or with the family unit. But you can also “hunker down” with friends or family and do fun inside activities, like movie night with homemade popcorn, or playing board games or card games. Laughter makes even the darkest night brighter.

If you have someone to cuddle with—whether human or companion animal—there is no better way to spend a cold winter night. Throw in a good book and a mug of hot chocolate (or a glass of wine), and a cookie baked with love, and you’re all set, even if you have to wrap yourself in a fuzzy blanket and cuddle with that.

Don’t forget to take time to appreciate the stark beauty of the quiet season. I miss the green abundance of summer, but the white snow on the black branches and a brilliant red flash from a passing cardinal can always raise my spirits. Singing, playing or listening to music, or enjoying favorite movies and books can also help you get through the long dark hours.

Soon enough the Wheel will turn and the small green shoots will poke their cheerful heads up   through the ground, but until that time comes, try embracing the blessings of the darkness in all their quiet potential. Blessed solstice greetings to you all!  

Make the Yuletide Merry

I'm still spending most of my time and energy running The Artisans' Guild during the busy (and this year, snowy) holiday season, but this Saturday I will take a short break to celebrate the Winter Solstice, otherwise known as Yule. Even if you're not a Pagan, you've probably heard of Yule, even if you don't realize it. Just listen to a bunch of Christmas carols, and you'll hear the word Yule, or Yuletide, quite often. That's because  many of the aspects of modern-day Christmas were actually adopted or adapted from the existing holiday of Yule.

Even caroling itself comes from the tradition of "wassailing" (remember the song, "We will go a'wassailing"?). Mind you, wassailing was a bit rowdier--people would go from house to house singing, and being given a neighborly drink of wassail (which means "to your health"), which was usually heavy on the alcohol. In fact, the holiday was so raucous, the Puritans banned it. Party poopers.

For me, one of the great things about Yule is that because so many of the traditions are mirrored by Christmas, even non-Pagans usually feel comfortable celebrating the Winter Solstice. Blue Moon Circle uses this as an excuse to have a party--our annual Yule dinner party, to be exact. This will be our 9th year, I think! Blue Mooners bring family, and we invite some friends along as well. I think this year there will be (gulp) 15 of us around my not-that-big dining room table. Thankfully, everyone brings part of the feast, which makes life easier. We dress up, actually eat around a table together and eat off handmade pottery instead of sitting around the living room with paper plates on our laps, and play a gift-swapping game.

I literally look forward to this one night all year; it truly makes my Yuletide merry!

What are your plans for the holiday? Do you celebrate Christmas, or Yule, or something else? And if you could have Santa or the Holly King bring you ANYTHING, what would it be? (Actual presents, not stuff like world peace, which presumably we'd all wish for.)

I'll try to post some pictures on Sunday or Monday. Now, off to work!

Happy Solstice!

Today is the Winter Solstice, also known as Yule. It is the longest night (the most dark) and the shortest day (the least light) of any day of the year. It is also the origin of almost all of the commonly celebrated Christmas traditions, including putting up trees and greenery (which represented life in the midst of the death of winter) and decorating them with lights (which used to be actual candles) to show light shining out in the darkness. Caroling began as a rather rowdy movable door-to-door party, where people sang and drank their way from neighbor to neighbor. If you listen to many carols even today, you will hear them talk about "making the Yuletide merry."

I have a confession to make: Christmas is not my holiday. Never has been. I grew up Jewish, and the only time I ever celebrated Christmas was the couple of years I was married, way back in the 1980's. And these days, as a Pagan who runs an artists' cooperative shop (and sells her jewelry there), I am mostly just grateful that it isn't my holiday, so I don't have to feel guilty about focusing all my energy on making money...

This doesn't mean I don't celebrate at all, though. Every year, my group, Blue Moon Circle, gets together for a Yule dinner party at my house. This year, it will be held tomorrow. We don't do a ritual, so it is a "safe" time for people to bring the husband who isn't comfortable with witchcraft, or the kids who don't sit still well. We usually invite a pagan-friendly friend or two, too. BMC is really one big family anyway, so for us it is a time to gather as an extended tribe and enjoy being together and celebrating the light in the midst of the darkness.

We always have a big feast. Everyone brings a dish to share, all of them made with love (and no little cooking talent). Unlike the post-ritual feasts we normally have at the other sabbats, where we tend to sit around the living room with paper plates on our knees, we actually put all the leaves in the dining room table and sit down together. There are often over a dozen of us, so it can be kind of crowded, but nobody minds.
We usually exchange gifts in one way or another; sometimes we play a silly gift-stealing game, and this year we're each pulling one name and getting a gift for that person. (The kids get gifts from everyone!)

I keep the decorations simple, since I haven't got the time or inclination to put up a big tree (see "not my holiday" above, plus I have 5 cats). I have a couple of lovely evergreen and juniper swags (about 6' long) that a local artisan made, and I hang them up, along with strings of white lights to symbolize the light of the Yule holiday. I may put up a few shiny ornaments here and there, but otherwise, that's enough to give the house a festive look.

Here is this year's Yule altar in the living room.

If I'm really feeling the desire to go all out, sometimes I dig a small volunteer pine tree up from my yard, where they tend to sprout up where I least expect them. They're always a little "Charlie Brown" looking, but that's okay.

I don't think Magic the Cat was very impressed with this previous effort...

Sometimes we light candles on a Yule log we've made, and talk about our wishes for the year ahead. Mostly, we just enjoy being together. Friendship is the greatest light in the dark there is.

I hope that you get to share Yule (or whichever holiday or holidays you celebrate) with people you love.
Happy holidays!