In the bleak midwinter …a beautiful soulful wintertime song that reminds us of the
weather challenges that we face to get through wintertime. At this time of solstice we are given an opportunity to draw breath and think about the importance of our sun as we face reduced light and warmth over the coming winter months in the knowledge that this day signifies us moving towards the lighter part of the year. We know it will take time but we know it is happening. For many people and many cultures the idea of rebirth(of our sun) and renewal (of the light in our lives) is the message of the day together with hope.
The winter solstice although only a momentary annual event, is and has been of significance to people over a considerable length of time in our history. The alignment of two of the largest stones at Stonehenge to sunset on the solstice suggests this to be true, as does Maeshowe chambered cairn on Orkney that is aligned to the winter setting sun for approximately six weeks, allowing the gentle sunlight to enter the structure and touch the back wall. Sid Broga Cairn at New Grange in County Meath is aligned to the sunrise at this time of the year, again being built in such a way as to allow light of our sun to penetrate the darkness of the structure. Of course what we don’t know is what did these early people do at these places, we can speculate but we don’t know.
But after having such effort by our early ancestors to, it appears, to give such significance to this time of the year it all falls a bit quiet, with no grand gestures of this scale on our isles.
One thing we have learnt as gatherers of folklore is that people often want verification
Of authenticity and they want traditions to be old. Quite how old is another matter, but a historical basis of current practices is often sought out. Of course the very nature of a lot of folklore is its origins in stories and observances that have been passed down.
The human unreliable aspect of inaccurate recording or memory often makes folklore like shifting sands, it is fluid, it evolves and always has.
So to pinpoint if and how many annual events were marked, if at all, is tricky. If you also add a ‘wanting’ of us all to be following ancestral traditions to give some kind of connection has often resulted in ‘wished-for’ and even newly created ‘traditions’.
But after all isn’t this what folklore is ? A practice of the people. In conversation recently with a festival organiser, they said if it happens three times it becomes tradition. We probably all have a number or amount of years that we think brings sufficient authenticity and authority to make something a practice we want to follow and take part in.
Story plays a part in telling us things that may have been beliefs, entertainment or often to act as warnings and behavioural guidelines such as the tales of the Cailleach, a character of the Highlands of Scotland who brings in winter and determines how long it should stay. It became customary to carve the image of the Cailleach into logs of wood to then be tossed onto the fire in an attempt to banish winter.
The role of reduced daylight hours and the cold of winter was an annual battle for people to survive and is still a challenging and deadly force today for some in our communities. It’s therefore unsurprising that tales of battles between light and dark were told. The battle between the Holly Lord and Oak Lord being such an example that has found its way into part of trying to represent the real battle that is faced. Many of our tales and traditions on Britain and Ireland have come via Nordic routes. Yule itself having Scandinavian roots of the winter festival Juul, when logs were/are burned and fires lit to symbolize the heat and life-giving properties of our returning sun. The stronger and brighter the fire the more our sun would be encouraged to return.
As our already complex mix of heritage becomes even further enhanced with people from many cultures, with their own cultural backgrounds and ways of marking the passing year, increases we find ourselves in exciting times of seeing which traditions and tales will be taken through into the next generations.
At Talking Trees ‘headquarters’ we usually hold our own tradition of a quiet day outdoors gathering greenery to decorate our home and experiencing the British winter landscape before lighting out bonfire on the solstice evening with a modest but seasonal vegetable and fruit based feast but this year we are in the city that never sleeps, New York, and experiencing a very different Yuletide and Winter Solstice celebration. It has reminded us of the very different ways we live our lives and is turning out to be full of light and joy in a very different way.
Although we have little evidence and little authentic tradition or folklore relating to the winter solstice we do still hold onto an innate feeling of marking this time of year.
As authors of the Country Wisdom & Folklore Diary our feelings have always been that it is rather magickal to split our year into significant times to help us traverse the year ahead. The seasons being our starting point but we also enjoy observing the eight points of the Wheel of the Year. These pauses give us focus, time to reflect, to observe(particularly nature) and to then move on with renewed energy and hope.
We sincerely hope you too will enjoy this way to pass through the year. And consider that whilst our personal endeavour is indeed to keep alive the old ways we also add that we want to celebrate the year by also celebrating new and emerging ways to mark the year ahead.
One of things we enjoy is seeing if the ‘important’ winter weather predictors hold true. We keep a note in our diary to check out the ‘accuracy’ of some of the old weather sayings. As an agricultural people the weather and particularly the harshness of winter was and is very much on people’s minds.
We will be particularly interested to see if
‘The date of the first snowflakes falling tells how many times it will snow in the coming winter.’
We experienced our first snowfall on 19th November which would mean we will have another 18 snow occurrences this winter !
And if we have an abundance of acorns indicating a cold winter is coming.
Thick nutshells, apple peel or onion skins predicting a severe winter.
An abundance of berries being a sign of cold and snowy weather.
Leaves that fall late indicating wild winter storms coming.
Flowers blooming in winter being an indicator of bad weather (this always seems that it should indicate warmer weather)
Squirrels with very bushy tails indicate a colder winter as does them stashing their nuts high in the trees. It is said that this indicates the snow will be deep.
”When squirrels early start to hoard,
winter will pierce us like a sword.”
If Robins are seen near or in the house then winter will be cold and if bees or hornets build their nests inside a barn or shed, expect a hard winter. A hornets nest found in winter can indicate the depth the snow will be.
And particularly appropriate for the winter solstice - “As the days lengthen, the cold strengthens.” (The coldest time of the year is mid-January, about 3 weeks after the shortest day)
A New Year beckons but for now we have the days of Yuletide, we have the most wonderful and probably most followed folklore of a Magickal gift giver yet to visit us, known by many names worldwide and coming in many guises, but in our isles it is Father Christmas, who will come to believers and remind us of a spirit and traditions that we still hold so dearly in our lives at wintertime. We bring nature into our homes through trees, wreaths, cones and deck our halls. We bring light through candles and fairy lights. And we remember one another and those that have passed and those we hold dear now.
And thankfully many people help others to have shelter, warmth, companionship and sustenance in their lives. Please be kind to others if you can by a small act of generosity. Collectively small acts make a big difference.
Wishing you all a most Magickal wintertime, and that warmth, love and light are with you throughout. Our best wishes for a Happy Yuletide full of old and new traditions.
See you in 2025, and thank you so much for your kind support throughout this and past years in our endeavour to keep alive the old ways and celebrate the year.
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