The Daily: 2 December 2024

The Winter Sleep Moon went dark at 1:21am yesterday, so the Midwinter Moon is new today. This is the moon of winter revelry. The season of Midwinter also has begun. The Midwinter holidays began on St Andrew’s Day (or Thanksgiving Day, depending on your whim). We are now in the holidays, days replete with festivity.

But that doesn’t mean you have to run yourself ragged celebrating everything. In fact, you probably shouldn’t. Winter is only a few weeks old. There are months of cold darkness ahead, and if you drain your energy stores in December you won’t make it to March. So choose what has meaning to you and your place. And when not celebrating, plan on many hours of quiet relaxation, sleep through most of the darkness.

If you celebrate traditionally, you will find it easier to get your rest. Most traditions take place in the daylight hours, or at most, into the early evening darkness. This is because most traditions come from a time when we were unable to banish the darkness with electricity, and candles were expensive. (Still are…) Few people could afford nighttime activity. Moreover, candles are not very good at banishing the dark. The wealthy might have been able to burn the dozens it takes to light a room, though they also used oil lamps and, later, gaslight, but the lighting at a ball was often one of the larger bills for the evening. For that and many other reasons, even among the wealthy, most nighttime revelry did not happen in the winter. The “season” took advantage of those short summer nights.

In any case, traditional Midwinter revels are less about partying than enjoying a few very good meals together with all your loved ones. Gifts are, of course, made and given to all and sundry at Midwinter, but food is central to the festivals of the cold darkness — and most Midwinter recipes are sweet and rich with spices. Music is also essential to traditional celebration. Music fills the air at this time of year and always has. Before there were ubiquitous speakers playing canned music, there were street musicians and carolers, and even the poorest household would gather to sing together. Most Midwinter rituals are centered on music. And those rituals can be elaborate — think of the work that must go into Lucia buns and candle-crowns for St Lucy’s Day — but many are no more involved than singing a quiet carol, serving a special dish for dinner, or hanging winter greens about the house.

Rich or poor, this is the season for decorations, and this is not just a recent commercial imposition (though it has gotten all out of proportion under capitalism, like most things). People have been decking the halls for Christmas for longer than Christmas has existed. Romans, with their love of garlanding, brought fresh evergreens into their banquet halls and humble homes. Hothouse flowers were grown to grace tables and altars. Further north and forward in time, the Germanic peoples draped every surface with pine and fir and ribbon. Even the Yule Log came into the house swathed in greenery and festive bows. The Celtic peoples cut sprigs of the holly that they grew around their homes and hung it with oak mistletoe around the house for protection — but also, it must be said, because it was beautiful, with glowing berries and deep green leaves that reflected the light like glass.

I am an unapologetic sparkle witch. I make pretty; it’s my one superpower. But the decorations are not merely aesthetically pleasing. My house is my ritual altar, with symbolism and color worked into every detail. I also tend to decorate with my nose as much as my eyes. As you might imagine, I don’t go in for much in the way of plastic. I love green garlands and found natural things as much as the Romans, Germans and Celts. I hang acorns and pine cones on my Yule tree. I grow paperwhites and amaryllis and ivy for the holidays, and I’ve planted my share of evergreens simply to have a ready supply of Yule greenery. Living in Vermont is wonderful. These “green mountains” are slathered in pine, red cedar and fir. I have arborvitae in the back yard and several enormous pines on the east end of my jungle.

Midwater decorating would not be complete without light, or the idea of light and warmth. I do have some electric string lights, but I make more use of candles and reflective surfaces, mimicking the sparkling world outside my window. I’ve amassed a large collection of mercury glass and glass bead garlands. I have vintage tinsel garland that I carefully preserve from year to year. And I dig out all the silver, enjoying the contrast of the cool metallic shine against the dark greens and ruddy browns. I also use tablecloths, towels, bed linens and pillow covers — even a few specially made curtains — to color the mood. I am a big believer in color magic, though it’s not particularly magic. It just feels that way. Put out dark jewel-toned pillows and suddenly the house feels luxurious and warm. The kitchen towels, bright with winter flowers and holly, elicit smiles, sounding a note of festivity in this room that serves as my main entryway. And many years ago, I made a blood red velvet comforter cover. Paired with small brown velvet pillows, the bedroom becomes a confection that very nearly smells of chocolate, which, for me, feels warm, welcome protection against the single digit temperatures outside my walls.

The mood I want in Midwinter is interior and quiet. This is the crone time of year, the time that the land has gone deep into repose, dreaming of the spring — but not yet actively pursuing regeneration. Everything is in hiding in small, warm spaces. This is what I want my house to feel like because this is what my body wants to feel like in Midwinter. My body knows that in these dark days, it is time to shut out the cold and revel in the warmth of a snug burrow and loving friends and family. Which is principally what Midwinter is all about — warmth, light and love to defy the darkness.

---

There are just too many holidays in this lunation to list, so I’m picking out my favorites.

St Nicholas visits on the 6th, bringing oranges and small delights for children, those who are well-behaved anyway. St Nick travels with an entourage of demons who will haul off the bad’uns, never to be seen again. My favorite is Krampus, the indecently-tongued goat devil who shadows the kindly old bishop, carrying a switch that he uses liberally. The worst offenders go into his burlap sack, which seems to be one of those bigger-on-the-inside contraptions.

Mexico and the peoples who trace their lineage through Mexico celebrate the day that the Lady of Guadalupe appeared to a humble peasant bearing roses in bloom in the midst of winter as a sign of hope in darkness. Our Lady is honored on the 12th.

The next day is St Lucy’s Day, Santa Lucia, a festival of light and the courageous Lady of the Dawn. Sweet buns are made in the Nordic countries, and children dress as angels and sprites to parade through town singing carols. The child who portrays Luci traditionally wears a crown of lighted candles.

The 14th is the traditional beginning of the Halcyon Days, the calm weather granted to the daughter of the sea, as she and her drowned lover, both transformed into kingfishers, nest on the open waters.

This year, the Midwinter Moon is full on the 15th. This is the longest full moon of the year, falling as it does at the peak of the dark season. In Ireland, the fairies are abroad, causing their normal mayhem all through this long night. It is considered supremely unwise to go out after dark under the Midwinter Moon. If you must, put a clover leaf or mugwort in your shoes and carry a bit of iron. Best to travel in groups — straight to the pub…

Las Posadas, a living reenactment of the Holy Family’s search for lodging in the December darkness, begins on the 16th and culminates on the 24th. During these nine nights, Mary and Joseph travel from house to house accompanied by a parade. Along the route, bonfires are lit and each home sets out luminaria to light the way. Most of these are tealights in paper bags, but tin crafters in the Southwest create permanent luminaria. I have a dozen from a dear friend, whose other lovely artworks can be seen here.

The 17th is the opening of Saturnalia, an ancient Roman festival that could last up to twelve days with several minor observances wrapped into the celebration. This was a topsy-turvy time, when slaves were treated with something close to respect and rules were generally not observed. Most forms of work were proscribed for the entire period. Gifts were given, candles being a favorite. For poor folk, the master’s gift of a taper might be the only candle they had for an entire year. The wealthy also saw that their “household”, which included bonds-people and slaves on their country estates, were feted. Everybody ate well in Saturnalia.

Saturnalia usually encompasses the winter solstice, which falls between the 19th and the 22nd. This year, the sun reaches its furthest point south in its annual journey at 4:21am (EST) on December 21st. Around the world, there are celebrations of the sunrise after this the longest night of the year. The Romans celebrated the rising of the Unconquered Sun on December 25th. The actual solstice might have been closer to this date in Roman times, but it might also be that officials wanted to put a bit of distance between the vulgar lawlessness of Saturnalia and the birth of their patron deity. Of course, it’s also possible that Mithras was, in fact, born on December 25th, same as Tammuz, same as Adonis, same as Jesus… The mothers of grain gods are a predictable lot.

The 24th is a celebration of mothers in the northern countries. More accurately, it is a celebration of The Mothers, the triple deity that ruled the fate of every living being on Earth. It is also a celebration of the birth of Jesus, which was not something Jesus did… It is a celebration of Mary the Mother of God. Like the Roman vigils awaiting the birth of their Sun, Christmas Eve is a time of candlelight and song and gathering to tell our best stories. Christmas absorbed many Midwinter traditions, chief among them these days being the giving of gifts. As I said before, this has always been a part of Midwinter. And, yes, among the ancient wealthy, gifting could get quite lavish, though the most opulent gifts were often given to the state and its religious institutions. Gifting was a form of display — as it usually is when over-the-top. But most gifts were simple and practical — food, clothing and shoes, fuel for the hearth, the occasional new tool. Most gifts were also made by the giver. Until very recently, it was mostly considered uncouth to buy gifts. You gave from your store of wealth if you had it, or you made things.

On the 26th we have Boxing Day, St Stephen’s Day. On this day in Ireland, the Wren Boys go ambulatory begging with a dead bird on a stick — or, these days, a fake bird in an elaborate cage of greens and twigs. Folklorists invoke various myths to explain this bizarre tradition. I haven’t heard one yet that makes sense of it… As with most Irish rituals, the whole caravan eventually ends up in the pub to spend the day’s take. Traditionally, the wren is buried with this “wake money”… It is unlucky to have the wren buried on your property, an obvious incentive to donate liberally to the cause, lest the drunken Wren Boys return late in the night and leave this omen of ill-luck in your best fields.

The opposite of this day in every sense is the Feast of the Holy Innocents on the 28th. This is the day that commemorates the slaughter of children by a king afraid of losing his crown. It is the most ill-fated day of the year. It is best to make no beginnings, no decisions, no thing on this day — because all will fail.

Then at the end of this month, we celebrate the end of our civil year… with debaucheries that would make the Romans proud. But that’s a new moon…

---

The month of December will see two new moons this year, today and then again on the 31st. The Midwinter Moon goes dark on December 30th at 5:27pm, so the Wolf Moon is new on New Year’s Eve.

This is a wonderful month to watch the night skies — as long as the skies are not dumping snow. Venus is incredibly bright right now, -4.2 magnitude, and shining as an evening star for an hour or two after sunset. Mercury is in retrograde again and will be through the 15th. Until then, the smallest visible planet is easily seen low in the southeast before dawn. Jupiter is also bright this month, though not as arresting as Venus. The big planet rises around 9:30pm and will be close to the waxing gibbous Moon. At this time, look for the Geminid meteor shower, which peaks on the 13th. This is the most active shower of the year, with over 75 meteors per hour all night long. Falling as it does in the calm halcyon weather around the solstice, there are usually clear skies for viewing, though it is also cold… Bundle up! Or station yourself at an unobstructed northeast-facing window. The Moon will be two days from the full and may wash out the smaller meteors, however by late evening the Moon will be westering and skies will be darkest around the Geminid’s radiant point to the east. Even better, the Moon sets about two hours before sunrise, plenty of time for early rises to wish on falling stars.

---

©Elizabeth Anker 2024