Eliza Daley ~ Wordcraft & Musing on Home & Hope
On the ninth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me Nine ladies dancing... Have you noticed that, after what is largely food on the wing, the gifts given on the last several days of the song take a decidedly musical bent? Nine ladies dancing, ten lords a-leaping, eleven pipers piping, twelve drummers drumming.… Continue reading The Daily: 2 January 2023
for 1 January 2023 New Year's Day is definitely one of those holidays that feels out of joint. I don't think it's me. I think this date, this point in the solar year, lacks ties to reality. It is historically wrong. When the Romans created these two new months and set their state calendars to… Continue reading The Daily
for 31 December 2022 First, I want to say: Happy New Year! And now, here's a bit of grumbling about what that entails for way too many people... Among other excesses... The last few days of the secular calendar are sort of lost on me. I do not celebrate these holidays in the same terms… Continue reading The Daily
for 24 December 2022 Have you noticed that though worldwide post-agricultural cultures are mostly decidedly patriarchic and grossly misogynistic, much if not most of ritual, imagery, and myth is centered on women? The major pagan celebrations largely honor female deities, or, if they are male, then they're only vaguely human-like with substantial animalistic elements. The… Continue reading The Daily
for 23 December 2022 The nearer the new moon to Christmas Day, the harder the winter. — folk wisdom quoted in The Hedge Witch Book of Days by Mandy Mitchell Elliott The moon was dark at 5:17am this morning. Just because it seems pertinent, I'm going to note that both the moon and the sun… Continue reading The Daily
for 22 December 2022 The day after the year's longest night... In the northern traditions where Yule is rooted, this is the time of year to think on the ancestors, particularly the Mothers, those who grew and passed on the wisdom of life. I thought today might be a good day to show gratitude toward… Continue reading The Daily
for 21 December 2022 Green Man in the cold morning light Today, 21 December 2022, the sun appears to stand still at its most southern point at 4:48pm. We call this period of slow change, where day length changes incrementally and then not at all, the solstice, the “sun pause”. In the Northern Hemisphere, this… Continue reading The Daily
for 18 December 2022 Happy Hanukkah! The other person with my name teaches music and vocal performance down in Boston. We got to know each other through arranging for domain names a while back. Some years ago she acquired a moose menorah. Since then, finding another one has been a goal of mine. Not that… Continue reading The Daily
for 14 December 2022 Halcyon Days Here is a phrase that seems to have forgotten its roots entirely. In our times, "halcyon days" refers to a golden past, a time when everything was wonderful. Sometimes it just means "youth" with overtones of innocence and insouciance. But this name has nothing to do with nostalgia. In… Continue reading The Daily
for 13 December 2022 Lucy Light Shortest day, longest night —traditional English proverb Before Pope Gregory tweaked the Julian calendar and caused a great deal of confusion, 13 December was celebrated as the winter solstice in Scandinavia. The poem by the late 16th century English writer, John Donne, “A Nocturnal upon St Lucy’s Day, Being… Continue reading The Daily
By My Solitary Hearth 