Fire Dragon Synchronicity

An awesome synchronicity with my dream (and previous post) just posted 10 minutes ago on my Facebook newsfeed - read article and watch the Up Helly Aa festival video here - Fire festival celebrates Norse heritage of Shetland in Viking style

Mother Night & Odin's Oath

As noted in my previous post, my father's Norse name, connected to Odin, means "Son of Night." Wyrdly, my patroness is the giantess-goddess Hela, also known as Mother Night, like the first night of the twelves nights of Yule. Interestingly, also related to Odin, Yule is a time for swearing oaths.

In days of old, our ancestors would swear their oaths for the coming year (remembered today as the weaker New Year's resolutions) on the sacred boar on Twelfth Night. Now, it is our Kindred tradition to swear our oaths on a sunwheel, and then toss it into the fire as a part of our yearly Yule party.

Yuletide Sky Riders: A Symphony of Light & Shadow

כ״ט בכסלו תשע"ב
Grael 2

Last night, early this morning, I dreamt.

Thick newly fallen white snow covered the ground in my small town. It was Yuletide. (Though I have never done this is real life) I was walking with family (and many other families) on a tour of the holiday light decorations up Vermilion Street. We walked toward the North direction.

In this tour, we all laid down in the new snow like snow angels to watch the coming festival of Lights. Lying upon the snow-blanketed earth, everyone with excited anticipation watched the sky overhead. Suddenly, Lights (like Northern Lights) emerged and began flashing all over the entire face of the sky, riding from one edge of the sky to the other - all over and everywhichway in a beautiful symphony of Light and Shadow. The lights we saw took on forms - it was the real mythic meaning behind the Mystery of Santa Claus we were seeing - Ancestral spirit riders of the skies bringing gifts of blessings to us!

This is the pagan mythic origin of the night ride of Santa Claus bringing gifts via flight through the night sky. It is also related to the Biblical shamanic ancestral Vision of Ezekiel.

And the living creatures ran and returned as the appearance of a flash of lightning. [Ezekiel 1:14]

Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives by the river Chebar that the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of Elohim. [Ezekiel 1:1] The Elohim are the Divine Ancestors.

This year, December 27 is the first day of the fourth month of the Hebrew calendar (Tishrei, Marcheshvan, Kislev, Tevet). Tevet (the month of Ezekiel's vision) contains a portion of the 13 sacred days and the 12 sacred nights of the traditional Yuletide season. Ezekiel's fifth day of the month is the the thirteenth day of the thirteen sacred days.

Related entries -

Yuletide: A Time for Receiving Blessings by the Ancestors
Blood Vessel

Yuletide, a Time for Receiving Blessings by the Ancestors

כ״ט בכסלו תשע"ב
Grael 2



Yuletide was originally a time for receiving blessings by the Ancestors.

From the video description:

"The Ancient season of Yule which includes The Midwinter Solstice (the shortest day of the Year, 21st December) is a Sacred time of reflection and celebration. Many different cultures from the Nordic Vikings and Celtic Druids, the ancient Egyptians and Hopi Indians have ritualized this time to promote Spiritual Unity, Peace and Joy.


Yuletide Dates:
December 21, 22, 23
December 24 Mother's night, (Modraniht (Anglo-Saxon)
December 24 -- January 6 = The 12 Sacred nights/'Time between the Years'

The 13 Sacred Days & 12 Sacred Nights

The Magickal season of deepest darkness starts in the Celtic tradition at Samhain, slightly earlier in the Nordic tradition. During this supernatural time of Yuletide we may walk between the worlds. Now that the veil between the worlds is thin, all sorts of Otherworldly beings including the dead roam the earth, we may even encounter elves or trolls and also Gods and Goddesses.

The Twelve Sacred Nights of Yule start with Mother's Night (December 24th) and are considered the 'Time Between the Years', the difference of days between the lunar year and the solar year. As the old would end with Winter Solstice the New Year would only start at the end of the Rauhnaechte (January 6th). During this time Odin rides the storm winds with his army of the dead, both in the Wild Hunt and also leading them to their afterlife new, most importantly the ensuing storms in their wake stir the fertility of the earth for the New Year...

Odin appears to be 'blind' in one eye which he sacrificed at the Well of Wisdom for Understanding, with this eye he sees the underworld and afterlife...

The tradition of bringing sprigs of Holly and Ivy into the home pays homage to the masculine and feminine elements. Both of these powerfully magickal plants are evergreen, a reminder in itself that the earth never dies, but merely sleeps during the winter months."

Winter Solstice Sunrise Live From Newgrange

י״ד בטבת תשע"א
Grael 17

Witness the Winter Solstice sunrise live from the inner chamber at Newgrange here.

RTÉ.ie will be streaming the Winter Solstice sunrise from the inner chamber at Newgrange from 8.55am GMT on 21 December. This time corresponds to Tuesday, December 21, 2010 at 02:55 AM CST in the United States.

One Yule Light

כ"ו בכסלו תש"ע
Shamash 28

This is the handcrafted candle I am lighting for Yule. "Scented with traditional Yule fragrances of Pine, Cedar, Oak and the warm essence of Cinnamon, the fragrance is completed with a a bit of smoke from the fire. The smokey, woodsy and traditional fragrance of this Yule Log Candle will fill my sacred place with a very Yule illumination. Each candle is adorned with a silver Holly charm and tied with festive red and green ribbons."

One Light - Lighting The Coel Coeth

כ"ו בכסלו תש"ע
Shamash 28

The Lesser Sabbat of the winter solstice (namely Yule, Geul, Giuli, Meán Geimhridh, Lá an Dreoilín, Modranicht, Alban Arthan, ...) in the northern hemisphere of the earth (my location) falls after sunset on the evening of December 21. This date is the seventh of Grael in the witches' calendar and the fifth of Tevet in the Jewish calendar; both dates fall within the month of the Elder Moon in the Celtic tree calendar.

On Yule and its connection to the magic circle of the witch, Mike Nichols writes:

"Ultimately, of course, the holiday is rooted deeply in the cycle of the year. It is the Winter Solstice that is being celebrated, seed-time of the year, the longest night and shortest day. It is the birthday of the new Sun King, the Son of God -- by whatever name you choose to call him. On this darkest of nights, the Goddess becomes the Great Mother and once again gives birth. And it makes perfect poetic sense that on the longest night of the winter, 'the dark night of our souls', there springs the new spark of hope, the Sacred Fire, the Light of the World, the Coel Coeth." At the Winter Solstice, the Circle is not yet a Circle; it is a Point. Specifically, it is the point at which spiritual energy manifests itself into the physical world. It is the divine spark, the sacred seed, the single cell, the incarnation, the universe in a mustard seed. In some ways, the Point is more inclusive than the Circle, since the Circle always implies a boundary, and a separation of that which is outside from that which is inside. The Point, however, can symbolize the All. At the Winter Solstice, we bless and purify this tiny dust-mote of Being, this Birth of the Circle, which is also All That Is. The Circle Is A Point.

Thus, Yule is the perfect sabbat in which to ground and from which to cast a magic circle in and with sacred time. Blessed be our circles this Yuletide, every one, with the amazing sacred power and joy of Yule -

- the Hebrew word for the redemption of humankind's collective consciousness is called Geulah (גאולה). The Germanic and Northern European words for Yule - Geul and Giuli - would be spelled in Hebrew גאול and גאולי. The Hebrew shoresh (three letter root) of all these words is גול (gule, yule) meaning rejoice! and express joy!

Have a blessed and deeply joyful Yuletide season! So mote it be! אמן

Related entry - The Seed

Related video - The One Light Of Chanukah (This evening we light the third/three Chanukah candle(s). The Hebrew letter gimel - ג - has a gematria of three and is the single letter root of the root word גול discussed above.)

The Crystal Cave Of Hitbodedut

כ"ז כסלו תשס"ט
Shamash 28

When I was a child my parents frequently tried to coax me out of my bedroom where I was engaged in solitary play, reading, working with my microscope set or frequently, just thinking and being alone. They called my self-initiated retreat into my own space hibernation. I still hibernate to this day, whether at home or at the office. The drive to hibernate is integral to who I am, to my purpose in life and to my destiny. Importantly, I have naturally hibernated in my crystal cave of solitude (whether literally or thoughtfully) from my earliest memories of existence.

In light of this tendency toward cave-dwelling hibernation, linked from the dark depths to the Great Bear constellation and stars, the twenty-fifth shaman stone in my Temple collection corresponds to the spirit of Arth (the Welsh word for Bear), whose primal powers include hibernation, deep introspection, meditation (hitbodedut, self-seclusion), healthy vitality, reclaiming truth through unconventionality, attaining altered states of consciousness, astral travel and dreamworking. Arth is also associated with the winter solstice (the sabbat of Yule), bringing light from darkness (Chanukah), the North Star, the ancient stellar goddess, the throne of the queen of heaven, the realm of the crystal castle, the realm beyond time and the realm of causes. All of these associations link together through the idea that the great spirit of Arth is the great Crystal Cave spirit of crystal caves (which extend the field of apprehension), like in my poem The Magic Ladder.

As the shaman stone for Arth I've designated a natural peridot crystal specimen, a visionary stone whose shamanic qualities include protection, health, wealth, sleep, inner balance, peace and connection to destiny.

Yule & Chanukah Blessings!

כ"ד כסלו תשס"ט
Shamash 25

Yule started at sundown tonight, with the winter solstice event occurring at 0604 in the morning tomorrow in my time zone. Tomorrow evening, the first candle of Chanukah is lit. To all my friends, have a blessed Yule and a blessed Chanukah!

Star Sapphire With All

כ"ד חשון תשס"ת
Phasma Priscus 26

As I woke up this shabbat morning, I had a waking vision. It consisted of a sapphire tree of sparkling dark blue gemstone with a radiant white 5-pointed star of gemstone on top of it. The radiant light surrounding the pentagram like halos within halos within halos formed a radiant pentacle. It reminded me of both a pagan yule tree and of an exquisite dark blue star sapphire gemstone.

Googling 'star sapphire torah' for some clue as to what my waking vision might symbolize, I discovered (Hidden Torah Codes) that "many of the Jewish sages believe that the Torah was given on two star sapphire stones" and that blue sapphire crystals form the hexagonal star of David.

Consequently, my witchy vision this morning symbolizes the two stones (the blue sapphire and the white pentacle, together constructing a 'star sapphire') from which the Torah is ever given. The hexagon crystal of the blue sapphire and the pentagram of the pentacle, in my vision, unify the vav and the hei of the Tetragrammaton. The halos within halos within halos represent the Presence of yud-hei and its im hakolel within my vision. Taking it all (כל) together, my vision envisions unification of the Divine Name.

Related writing - Bakol & Transmitting The Torah Of Atzilut

Stones From The Temple Of Joy

Wolf Spirit Moqui Shaman Stone

כ"ז אלול התשס"ח
Belz 29

Dating from around 3200 BCE, the Temple of Newgrange is an earth mound measuring 44 feet high. The megalithic boulders which surround the Temple each measure up to 8 feet high. In Celtic magic, in the mysticism of bringing light from darkness, there are 36 shaman stones of hidden mystery.

Dating during the second century BCE, the second Temple of Jerusalem was rededicated, marked in the current age with the 44 total lights (36 menorah plus the 8 shamash candles) of Chanukah. In Jewish kabbalah, in the mysticism of bringing light from darkness, there are 36 lamedvavniks of hidden mystery.

We can see then that in both Celtic and Jewish mysticism the numbers 44, 36 and 8 are directly connected to the hidden mysteries of the Temple and to bringing light from darkness.

Like my Celtic ancestors, to bring light from darkness, I am collecting a set of 36 sacred shaman stones from the earth, to be dedicated over 8 nights during the month of Shamash according to the Celtic witch's calendar.

Like my Jewish ancestors, to bring light from darkness, I will light 44 candles over the course of 8 nights, ritually dedicating each of the 36 shaman stones in the light of its corresponding candle (36 over 8 nights plus 8 shamash candles, one for each night) according to pattern of Chanukah.

This year, the first day of Chanukah is also the sabbat of Yule (the Celtic festival of light and the astrological winter solstice). Chanukah/Yule falls during the month of Shamash in the Celtic witch's calendar.

Like my Native American ancestors and in honor of the Land upon which I live, the first shaman stone dedicated to my Temple Collection of shaman stones is a moqui stone.

In Celtic magic, the first shaman stone corresponds to the wolf spirit. My wolf spirit stone will be marked in Ogham letters with the word gliondar meaning joy, with the Hebrew letters chet-gimel-sin-sin (the first letter of each of the four words for joy in Hebrew - chedvah, gilah, simchah, sason - where the letters taken as a phrase together - חג שש - mean "the circle of rejoicing"), and in English letters with the Welsh word gorfoleddu meaning rejoice, to be joyful.

Welcome to the world, my joyous circle of stones.

Wolf Spirit, Simply A Song Of Joy

Kabbalah Of My Magic Mirror

י"ד בטבת תשס"ח
Grael 15
Motzi Shabbat Yule

Brought together this Shabbat of Yule, the period of the winter solstice occurring this year on the day of shabbat - The Kabbalah Of My Magic Mirror.

Tale Of Two Displays

Yule Display Vandalized In Olean
Dec 11, 2007 08:09 AM CST

(Olean, NY, December 11, 2007) - - Police in Olean are investigating the vandalism of a holiday display.

Police say someone opposed to a Wiccan pentacle decided to express his or her opinion by running it down Monday night and then sped off into the night.

Olean Mayor David Carucci says the vandalism happened around 10:15 last night.

"Someone has backed up over the curb and run over the pentacle," Carucci told News 4.

Police, meanwhile, are treating it as a hate crime.

"We're going to be treating this as a hate crime," said Olean Police Chief Terry Schnell. "This has gone far too long, this is getting ridiculous."

The pentacle stood only a few feet away from a nativity scene that sparked a public debate about the separation of church and state.

Read full article at link above.

Yule, the winter solstice observed by witches, is traditionally December 21-22.

Nittel Witch & Karnei Hod

Leil Nittel is a Jewish custom to not study Torah on Christmas/Christmas EveAlternatively, among the more orthodox, nittel is observed January 6th as opposed to on Christmas. Christmas is the day Christians honor as the birthday of the one they recognize as mashiach. January 6th is associated with his "recognition" by La Befana, the witch sought out for directions by the 3 Wise Men on their way to Bethlehem, celebrated by the Christian holiday called Feast of the Epiphany.

According to Christian legend, the first few times asked, the witch refused to assist the 3 Wise Men. She changed her mind when she saw a great light (i.e., the "star of Bethlehem" in Christian teaching) in the skies.

From this little bit of information, one can glean that the rabbis may interpret the "great light in the skies" seen by the witch as the masculine light (vav ו, aur yashar) of Torah learning. Consequently, the practice of nittel aims to blot out the light which gave rise to the witch's recognition of a "false mashiach" (according to Jewish tradition). In other words, the aim is to force emergence of a returning Dark Light (aur chozer).

You see, the problem is not with Christianity really. The problem (in Jewish understanding) is both misrecognition by the witch and the masculine light of Torah in the skies which gave rise to it (through the witch's abdication of her own inner feminine guiding light in deference to it). The witch doubted the value of her own Dark Light.

True recognition (proper acknowledgment) is a function of rectified Hod, a feminine soul power central to the meaning of Chanukah (see karnei Hod). This is of the Dark Divine Light, and a power of the Left Emanation. Therefore, true recognition of the true mashiach will not come via the masculine Bright Light, it must emerge from the Darkness Herself. Only through emergence of the letter zayin (ז, representing the feminine aur chozer) can the letter chet (ח), representing the soul of mashiach, become completely manifest.

So, both the witch and the "rabbis" of that era erred in that both the witch and the "Wise Men" rabbis believed that a Bright Light would guide them to mashiach. But the truth is, that recognition of the true mashiach must emerge via the feminine Dark Light Herself.

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