Friday, December 19, 2014

Making decorations for Winter Solstice

For many years I have been making traditions with decorations for Winter Solstice.  For me the beauty of the season is in the magic of snow, even if here on Cortes Island we do not have so much of the real thing.  So I am happy to have received these snowflakes years ago from a student when I was teaching at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design.


For me the winter solstice is especially an honoring of the birds; those that migrate through chill autumn skies, those that stay year 'round, and those I will never know.


My holiday cooking is also for the birds.  Suet-soaked bread and peanut butter bird seed ornaments instead of cookies and pies.


Even the Italian parsley gets into the act of adding a decorative accent to the window whose lights will help the sun come back.


Birds of blue to represent the spirit reality and red to represent this earth reality frame the three candles which are the three forms of the Divine Feminine in the lunar year: the Maiden of February through May, the Mother of June through September, and the Crone of October through January.


The day of Winter Solstice finds me outside in nature, decorating a young pine tree and enjoying a wilderness feast regardless of the weather.


While it may be hard to distinguish the tree from the surrounding woods, the birds, squirrels, and raccoon certainly can find their presents.


Happy Solstice and a blessed Winter Holiday from the Journey Oracle.